Out of My League

{5} Her Secret World

As I pulled up to Sunnyside daycare center, I was instantly drawn to a curly brown-haired boy sitting quietly on the curb. Though he looked almost nothing like Charlotte, I instantly identified him as Will Black. I could recognize those green eyes from a mile away.

He looked at me cautiously as I got out of my car. 

"Hello," he whispered shyly.

"Hi, I'm Lemon. I go to class with Charlotte. She asked me to pick you up today," I said carefully.

"Char-Char told me never to talk to strangers," Will said decisively, crossing his arms. "And Lemon, you are a stranger." 

Char-Char? That was adorable.

"I know," I said gently. "Charlotte taught you well and you're clearly a smart little fellow. But you're going to have to trust me on this, please."

"I do like your name," Will said thoughtfully. "But I don't know who you are. You could be here to kidnap me!" he realized. To my dismay, a few concerned adults turned to look at us. 

Great, now I'm a kidnapper.

"What can I do to make you trust me?"

"Tell me Charlotte's favorite color," he stated. That was pretty reasonable. For a kid no older than five, he seemed like quite the mastermind. 

What was Charlotte's favorite color? I thought back to when I first started having a crush on her freshman year. I had watched at a table across the cafeteria as she snorted chocolate milk out of her nose in response to a joke some guy had told. She seemed so relaxed back then, so care-free.

I remembered her telling them she was planning on dying her hair purple, because purple was her favorite color and she wanted to stand out in a crowd. Of course she didn't need dyed hair hair to stand out. She never ended up doing it though, probably never got the chance.

"Purple," I said finally. Will smiled.

"Okay, I think I trust you now," he said happily. "Mostly because kidnappers don't drive in slug-bugs. I call shotgun!" He shouted, bolting to my car. I laughed as the concerned adults finally looked away from us to my great relief.

As I began pulling out of the parking lot, Will turned to me seriously. "What happened to Char-Char? Why couldn't she come today?"

I waited for a moment, struggling to find what to say. Finally I turned to look at him. 

"Have you ever gotten a boo-boo Will?"

"Yeah!" he exclaimed excitedly. "All the time! Usually when I'm playing though."

"Well Charlotte got a boo-boo today," I said truthfully. "On her shoulder, while playing, just like you do sometimes." 

"Will she be okay?" Will asked, his eyes widening.

"Of course she will," I tried to reassure him. She was going to be okay. She had to be.

As I turned into Charlotte's neighborhood, I checked my navigation again just to be sure. Looking around me, I couldn't believe I assumed Charlotte was wealthy and spoiled, because she clearly wasn't. Now I understood why she had asked me to pick-up Will. It was because she knew I wouldn't judge. Knowing some of the people she hung out with, I couldn't say the same about them. 

I drove into her drive-way. So this was her house? I mean it would be okay for someone living alone don't get me wrong, but for an entire family?

"Is this your house Will?" I asked, still not wrapping my head around Charlotte's life behind her "perfect girl" exterior.