Chasing Charming ✔️

7 - Why Don't You Join Us?

Saturday was long. After meeting people at school, I felt lonelier than I had in the last few weeks. I probably should have gone outside and done something, but my mom was working at the hospital, and my dad was at the shop all day.

I ended up Facetiming Carla, who had Mike with her. We only ended up chatting for a few minutes because they were getting ready for a pool party. I tried not to feel hurt, but it makes sense that I would want to talk to them more than they want to speak to me.

They had each other, and I was alone.

I did end up finishing my latest romance novel and unpacking the rest of my closet.

Sunday afternoon, I decided I needed to get out of the house. There was no point in sitting inside the whole weekend.

I started walking in the direction of Old Town. I liked the aesthetics, so maybe I would take some pictures or just window shop for a while. The sun had that late afternoon glow by the time I arrived at the shopping area.

I was a bit nervous being alone since I didn't know the area well; however, there were a lot of happy families sitting on the grass and walking around, so I felt somewhat safe.

However, when I felt someone grab my hand, I squealed and jumped backwards, getting ready to run.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but that was kind of funny."

Eli glowed in the sunshine. It was hard to see his face because looking up at him meant looking directly up at the sun. "Sorry for getting scared," I said.

He groaned, "stop apologizing."

Eli steps out of the sunshine. I can now see him, and he is wearing black jeans and a loose white v-neck. A regular James Dean.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Just going for a walk. I was bored, and I have been inside all weekend."

He laughed, "had that much homework?"

I chuckled awkwardly, not wanting to tell him that I had nothing better to do.

"So, what are you doing?" I asked him.

"Oh, just on my way to meet some friends for pizza," he said lazily.

I smiled at him, happy to have an escape. I liked him a lot, but I felt a little awkward after what happened on Friday. "Oh, I will let you go then."

"Why don't you join us?"

I looked up at him, now that I could see his face. "Join you?" I asked in disbelief. Why would he want me to join him? Did he feel that bad for me?

"Yeah, why not? Might as well, if you have nothing better to do."

I smiled slightly; I guess I didn't care if it was because he felt bad for me; I couldn't deny that I wanted to be around him. "Yeah, sure, that sounds nice." I pulled out my phone and texted my parents, saying I was getting dinner with a few kids from school. I got a thumbs up text from my mom a second later. She was a very quick texter when she wasn't working.

I followed him towards the restaurant. "So, do you live close to here?"

"No, I live next to the University."

"Wait... so you walked forty-five minutes to Old Town? Don't you have a car."

"Ya, I do; I just wanted to go for a walk." It didn't seem that far to me. I would go for walks that long back in Arizona all the time. Usually not alone, but oh well.

"Okay, weirdo," he said smirking. He held the door open for me at the pizza place. There were already two of his friends there. I recognized one as Kyle, who I sit next to in Bio. The other boy I remembered as well, from my gym class; however, I did not know his name.