Life slips through our hands

Chapter 21

The night was fun and Nina got along with Jacky's friends. She noticed that Charles was evidently closer to Matt, Jacky, and Harry; and his interactions with the rest were more cordial than friendly. Was it because they knew each other from a younger age? She asked Charles about it when they were heading home.

Charles explained to her that they were indeed Jacky's friends and as much as he had a good relationship with them, he only considered Jacky, Harry, and Matt as his friends.

"I wanted to ask you another thing too", said Nina playing with her fingers.

"What is it?". He turned at her briefly, he was driving.

"You said to Vicky that I'm your girlfriend".

"Oh, that", he chuckled. "Do you not want to?"

"It's not that. I just didn't know we were like... official", she smiled.

"I even asked you to be my girlfriend a while ago".

"What? No, you didn't".

"Yes, I did. The day we went to Carson Beach, but the princess fell asleep".

"Oh my God", she laughed nervously and covered her face with her hands embarrassed. "I'm sorry".

"I don't think I have been more embarrassed as that day in all my life. These things usually scale for themselves, you know? But knowing my reputation I wanted things to be straight and clear".

"I'm really sorry", she repeated. "But... Am I officially your girlfriend then?", she asked blushing bright red.

"Of course you are", he smiled. She sank in the co-drivers seat with a huge smile on her face, she was so happy!

The next couple of weeks passed by quickly between dates and long calls with Charles and afternoons at Lara's house.

This week, Nina and her friends started their classes and Charles was going to pick her up to go on a date after school. Nina just wanted the classes to finish fast!

"Hey, I heard Adela is not coming to classes until next week", whispered Lara. They were in biology class.

"She can skip the year if she wants", replied Nina taking notes of what the teacher was saying.

"Are you meeting Charles today?", Nina nodded with a bright smile on her face.

"We're going to the beach".

"Oh... I should go with Ian too, it'll be fall soon", she sighed.

The bell rang and Nina started to put her things in her bag quickly as the teacher was telling them to start studying now so they didn't have too much work when tests come.

"I have to go. See you tomorrow", said Nina grabbing her backpack and running to the exit.

"Call me tonight!", shouted Lara.

"Ok!", replied Nina without looking back.

When Nina got off the school, Charles' honk called her attention right away. He had parked across the street; he waved at her with his usual charming smile. She checked that there wasn't any car coming and run towards him.

"Hi", she pecked his lips and closed the car's door.

"Did you miss me?", he asked.

"Not much, really", Nina smiled playfully.

"I have such a cold girlfriend", he frowned following her game.

"Poor you", she kissed softly.

"Did you eat lunch already?"

"Yeah. I'm ready to go".

Charles drove to the beach and they spent the afternoon playing and walking around. The weather was really nice and there were not many people.

Charles' classes were going to start on Monday so he talked to Mr. Bower as he decided to quit but the old man convinced him to stay. Charles was going to work just on Sundays from now onwards. It was a good excuse to see Nina an extra day too.

Nina changed her shifts too. Joanna had a terrible schedule that semester so she asked Nina to switch some shifts. Nina was going to work Mondays in the afternoon and Sundays. She lost some working hours but since Mondays were really good days, she didn't mind. And she was happy because she still could be with Charles on Sundays. It was a win-win for her.

"Do you think you can come?", he asked.

"Sorry, what?", she asked turning her head to look at him.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just got distracted, sorry. What were you saying? You were planning a party with your friends at the lake house".

"Yeah, it's going to be the day after tomorrow. Can you come?".

"Hm... I don't know. Let me ask my mother tonight, ok?". He nodded.

They were going to stay at Charles' parents' house in Buel Lake. It was just 2 hours away from Boston but she didn't know if her mother would accept; especially if she said that she was going with her boyfriend. Her mother didn't know she had got a boyfriend to start with.

That night, Nina tried to talk to his mother about the whole lake thing but it seemed that she was not in the mood for anything. She kept complaining about her boss and his lack of common sense. Apparently, they had a problem in the office and his boss threw her a tantrum.

It was not the best scenario to tell her that she had a boyfriend and he invited her to a party outside the city. She knew her mother was old-fashioned too; she didn't like the idea of nights over at boyfriends' houses. How many times did she hear her mother complaining about that topic when she knew about some pregnant teenager? Or even when she talked about her friends, her mother always had something to complain about regards their dating. No, Nina had to keep her mouth shut. Lara would definitely help her with this one.

"Hey, hey! How was your date?", asked Lara at the other end of the line.

"It was fun. I think I burnt my shoulders a bit".

"Put on some after-sun cream", said she.

"I'm on that. Is there some particular reason why you asked me to call you?"

"No, I just wanted to know how your date went".

"Are you still worried about me going out with Charles?"

"No, but it's your first boyfriend so I just wanted to make sure everything goes well".

"Everything is fine but hey, I need to ask you a favor".

"What is it?", Nina explained the whole situation to Lara. "Sure, tell her that you're going to stay over at my house".

"Thank you! You're a life savior".

"We can come to my house together, so you don't have to lose time going back and forth".

"You're the best friend ever", said Nina. Lara laughed.

"You know that just Charles' friends are going, right?"

"Yeah, but as far as I know, Matt will go with Jenna. It won't be so awkward".

"Let's plan everything tomorrow at school. I'm finishing my homework".

"Ok, see you tomorrow. Thank you".