“Speaking of,” Charlotte continues for Annalisa, “you promised us details. You and Aiden. Kissing. For who knows how long now?! Spill.”
“Yas, give us all the deets!” Noah squeals, trying his best to imitate Charlotte. All that does is earn him three glares; only Chase finds it hilarious.
“Okay, out now you two. Go make us some hamburgers or something if you’re bored,” Annalisa commands, opening the door wider and pointing into the hallway.
They don’t move, but Chase looks at Noah. “You hungry?”
Noah smiles. “I could eat.”
They get up and head out the door, arguing about which type of meat to barbeque.
“I want cheese on my burger!” I call after them as Annalisa shuts the door.
She and Charlotte turn on me, their eyes focused on me like they’re stranded on a desert island and I’m the last ounce of life saving water. Suddenly, I wish Noah and Chase were still here.
“Are you going to tell us the details or are we going to have to force them out of you?” Annalisa threatens.
“Put your throwing knives away. Sit down and I’ll tell you.” I sigh, mentally preparing myself for Charlotte’s squeals of delight and Annalisa’s line of interrogation.
We get comfy on the bed, sitting in a circle facing each other with our legs crossed.
“When did you guys become official?” Charlotte asks, eyes lighting up with excitement.
“We’re not official. We haven’t officially had that awkward what are we conversation. We technically haven’t even been on a real date.”
I know that Aiden and I have a deep connection—I know all his dark secrets and he knows mine—but I can’t really tell them that. Plus, we really didn’t have that what are we conversation that no one ever looks forward to, and I’d rather we didn’t. I still haven’t figured out how to tell him I’m leaving in a few weeks. I’ve been trying not to think about it but he has to understand. Right?
“When was your first kiss? It looks to me like he has a full access pass to kiss you whenever he wants.” Charlotte smiles, genuinely happy for me.
I tell them about our first kiss. I tell them how I avoided him for weeks after that because I was scared. I don’t tell them about my confession to Aiden about my past, but I tell them that after he got arrested, we cleared the air and since then we’ve just had a connection.
“I’m so happy you and Aiden found each other! If there’s anyone who can put him in his place, it’s you. We’ve seen it multiple times.” Annalisa laughs.
“I’m happy for you too! Totally not trying to think about how you two can go on supercute double dates and I’ll get ditched and sit at home like a single loser,” Charlotte says, I think only half joking.
“It’s okay, Char. I don’t see Aiden and me going on a date and ditching you anytime soon,” I reply.
Really though, I won’t be able to ditch Charlotte to go on a date, since I’ll be leaving town before that can happen. But I guess that means that I technically am ditching Charlotte, except for forever instead of one night.
“That just means Char is next on the boyfriend list,” Annalisa jokes. “You got your choice of Mason, Noah, or Chase. Slim pickings, I know. But I’m sure you can turn any of them into respectable boyfriends in no time.”
We laugh along with Annalisa, even though I know Chase would love nothing more than to be Charlotte’s boyfriend.
“Maybe I’ll try my luck with some locals here.” Charlotte laughs, twirling a piece of hair with her finger. “A nice winter-break fling.”
“There’s actually supposed to be some kind of carnival going on here in a few days. The cleaning lady was telling us when we got the key. It’s supposed to be a big deal, even the mayor is going! We have to go! It sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun,” Annalisa declares, adding that the twins would love it too.
Before we can agree, Chase and Noah holler to us from downstairs, telling us that ‘Their meat is ready,’ and laughing at the dirty double meaning. We roll our eyes, thinking about how we have two weeks of this. Lucky us.
12
Even though we’re at a beach house, it’s not the warmest weather. It’s a lot nicer than back home, but it’s not really swimming weather. Plus, it’s
a bit drizzly. But despite that, we decide to explore the town the next day.
“So who’s coming into town with us?” Annalisa asks from the kitchen, which is open to the living room.
“I’m coming,” I answer, pulling on a sweater and grabbing an umbrella.