CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Eva shrugged. "Where do you guys wanna go? We kinda stopped planning here… it's up to you."
Everyone stared at each other for a while, not sure what to say.
Charlie was concentrating really hard to figure out where to go when a smile slowly spread across his face. "The Statue of Liberty… of course! Just like Erik's birthday."
Jody shot him a weird look, but nodded anyway. "That sounds… fun… I guess."
"Ok then, Statue of Liberty it is!" Eva said. She went up and said something to the driver and came back to sit with Emily.
They drove around for a while longer and then got out to wait on the dock. When the fairy pulled up, the crossed the woodden bridge thing and went up to the second floor. They sat down on the benches and waited for the boat to start moving. When it finally started Charlie pulled out his wallet.
"Who wants a snack or something? Coffee anyone?"
"You're always buying us stuff!" Erik smiled.
Charlie shrugged "So? I'm just like that!" Charlie smiled. "Anyone want anything?"
"What do they have?" Anna asked.
Charlie shrugged. "Soda, Coffee, Pretzels I think. There's some other stuff."
"Can you get me a coke?" Jim asked as he pulled out his wallet.
"Sure, its on me."
Jim shrugged and out his wallet away.
"Can you get me-" Jody started.
Charlie smiled and cut her off. "Sure." He knew exactly what she wanted. "Anyone else? Ok, be back in a minute." Charlie head off to the snack bar downstairs.
"Why was we walking like that?" Emily asked.
"He looked really nervous…" Anna said quietly.
"Maybe he had to pee!" Jim laughed.
Maureen gave him a weird look and turned to Emily. "Who knows. Something's always up with Charlie…"
Eva nodded and waiting for him to come back. When he did, he had 2 cokes in one hand and Jody's drink in the other hand.
"One coke for you… one Jody special by Charlie for you… and one coke for me!!" Charlie said as he passed out the drinks and sat down.
He couldn't believe he had gotten this far without anyone telling him how nervous he looked.
"How come you were walking like that?" Emily asked.
BUSTED!!
"Walking how??"
"Like how you walk when you're nervous." Eva said.
Charlie sighed and shrugged. "Whatever. I'm fine. You must just be seeing things."
Jody smiled and took a sip of her drink. She spit it out and looked at Charlie. "You put the sugar in it, didn't you!!"
Charlie smiled sheepishly. "Oops!" He said, trying not to explode with laughter.
"EW!! Charlie! That's nasty! What are you thinking??" Jody laughed, throwing her straw in Charlie's face.
Charlie made a face. "I'm sorry, here," Charlie held out his hand, "I'll drink it for you."
Jody scrunched up her nose. "NO WAY!!" She dumped her drink in the trashcan nearby.
"What was that?" Anna asked Jody.
"Nothing…" Jody shook her head and looked at the statue over Emily's shoulder. "We actually gonna climb it this time??"
Maureen groaned. "I don't wanna."
"Me neither." Everyone mumbled.
"Then why are we going?" Erik asked.
Charlie shrugged nervously. "The gift shop?"
Everyone laughed and decided to climb it ayway.
"One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… Seventeen… Eighteen… Nineteen… Twenty… Fifty-Six… Fifty-Seven… Fifty-Eight… Fifty-Nine… Sixty…" Everyone chanted slowly as they assended the staircase.
When they reached the top Jody stuck her head out one of the windows in the crown. "Wow… it's beautiful…"
"Yeah…" Charlie said from behind her.
Jody spun around and smiled. "Come on!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the staircase. She looked down. "Shit! These things are narrow…" She noted.
Charlie touched her shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll be fine."
Jody shrugged him off and started down slowly. "This is way to scary. I swear I'm gonna fall!"
"You need some help?" Charlie offered.
"No, I'm fine." She said coldly, reaching the bottom step. "Whew!" She exclaimed, starting down the widder stepps. She looked back up at the others behind her. "Come on you guys!!" She called.
Charlie grabbed her hand and raced down the steps, glad there weren't many people that day.
"WHOA!! Charlie! Slow down! I'm gonna slip!!" Jody screamed.
Charlie smiled an stopped, waiting for the others. When they reached the bottom again, they started back to the fairy.
"That was actually fun!" Anna said. "I can't believe I've lived here this long and I haven't done that yet."
Charlie smiled. "Come on! We don't wanna miss the next fairy!"
They raced to get on the fairy and raced back up to the second floor. They all sat down again. Jim stood up half-way there.
"Uh, Charlie, can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked urgently.
"Sure…" Charlie stood up and they walked away from the group.
Jody watched, wondering what was up.
