One In A Million

10: Long Time No See

Charlotte's POV

It was already the weekends and I'm glad that I'll be able to get some rest after last night's incident.

I sighed and looked at the picture on my side table. "I can't believe he's here again... After all these years..." I got out of bed and took a bath.

Blake and I decided yesterday that we'll meet up at the supermarket to buy the ingredients we need for the strawberry shortcake. It's currently 8:00 am and we decided to meet up at around 9. That'll give me enough time to prepare the necessary things I will be needing.

~Time skip~

I walked out of the house and locked the door before leaving. We were gonna practice baking the cake at my house later on.

I didn't think of what to wear so I ended up wearing a white blouse and skinny jeans accompanied with my sandals. I walked to the supermarket and saw that Blake was already there. He was wearing a plain blue t-shirt and jeans with his sneakers.

I jogged my way over to him, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting." "Hey Charlotte. There's no need to apologize, I wasn't waiting that long anyways." he smiled and we went in the supermarket.

He took a basket and we started picking out the ingredients. "What are the ingredients exactly?" he asked. "Um..." I checked my list, "3 pounds of strawberries, sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and freshly grated lemon zest." I finished.

"Can we really make this cake, Charlotte?" he asked. "That's why we're gonna practice making it today." I told him as I picked up the strawberries and pack of sugar.

Blake took care of the rest of the ingredients. "I think that's all of it, right?" we were almost done picking all of the ingredients when I felt someone hug from behind me. It was him.

??? POV

I was at the supermarket, doing errands for my mom and I can't wait to meet up with Charlotte later today. I walked up to an aisle when I heard a familiar voice. It was Charlotte's, no doubt.

I was happy to meet her again that I hugged her from behind. She was startled but calmed down when she knew it was me.

"Who is he, Charlotte?" a boy asked. "A friend of Charlotte's?" I thought and let go of her. "A friend of yours, my princess?" I wore a confident smile.

"I can't believe that you'd still call me that after all these years." she laughed nervously. "Is he a friend of yours, Charlotte?" that boy asked. "Yeah. He's my childhood friend to be exact."

"I'm Jake Anderson." I held out my hand for him to shake. "I'm Blake Parker. Nice to meet you." he shook my hand and I gripped it tightly.

Blake's POV

"Don't you dare hurt my precious princess or I'll have no choice but to dispose of you." he got close to me and whispered in my ear before loosening his grip on my hand. "I'm still in the middle of doing errands. I'll just stop by your place later, princess." Jake hugged Charlotte and smirked at me.

"See you later." Charlotte waved before Jake left the supermarket. "I don't know why but I have a bad feeling about him."

"He's annoying." I spoke after Jake left. "Oh come on. Don't say that. He's my childhood friend." Charlotte looked at me with disappointment written all over her face.

I didn't think she'd do that expression to me. "I-i'm sorry." my heart ached. "It's alright. I should be the one apologizing though. I didn't get to tell you that I had another friend before I met you but that was a long time ago though." she said, trailing off.

After a while, we went straight to Charlotte's house to practice baking the cake.

Charlotte opened the door and let me in. "Sorry for the intrusion..." I looked around and it was surprisingly... quiet.

"My parents are on a business trip and I'm the only child in the family so I live alone. In case you're wondering..." Charlotte stated, clearing my confusion.

"Oh..." was all that came out of my mouth before Charlotte led me to the kitchen. We started baking after understanding the procedures and so on.

Jake's POV

I walked back to my house, only a few blocks away from Charlotte's. I can't believe I saw her again today and with someone else. My heart ached at the thought.

"I can't believe it... She broke her promise..." I sighed and entered my house.

"I'm home." I said from the doorway. "Welcome back, dear." my mom greeted me from the kitchen. I walked up to her and handed her the grocery bag.

"Did anything happen while you were doing errands?" she asked me. "Not much... I met Charlotte there." I tried recalling the rest.

"Is that so?" she spoke, a smile plastered on her face. "How is she? She wasn't alone, was she?" she asked, concerned.

Believe it or not, my mom was always concerned for her. It was as if Charlotte was her own child.

My mom and her parents were close friends back then, that's why her parents trusted my mom to take care of her whenever they're away, which was all the time.

"She was with a friend of hers and she's doing fine." I smiled at her, reassuring her that Charlotte was fine.

"She's made friends? How nice." she chuckled. "I remembered how she didn't want to socialize with other people nor make friends with them when she was young. She'd just rely on you back then." I smiled at that.

She used to rely on me when we were young but now... she changed and broke our promise from back then. I doubt that she still remembers that promise though.

"I'm gonna rest for a bit." I scratched my head as I went in my room. "Alright." my mom said as I shut the door.

I laid down on my bed and closed my eyes. "Charlotte, my dearest princess. Why? Why did you do this... to me..." I said as I drifted off to sleep.

"We'll always be the best of friends, right? You won't replace me for anyone else, right?" I asked, dissapointed that I won't get to see her again. "Of course!" she smiled brightly.

"Even if we won't see each other for years?" I looked at her. "Absolutely!" she reassured me as she held my hand in hers. "That's a promise, okay?" I held out my pinky finger and she intertwined hers with mine. "It's a promise!" I smiled at that.

"I will always be the knight that will protect you and you will always be the princess that I will forever hold dearly in my heart."