A/N: Ah! I love you guys! Thanks for all the reviews! You all get cake now! Yay! Hehe. Well, this is more of a mushy gushy chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Bitch Goddess
Chapter 4: Do Not Mess With the PMS
"I know what you did last night." Charlotte jumped at the sound of Sarah's voice in her ear.
"Which idiotic part?" Charlotte asked, putting her head down on the tabletop in front her.
"All of it. Well, vague details, so you better spill the goods." Sarah said, sitting down next to Charlotte.
"I'm assuming Pogue told Caleb, who told you." Charlotte replied, still staring at her feet.
"Well, duh. Caleb's his best friend; did you really expect him not to tell him?" Sarah asked, pulling books and papers out of her backpack.
"Remind me to smack them." Charlotte mumbled, raising her head enough to make a dull thud when she dropped it back on the table.
"Just curious, why did you stop him?" Sarah whispered.
Charlotte lifted her head slowly and looked Sarah in the eye.
"Would you have slept with Caleb after only knowing him for two days? Have you even slept with him yet?" Charlotte replied, raising an eyebrow.
Slowly Sarah shook her head. "But I would if I got the chance. It's just that...Caleb doesn't want anything to happen." she said quickly.
Charlotte smiled lightly. "I wanted to, bad. But, I barely even know him. And I always said my first time would be with someone I loved." she said, smiling at the memory of how well Pogue had taken the bucket of water she'd dropped on their little party.
"So what now?" Sarah asked, leaning on the tabletop.
"We're just friends, and that's the way it's going to stay. I have more important things to worry about right now." Charlotte said in a fake nonchalant voice.
At that moment Caleb and Pogue walked by. Pogue smiled down at Charlotte with that gorgeous smile of his and her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.
"Hey, Char." Pogue said.
"Hi, Pogue." Charlotte replied.
Then they two boys were gone, up in their respective seats two rows above Charlotte and Sarah.
Sara let out a very unlady like snort as soon as they were gone.
"Yes, Ms. Piggy?" Charlotte asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Friends, huh?" Sarah asked, obviously trying to keep from laughing.
Charlotte nodded slowly, daring Sarah with her eyes to argue the statement.
"Yea right! I give it a month, at most!" Sarah laughed openly.
"Shut up. You don't even know what you're talking about." Charlotte said as the professor walked in.
A few minutes after the professor began his lecture, a piece of paper was dropped in front of Charlotte. She opened it and was greeted by a picture of stick figures kissing, no doubt her and Pogue, and below it Sarah had written,
'By the way, he hasn't shut up about you all day. You're all he talks about, it's getting annoying really.'
Charlotte smiled and looked over her shoulder up at Pogue. He had his head bent and was taking notes. Charlotte's smile widened at the look of concentration on his face, making him extremely adorable. She turned back to the paper and wrote back to Sarah,
'It's mutual. Ginger pelted me with a pillow this morning because I wouldn't shut up.'
Sarah smiled broadly at the note and mouthed "I told you so."
Charlotte put her head in her hands. Sarah was right, she wouldn't last a month without kissing Pogue, let alone keeping all of her clothes on. Great.
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That afternoon Charlotte sat in the library trying to work on a dozen different assignments that her teachers had given her in attempt to catch up. She had books spread all over the table with dozens of papers scattered over them. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun again, different writing utensils sprouted from it, from highlighters to white out pens. She was so enveloped in the stupid packet she was attempting to finish that she didn't notice Caleb coming up behind her and let out a small scream when he grabbed her shoulders.
"Caleb! What the hell?" she said, clutching her chest and laughing.
"Well, you know what they say, opportunity only knocks once, but temptation leans on the doorbell." he said, laughing and moving a stack of books off a chair so he could sit down.
"Pfft." Charlotte said.
"So, what's all this?" he asked, waving a hand over the books and papers, a shocked look on his face.
"My last school was behind you guys so I have to catch up. Hence the death sentence in front of me." she answered.
"So, I heard about you and Pogue." he said, his voice hiding laughter.
"I've heard. Oh, by the way." she reached over and slugged him in the shoulder.
"Hey, what was that for?" he asked, rubbing the assaulted limb.
"Tell Pogue, his is coming." she said, her voice betraying her attempt to seem angry.
"Well, why don't you come with me and you can hit him now." Caleb stood and motioned to the door.
"Go where?" Charlotte asked.
"Swim practice." he replied with a broad smile.
Fifteen minutes later Charlotte stood against the wall watching as Pogue raced a couple other boys in the butterfly stroke.
'I could kick his ass.' she thought as she watching him reach the other side of the pool and flip around.
