Black Iris

Discreet Need

Rose

Charlene ignored me all day. Not that it was hard. I wanted to get a moment to talk to her, but we were so busy with orientation stuff that there wasn't a single chance. It wasn't until after dinner that night, well after all the parents had left, that we finally got some down time and a chance to socialise.

She was hanging with Adam, and some other guys and girls, but she looked bored, and I could see that she was trying not to look at me. So, I plucked up the courage and walked over. She glanced up and her face lit up. Adam and some of the others looked at me with confusion.

"Hey," I said, nervously, glancing at the group then back at Charlene.

"Hey," she replied, her voice quiet.

"Who's this, Lena?" Adam asked.

She hesitated, looking up at me. After a beat she stuttered, "This is Phil. She's a friend."

Adam gave her an odd look and she shrugged. Then she looked up at me.

"I didn't know you came to Foothills," she said.

"First year here," I said. "Needed to catch up on some schoolwork."

As I spoke, Adam looked up at me and squinted.

"Hey, don't I know you?" He said.

I could feel anxiousness rising within me. "No, I don't think so."

"No really, you look familiar," he mused, then glanced at his friends. "Hey, guys doesn't she look familiar to you?"

A pretty blonde girl sitting by him nodded, and I could see the recognition on her face. "You've been on TV, haven't you? That chick on the news."

I suddenly felt that walking over was a very very bad idea. Then, the girl seemed to realise that she had misstepped, and cleared her throat. "Or, actually that was probably another girl. I'm Marissa, but most people call me Marley. It's nice to meet you Phil."

Adam went to speak, still squinting at me, but Charlene poked him in his side. He quickly shut his mouth.

"Anyway..." Charlene said, "I'm gonna head back to the cabin and get ready for bed. Phil, wanna come with?"

I nodded. This conversation was quickly becoming awkward, and I seriously wanted to talk to Charlene alone.

Before she could leave, Adam pulled Charlene close and kissed her on the top of the head, then let go. She laughed it off and stood up, glancing at me nervously. I could have sworn I saw Adam glance across at Marley, but it could have been in my head.

Charlene gently took my arm and started walking away, following the few students that were heading back to the cabins. It was summer, and though it was coming into night, the sky was still fairly light, and we could see our way alright. We walked in silence for a few moments, before, walking over the bridge, she spoke.

"I can't stop thinking about you," She said quietly.

My breath hitched in my throat. I paused for a moment, trying to formulate a way to respond. When nothing came to mind, I whispered, "You can't?"

She shook her head. "No, I can't. I'm so sorry, Phil. What I did to you was awful and I feel so bad about it."

"It wasn't that bad, don't worry," I said quietly. "I've been through worse than a kiss and ditch."

Charlene sighed, and I felt her hand brush against mine. My heartbeat quickened and I bit my lip. I forced myself to rationalise.

"Are you still with Adam?"

"Only officially. But stuff is weird between us. Besides, Marley was the girl this whole thing started with, and I think he's still hung up on her."

I thought back to Adam looking at Marley after he kissed Charlene and nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. So... are you even happy?"

She didn't answer this question. We had reached the cabins, hers farther up the hill than mine, and she stopped with me outside my door.

"I haven't been happy in a long time." She said, looking me in the eyes. It felt as though I had been punched in the gut, her words hit me so hard.

"Neither," I whispered.

I felt her gently take my hand, then glance around for a moment. There was no one around. Seeing this, she leaned forward and kissed me.

It was soft at first, then it got deeper, and it was as though we were hungry for one another, and there were sparks flying, and neither of us could stop kissing the other. For a moment, everything seemed to fade away. Then we heard a stick cracking, and I quickly pulled away.

One of the other girls, Soraya, I think, from my cabin was walking up. Her eyes were trained on the path, though I couldn't tell if this was because she'd seen us. Nonetheless she smiled at us as she reached the door, before heading inside. I let out a breath of air and looked back at Charlene.

"I'm gonna break up with Adam," she said quietly. 

For a moment my heat soared. Then it fell as regret seeped in. I slowly shook my head. "No, you aren't. I don't want to be the reason you break up with him. I don't want to be some kind of home wrecker."

Charlene laughed. "It's high school romance, we aren't married with kids."

I blushed. "I know. I just... I don't want to be that person."

Charlene hesitated before nodding sadly. "Okay. If that's what you want, I'll stay with Adam. At least... during the day."

My breath caught. "Huh?"

She grinned and stepped closer to me, her lips brushing my neck before whispering in my ear. "It's going to be hard for me to stay away from you, baby."

I felt her breath against my neck and I bit my lip. The sensation filled me with a kind of need I hadn't felt in a very long while, and I was growing quite flustered. She obviously noticed, because she smirked and gently kissed my skin.

"It's okay though, baby," She said. "We'll just have to keep things discreet, right?"

A part of me knew that I should stop this, let her go and avoid screwing my life up even more. But a much bigger part of me was aching to see what might happen, to spend more time with Charlene, and kiss her again and again.

So I slowly nodded. She grinned. "Good girl. Now, you should head to bed. Big day tomorrow, it's the first day of classes. I'll see you at breakfast, alright?"

I nodded, my heart pounding in my chest. Charlene gently kissed me again then smiled and turned away, walking up the path up to her own cabin. I watched her go and let out a shaky breath. Once I had recovered enough, I went inside the cabin and got ready for bed, my head reeling with what had just happened.

Lying, trying to get to sleep that night, I thought about Charlene, and what we were doing, or, about to do.

And I tried not to wonder what Blake and Gwen would think.

Authors Note

Hey guys, it's been a while.

In truth, I lost a bit of motivation with BI, and I wasn't sure how to pick it up again. I feel that because of the nature of the story, this book isn't half as interesting as the first, and I want to change that.

So, I am going to.

I won't give too much away, but let's just say, things are going to pick up very quickly in the next few chapters. 👀

I hope you're all well,
I'll hopefully see you again very soon.

Alex