Dangers of Daydreaming

Chapter 10

OH YES! IT'S THE LAST OMG I'M SO GLAD TO FINISH THIS I MIGHT CRY BUT I WON'T BECAUSE THIS TOTALLY SUCKS AND NOT WORTH CRYING FOR. BUT I'M GLAD TO FINISH A BOOK - ALTHOUGH SHORT - NEVERTHELESS A BOOK.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO READ THIS AND MADE IT POSSIBLE! :)

~

I’m not sure what drives me to walk out of the school gym and hail myself a cab home. Maybe it’s the rage or the humiliation, or maybe it’s both. It must look silly for a girl who looks like she’s going to a high-class soiree to be walking around, but I didn’t care. I have to get out of here.

            “Wait!” Someone distinctly yells behind me. “Charlotte, wait!” And I turn around to find Tom, Katherine, and Xander catching up with me. “Don’t leave yet, please,” Katherine pleads as she struggles to run faster in her five-inch heels. I wait for them to get closer, but I have a feeling that if I did, I won’t be able to escape.

            “Tom told us what happened,” Xander begins, looking worried just like the rest of them. “Don’t go yet. We’re here for you, Char.” And it’s only then I see the sincerest side of Alexander Weel that I never knew existed. “Yeah,” Katherine says in between pants. “We are. Everyone saw what happened, but it’s okay. Gus is probably gone by now.”

            And for the first time, I don’t feel that tingle or flutter inside me whenever my ears pick up his name. It’s unusual, to be honest, but that didn’t matter anymore. It’s not like I still like him, because I don’t.

            Finding out that sex is the only thing someone wants from you can do that to you.

            Admittedly, it’s a disappointment. Because I actually thought that he’s starting to like me. But it was all just an act, so it definitely sucks. But I’ll get over it, sooner or later.

            “You think?” I breathe out after a moment. And I’m not sure who I’m talking to in particular here, but they all nod at the same time. “Besides,” Katherine says. “You can’t just leave,” and she says it like it’s the most absurd thing in the whole world. “It’s prom!” She tries to encourage me and cheer me up, and I’m almost swayed by her words. “It’s the best night of your high school life. You’re at the top of your game now, so don’t quit. Please?” And I’m not sure how she does it, but every time she looks at me with her puppy dog eyes, I can’t help but do whatever she says.

            “The night is still young,” Tom adds, looking at me full of hope that it stirs something inside me, from my stomach and growing to my whole system. “And so are we. So, Charlotte, please don’t go.” Those three words that send my body to overdrive, the words that I’ve always wanted to hear from someone, the words that make me feel so important are the ones that really made me say, “Okay, I won’t.”

            And so I didn’t. They’re all right. Maybe I’m just blowing things out of proportion here, not thinking rationally, and letting my emotions control me instead of me controlling my emotions.

            Sure, the part wherein people stared at me with disbelief and confusion painted on their faces was kind of weird and uncomfortable. But that didn’t matter anymore. What matters is that I’m now dancing the night away with the three best people in my life, excluding my parents.

            Katherine was right, too. Gus was gone and had left. I heard from one of the avid gossip people that he isn’t going to continue senior year here, it had been his plan long before he gained prominence in our class. Also that he’s planning to go back to America when the finals are over.