Shiver

Three: Not For You

"A Ludlow girl?? Oh man ... you're out of your mind, bro, there's no way ..." Samuel commented. Tom had been with almost every girl in town, but he never crossed to the other side of Bluebridge where the better halves were living, let alone Bill Ludlow's daughter. "You don't wanna mess with Bill Ludlow, he's got grip on this town, don't wanna know what he'll do to you if he found out you're messing with his daughter," Ryan agreed.

He wasn't planning to mess around with this girl, though, not really. The moment he laid eyes on her, it was pure attraction. He'd never been attached to anything in his life after his mom left, he learned to mend for himself from such an early age. He explored his sexuality by having casual sex with many girls, but never really have a steady girlfriend before. When he saw Charlene, something inside him felt tamed, withdrawn from his usual wild ways of approaching the opposite sex, it was a feeling he didn't recognize.

His family fell apart after his younger brother died in a drowning accident. Gregory Raven was known to be an alcoholic loser who sold his home and drank himself stupid after his son died, his wife left him for another man. Tom was only 13 when his brother died, and a week shy of his 14th birthday when his mom suddenly disappeared from his life. He didn't quite understand what happened, he just knew that his mother didn't love him enough to stick around and left him with a man who hated him enough that he often beat him up and reminded him of how worthless he was.

He dropped out of school at sixteen, started working odd jobs to survive on his own, slept on people's couches and porches because he couldn't bring himself to go back to the caravan he shared with his abusive dad.

Everyone in his side of town knew who he was and vice versa. The girls knew that if Tom Raven was fixing their house in the day, chances are, he'll be sleeping on their bed at night. They were more than glad when they see Tom around their house. By reputation, eventually the girls knew that Tom Raven is not the guy they can expect to commit, but never disappoint when it comes to sex. So when Tom shied away at the sight of Charlene coming into the store, it was a side that his friends never saw before. His face was beaming and immediately followed her into Mrs. Cooper's store. "That's her? Oh wow ... you really are in deep shit!" Samuel joked and laughed with the other boys.

Mrs. Cooper greeted her when she walked in, followed by Tom. "Tom! Oh no, young man! You better go back to where you came!" He took off his cap, "Oh come on, Mrs. Cooper, I'm just here to help out with the groceries," he said. "Hey Tommy!" she greeted him. "Tommy? Charlene ... stay away from him, do you hear me? Your momma's not gonna be happy to know you're hanging out with this boy." Mrs. Cooper looked genuinely concerned. As she gathered all her mom's orders, Charlene smiled, "That's okay Mrs. Cooper, Tommy's just helping out."

The middle aged woman shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe the odds of Charlene Ludlow's first time out of her house and bumped into Tom Raven at her store. "How are you, Charlie?" that awkward question made Charlie laughed, "I'm fine, how are you?" His friends were looking in through the window, yelling and teasing. "Are those your friends?" Charlie leaned to look. "Yeah ... sorry 'bout that," he was embarrassed.

"For the love of God, Tom! If you don't tell those boys to behave, I'll go out there myself and give them a good smack!" Mrs. Cooper was at the end of her wits. "Yes, ma'am, I'll make sure they be quiet ... wait one second, Charlie," he was at his best behavior unlike his friends. He went outside to talk to them.

"Country boys! They have no manners! Charlene ... dear, these boys are trouble, especially Tom Raven, a girl like you shouldn't be around boys like them ... they're not good for you," Mrs. Cooper took the chance to talk her out of it. "He hasn't done anything wrong ... we're just talking," she was almost always smiling pleasantly. When his friends were quiet, Tom came back inside.