Chapter 40
January 2008
Charlotte
I knock on Rebecca’s door for what feels like the hundredth time in the last few weeks. She’s been avoiding me, and I want to know why. What did I do? Did I offend her somehow? She barely speaks to me in class. She sometimes responds to my texts, and when she does, it’s usually in as few words as possible.
I tried not to let it bother me, but it started to feel a little pointed at some point. She’s hardly ever in her dorm anymore. Not that I’ve stalked her or anything, but we have similar schedules and usually bump into each other daily, but even that has been far and few between.
Giving up, I walk back to my dorm. As I go to close my door, my phone buzzes in my pocket, “ ARI ”.
“Ah! Ari, fucking finally! How are you?” I screech so loud it hurts my own ears but fuck, if she’s calling me, that means she’s finally out of treatment.
She was in Starry North for only a few days after I left. To my surprise, Jensen– I mean Dr. Turner, called in some favors and got her transferred to a private facility in California. It was much more extensive and strict. They take their patient care very seriously. She has only been able to call me a handful of times in the last year.
She was released a few months ago but has been settling into her new life in some podunk town in Texas. She decided to put off college, maybe indefinitely, to live on a horse ranch. If she’s happy, I’m happy.
“Charlie, God, I’ve missed your inappropriate noise levels!” She laughs, and I bristle at the implication that I am a loudmouth. You don’t just say it out loud, even if it’s true.
“How’s Nowheresville?” I ask, eager to hear about this mysterious ranch.
Ari laughs and corrects me, “It’s Norsville , Charlie. How many times must I tell you?”
“I said what I said.” I tease.
“It’s… um, good. I’m spending a lot of time with the horses and their trainer. He is teaching me how to care for them and read them.”
“Wait. Wait. Back up. First, he? Who is this trainer? And what do you mean read them?”
A pregnant pause fills the airspace between us. I can picture Ari twirling a piece of her fiery locks and kicking her shoe against the dirt, nervousness oozing out of her.
“Oh, um, he’s nobody. His name is Calvin. His family owns the farm. He just got out of the military and is back to help his family run the ranch.” She rushes out, obviously giving out more information than she originally planned.
“Hm, yeah. He sounds like a nobody to me.” I joke. Clearly, this man has Ari flustered. But maybe a big, strong, military country boy is exactly what she needs.
“Ari?” I goad.
“Yes?” She squeaks.
“Do you have a thing for Nowheresville boy?” I ask, leaving the sarcasm out of it.
“Oh, Charlie. I don’t know. I don’t know how I feel. This is the first time I’ve had the tinglies for a boy…”
“The tinglies ?” I question, this time there’s no hiding the sarcasm in the words.
“You know. Like the fluttery feeling in your stomach… And,”
“And your vajay?” I help her supply the word she’s too embarrassed to voice .
“Charlotte!” She protests at my vulgarness. Well, vulgar to Ari’s sweet baby ears.
A muffled whistle sounds over the line, and crinkly static blares in my ear. “Cherry, what’s the holdup? The stalls aren’t gonna muck themselves.”
The crinkle sound increases as Ari presses the phone against herself. Oh, but I heard. I can’t quite make out what she says to him before she returns to the line. “I’ve got to go, Charlie. I’ll call you next week.”
“Cherry?” I cackle at the sweet nickname from Nowheresville boy. I can just see “Cherry’s” deep crimson blush from here.
“Oh, shut up. I’ll call you.” She whispers into the phone before disconnecting it.
I’ve become somewhat of a creature of habit as of late. I have classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Meetings on Wednesday and Friday nights. Weekends are spent between the library and The Coffee Cove, a small, not very busy coffee shop on campus.
I have a few hours until Wednesday’s meeting starts, so I might as well get some studying in. I grab my books, shove them into my backpack, and head to the library.
A cloud of rose-scented perfume chokes me as a petite blonde collapses in the chair beside me. I try to keep the distaste off my face. I know I have a resting bitch face that scares most people off, but I am trying to branch out. Just a little.
“Hey. You’re Charlotte, right?” she asks in heavy pants of breath as if she ran a few miles before busting in here and deciding to sit beside me.
“Um, yeah…” I respond, extending the yeah in question. She looks familiar, but I can’t quite place her.
