Letters of the Heart

Chapter 14 (Beau)

I walked down to our seats and saw Mark holding Charlie's hand. I don't know why but anger built inside of me. I wanted to punch him even though he was my best friend. I wasn't sure why I wanted to punch him. Surely it wasn't because I was jealous of him holding her hand. I was with someone else, so why would it matter? In fact I was with my dream girl, so why was I so angry that he was holding Charlie's hand?

Me being the guy I am, I sat in between them in hopes Mark would get the idea that she was off limits to him. I did not like the idea of them possibly being interested in one another. Neither of them seemed to mind that I split them up. Maybe I was reading the situation wrong? Or maybe they were trying to hide something from me. Either way, I didn't like how close they were.

After the game, we said our goodbyes to Mark and left the stadium. On our way home Charlie was quiet as she looked out the window. She had that distant look in her eyes again. The one that looked as if she had millions of thoughts running through her mind. I wanted to ask her what was on her mind, but something told me she wouldn't say. As much as I wanted to know, I did not want to pry into her personal life. Maybe it had something to do with Mark. Maybe it had something to do with Charlotte.

By the time I got to her home, it was already five in the afternoon. I pulled into her drive way and parked. She was about to get out when I gently grabbed her wrist. "Hey, is something going on between you and Mark?" I had to know. If there was, I wanted to know now. I didn't want to find out down the road.

She turned around and furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean? I don't hate him if that's what you're thinking."

"No, I just saw him holding your hand and was wondering if the two of you might be into each other."

She smiled and laughed a little. "No, Mark and I aren't into each other. He was just comforting me and trying to help me rekindle things with my sister."

"Oh, ok." I still felt like she wasn't telling the truth but I didn't want to push her. "So you don't like him?"

She shook her head. "No, he's just a friend of a friend." She smiled with an eyebrow raised. "We've only ever talked three times, in case you're wondering. That's not what a mutual liking looks like." She laughed as she continued to get out of my truck.

"So what does a mutual liking look like?" I asked trying to make her smile again. She turned around with a grimace. I loved that look on her. It was more of a surprise on her face, but it was still cute. I knew asking her that question was risky. I really didn't want to know what a crush was to her. I also did not want to know if she might have a crush on someone.

She took a deep breath and pursed her lips while looking at my passenger seat. "Someone who continues to write someone she's never met. Someone who despite everything can't stay away no matter how hard she tries. Someone who can't bring herself to tell the person because not knowing is better than knowing and being rejected. Someone who stays on the side lines while she watches her crush fall for someone else. Someone who couldn't dare hurt her crush because she wants the best for him."

She looked up at me with a shy smile and shrugged. "That's what a crush looks like, I guess?"

I stared at her with so many questions running through my head. Her answer was so deep and so specific, it made me wonder. The first part was obviously about her sister, but the rest, was that her? Did she fear rejection from her crush? Who would reject her? She was beautiful and an amazing person. I was hooked from the first moment we met. If someone else wasn't, they had to have been crazy. Charlie was unlike any girl I've ever known. Does that mean she has a crush on someone and all these things are keeping her from him?