Chapter 2
Chapter Two
CHARLOTTE
I walk outside the cafeteria, following along the side of the building, looking for any sign of Travis, when I’m abruptly pulled by my arm into an alcove that leads to the teachers’ staff room. Before I have time to process, my eyes lock with Travis’ as his hand links with mine and he pulls me along behind him and into the cleaners’ closet just past the staff room. The teachers are all occupied with eating their lunch and, probably, moaning about the students that have pissed them off today to bother noticing me and Trav.
When the door closes, we’re encased in darkness, save for the partial light coming in from the window on the back wall. I say partial because the window backs onto a wall, shadowing it.
“What the hell, Trav?” I ask quietly, noticing our hands are still linked together but doing nothing to pull away—and neither is he.
“You know, don’t you?” he asks, his light blue eyes staring down into mine. Travis is taller than me by about a foot, and he’s always joked around that I’m pint-sized, something I’ve always found endearing. Whereas Ryder has always insisted I wear high heels to make myself taller. There’s a massive difference right there. My boyfriend tries to change me, and Travis just accepts me for who I am. Huh. I’ve never really given that much thought before now, preferring to block out that I don’t feel good enough for Ryder.
“Know what?” I ask.
“About Melanie and Ryder.”
“Oh my god, you know too?” I ask him, my eyes wide as he nods his head. “How long?”
“I found out two days ago. You?”
“Last week,” I reply shamefully, my head dipping down.
“Hey,” Travis says as his free hand comes to my chin and lifts my head up so I’m looking at him again. “You don’t need to look away from me, Char. I’m not Ryder.”
And fucking hell, those words alone have tears springing to my eyes. “God, I’ve been so fucking stupid,” I rasp out, desperately trying to hold back the tears.
“We both have,” Travis says, taking part of my burden and making it his own with his admission.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, to which he furrows his brow.
“Why are you sorry?” he asks.
“Because I should have told you when I found out last week.” My bottom lip wobbles as I speak, an action not gone unnoticed by Trav.
“Char, I’ve seen the change in you since you’ve been with Ryder, I even tried to talk to you about it, but you always changed the subject, cut me off or made an excuse to leave—”
“I know, and I hate myself for it,” I admit, cutting him off. I’ve known Travis for as long as I’ve known Ryder, and before me and Ryder became a thing, me and Trav were inseparable. Always together. He was my best friend for a long time, but in the last two years, we’ve grown further apart, something I’ve always hated but did because Ryder thought it was inappropriate that I spend so much time with Trav. God, what a moron I’ve been.
“Stop that,” Travis says, his tone firm. “It stops, now, Charlie.” Charlie. He’s the only one that’s ever called me that, everyone else calling me Char, Lotte, or Charlotte. And at this moment, I never realised how much I missed hearing him saying it… until now.
His eyes are beautiful, always have been, but I’d trained myself to forget. To forget how I’ve always loved Travis, always thought him the one that got away, always thought him to be the most beautiful guy I’ve ever seen. And I always kept him in the friend zone, because I was scared to do anything else, to put myself out there for him to possibly shoot me down and for our friendship to be ruined. Turns out, Ryder ruined the bond we had anyway… or did he? Because Travis is looking at me now with a different look in his eyes than anything I can remember. I’m not sure what, but maybe I’m so fucking damaged from Ryder’s putdowns that I have no idea how to read people anymore.
“I know you’re worried about breaking it off with him, but fuck, Char, you shouldn’t be, because you’re worth so much more than Ryder fucking Reynolds.” His words make me want to cry, touching somewhere deep inside of me, but that voice that tells me I’m not good enough rears its head and pushes the feeling away, dispelling any hope that briefly bloomed.
“I just… I’m not strong enough, Travis. I’m not the girl I used to be,” I whisper, knowing that Travis will keep this between us, whatever happens. He’s not one to spill secrets or fuck with people’s emotions, and the fact Melanie has shit on him as Ryder has shit on me makes me so sad.
Travis finally lets go of my hand but places both of his on the tops of my arms, gently squeezing me. “You are strong, and I’m going to be by you every step of the way.”
“But you’re Ryder’s best friend—”
“Was. I was Ryder’s best friend, and I never should have been.”
“I don’t know what to do, Trav. I don’t know how to deal with the fallout, because I’m a coward.”
A knock outside the door has us both startling, but then laughter rings out as footsteps scurry on by.
“I’ll come to yours tonight,” he says.
“What?”
“I’ll climb in the window, like old times,” he tells me, and my mind flits back to when he would jump over the fence of my backyard and climb the trellis until he stood on the extension roof to get to my window. “We better go, lunch will almost be over.” And before I can respond, he’s grabbing my hand again and opening the door, checking up and down the hallway before he’s pulling me out behind him and saying, “Leave your window open and I’ll be there by eight o’clock.” And then he’s gone, leaving me standing in the hallway wondering what the fuck just happened, but also leaving me feeling like I just got my best friend back.