First Love

Chapter 3

Date? Did she say date? Charles froze. She couldn't have meant it. Anyway, he got ready for his...meeting with Serena. What a beautiful name. Serena. Charles got to the café at about 3:05 pm. He suddenly realized that he's never seen this girl before, he doesn't know what she looked like, but that was the point. Charles looked around, then he saw a girl sitting alone looking around. 'That must be her.' He thought. She was beautiful. Brown wavy hair, big brown eyes. Charles took a deep breath and walked over to her. "You must be Serena." Charles said with a smile. She looked up and smiled. She stared at him for a while. 'Wow.' Serena thought. He was very handsome, he had the bluest eyes and she didn't realize that he had a British accent. "Yes, and you must be Charles." Serena stood up and shook his hand. "I am." They both seemed nervous. Charles decided to break the ice. "Do you want to order something? My treat." Serena hesitated. Charles could see the fear in her eyes. 'I'm not going to hurt you, I promise.' Charles smiled at her. "Okay." She whispered. After they ate Charles said, "Tell me about yourself Serena."

"I thought you could read minds." Serena said playfully. Charles chuckled. "I can, but not always. Plus I want to hear it in your own words." Serena looked down at the table. "Well, I grew up in Tennesse with my father. My mother passed away when I was just a baby. My father and I never did get along. He blamed me for my mother's death." Serena paused. "When I was 7 years old...my father..." she started to tear up, "My father abused me until I was 16." Serena couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Charles held her hand until she calmed down. "I couldn't stand another year in the house, so I ran away at 17. I lived on the street for about 5 years and moved to California when I was 21. And uh yeah. Now I'm here." Charles just stared at her. Serena looked away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare. I'm just trying to...understand you more. Do you mind if I...?" Charles got closer to her. "Trust me?" Charles asked. Serena nodded. Charles put his fingers gently on her forehead. "Don't be afraid. Breath in and out. Relax." He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. He tried to enter Serena's mind further, but he had some problems. He tried again and again, but failed. Charles sighed in frustration. "I'm sorry. I can't enter your mind. Like I said before I can't control my powers." He said to Serena. "Powers? As in plural?" She asked. Charles looked around for something until he saw a single rose. "Watch this." He said. He put his index finger on his forehead, and tried to concentrate on the rose. It was no use, all he could think about was Serena and how beautiful she was. She's like...a rose. "Wow!" Serena laughed. The rose was floating in front of her. Charles smiled. "For you." Serena blushed. "Thank you." She put a piece of hair behind her ear and took the rose. "What else can you do?"

The waitress started talking in her voice, but it was Charles speaking through her. "I can do this as well." Serena tried to hide her smile, but couldn't. The rest of the afternoon was spent telling stories about their childhood.

It was 9 pm when they left. "Do you want me to walk you home? It's getting dark." Charles asked. "Sure." Serena said. Serena's apartment was 15 minutes away from the café. "I had fun today. Thank you for everything." She kissed his cheek and rapidly went upstairs to her apartment. Charles stood there with his hand on his cheek where Serena had kissed it. Oh no, he was starting to fall in love with her.