My life wasn't that complicated, sure I hadn't come out to all my family yet, but other than that life was good. My friends supported me and that was good enough for me. I couldn't ask for more, though I knew eventually I'd have to tell my family about the fact that I was gay. My family is pretty traditional and won't stand for the whole lesbian lifestyle I live, that's the only reason I haven't told them. I feel like if I told my mom she'd come up with an excuse to keep my sister from hanging out with me, or find a way to keep my brother from hanging out with me as well, even though they already know. I told myself I tell the rest of my family when I turn eighteen, which is in nine months, so I have a while to prepare. If they decide to disown me at least I'll be able to move out on my own legally.
"Charlie, are you listening to anything I'm saying?" Meg complained. We were sitting in the cafeteria in our normal spot waiting for school to actually start, today was the first day of senior year, and there was a pretty girl giving me a flirty smile from across the room, of course I wasn't listening to a word she was saying.
"What? Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked arching my eyebrows turning to face her.
"Never mind," she sighed shaking her head running a hand through her blonde hair. Megan has been my best friend since we were little, her mom was friends with my mom so that's how we met.
"No tell me," I told her. "I'm listening I promise."
"Fine... So you remember John right?"
"The blonde one?"
"No, the other one, the brunette."
"Yeah, I remember. Why? Didn't you guys go out or something?"
"Sort of. But that's not the point, he came over to my place the other day and pretty much begged me to go out on a date with him so I said yes and guess where he took me?"
"Olive Garden?"
"Burger King! He took me to fucking Burger King!" She exclaimed. Meg was really big on the whole dating thing.
"Sorry Meg, guess that just means you know he's not the one," I shrugged softly.
"Yeah but he was so cute," she sighed.
"Well then give him another chance," I looked over at her.
"I'll think about it."
"Charlotte right?" I looked up to the sound of my name and arched my eyebrows up some. It was the girl that had been flirting with me from across the room. Her green eyes were beautiful.
"I actually go by Charlie," I smiled softly.
"Right, sorry," she gave a soft chuckle. "I'm Kimberly," she held her hand out.
"Nice to meet you," I shook her hand and couldn't help but smile when she pressed a piece of paper into my hand.
"Nice to meet you too," she smiled before walking away. Kimberly classified as femm, at least that's how I saw her. I didn't exactly dress like a boy but I wore a lot of sweatpants, low cut tank tops, boxers... I wasn't you topical femm but I was close enough to it.
"What was that about?" Meg asked.
"Uh, I'm not exactly sure," I laughed a little and slid the paper into my pocket.
"Looks like the newbie is crushing on you," she nudged me smiling.
"How do you know she's new?"
"Because I'm student body president, I pretty much know everyone, plus she's hanging out with Jamie." Jamie was part of the welcoming committee here at school.
"Oh."
"What's on the paper ?"
"Damn, you see everything don't you?" I laughed.
"Yeah kind of," she shrugged. I pulled the paper from my pocket and unfolded before glancing over to Kimberly. She smiled for a moment before she looked away. "Read it," Meg complained.
"Fine, fine," I moved my eyes back to the paper and in cursive hand writing it read. "'We should hang out sometime, give me a call when you want to set something up,'" and she left her number," I shrugged some looking up to Meg.
"Are you going to call her?" She grinned.
"I don't know maybe," I smiled.
"You should."
"I might." The first bell rang and we made our way to English class. Meg and I had all the same classes, well except for gym, just like last year.
"Are you playing softball this year?" Meg asked me while we waited for the teacher to take roll.
"I kind of have to play this year," I smiled.
"Why?"
"I'm team captain of the varsity team, I have been since sophomore year," I shrugged.
"Oh yeah, that's true."
"Charlotte?" Mr. Adams called my name from the roll.
"I go by Charlie."
"Okay, Charlie," I watched him check off my name before moving on to the next few names before he called Meg's name.
"Meg, Charlie!" We both looked up at the sound of our name and watched as one of our great friends came towards us. I watched him hand his late pass to our teacher before pulling up at chair to our table.
"Hey Kyle," Meg and I said together.
"Hello beautiful ladies," Kyle is British and pretty awesome, he's one of the two guys that we hang out with. The other ones name is Michael, he's gay and he's just as awesome as Kyle, though he's not British.
"Flattering will get you no where," Meg nudged him playfully.
"But I really need you guys to help me with something."
"What do you need help with?" I asked.
"My film making project, I have to make a movie and I need actresses I also need an assistant." Kyle was planning on majoring in film.
"Charlie is a better actress than me, I'll be your assistant," Meg shrugged.
"I'm not that great of an actor," I shook my head.
