To be completely honest, Naveen was not expecting to already have a date the first week back. It had all started on the second day of school when a girl approached him after maths. She had introduced herself as Charlotte (but he could call her Lottie) and asked him if he wanted to sit with her at interval. Since he had never really been wild over his current group, he decided that he may as well take her up on the offer.
What happened next was quite bizarre. Two of the other ginger girls that Charlotte sat with seemed to regard him as some kind of legend that they'd only heard about – had Charlotte already talked him up? But attention was attention, and he took it like he always did, with grace and charm. However when he looked past Charlotte and her carrot-topped posse he noticed three other girls who seemed to found the other half of their group's actions fairly entertaining. Charlotte's words became nothing but background noise as he focused on the girl who had caught his eye the most – Tiana.
She was beautiful, though not in an in your face way. It was almost like she didn't even notice it, though she did look awfully mature for her age. A few inky black curls had escaped from their tight ponytail and framed her face in a flattering manner, and her smile as she tried not to laugh brightened up her whole face.
She was certainly more desirable than Charlotte, anyway.
As the week went by he got to know Charlotte better, as well as her friend group. But every time he sat with them his eye was always drawn to Tiana. So he could only see disaster when Charlotte invited him into town with her and Tiana. He accepted as he had nothing better to do, so he agreed to meet the girls after school outside the main gates.
"Hey Naveen!" he could hear Charlotte trilling as she ran up the path to meet him. She collided into him with a hug, and though it was unexpected, Naveen took it like a man and hugged her back.
"Hi Charlotte," he croaked, 100% sure that Charlotte's hug was crushing him.
"Hey, I told you to call me Lottie," she instructed with hands on her hips, but then she leaned up to whisper in his ear, "I only let the special guys call me that."
Naveen wasn't entirely sure that they had known each other long enough for him to be one of Charlotte's "special guys," but from what he did know of Charlotte it was best not to cross her.
Soon he saw Tiana winding her way through the students, and he hated to admit it but he was relieved. He did like Charlotte, and he knew that Charlotte liked him, but Tiana was such a breath of fresh air… Tiana finally reached them, and she seemed puffed.
"You run a marathon or something?" asked Charlotte as she adjusted one of the sparkly pink clips in her hair.
Tiana shook her head, "We got out late, and I didn't want to hold us up."
Charlotte let out a small laugh, "Don't worry, I just got her didn't I Naveen?"
"Yeah," Naveen responded.
After making some small talk, the group made their way down the many hills that lead into the downtown. Charlotte nattered all the way down, leaving little to no room for Tiana and Naveen to offer any input.
They weren't the only ones heading into town that day, and many of the other students were ones that Charlotte knew. She took the time to speak to almost every single one of them, and that finally gave Naveen some time to get to know Charlotte.
"So… How did you guys meet?" asked Naveen after a struggle to think of a suitable question.
Tiana shrugged, "I've known her for as long as I can remember. Our mums were good friends, so I guess the friendship was genetic."
Naveen gave a small chuckle, and Tiana shot him a smile.
"I don't know if I could put up with her that long. She's nice, but she's a bit much," Naveen told her.
"You get used to it."
Charlotte soon came bounding towards them, looking like she had something to say.
"Oh my god Tiana you wouldn't believe it!" she cried.
"What is it this time?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Y'know that arcade we always went to as kids?" she asked, almost bouncing up and down.
"Kinda. I thought it shut down ages ago."
Charlotte shook her head, "Nope, but now it is. We have to go!"
Tiana looked tempted, but Naveen knew that things that seemed great when you were a kid were almost always a huge let down when you were older. Tiana was probably running those thoughts through her head, but Naveen was curious, and though it may mess with his cool guy reputation – he was kind of curious.
"I'd be cool with going," he suggested, earning him a big smile from Charlotte.
"Never mind Tiana, you've been outvoted! Let's go!" she squealed, grabbing Tiana by the hand and sprinting in the direction of the arcade. Naveen ran after them, and despite the odd looks, he was getting from the other students milling around the streets he was having a lot more fun than he expected.
