Charlie Whitmen loves sports, junk food, video games, cars and basically anything-if not everything-your average teenaged boy would find interesting. But wait a second, Charlie isn't even a boy! Oh no, she's actually a girl!
Bet you didn't see that...
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Playing Dirty Little Secret No More
"What do you mean Charlie isn't dating Jillian?" Cecilia's golden eyebrows are puckered together while her lips are molded into a frown. A cold, harsh breeze sweeps by as silence fills the space in between them. She and Hayden are standing outside of the library under a flickering lamppost, the full moon dangling above their heads. The streets are deserted, no other pedestrians in sight.
"It's exactly what it sounds like," the boy says tiredly. "We were wrong. She's not the least bit interested in girls. In fact, according to her, she's very much attracted to guys." He doesn't understand why he feels troubled revealing this newfound information to her. But for some reason, there's this restless sensation swirling around inside of him, leaving him feeling rather unsettled. Perhaps he should have patched things up with Cecilia first. It's too late for that now.
"Does she like you?" she questions, immediately on the defensive end of the spectrum.
"What?" Hayden gawks, mouth agape. "Where did that idea come from, Cecilia?"
"How would you explain the situation then?" his girlfriend huffs, trying her best to gather her thoughts. Next, Cecilia begins to pace up and down on the sidewalk, hands curled into fists, her long nails digging into the skin on her palm. "Did she try to take advantage of you? She must have. How else would you have found out that she's heterosexual," she retorts before she claws her scalp in aggravation. "I shouldn't have trusted her. I let my guard down and gave her the opportunity to steal you away from me," Cecilia accuses, anger and fear evident in her tone.
Hurt that Cecilia would say such terrible things about the girl, who has been nothing but generous towards them, without any knowledge of what happened, Hayden's nostrils flare. He's already allowed people to sputter terrible things about Charlie without defending her honor and he's not willing to make the same mistake twice. She's his friend. "Charlie isn't somebody who'd do that," he says, eyes narrowing pointedly at Cecilia. "And you know what? I don't appreciate you speaking badly about her, especially after everything she's done for us."
"Are you honestly defending another girl in front of me?" she swallows, disbelief written all over her face. "Your real girlfriend."
"I am," Hayden confirms without reluctance, his head held high. He doesn't know what's come over him. Initially, he had showed up with the motive to make up with Cecilia and tell her all about Charlie. Therefore, it had most certainly not been his intention to get entangled in another argument with her. However, unlike the first fight they had, which when compared to the one they are partaking in at the moment seems awfully trivial, this one is, without question, much more severe in nature because it directly involves Charlie.
Cecilia freezes and stares at him with a look of betrayal smeared over her face. Is the person standing before her really the same boy who'd promised he'd pluck the stars straight out from the sky for her so long as she wishes to have them? Desolately, she is only able to mutter a quiet, "Why?"