Pogue reached the wall a full five seconds before the others did, but no one seemed surprised as they applauded lightly.
Charlotte clapped her hands together slowly as she stepped forward and crouched down in front of Pogue.
"Heya, piscis." she joked, smiling down at his dripping face.
"Hey, I didn't know you were here." he said, obviously a little shocked.
She reached down to help him up. "I could kick your ass, you know." she said when he was out of the pool and they stood watching Tyler and some other boys race the backstroke.
Pogue smiled devilishly. "Really?" he asked.
Charlotte smiled back, nodding slowly.
"We'll see. After practice." he told her, and then used the water on his hand to flick her.
"I don't have a suit." she informed him. He only smiled again.
An hour later, all the others on the team had left and Pogue stood in the shallow end trying to convince Charlotte to race him.
"No suit. No swim." Charlotte said, standing at the edge of the pool, her arms crossed over her chest.
"If you don't get that cute little ass of yours in here and back up your shit talking I'm going to yank you in here." he threatened.
Charlotte laughed aloud at she crouched down to look him in the face. "You wouldn't dare." she said, reaching down and splashing him.
He wiped his face and reached towards her arm threateningly. "Really?" he asked.
"Ah! Do not mess with the PMS." she held her hand out to warn him off. She wasn't really PMS-ing but she hoped if he thought so he would refrain from pulling her in.
No such luck. As soon as the words escaped her mouth, he reached out, grabbed her hand and pulled her so hard she landed in the middle of the pool with a loud SPLAT. She came up sputtering and coughing. Pogue was still at the edge of the pool and he was laughing his ass off.
"Oooh. You're dead." she said, swimming over to the edge so she could stand.
"Well, your wet now. Might as well race me." he smiled broadly at her.
She shook her head at him as they both climbed out the pool. She promptly removed her shirt, vest, tie, jacket, shoes and socks, leaving only her skirt and bra on.
"That's going to put a damper on your speed." he said handing her a pair of goggles.
She pulled her hair back into a ponytail at the base of her neck and put the goggles on. She only smiled at his comment.
"Ready." she said.
"Go!" he yelled.
They hit the water at the same time, matching each other stroke for stroke, staying neck and neck throughout the entire race. When they got back to where they'd started, they stood huffing and puffing and laughing at each other.
"Ok, so I can't kick your ass, but you can't kick mine either." she said while laughing.
"That's fair." he shrugged then splashed her.
Charlotte gasped in mock horror and then splashed him back. The splashing war went on for a few minutes before they decided to call a truce. Pogue held his hand out, but as soon as her hand was in his, he latched her in his iron grip and proceeded to splash her unmercifully.
"Stop!" she laughed, trying to splash him back, but failing miserably.
Finally he grew tired and released her wrist, allowing her to brush the hair out of her face and begin to breath normally again.
"Truce, for real." he said, holding his hand out again.
Charlotte immediately put her hand in his, not thinking or caring if he was going to trap her again. She liked messing around with Pogue, even if it meant she temporarily became the girl with her nose against the glass at a Shamoo show.
Pogue hoisted himself out of the pool and reached down to pull her out. Charlotte was unsure if he misjudged her weight or if he did it on purpose, but he pulled so hard she flew out of the pool and hit his chest, making his arms wrap around her and both of them to stumble.
"Jesus, woman!" he said when they'd steadied themselves.
"What?" she asked as she stood up straight and rang out her hair.
"You need to eat! I could throw you across the room." he said, his voice truly holding concern.
Charlotte looked slightly offended. "I eat plenty!" she defended, putting her hands on her hips.
He laughed at her anger. "Come on. I'm takin' you to dinner. Somewhere where you'll eat a decent sized meal." he picked up the clothes she'd taken off and handed them to her. "I'll stop by in about an hour to get you."
Charlotte thought about the offer carefully. She wanted to be just friends with Pogue, if only for a little while. But, hey, friends could to dinner together. Right? Yea, it wouldn't mean anything.
'Bullshit.' a voice in the back of her head shouted.
"Ok. See ya then." she smiled up at him through her hair.
She walked over to the doors and headed to her room as Pogue headed to the showers attached to the pool.
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Forty-five minutes later Charlotte stood in front of the full-length mirror, twirling around to analyze her outfit for the thousandth time. Sarah sat on Charlotte's bed with Caleb leaning back against the headboard, he was shaking his head and mumbling about girls, and Sarah was rolling her eyes and telling Charlotte to stop worrying. Ginger had given up and left the room, after unsuccessfully getting Charlotte to dress like a ten-dollar whore.
"Hun, you could go to dinner in a gunny sack and he wouldn't care! Pogue's never been obsessed with looks, he'll be all twitterpated no matter what you wear." Sarah said, throwing a pillow to halt Charlotte's twirling.
