The Guyfriend

Chapter 26 - The Creek

On the drive home, the awkward silence was terrible. Charlie just kept her eyes on the road the whole time and didn't even glance at me. She pulled into my driveway, turned off the car and turned to me.

"What was so important that you completely forgot about me?"

I sighed and shook my head.

"I am so sorry Charlie. We weren't thinking. This guy got his heart broken so we wanted to help."

A frown appeared between her eyes as she replied in disbelief,

"So, you ditched me for some guy you just met? Are you kidding? Do you know how this feels right now?"

The silence was deafening. I heard Elliot clear his throat awkwardly.

She lowered her head,

"Snowball is dead."

I gasped and stared with wide eyes. She looked miserable.

"Mum called me. He got out and ran down the road. A car came around the corner and hit him."

I pulled her into a hug as she let out a small sob. Pulling away, she sniffed and wiped her eyes. I opened the car door and got out as I watched Charlie do the same. She walked ahead, still wiping at her eyes. I felt so bad. How could I have done this to my best friend?

I let her go ahead and turned to Elliot. He stopped in front of me while scratching the back of his head awkwardly. His bicep flexed as he did and it took all of my self control not to throw myself at him. He noticed and grinned at me.

"You seem to have a little drool there Jamie."

He chuckled as he wiped imaginary drool of my chin. I shoved his arm away as I remembered Charlie.

"Elliot, we messed up. Don't act like nothing is wrong."

His grin dropped.

"I know, I feel super bad."

I sighed in agreement as he stared at the ground. I leaned over and placed a small kiss on his lips. Everything was going to be fine.

..............................

I slept terribly. The guilt ate me. I was a mess by the morning. Charlie had already packed and was off in a couple of hours. We were sat on the bed facing each other, not saying a word. I was suddenly hit with an idea.

"Charlie, we are going somewhere."

She frowned, "Are you going to tell me?"

I grinned, "Nope."

Smiling, she followed me to the door. As I walked to the car, I remembered how our bond never broke. I knew that this trip would repair the damage of last night. Just me and her, without drama or boys.

..............

I turned off the car and looked at Charlie. Her eyes lit up as she took in the scene in front of us. She pushed her door open and ran. Turning the car off, I did the same. She reached down and felt the water. She grinned at me,

"The water is beautiful."

She instantly began to pull of her shoes, shirt and pants. Nobody was around. The creek was isolated. It was our little escape when we were young. To come down to the creek and swim until dark. I laughed as she pulled at my clothes,

"Come on Jamie!"

I obliged and pulled of my top layer of clothes, leaving my panties and bra. Charlie jogged to the rope swing and untied it. Giggling, she grabbed the old bike handles and swung toward the creek. She let go and splashed into the sparkling water. Her head popped up a moment later with a look of pure happiness on her face. I sighed in relief as I watched her dive back in the water. She is happy again. Grabbing the cold metal of the handles, I backed up so I could get a big swing. I lifted my feet off the ground. The wind rushed against me as I swung through the air. Letting go, my stomach did a small flip before I hit the water. I resurfaced next to Charlie. She hugged me,

"Thank you Jamie. I missed this place."

I sighed,

"Me too."

Giggling, we both got out and swung again and again but before long, it was time for Charlie to go. As we left, I caught a glimpse of our little sign on an old gumtree. It read,

'Life without friendship is like the sky without the sun - J & C' 

I smiled as joy filled me. I remember when we wrote that. We were about 14 and had just caught a feed of lobster in the creek. Charlie made a fire to cook them up. We were eating happily when she decided to write it. I watched as Charlie dried herself and slipped her clothes back on. I did the same a moment later. We got in the car and drove home.

As soon as we got back, she finished packing and was gone. There were a lot of tears and hugging but I finally let her go with the hope that she would visit again soon.