Charli Reagan stared at the telephone, gathering courage. "Just call
him!" she told herself out lout. "He's just - him! No biggie!" She
sighed. "This should NOT be a big deal!"
She picked up the phone, dialed the number from the phone book in front if her, and let it ring. Suddenly, the ring was interrupted with a slight 'click' and a "Hel-"
She slammed the phone back down on the receiver. She stared at it a moment before reaching to call again.
The telephone rang. Charli jerked, startled, but picked it up.
"Hello?" she said, praying for once that it would be some type of salesman - any type of salesman.
She heard Oz clear his throat, and finally speak. "Charli? Did you just try to call me?"
Charli took a deep breath to slow her heart's frenzied pace. "Uh. yeah, I did."
He cleared his throat again, and Charli swore she could hear an undertone of nervousness in his simple, "Why?"
"Well - I wanted to, um, invite you to dinner. for Thanksgiving! Um, at Giles's house?" she was doing a terrible job of hiding her anxiety.
Oz paused. When Charli opened her mouth to break the silence, he answered. "Yeah, ok. Sounds. It sounds great. What time?"
Charli nearly collapsed with relief. "Um, eight o'clock?"
"Great!"
There was an awkward pause. "Ok, well, see you tomorrow!"
"Great. Bye!" Oz replied.
Charli slammed the phone onto the receiver. The poor phone probably couldn't take much more of this, and neither could she.
"What is your problem?" she asked her reflection in front of her. "Why are you freaking out?" She was disappointed when the reflection didn't offer any logical explanation for her strange behavior.
"Hey, Charli, what are you doing?" Shelby Rosenbaum asked from the doorway. Charli whirled around to face her best friend, now even more nervous than before.
"Um. nothing, I just called." she stopped. "Oz," she said, under her breath.
Shelby apparently didn't hear her. "What should I wear tomorrow? Rach will be there," she said, holding up two sweaters to compare.
Rachel Monroe was Shelby's girlfriend, and they were absolutely crazy about each other. Charli cleared her throat several times in weak attempts to regain Shelby's attention.
"Shelby!" she called. Shelby turned.
Charli sighed. "I called Oz. You know, and I. I invited him to dinner at Giles's tonight."
Shelby's eyes widened in horror. "What? He's - he's not coming. is he?"
Charli nodded. "He'll be there at eight."
"Now I really don't know what to wear!"
That was the least of Charli's worries.
Charli rushed frantically in and out of Giles's kitchen. Giles watched her in amazement.
"I have never seen you so fascinated with cooking. You're paying more attention to that turkey than you ever have to me," he said with a slight grin.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked, looking up from the oven.
Alex, Charli's other best friend, burst into the room. "Have no fear, Alex is here! There will be no leftovers from that turkey tonight!!!"
His girlfriend, Kimberly, followed him in. "Can you eat that whole thing by yourself?" she asked, giving him a confused look. (She wasn't very smart.)
"Kim, honey, I was joking," he replied. "So. where's Shelby?" he asked Charli.
"Shelby? Oh, Shelby! Right, I don't know, I guess with Rachel." Everyone in the room wrinkled their noses automatically.
Alex was about to speak when the doorbell rang. Charli leapt toward the door. "It's not eight already, is it?" she called.
"Actually, it's eight-fifteen," he replied from the kitchen.
"I look terrible," Charli thought to herself.
Actually, she looked great. Charli was the type who could wear whatever she wanted and look fantastic, from a glittering gown to a shapeless muumuu. Today, she wore a tiny white tee-shirt from Abercrombie, very low, frayed hip-hugger jeans, and a colorful scarf around her neck. On anyone but Charli, it would have looked completely stupid.
She wore her long red hair completely natural - it was straight for the most part, but curled at the ends. It wasn't orange-red, but auburn, and had a few natural highlights. She had a few freckles across her cheeks and nose, which she didn't bother to cover up with makeup. The most she usually wore was mascara and lip gloss.