"Says the girl that's been in every school play and musical since seventh grade," Meg laughed softly.
"What's your movie about anyway?" I was trying to change the subject.
"You'll like it. It's about a human girl that is forced to marry an alien to save the life of every other human in the world, but the alien is a real gentlemen, he won't force her to marry him he wants to make her fall in love with him. So he creates a machine that turns him human and she falls in love with the human him but when he turns back into an alien she can't love him anymore."
"I think America is getting to your brain... Why not just do a documentary or something easy?" Meg arched her eyebrows.
"Why are you determined to crush my dreams?"
"She has a point though Kyle, I mean making a movie like that is going to take a lot of time and money," I agreed.
"Fine I'll rethink it," he sighed. "So much for real friends."
"We are real friends, which is why we aren't letting you do that movie," Meg smiled and I laughed softly. "So guess what?" She grinned at Kyle.
"What?"
"There's this girl that has a major crush on Charlie," she gushed.
"Just because she gave me her number doesn't mean that she has a crush on me," I shook my head at her laughing softly. "She could simply want to hang out with me," I shrugged.
"I don't think so. How do you think she knew you were even into girls?"
"I'm pretty sure Jamie told her, Jamie is like the eyes and ears of high school," I guessed.
"Or she saw your boxers and connected the dots," Kyle smirked and poked my side.
"Whatever, it doesn't even matter."
"Why not?" Meg looked at me.
"Because she's in love with a straight girl," Kyle grinned.
"Ha ha, very funny," I nudged him. "That's only happened to me once, and I was a freshmen when that happened," I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Is the girl that likes you cute?"
"Why? Are you hoping she's bisexual so you can compete for her?" Meg grinned.
"No, I just simply wanted to know if she was cute," he laughed.
"She's pretty," Meg shrugged.
"Says the straight girl," he chuckled softly.
"Meg is more than capable of being able to tell whether a girl is pretty or not, just because she's straight doesn't mean she can't," I shrugged some.
"Whatever you say."
"Anyways... She's actually really pretty, she's got green eyes, she's a blonde, she has a nice nose and so far seems pretty nice," I told him.
"And her feet?"
"I didn't look at her feet, why does that even matter?" I laughed softly.
"You can always tell a lot by a persons feet," he shrugged. Our first two periods were nothing but going over expectations and rules then it was first lunch. Lunch was always fun. We pretty much spent our lunch talking and playing around.
"Guess who I found in the bathroom," Meg said as she came back to our table. I looked up at her then to her right. She found my sister.
"Amber, I didn't know you had this lunch," I smiled softly. This year was her second year in high school and our brothers first, he probably had second lunch. "Where are you sitting?"
"Over there, with the rest of the cheerleaders," she shrugged.
"You're cheerleader this year?" Meg smiled.
"Yeah, I'm on Jr Varsity," she shrugged softly.
"You'll be Varsity next year don't worry," I smiled at her.
"Thanks, I better get back, I'll see you guys later," she waved before making her way back to her table.
"So where's this girl that was hitting on you?" Michael asked. "Do you even know what grade she's in?"
"I don't know I haven't seen her, and I'm not exactly sure what grade she's in, though I'm pretty sure she's a senior, she has a body like a senior," I shrugged.
"So you had time to look at her body but not her feet?" Kyle chuckled.
"Shut up Kyle," I told him playfully.
"Isn't that your mystery lady over there at the cheerleaders table?" Meg asked me. I looked over towards the table and sure enough she was sitting there. Not that I cared, it's not like cheerleaders were any better than us who aren't cheerleaders.
"Yeah, that is her," I shrugged a little bit.
"Which one?" Michael asked.
"The one sitting next to Olivia."
"Oh," he chuckled softly.
"That's her?" Kyle smiled. "She's hot," he grinned nudging me. I rolled my eyes at him playfully and seconds later the bell rang.
"Well time for History," Meg sighed. Instead of sitting next to Meg I got stuck sitting next to a girl named Nicole, Mrs. Matthews had already made a seating chart. I couldn't wait for school to be over, I know it just started and everything but honestly I was ready to be out on my own. I've got a job and I've been saving up my money so that I can move out after the school year is up. Hopefully I'll be able to go to college on a sports scholarship, not that I need it, my parents could pay for my college, I just don't want to rely on them for everything. I'm gonna be eighteen soon, I shouldn't have to rely on my parents for every little thing.
"You're the softball captain right?" Nicole asked me. We had like ten minutes left of class.
"Yeah," I nodded a little bit and looked over at her. "Are you interested in playing?"
"Yeah... When are tryouts?"
"Tryouts aren't till February, but workouts start in September. The workouts aren't mandatory to tryout but they help. How long have you been playing?"