Charlotte soon skidded to a halt outside an old building with a crappy, pinkish red paint job. It was peeling around the edges, and a worn out sign reading "Ray's Arcade" sat on the streets. Naveen was expecting something much more modern, but a lot of the shops and cafes were inside older buildings. It was part of the town's charm, he guessed. Though he was surprised that Charlotte would be caught dead in a place like this.
The trio went inside, and the place was almost deserted save for a few intermediate students. The inside was more impressive than the outside, with a sort of fifties diner vibe going on. The machines looked pretty retro, and the floor was covered with black and white tiles. The counter where the tickets were exchanged for prizes was bright red and had round bar stools in a matching colour.
"Whaddya think Naveen?" Charlotte asked, already making her way to the pinball machine.
"It's cool. Can't say I noticed it before, though," he said, taking notice of the dust covering some of the machines.
"Tiana and I used to come her all the time, didn't we Tiana?"
"Every day after school," Tiana replied.
"Thanks to that I'm a pinball wiz," Charlotte said as she slid a few coins into the slot.
Naveen approached to watch, hoping it would be a pretty decent game to watch. But even though Charlotte was a self-proclaimed pinball wiz, almost as soon the game started she had already lost. She twisted her mouth into a frown and slid in another coin. Another failure.
"At least I thought I was… Oh well, I'm probably just rusty," she returned to her positive self and started to head towards the other machines.
They spent most of the afternoon there, and they stayed long after the intermediate students had left. Charlotte soon found something she was good at – ski ball – and soon racked up an enviable amount of tickets. Tiana displayed a decent prowess at whack-a-mole, and soon she was smashing the things so hard Naveen was sure she was going to break it. Naveen found himself struggling with the more physical games, but he aced some of the virtual shooting games.
By the time the arcade was about to close they had a hefty amount of tickets between them. Though they made a plan for a secret Santa type thing where they'd all buy each other a gift, but their tickets were squandered on a stuffed bear that Charlotte just had to have.
"Hey Naveen…" Charlotte said, the tone of her voice indicated that she wanted something.
"Yeah?" he asked, preparing himself for some ridiculous request.
"Wanna walk me home?"
"Uh, sure I guess. Where do you live?"
"Not far, we can definitely walk there. And it's not like it's late or anything…." She gazed up at him big puppy dog eyes, and Naveen just couldn't refuse.
"Sure. How about you Tiana?" he accepted, and Charlotte's face brightened.
Tiana shook her head, "Thanks, but my house is just down the road."
"You live in the city?" he asked.
"Yeah, I live in an apartment. See you guys tomorrow?" she explained.
"See you Tiana!" Charlotte called as Tiana made her way down the street.
Naveen and Charlotte started their walk through town to Charlotte's house. The sun was only just beginning to go down, and the sky started to turn a vibrant shade of orange. There were other people around, some Naveen recognised from school and others he didn't. They rounded a corner onto a residential street – and a swanky one at that.
Most of the houses were like mini mansions, with primly cut hedges and the occasional topiary peeking over the top. Fancy cars sat in fancy driveways, and children played in the pools that took up a large portion of the front gardens. Most of the houses were white, though a few were black, grey, or even cream. Aside from that, they all looked pretty much the same, and Naveen wasn't sure if he would be able to remember which one was Charlotte's if he ended up coming back.
"Here we are," she announced as they approached one of the grey houses.
Naveen looked up at the house, "Looks-"
Before Naveen could finish, Charlotte had reached up and pulled his face towards hers. A kiss followed, and it took Naveen completely by surprise. Though Charlotte was a good kisser, so he didn't really mind. Charlotte pulled away, and with a coy smile, she said, "See you tomorrow."
With that she sauntered up to her front door and entered, giving him a wink as she shut it behind her. Naveen was left on the sidewalk feeling rather good about himself, but shortly afterwards his mind drifted back to Tiana.
The last thing he wanted to be in was a love triangle, but with the way things were going it was only inevitable.
