CHASING CHARLIE GRAY

26

True to her word, Charlie showed up at my house at 7 the next morning.

"Gia! Charlie's here!" My mom called from somewhere downstairs.

"Give me a second"

I grabbed my bag and closed my door behind me, making my way to the voices that were coming from the kitchen.

It was oddly domestic and I could see it happening more often. My dad at the table drinking coffee, Charlie Gray leaning on the counter talking to my mom who was packing food into a large container.

When Charlie saw me, her face lit up as she came over to greet me, arms outstretched.

"Hey baby" I could see my dad try to cover his smile behind the rim of his cup and fail.

"Hi" I practically melted into her arms, comfortable enough to grip onto her like I hadn't seen her in forever. Charlie was warm in the way that was unique to her.

She let me go with a final squeeze and I made my way over to my mother's side.

"These are for you two" She thrusted a container full of sandwiches into my chest before piling on a smaller container filled with fruits and finally adding two bottles of juice on top.

"Ma the drive's a few hours not a few days"

"Neither of you have had breakfast and you won't get there until after lunch" She huffed, leaning up against the counter and shooing me with her hands.

"What Gia means is thank you Mrs.Kim" Charlie chuckled, taking the load out of my hands.

"You're welcome" My mom dramatically bowed.

We said goodbye to my parents before heading out to the car and I opened Charlie's door before going around to the passenger side, climbing in and shoving my bag to my feet and taking the containers back from her.

She reached over, securing my seatbelt since I forgot to before starting the car and driving off towards the school.

"Did you sleep well?" She turned briefly to look at me before focusing on the road again.

"Yeah it was fine, what about you?"

"I missed having you beside me" Her fingers strummed the steering wheel briefly.

Cute.

"I missed you too" words mumbled softly against the window.

"You wanna get coffee before we go? We still have some time"

"Yeah"

She slowed down, taking the turn for the drive through.

"What do you want?"

"Black coffee"

"Fuck, you surprise me sometimes" She laughed slightly before ordering the same for her and my eyebrows raised when she turned back to me.

"What? I can be surprising too"

She paid for our drinks, slotting one in the cup holder before beginning to drive again, occasionally taking sips of her drink.

I watched her as she drove, one hand on the wheel, the other clutching her drink as she leaned easily back into her seat. She must've felt me staring because after a while she turned to me.

"What?" She asked curiously.

"You're a good driver"

I wonder...

No.

"You think so?" Her smile was easy as it always seemed to be with me.

"I'm good at other things that involve my hands" She glanced back at me again quickly with a not so humble smirk, taking in the way I blushed at her innuendo.

"You're so perverted" I grumbled.

"Yeah? Don't think I didn't see the way you were staring at me just now" She turned into the school lot easily, putting the car in park and shutting it off before turning to me.

"I wasn't staring at you any particular way" I replied stubbornly.

"No?"

"Nope" I crossed my arms, turning to the window so she couldn't tell I was lying but she always seemed to know.

"You know, you're pretty shit at lying, atleast when it comes to me" She undid her seatbelt, opening her door and stepping out, flipping her hair up from under her jacket as she walked around to my side.

Charlie undid my seatbelt before grabbing the containers from me and setting them on the roof of the car so I could get out. She didn't step away, pulling me forward by my waist to slam the door shut before caging me back against the car.

"You can lie all you want but your eyes are honest" She stared at me for a beat or two before backing off.

"Either way you'll eventually find out but we gotta keep it PG on this trip"

"Does that mean you won't kiss me? "

She looked suprised , glancing back at me before sauntering over to press me up against the side of her car again.

"I said PG not PG 13. I'll kiss you as long as you allow me to" her eyes searched mine.

"Will you? "

She was leaving the decision all up to me and I liked that she didn't try to push me into anything.

Instead of replying I leaned up to connect our lips softly. She let out a small noise of surprise before bringing her hands up to cradle my head and kissing me back. We kept it relatively innocent or at least I did, pulling away when she tried to add tongue.

"PG" I mumbled, turning my face into her hand.

"Fuck, You're so cute" She cursed, dropping her head onto my shoulder.

Charlie stepped away to grab the food off the car before motioning towards the mass of students that were just beginning to file onto the buses.

"We should get going before I drag you back inside my car to do more than kiss" She was completely serious and suddenly feeling shy, I skittered up to her side.