Porcupinegirl787@yahoo.com

7

Nervous nervous nervous nervous nervous. It was my first date with Cody; I'm so nervous. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, how much to dress up, or if I'd need money. He told me nothing. I was afraid of being under or over dressed, of making him pay, of just about everything I could be afraid of. I wanted to call him and beg for information. But I wouldn't. That would mean he wins. I had to win. I would win.

I wore a casual turquoise dress and matching bow for my chestnut hair which I curled again and dark brown cardigan, with a gold necklace and bracelet, and a clutch purse I fixated straps onto, then added some light make-up, a little lip gloss, and some mascara. I gave myself a little Harley-Quinn-heart with eyeliner and texted him that I'm ready.

"Wow..." Was all he said when I opened the door. "Too much?" "You're... You're beautiful, Chara." "Oh, thank you, Cody," I kiss his cheek leaving a pink lipstick kiss behind on his pale cheek. "What about me? Am I beautiful too?" He does an over exaggerated pose for a moment then quickly retracts in embarrassment. I giggle and reply "lovely."

"Where are we going?" I whine. We had walked a fair while already and he still hadn't told me. "Is it a problem to take my girl on a stroll about the town?" "Your girl? So I belong to you now?" "Only where other guys are concerned," he blushes, trying to cover for himself. "What if I told you I like girls too?" "Do you?" "Not that way, but..." "Then there's no reason to ask."

"Oh, I hate those guys..." "What was that?" "Them over there," Cody whispers, pointing to a group of boys at a skate park we were passing. "They're mean. They call me gay then make fun of me for that. I don't know why; I didn't think it was that secret I like you." "Well then, baby, why don't we put on a little show for them." "W-what do you..." I cut him off with a passionate kiss. I could hear them muttering, the loudest comment being "looky here, faggy found himself a whore." I suppressed my rage and pretended I heard nothing. I broke the kiss after a moment to speak "I love you, sweetheart. Today has been amazing. I can't wait to do this again." "I-I love you too, Charlotte," he replied. "So much." He kissed me again then hugged me tight.

"Do you think they bought it?" I ask when we were out of their line of sight. "I hope so. They're really mean about it." "Well, if you ever need to convince them more, just call on your girlfriend for help." "Y-you're serious?" "Of course. I wouldn't be a good girlfriend if I didn't help my boyfriend with a bully."

"Um, Chara, can I ask you something?" "Shoot." "W-when you said you loved me..." "Oh god," I mumble under my breath. "I-I know it was just to convince them, but it sounded so real. W-what..." "Cody, let me stop you there. There's no way for me to say this without hurting you, I'm sure. I don't love you that way, but I love you as my friend. I actually didn't know if I even liked you until you asked me out. And I'm scared to love. So if it takes a while, it's nothing against you. You are the most amazing boy and I love you as my friend but I'm not ready to love. Okay?" "Oh..." "I'm sorry, but I loved Dean, and now... Oh, I'm sorry. That's not something I should be telling you... I'm sorry." "It's okay. I get it; I'm okay knowing. I want to know; I can learn from him." "No, don't think of it like that. I just want you to be your adorable little self. I love the way you are, I don't want you to change, not one bit."