"I've been playing since middle school," she smiled softly.
"That's awesome, have you played here at school?"
"No, I haven't I usually play outside of school," she shrugged.
"Well since you've been playing since middle school you could be a shoe in for Varsity," I smiled.
"Thanks," she smiled back.
"Hey, Charlie come here for a second," Michael waved me over.
"You're welcome," I gave her one last smile before grabbing my bag and making my way over to Mike and Meg.
"Do we look like we could be brother and sister?" He asked pointing to Meg.
"Haven't I answered this before?"
"Maybe."
"You guys favor a little bit, why is that such a big deal?"
"Because people keep asking if we're related, and it's annoying."
"Well I'm sorry people think your related," I shrugged some. I watched him roll his eyes before folding his arms over his chest leaning back in his chair.
"So... Does cutie with the green eyes have a name?" He smiled up at me.
"Kimberly."
"That's cute, how'd you guys meet?" I told him the short story and as soon as I was done the bell rang. Last period of the day, I'm so happy. Kyle and Meg never took gym first semester always second. I stopped at my locker to grab my gym clothes before going to the girls locker room by the gym. I found an empty locker and put my stuff down and began to take off my shoes before pulling off my shirt. I wore sport bras almost always. I slid out of my sweatpants and put my shorts on. Gym was the only class you really did anything in on the first day. Coach Dillard made us run laps, she always makes us run laps.
"Hey, Charlie." I looked up and saw Kimberly leaning against my locker. Oddly she made me nervous.
"Hi." She had already changed into her gym clothes and I was standing here in front of her half naked, well almost half naked. I grabbed my shirt and slid it on blushing some.
"I didn't think I'd have any classes with you," she told me.
"Well, now we've got gym together," I smiled some and sat down to put my shoes back on.
"That we do," she smiled her green eyes meeting mine for a moment before I blushed and looked down to tie my shoes. "So about hanging out... What do you want to do?" She asked.
"I uh, I don't know.... What do you want to do?"
"I was thinking maybe go to lunch on Saturday?"
"Yeah, sounds fun."
"You didn't ask where I was going to take you," she smiled.
"Where are you going to take me?" I looked back up to her smiling softly.
"It's a surprise," she grinned. "See you in the gym," she winked before making her way to the door and leaving. I sat there for a moment smiling to myself.
Was this a date? Or was it just a hang out session? If it was a hang out session she wouldn't have gone through the trouble of a surprise lunch, but if it was a date she wouldn't have asked what I wanted to do when we hang out. So many mixed signals.
"Are you coming Charlotte?" I knew who it was without even having to turn around. There were only a few people who called me by my real name.
"Yeah, I'm coming Alexis." Alexis and I don't get along, in fact she hates me and I could care less about her. Ever since I became captain of the varsity softball team she's hated me. Everyone voted me captain instead of her, that's why she hates me. I think the whole thing is stupid but she just grinds my gears the wrong way you know? I fixed my other shoe before getting up and walking out and towards the gym.
"Ready for softball?" She caught up with me.
"What are you doing Alexis?"
"What do you mean?" She smirked. I could see it on her face that she knew she was annoying me and doing it on purpose.
"You know I don't like you and you don't like me, why are you talking to me?"
"Oh come on, don't be so mean," she chuckled.
"Bye Alexis," I rolled my eyes some and walked away making my way towards Michael.
"What did the bitch want?"
"Nothing," I shrugged. "She just wanted to annoy me," I told him. After everyone was out of the locker rooms Coach Dillard made us stretch while she took roll and then we headed out to the track.
"We aren't actually running today so you can quit your whining," Coach announced. "We're actually going to pick teams for Friday. First unit we're going to do is for relay, which means you will have to learn to work together with your team mates. I've already picked four captains, those captains will pick their teams. Our captains are Jason, Kevin, Alexis, Taylor." Friday was four days away, what exactly would we be doing with our teams for four days?
"Jason pick first then Alexis, Kevin and last but not least Taylor."
I watched standing next to Michael as people began to pick who they wanted.
"I want Charlotte," Alexis grinned. Why was she trying to piss me off? It's the first day of school, softball wasn't starting any time soon.
"Come on Charlie, move it," Coach told me. I sighed and moved to stand with her and the five other people she had picked. Michael ended up on Taylor's team. Kimberly was the last to get picked and she was on my team. She smiled at me and of course I blushed. Michael grinned at me and winked, he was mocking me. "First task is to get to know each other."
"Okay, well I'm Alexis."
"Jonathan."
"James."
"Kelly..." I stopped listening after that. I probably wasn't going to speak to them much anyway, and I would most likely forget their names as soon as they said them. I went last and then we waited for our next instructions.