"Look, when id this gonna happen? You can't wait all day! We all wanna be there!" Jim said.
Charlie shrugged. "I dunno. I was beginning to think she'd like it better if it were just the two of us. You know, more private, more romantic."
"She'd like it better? More romantic? What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing… I just… I don't wanna spoil it just because of bad timing or… she always seems to get embarrassed or scared when we're around too man people."
"But it's just us! Her best friends!" Jim exclaimed.
"Yeah, but… just trust me."
Jim shrugged unhappily. "Whatever."
Maureen rushed over. "So Charlie, when you gonna give her your present??" She asked excitedly.
Charlie looked at Jim, then back at Maureen. "You know?"
Maureen smiled. "Yeah… Jim told me."
"You can't tell anyone!" Charlie said.
"I know… so!! When?"
Charlie shook his head. "I'm gonna wait until later, when we can be alone. And… I dunno… if that doesn't work out, I might have to wait for Christmas or Valentines' Day or… maybe even until her next birthday."
Maureen looked disapointed. "Oh fine."
They all headed back to the group and sat down again. Jody leaned over and whispered in Charlie's ear. "What was that about?"
Charlie smiled and shook his head. "Nothing… you'll see later… I guess."
Jody shrugged and was jolted forward when the boat stopped. "Whoa." She said, grabbing on to Charlie so she wouldn't fall off the bench.
Charlie helped her stand and the group walked slowly back to the limo. They climbed inside and sat down, srunched as usual.
"Now what?" Anna asked.
Erik sighed. "You guys just wanna come back to our apartment?"
"Yeah." Everyone nodded sleepily.
They pulled up in front of the apartment building and watched the limo pull away.
"Oh my God, you guys! Thank you so much! This is the best birthday I've ever had!" Jody exclaimed.
Everyone smiled and went up to their apartment.
"It's pretty small you guys, so…" Eva unlocked the door and let everyone in.
Charlie walked around nervously, humming "Happy Birthday" under his breath. Jody put her warm hand on his arm to stop him.
"Are you ok??" She asked concerned.
Charlie sighed. "Yeah, I guess so… can I talk to you alone… like in my room?"
"Sure."
Charlie smiled and pulled her into his room. He shut the door and turned to face her. Jody was sprawled across his bed.
"Tired?" He asked.
Jody nodded. "Yeah… and it's only like…" Jody checked her watch, "7!"
Charlie nodded as Jody sat up. He sat down next to her.
"What did you want to talk to me about?"
Charlie sighed nervously. "I dunno. This has been… the best day of my life too and… I'm so glad I got to share it with you. I know I've been really lucky to spend everyday with you for the past couple… months or however long it's been. I really am truly sorry for what I did to you. I'd rather die than have you go through all that pain. And I know you're happy with Cooper now… and I guess I'm happy for you. You don't know how hard it's been for me to see you with him… but what can you do, you know?"
Jody nodded, wondering where this was going.
Charlie pulled out a small ring box and got down on one knee. Jody gasped.
"Charlie…" She started softly.
"Shhh. I love you, Jody Sawyer. I've done this before, and each time I just can't help but love you more. And I swear, no more dancing girls. The only person I ever want to dance for me, is you. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you… so. Jody, will you marry me?" Charlie asked nervously, his stomach doing flips.
Jody looked down at the beautiful ring and smiled. "I… I don't know. This is… really big… wow. Charlie… I can't believe you're doing this again. I…" Jody bit her lip as Charlie's smile faded, "I have to think about it…"
Charlie shut the box and stood up, nodding. "Ok. I understand."
Jody smiled at Charlie akwardly, not sure what to do. "… Now what?"
Charlie shrugged. "I'm not sure… what are we supposed to now?"
Jody sighed. "I… I'm gonna go back out there, ok? Bye." Jody said, not wanting to leave him. She got up and rushed out of the room.
Charlie frowned and sat on the bed. "Man! What I wouldn't do…"
Jody sat down on Erik's lap on the couch.
"What was that?" Erik asked slyly.
Jody shook her head. "Nothing. He just… wanted to say how much fun he'd had today…"
Erik frowned and made a face, believing her. "Oh, maybe I should go talk to him…"
"No! He's fine… he's just… sleeping…" Jody got up and sat on the arm rest of the couch.
Jim looked at Maureen and shrugged. Jody sat on the couch, lost in thought.
"HELLO? JODY!!!" Eva screamed in Jody's face.
Jody snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Eva. "Sorry. What did you say?"
Eva smiled. "I said, did you have fun today??"
Jody bit her lip and paused a moment before smiling. "Yeah, I did." Jody smiled and looked off in the direction of Charlie's door.