“I just wanted to give you a heads up. Your friend? The mousy TA. Ain’t what she presents herself to be.”
“What? Rebecca? What are you talking about?” I ask, confused.
“Yeah, Rebecca. She pretends to be this little nerdy, innocent girl, but she’ll stab you in the back in a heartbeat. I’ve seen you with her on campus, and I just wanted to let you know what kind of person she is.” She warns. Realization dawns on me. This is psych boy’s girlfriend. The douche who was feeling Rebecca up a few months ago.
“Look, I’m sorry if your boyfriend was a cheating a-hole, but that’s no reason to go smearing a nice girl’s name around school. He was the one who was committed to you, not her.”
My defense sounds hollow even to my own ears. As someone who has been cheated on twice , I want to jump over to her team and say fuck the homewrecker. But the other part of me feels compelled to defend my only friend.
“Nice girl, my ass. She knows exactly what she’s doing,” she sneers, lifting herself into a standing position. She leans down, placing her hands against the tabletop before whispering in my ear, “Mark my words, Charlotte. That girl is going to ruin your life. Get out while you can.”
With that ominous warning, she storms off towards the exit. Leaving me reeling and unable to focus on my studies.
* * *
A flash of bleach-blonde hair enters my periphery as I close my door, getting ready to head to class. I march after her and catch her door before it fully closes. Rebecca turns to me, eyes widening in surprise as she fumbles for words.
Hard to avoid me when I’m standing in your face, huh?
“C-charlie, hey. Um, I was going to call you soon. I’ve been uber busy and,” she nervously rubs her hand against her stomach, “I’ve got some news.”
I cock my head to the side and cross my arms, waiting for this ground-breaking news.
“I’m pregnant.” She breathes out in a huff. Excitement coats her words and face. Clearly, this is good news to her.
Stunned, I gape at her. Say something, Charlie. “O-oh. Um, I didn’t even know you were seeing someone.”
A brilliant grin forms across her lips as she holds her left hand up. A rock the size of Pluto gleams back at me from her ring finger. “I’m not just seeing someone. I’m getting married. Next week. I would’ve invited you, but it’s literally just going to be the two of us and a witness. He’s very private and wants this special day to be just for us. I will officially be a wife on the 31st.”
The air punches from my lungs at my connection to that specific date. I shove it deep inside. This isn’t about me. Even if I think she’s making a horrible mistake, this is her life to live, not mine. I put on my best fake smile and congratulate my friend. “Oh Rebecca, that’s great news. I’m so happy for you. When do I get to meet this mysterious fiance of yours? What’s his name?”
Her smile falters ever so slightly, “Oh, um, his name is Za-Zane. I’m not sure when a good time would be to meet. He’s uber busy, and now we’ve got the wedding, honeymoon, and–” she looks down and rubs circles around her belly, “baby planning. But we’ll pencil something in for sure. Soon.”
I nod along, clearly she has little interest in sharing this part of her life with me. Maybe we weren’t as good of friends as I thought we were. Looking around her dorm, it’s very bare. “Where’s all your stuff?” I question, gesturing around the near-empty space.
“Oh! That’s the other news. We got an apartment just off of campus. My Zane can’t stand to be away from me for a moment longer than necessary. He left his school and moved closer to me but insisted I move in with him. I’m keeping the dorm for another month or so just in case I need somewhere to nap or change during the day. I’ll take a leave of absence when the baby comes, so I want to prepare things as much as possible.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, um. I’ll get out of your hair. Congratulations on… everything. I’ll see you later.”
As I leave her room, I remember the tea. I’ve been having some night terrors lately, but when she shared the sleepy tea with me, I didn’t have any.
“Hey, do you think I could get some of your sleepy tea?”
Rebecca nervously looks around the room, twisting her hands together before looking at me, “Funny story, I actually lost the recipe in the shuffle of the move. Darn it, I’m sorry about that.” She responds with a quivering voice. Strange.
“Oh, okay. No worries. See ya. ”
I try not to think about the significance of my friend’s wedding day. The 31st would have been Zach’s and my official one-year anniversary. I had so many plans, and I imagined marrying him on that date one day.
Then, he smashed all those hopes and plans in one fell swoop.
Now, that date can be significant to someone else.
Zach no longer gets to hold that space in my heart or my head.
Never again.