flipped

my curly haired stalker (henry)

All I've ever wanted was for Charlotte Bolten to leave me alone. For her to back up, give me some personal space. It has been six years, six years. Six years of avoiding and discomfort. She didn't just waltz into my life, no. She shoved and wedged her way into my life. Did we invite her to hop into our moving van and climb all over our boxes? No. But that is exactly what Charlotte Bolten did. My dad, good old dad, tried to stop her. "Hey, hey, hey!" He said as she clambered into the van. "What are you doing? You're getting mud everywhere." This was very true. Her converse were caked in the stuff. She didn't hop out, though. Instead, she planted her rear end on the floor and started pushing a big box with her muddy shoes. "Don't you want some help?" She glanced my way. "It sure looks like you need it." I didn't like the implication. And even though my dad had been tossing me the same sort of look all week, I could tell he didn't like this girl either. "Hey! Don't do that," he warned her. "There are some really valuable things in that box."

"Oh. Well, how about this one?" She scooted over to a box labeled Piper's and looks my way again. "We could push it together?" Her brown eyes gleamed as she smiled at me. I scowled in return."No, thank you." my dad said, pulling her up by the arm. "Why don't you run along home? Your mother's probably wondering where you are."
This was the beginning of my soon-to-become-acute awareness that the girl cannot take a hint. Of any kind. She said, "Oh, my mom knows where I am. She said it was fine." Then she points across the street and said, "We live just right over there." My father looked to where she's pointing and muttered, "Oh boy." Then he looked at me and winked as he said, "Henry, isn't it time for you to go inside and help your mother?" A wave of relief washed over me. I winked back at my dad, except I did it too quickly so it looked like I blinked. "Okay!" I beamed. I quickly climbed out of the van and ran towards home, and freedom. As I was running, I swore I heard feet running after me but I hadn't  been sure. She could have been running the other way. I turned to see, when the strangest thing happened. She ran past me, grabbing my arm and yanking me along. I tried to wiggle my arm out of her grasp but the next thing I knew I was holding the muddy, curly haired girl's hand. I stared down at our fingers for a moment before what just happened registered in my brain. I viciously yanked at our intertwined fingers but she held my hand in vice grip and was trying to drag me along. "Come on!" She said, tugging me forward.

My mom came out of our new house and smiled at our interlocked fingers. I desperately try to pull away but Mom just stands there smiling at my burning face and the curly haired girl. "Hi!" Charlotte chirped. Mom waved. "Hello to you too. What's your name?" She asked. "I'm Charlotte Bolten and I live right there." She said, pointing with her unoccupied hand. "Well, I see you've met my son." Mom said, smiling even wider. "Uh-huh!" Charlotte said and while she was distracted, I freed my hand and ran. I hid behind Mom and rubbed my aching fingers. Mom put her arms around me and gave me a small push forward. "Henry, sweetie, why don't you show Charlotte around the house?" She said. My eyes went wide and I gave my head a small shake. Mom put her hands on her hips. "Come on in, Charlotte." She said, after shooting me a warning glance. Charlotte would have tramped right in with her shoes the way they were if Mom hadn't noticed them and told her to leave them outside. After those were off, Mom told her socks had to go too. Charlotte wasn't one bit embarrassed. She just peeled them off and left them in a crusty heap on our porch.

I never gave a tour. I locked myself in the bathroom instead. After ten minutes of yelling back that, I was never, ever leaving the safety of the bathroom, I didn't hear her high pitched insistent voice anymore. I peeked into the hallway to find it empty of Charlotte. I held my breath as I checked the window and saw the muddy socks and shoes were gone from our porch. I finally let myself breath.
This was not the end of Charlotte Bolten. Oh, no. Every day she saw me would ask if I wanted to play. I would hide away in my house until she left. Unfortunately, Piper began accepting candy and chocolate bars to reveal my hiding places. I only had my father as an ally. He would fend her off by saying I was busy or I was sick. I spent my remaining two days of summer break in Swellview hiding indoors and avoiding the doorbell. This was how I spent all my summers onward hiding from the stalker. School is an entirely different story.

The first day of second grade I prayed really hard as I munched on Lucky Charms. I had my eyes squeezed closed and my hands clasped together. I prayed that Charlotte was not in my class or that she was homeschooled or anything not to see her. Mom made me take pictures of my starched button up and pressed jeans, interrupting my prayers. I continued praying in the mini van on our way to Swellview Elementary School. I thought if I prayed without a break maybe my prayers would be answered. I walked down the halls with my shoulders hunched, guarded. I walked into Ms. Erin's room, hoping for the best. I survey the classroom briefly, before going to a cubby marked Henry Hart in perfect penmanship. When I turned around, I was attacked and ears were assailed with a high pitched squeal. I fell to the ground and felt myself being crushed as Charlotte Bolten attempted to squeeze the insides out of me. "I can't believe we're in the same class!" She squealed again and I felt the color rush to my face as the class bursted into giggles. The day only grew worse as she chased me round and round the playground trying to kiss me. Needless to say, I was the laughingstock of the classroom for my entire second grade year. Third grade and fourth grade passed with no change whatsoever. By the fifth grade, I was entirely fed up. So I came up with an idea. Veronika Iseman is the worst person in the world according to Charlotte. So I decided to ask her out to get Charlotte off my back. It wasn't not difficult as Veronika is super pretty and normal. I gathered the courage to ask her out and she said yes. The day after, everyone in school found out. "Dude! Is it true?" Jasper asked. "Is what true?" I asked, staring back at the people who were staring at me. I felt incredibly awkward, like I had a third eye. "That you and Veronika Iseman are seriously in love?" He pressed, eyes wide. I frowned. "No, I just asked her out. It's a part of my plan. I call it: Operation Get Charlotte Bolten Off My Back or OGCOB." I said proudly. Jasper looked at me skeptically. "You realize Charlotte is a basket case, right? OGCOB is not going to work." He said. I waved his warning away. Two days later, Charlotte and Veronika get into a huge fight. One week later, Veronika is dating some other guy. OGCOB was a major fail and Charlotte was back on my tail again.

By sixth grade, I no longer had to run from Charlotte on the playground till recess ended. No, somehow things got weirder. Charlotte was once again in my class and now she sat behind me in class. This caused to problems. One, she was now sniffing me. Yes, you heard me. She would lean forward in her desk, in the middle of class or whenever she pleased and sniff my hair. The second problem is that when she sat beside me, I had a clear view of her tests and quizzes and I could look at them. I'm not proud but it kept me from failing my classes. Besides, Charlotte is insanely smart. I used to make decent grades but I began to fall behind. I tried studying but it wasn't working. It was D 's and F's day after day. Then one day, Charlotte leans forward again to sniff me in the middle of a test. "Number eight is spelled v-i-r-t-u-o-s-o." She whispered softly. She then spelled all the answers from 1-20 on the test. When I got my test back, I made an A. I looked back at Charlotte who beamed at. I looked back at my grade and felt a stab of guilt. She was helping me pass school and I still found her irritating. My grades were rising again and I couldn't help but feel a weird mixture of annoyance and gratitude. She was still sniffing me and she had ruined my recess time in the past. Not to mention she was a total stalker. Next year, we'll be in a much bigger school and there'll be a smaller chance of her being in my classes. And this will finally, finally be over.