Camp Oakwood

Chapter 12 •Charlotte•

I slip my hands from the cup I just finished sculpting to my face, not caring that my face is now filthy. As I'm resting my face in my hands, I hear foot steps slowly approach me, "Char. Come on, you have to go to the waiting room with me now that you're done." Willow whispers to me.
"Okay, I'm up." I say tiredly and rise to my feet.
I walk over to a sink and rinse my hands off, and put my freshly made cup somewhere to dry. Once I'm done I find a seat to myself and close my eyes. I've almost fallen asleep until I'm woken by shoulder tap, "Charlotte, hey. You seem... you seem gloomy. Are you okay?" It's Gale.

"Yes? No? Maybe. I don't know, Willow asked if we were together and then she made me make a promise that I wasn't lying to her and... I'm just nervous. I don't want her to find out, not yet." I mumble towards him, subtly resting my left hand on his.
Willow makes her way towards us and says with guilt written on her face, "Hey sis. Mom called, she wanted to say hi to you but said she got busy. I'm sorry you couldn't talk to her." "It's fine, she talks all the time. I'll see her next week. You don't have to feel guilty that I couldn't talk to her, I get it."

She nods and walks over to her friends. Gale sits beside me and I lean my head on his shoulder, "Maybe you shouldn't do this. You don't want your sister to find out, do you?" Gale asks me, I which I respond with, "Hmmm...if she asks I can say I was tired. Please?" He thinks for a second, then tilts his head into mine. "Can I tell you a fun fact, Charlotte?" He asks me, with a slightly high pitched voice.
"Go right ahead." I tell him, wondering what Gale has to say to me, "Did you know that the more you say a persons name the more they like you? It's a really cool fact I learned in class last year, Char." Gale tells me In excitement.

"I did not know that, Gale. Thanks for telling me that." I say to him. He lifts his head from mine and looks at Willow, "Are you sure she won't see that we're doing this?" Gale stammers, eyes darting across the room. "She's talking to Zach and Avery, I doubt she will notice. But I guess it's better to be safe than sorry." I tell him, pulling my head away from his body.

Within about half an hour everyone is done, and Cherry pulls us all into a circle, "Okay, we all are finished with pottery. I know some of you may disappointed in your work, but that's fine! Art comes with mistakes, practice makes perfect. Now we will be heading to the ice cream shop, so make sure to grab your things, kids!" She shouts, a smile gleaming on her face as usual.
I wonder how she does it, I may as well ask her, "Hey Cherry! How do you always keep such a big smile on your face? You always look so happy." I ask her, "Well, it's hard work. I make sure to always smile so people feel comfort instead of blandness. I want people to trust and like me, and by doing that a smile always helps. Even if it's not a real one." She says slowly, looking at me tenderly as we walk out of the shop.

I nod with a reasonable look on my face and walk towards Willow, "Hey, watcha up to?" I say excitedly to her, "Nothing much, me and Zach were just talking about you!" "What? What were you saying about me?" I ask Willow with confusion, "We we're just talking about how you love hiking! Zach does too." She smiles widely.
I walk away, not knowing if I should go to gal or not. I decide that I should talk to him and walk towards him, "Hey Charlotte?" Gale asks me, head in his hand. "Yes?" "What kind of ice cream should I get? There's so many choices!" He squeals, jumping up and down. "Wow, well I don't know. Not to sound rude or anything but, what's up with you jumping and squealing?" I ask, immediately regretting my words. You don't just ask someone why they are doing something so simple. Stupid Charlotte. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

He looks around then leans in to whisper to me, "I... have something that I haven't told you yet that I probably should have, I'm sorry," He apologizes to me, "I have autism, Charlotte. I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before. I hope you don't see me differently." A surprised look grows onto my face, then turns into something understanding, "It's okay, Gale. I had no idea but thank you for telling me. I still see you the same. You are still same old Gale to me." I reassure him, but then he begins speaking again, "But anyways, what flavour?"

"You should... you should get cherry cheesecake. I love that stuff." I recommend. He nods and then smiles. We walk into the ice cream shop together and Cherry asks us all, "What kind of ice cream do you kids want? One at a time, please." Kids begin walking up to her and telling her their orders, Cherry writing down each one.
I finally tell her that I want cherry cheesecake, and Gale does too. We wait about half an hour before we get our ice cream, other kids got theirs first. Willow is licking a cookies'n cream ice cream cone as me and Gale retrieve our treat.

We sit at a table together that a few other kids are sitting at. I lick mine and ask Gale a question, "So, how is it?" "I really like this. You have a good taste in ice cream Char!" He responds happily to me.
He slips his left hand into my right one under the table, where no one will see. "Y'know, we only have a week left with each other. Seven more days of camp." I inform Gale, his eyes begin looking dull after I tell him. "If only we had more time." He says looking into my eyes.

I lean my head on his shoulder for a moment, then kiss him on the cheek. "It's okay, Gale."
I tell him, taking another nibble of my ice cream.
"What's going on!? Charlotte, you promised you two weren't together! You promised." Willow shouts across the room. I panic, my gut swirling in worry.

I am so sorry that it took me so long to get another chapter up. I've been busy and have been trying to put my mental health first. I just thought it would be cute for the two to have a little date ❤️ but I'm upset that I had to ruin it ):

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