"Well, he'd actually prefer you to go naked, but I think the restaurant might frown on that." Caleb piped in, and was rewarded with a pillow aimed at his head and a smack to the chest from Sarah. "What? It's the truth! For any guy it's the truth." he defended, but quickly shut his mouth at the look he got from Sarah.
Charlotte turned to look back in the mirror. She had curled her hair so it fell in soft curls to the middle of her back, she work a red tank top with a see through black top over, a black skirt that fell to just above her knees and swished when she walked, her shoes were strappy black heels that laced up to mid-calf. The outfit was somewhere between classy and sexy. Exactly what she wanted.
"Stop spinning, your giving me a headache." Caleb complained. "Believe me, the boy's so smitten he won't even notice what you're wearing." he stood and put his hands on her shoulders, physically stopping her when she ignored his complaint.
Suddenly Caleb's cell phone went off, he answered it and after a five second conversation hung up and began laughing so hard the two girls feared he would fall over.
"Come on, babe," he held his hand out to Sarah. "We've been kicked out by lover boy. Charlotte, enjoy your date and don't leave the poor guy to broken hearted." he then pulled Sarah to the door.
"It's not a date! And why would I break his heart?" she said as he opened the door.
"He thinks it's a date. Bye." and then he closed to door after him and Sarah.
Charlotte stared at where he'd been standing with her mouth opening and closing, much like a fish out of water. She could barely lie to herself, obviously let alone a boy she'd only known for 48 hours. It was a date. Caleb knew it. Sarah knew it. Pogue knew it. Moreover, Charlotte knew it. A minute later, there was a knock on the door. She quickly shook her head, checked herself in the mirror one more time and answered the door.
Pogue stood with his arm over his head, leaning against the doorframe. The jeans he wore looked brand-new and ironed, he wore a black shirt, no doubt another of his delectable muscle shirts, under a black dress shirt. He had attempted to control his hair falling in his face, but a few tendrils escaped the gel and fell over his eyes. He looked completely and utterly delicious and Charlotte seriously contemplated calling off dinner and suggesting they stay in her room.
"Wow, you look...great." he said, standing up straight and looking down at her.
"You cleaned up pretty good yourself." she said, stepping forward to crowd him out the door and closing it behind her, eliminating the inviting bed from her sight.
"So, are you ready for a night on the town?" he joked, putting his arm around her waist and leading her down the hallway.
"Yep! Let's see if you know how to treat a lady right." she said, putting her arm around his waist and snuggling in slightly.
He dangled a set of keys in front of her face.
"Borrowed Tyler's Hummer, tell me that's not taking care of a lady." he said, returning the keys to his jacket pocket.
Charlotte simply smiled up at him and snuggled into his side.
"This place is amazing." Charlotte said as they walked into the Baroque style Italian restaurant.
"I know." Pogue said, smiling at her. "Just like you." he whispered in her ear.
Before she could reply, the host stepped forward and greeted Pogue like an old friend, then began to lead them to a secluded table in a back corner in front of a blazing fire. They sat across from one another and graciously accepted the menus offered them.
"I'm not so amazing, you know." she said quietly from behind her menu once the host had left them alone.
Within a few seconds, Pogue had pulled the menu from her hands and was looking at her with a sad expression on his face.
"Why do you say that?" he asked, putting his hands on the table and leaning forward.
"You don't know me, Pogue. If you did...you wouldn't think so highly of me." she kept her head bowed.
"You're right, I don't know you. But, I want to. I don't care what deep dark secrets you have. Even if it's 4 kids back in Chicago." he said in a serious tone, reaching out to take her hand across the table.
"Be careful what you wish for." she replied. "Once you know everything about me, you won't want me. Believe me."
"Let me be the judge of that." he whispered, putting a finger under her chin and turning her face up toward him. Somehow, he'd leaned clear across the table and was mere inches from her face. His eyes bore into hers, pleading with her to trust him.
"Ok." she finally said.
He smiled so big she thought he might rip at the seams. Then he leaned over and kissed her so gently it brought tears to Charlotte's eyes.
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Three hours later Charlotte and Pogue stood at Charlotte's door, laughing about their night. After the utter perfection of dinner, the rest of their night seemed to have gone downhill. The walk from the restaurant saw Charlotte break one of her heels and fall flat in the mud. At the mall, where they stopped to get ice cream, Charlotte wanted pictures from a booth, but the booth ate 15 dollars of Pogue's money before working properly. When he took her to the dock for a walk by the lake, the sky opened up and began to downpour so badly that they slipped and slid the whole way up the embankment to the Hummer, whose poor upholstery was probably ruined, Tyler would probably slaughter Pogue in the morning because of it. They stood in the hallway dripping wet and shivering slightly.
