He Held My Hand

Chapter 4: One Date Down, One to Go

Grayson continued to hold Charlie in his arms, completely understanding her situation. Charlie soon pulled away and wiped her eyes, smiling at Grayson who was grinning at her, his grey eyes soft and warm. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and waved goodbye to Grayson, her mind on where she was going to go. She looked at her phone and saw she got a message from Riley. Charlie sighed and clicked her phone off and looked at the campus, remembering that she a class to attend tomorrow. ' I need to be with someone right know.' Charlie thought thinking of her day so far, remembering every little detail. As Charlie was still in her thoughts, she felt a tap in the shoulder and whips around see a girl. Not just any girl... a girl of the name Regina George ( Destiny Roads) the mean girl of the campus. Everyone hated her but her posse. Charlie had always wanted to murder her, ever since 4th grade when Destiny took her best friend from her. ' And here I thought today was going to get better...' Charlie thought grunting. Destiny smiled, her makeup looking as flawless as ever.
" Oh look who it is! It's Charlotte Gray, the cliche sporty female dog!" Destiny kept her devil eyes on Charlie, seeming like she was ready to kill. Charlie felt anger build up so she clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white.
" First of all Destiny, you came to me so don't act surprised. Second, at least I don't go around making out with men I don't know!" Charlie exclaimed, ignoring the fact that she might have related to the last thing she said, not thinking about it. ' It's isn't cheating, I'm only dating one!' Charlie told herself, tears forming in her eyes. Destiny kept her fake smile, along with her fake personality the whole time.
" Oh. My. Gosh. Are you about to cry? I thought you were tough! Oh, I get it, you are thinking about your family aren't you? The way your brother just left!" Charlie was full on crying now and bit her lip, trying not to punch Destiny in the face. Destiny stood there, hand on her hip, getting under Charlie's skin.
" Let's see... what else? Oh and the way your brother never loved you and never gave you a birthday card. Or are you thinking about the way that your mom and sister didn't care that you left or if you would die?" Charlie couldn't hold the pain in anymore, she collapsed and sat on her knees, tears falling down her cheeks.
" Why are you doing this! I didn't do anything to you!" Charlie screamed, wanting someone to hold her, pain making her head feel terrible.
" Leave her alone!" Charlie heard a mans voice but she didn't care who it was she just want to cry and cry. She looked up and saw Destiny walk away and felt someone pick her up bridle style, holding her tight.
" I'm here, I promise." Charlie sobbed and she finally realized that the guy that was holding her was Gabe, she suddenly left the pain and felt embarrassed. She hugged Gabe and he let her down, his hands staying on her waist. Gabe held Charlie close and his forehead was on Charlie's and he smiled, pain in his eyes.
Charlie started to hope that Gabe hadn't heard anything Destiny said but that wasn't the only thing on her mind. She felt the love Gabe had as he held her in his arms. She started to feel Gabe's eyes on her so she stepped back quickly, still embarrassed.
" I'm sorry Gabe. You shouldn't have dealt with that." Charlie wiped her tears away but Gabe moved her hands and wiped them himself, a smile still not even trying to form on his lips. Charlie felt disgusting and felt sweat drip down her face, the heat of the sun beating down on her back and part of her face. Gabe searched Charlie's face and ran his hands threw his hair, his eyes not leaving Charlie's.
" Charlie, I don't have to deal with half the things I do everyday but you were hurt and I couldn't just let her do that." Gabe sighed, his eyes leaving Charlie's and they wondered the campus around them as people just walked by, books in hand. Charlie started to play with her fingers and she started to get Destiny out of her mind.
' Great, now Destiny probably won't leave me alone and Gabe might know my biggest secret and we haven't even been dating for a week.' Charlie silently sighed so Gabe couldn't notice and she took in a breath, knowing what to say.
" Gabe, I appreciate what you did, it's just I.... I just was mad that she said something and I should be thankful that you helped me. Thank you." Charlie hopefully looked up at Gabe and he just stood there, looking at Charlie. She tried smiling at him and he eventually snapped, smiling back, running his hand through his hair again.
" Charlie, can we go out now instead?" Gabe was still smiling as he said so, hoping that Charlie would say yes. Charlie thought about anything she had to do today but her calendar was blank so she nodded, a smile curving on her lips. Gabe started to blush and they walked to Gabe's car together. Charlie felt butterflies in her stomach the same way it had before, when they first met. But the feelings she had for Gabe seemed wrong for her, she felt lost but at the same time found. It was like a circle of hope and hopelessness but at this point, Charlie let it go and watched as the trees flew by. The nice midsummer breeze fell onto Charlie's face and she smiled even bigger. ' Why can't it always be this nice and peaceful?' Charlie closed her eyes and waited as the breeze continued to come, as she continued to wait for the destination to arrive.
" If it's okay with you, we can go to my house for pizza?" Gabe asked, breaking the silence that seemed too long. Charlie looked at Gabe and nodded, Gabe noticing the twinkle in her eye.
" That would be fine, I could care less about where we go." Charlie and Gabe's eyes met and quickly left each others, their eyes back on the road that seemed to be a way of peace. Charlie put her hands at her side and sat quietly once again, shifting in her seat to get comfy. All of a sudden her phone beeped and she jumped in surprise, and she picked it up see a text from Riley that read ' I need to talk to you Charlotte! PLEASE!' Charlie wrinkled her nose in disgust as her actual name was used, it was like poison that never needed to be of use. She wanted to say everything she could to Riley but Charlie was trying to make sure that the only priorities were 1, making sure Grayson nor Gabe knew her secret and 2, she would get at least one date done so she would have only one more to go.