"So we're on the same team too," Kimberly made her way to me.
"Yeah, we are," I nodded smiling softly.
"You seem like a very athletic person, are you any good at relays?"
"I'm pretty good I guess," I shrugged some.
"Actually she's amazing." I felt a strong pair of arms wrap around my waist and kiss my cheek, it was Michael.
"Lair," I shoved him off playfully and he laughed.
"Hi, I'm Michael," he held his hand out to her, she smiled and shook his hand.
"Kimberly," she nodded.
"So I've heard," he grinned and nudged me.
"Mr. Rogers return to you group please," Coach Dillard told him.
"Bye ladies," he chuckled and walked back to his group.
"He seems cool," she smiled.
"Yeah, he's pretty awesome." Coach made us try to remember everyone's name, made us go in a circle and say something about ourselves but before she could start the their one she had to dismiss us. We always left seven minutes before the bell so we have enough time to get dressed.
"I'm still expecting a call from you," Kimberly smiled at me when I had to walk past her to get to the door.
"You'll get it," I smiled before walking out as the bell rang. I stopped at my locker to grab my stuff before heading to my car where Amber and Peter, my brother, were waiting.
"Shot gun," Pete grinned, Amber just rolled her eyes and got in the back when I unlocked the doors. I got in and started up the car putting on my seat belt afterwards. Peter reached for the radio dial and I hit his hand.
"Don't touch my radio."
"But we always listen to what you want to listen to," he complained.
"My car, my music," I shrugged.
"Fine," he grumbled and put on his seat belt. I pulled out of my parking spot and headed down towards the street. We lived like seven minutes away from school, we were in walking distance but why walk when you have a perfectly running car? When we got home out parents weren't there, they were most likely still at work. Mom's a doctor, a well known doctor, and dad's the CEO of his own company. They work a lot which means we have a lot of free time.
"Don't forget to take out the trash before dad gets home Pete," I reminded him while we walked to the door.
"Alright." Once in the house we went our separate ways. I went up to my room, Peter down to the basement and Amber to the living room. I sat my stuff on my bed and sat down at my computer desk that held my Mac desktop, that I paid for, my parents said if I wanted it I had to buy it so I did. I logged in and pulled up my iTunes, I let the music play from the top of my play list. I didn't have anything to do. I mean sure I still had to call Kimberly, but I didn't want to seem desperate by calling her twenty minutes after school let out. Instead of worrying over it so much I called Kyle to see if he wanted to come hang out, he agreed of course. I would have called Meg but I knew she was working today and Mike was most likely out with his boyfriend.
"You have no chips in here," Kyle complained looking through the cabinets. He has been here for thirty minutes and is already raiding for food.
"They're in the pantry. Don't British people use the word chips for fries?" I asked leaning against the counter.
"Yes, but I've been in the U.S for eight years. I'm practically America," he grinned making his way to the pantry.
"Practically America," I agreed with a laugh.
"So, are you going to help me with my film?" He leaned next to me on the counter.
"Yeah I guess so," I shrugged.
"Great," he grinned. "Did I tell you that my mom asked if I was dating Meg?" He looked over at me. I laughed. It was funny because they swore that they would never date.
"Why does she think that?"
"Because she came over to my house the other day and we hung out for a few hours, so she assumes we're in a relationship," he shook his head.
"Wow, that's funny," I smiled. "Did you tell Meg?"
"Yeah, I told her. She laughed just like you did," he chuckled.
"I bet," I smiled. We hung out and played video games for what felt like hours but was really only two, he had to leave after that and go pick up his little brother so that left me to play video games by myself. After another twenty minutes I picked up my phone and took the paper out of my pocket and dialed her number.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Hey, it's Charlie," I told her.
"Oh, hey. I'm glad you called, what's up?"
"Uh, nothing much. You?"
"Nothing much, just watching TV."
"What are you watching?"
"To tell you the truth I don't really know, I kinda just flipped to something random," she laughed softly and I couldn't help but laugh some too.
"I do that all the time," I smiled.
"Really?"
"Yeah, there's never anything good on TV so I flip randomly till I find something that looks interesting," I admitted with a soft laugh. We talked on the phone for a good hour or two then my parents came home. I cooked dinner Peter set the table, which meant Amber had to do the dishes before going to bed. Our parents are really strict, that's why we all have to maintain an A average. As usual we talked about our day then listened to our parents talk about their day while we ate dinner then it was off to bed. I didn't have a bedtime, I went to bed when I felt like it, but having to spend extra time with my parents was torture so I always told them I'm going to bed but never really do till ten.
