The Next Door Down// Gawsten

IV

     I'd woken up oddly optimistically on this fine morning. I couldn't wait to see Charlie, and more importantly, Awsten! So, I set out on a mission, maybe Otto was right, may it was as simple as just asking to go out for coffee.
     When I showed up for Charlie, it wasn't Awsten who answered the door, it was a teenaged girl. She smiled and waved to me when she opened the door, "hi, are you here for Charlie?" She asked excitedly. "Yeah, are you Awsten's sister or something?" I inquired. "Yeah, can you tell?" She responded, laughing. I only nodded. "I'll get Charlie!" She said, just as sweet as before. Just as the disappointment was setting in, Awsten poked his brightly colored head out the front door. "Hey," he said with a kind smile. "I met your sister." I said. He laughed, then came Charlie, who ran between us. We went on our merry way. I'd hoped I'd be able to Awsten again when I dropped Charlie off.
     To my surprise, and joy, I did get to see him. I had as much confidence as I was ever going to have, "Would you, would you uh, wanna maybe do something sometime?" I asked awkwardly. He smiled,"Coffee at 3?". I nodded and left.