"Well, thank you for an...interesting night." Charlotte said, smiling up at her through her dripping bangs.
"This night didn't work out exactly like I planned." Pogue admitted, running a hand through his own dripping hair.
"So, I guess I'll see ya tomorrow." she said, her hands fiddling with the shoes she held in her hand, her own broken heels.
"Yea." he replied, obviously unsure of what she wanted him to do. "Do I get to kiss you goodnight?" he asked, a sexy but innocent smile on his face.
"Maybe just a little one." she said, stepping forward and hoisting herself onto her tiptoes.
Pogue dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers lightly. Charlotte allowed him, and herself, a few minutes of playful kissing before pulling away.
"Listen, Pogue. I like you, a lot. But, I have issues with relationships, they tend to blow up in my face, especially ones that happen quickly. So, let's take this slow, please. You know, date for a while before anything real serious happens." she said, looking up at him with pleading eyes.
"I like you, too. You're right, this needs to go slow. Like they say, good things come to those who wait." he smiled, thought he seemed a little down hearted. He swooped down to give her another small kiss and a hug before leaving to his own room.
Charlotte smiled as she turned and opened her door, in her mind, the night had been utterly fantastic. The smiled dropped when she entered her room. A picture of her and Pogue, one of the ones they'd taken in the booth at the mall, was on her bed blown up to poster size. But, the picture Pogue's throat was slit and blood was flowing down his front. She screamed slightly at the sight of it and gagged hard, nearly losing her dinner. She stepped toward it and noticed a paper on the bed below the picture. She picked it up and read,
'He's cute. Stay away from him or I'll mangle his handsome face. Can't wait to see you. Deacon.'
Charlotte felt herself go faint at the note and she sat down hard on the floor. He knew. He knew where she was. And even worse, he knew about Pogue.
"Absentis." she whispered and the note and picture disappeared in a flash. "Shit." she swore, running a hand through her hair.
In a split second, she knew what she needed to do. As quickly as possible, she stripped out of her dripping outfit and slipped into a robe of dark purple velvet that fell to her ankles and hid her curves from sight. She pulled a small trunk from underneath her bed, opened it and began loading things into a bag. Six candles, a container of salt, a bottle of purified water, a double edged, dark handled knife, an incese burner, and a small alter. Then she ran as quickly and quietly as she could through the school, down the front steps and out into the woods surrounding the school. Within a few minutes, she found a place she figured was secluded enough.
She pulled the alter out of the bag and put it on the ground, facing east; then set a white candle on the top right corner for the Goddess; a red candled on the top left hand corner for the God; a second red candle at the top center, symbolizing love, anger, courage, and protection; she set a snake incense holder and lit frankincense, the snake her totem, and frankincense also a symbol of protection; a small goblet of purified water and another of salt; and last the double edged knife was set on the edge closest to her. Then she set the other four candles at the four quarters, yellow at the East for air, red at the South for fire, blue at the West for water, and green at the North for earth. She quickly purified the area with sage and salt water; called the quarters, starting with the east; invoked the God and Goddess; and whispered th customary chant said before casting a spell.
Finally she knelt in front of the altar, used her the double edged knife to cut the words protect Pogue into the red candle at the center, before speaking the spell.
"Carus Dea Ariadne, commodo audite meus dico,
Ego quaeso is intus quantum bonus totus.
May vox valde vero,
Redimio quod servo Pogue huic vicis postulo.
Contego him ex periculosus quod poena is nox noctis,
Redimio quod servo him ut optimus Vos vires.
Sollicitudo quod vereor have penetro suus vita,
Servo him iam quod aufero is jurgium.
Per meus manus manus is alica est iacio,
Quod per mos of Ariadne is mos venio.
Sic vires is exsisto."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt familiar warmth rush over her body like a waterfall and knew her plea had been answered. Again, she quickly gathered her things and hurried back to the school. She was completely oblivious to a pair of dark brown eyes set in a handsome face watching her every move and hearing her every word in shock. She didn't even notice him when she walked right by him, almost straight into him. Caleb stood in shock watching her walk away, unsure of what to do with this new knowledge.
A/N: OK, that was a damn long chapter! 10 pages! Holy hell! Anywho, ok a few things to go over.
Piscis - fish
The spell will be told in the next chapter, so be patient.
Also, I finally have up some concept art, crappy but still. The dress is also shown. Just go to my profile and click away!
Well, I'll try (heavy on the TRY) and post again tomorrow but no guarantees.
Review please! Love you guys!
Bitch Goddess