Charli bit her lip and pulled open the door. Oz stood waiting, his spiked hair black with blue tips today, holding a single rose. He smiled when he saw her, and offered her the rose.
"For you. For, you know, inviting me to. to dinner," he said shyly.
She smiled. A completely perfect smile. "Thanks, Oz! Come on in." She was determined to mask her anxiety.
He walked passed her and into the kitchen, where he and Alex spoke in whispers.
Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang again. This time, Giles answered the door. Shelby and Rachel stood sloppily making out in the doorway. Shelby feigned blushing as she led Rachel in by the hand.
This should be interesting, Charli thought to herself.
Charli noted that Shelby had really gone all-out to impress Rachel. or maybe to impress Oz. Shelby wasn't Charli's kind of pretty. In fact, by most standards, she wasn't pretty at all. She didn't have even an ounce of natural beauty anymore. Her dark hair was highlighted with chunks of platinum blonde and straightened to the death; her brown eyes were covered with blue contact lenses; her fake tan made her look over-cooked; her makeup must have added at least an inch to her face. Shelby had gone through quite a few changes, from her appearance, to her sexuality, since. well, we're getting to that. She wore a black shirt with an extremely low neckline, a tight tan skirt, chain belt, and dramatic knee-high boots.
It was a very awkward pause indeed. "So now you come," Alex said, attempting a joke. "I'm starving. Giles said it wasn't polite to start until everyone got here. So." As Alex went on about food, he could tell no one was listening. They were shifting their gazes between Oz and Shelby.
"Hi everyone, nice to see you," Shelby said, looking pointedly at Oz.
The party moved into the dining room, where Charli had just set out the food. Everyone agreed that it looked delicious. They ate in awkward silence.
You must not understand what a weird situation this group of friends had. Shelby and Alex were life-long friends. And Shelby had been in love with Alex all of her life. Charli moved to the small California town of Sunny Dale her sophomore year of high school, where she met Shelby and Alex. Alex had fallen head-over-heels for Charli. The next year, Oz came into the picture. He and Shelby met at the local minors' club. They dated through high school. They were in love. Everyone thought they would get married.
Now, Giles was the school librarian. He had become like a father to Nikki throughout her years there, as Charli had tendencies to get into trouble quite often (though not of her own accord) and needed someone to bail her out. Giles was just that person. Almost a year before, Oz went away on tour with his band for a few months, and when he came back, he found a completely different Shelby. Charli was twenty-two, Shelby and Alex were twenty-three, and Oz was twenty-five. Giles was much older, of course.
"So, Oz... Good to have you for dinner. I mean, at dinner. I mean. you know," Alex muttered, in another unsuccessful attempt at conversation.
Oz nodded with a half smile on his face. He glanced at Charli, flashed a real smile, then stared at his plate. Shivers went up Nikki's spine.
Shelby cleared her throat, and he looked up at her. She forced a smile. "You should have kept in touch," she said quietly.
Oz raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Shelby didn't know what to say. "Well. I. It would've been nice to."
"You told me to move on. So I am."
Giles, Alex, Rachel, Kimberly, and Charli looked worriedly at the face of an imminent fight.
Shelby frowned at him. "Well it might have been easier for you if you had cared enough to call once in a blue moon."
Oz stood up, throwing his napkin on the table. "You're right. Absolutely. This must be my fault." He looked around the table at everyone else, who had suddenly become very interested in their food. "Dinner was great," he said, mostly to Charli. "Happy Thanksgiving." He opened the door, but stole one more meaningful look at Nikki before leaving.
"Shelby, can I talk to you?" Charli asked.
Shelby shrugged. She kissed Rachel on the cheek and followed her best friend into the kitchen.
Alex looked around with wide eyes. "What was that?"
Giles shook his head, not having an answer. Rachel stared at the kitchen door apprehensively.
Charli glared at Shelby. "What is your problem? I thought you were trying to be friends with Oz!"
Shelby glared back. "My problem? Maybe you didn't hear him," she replied evenly.
"Shell, he's trying! You broke his heart, whether you want to admit it or not! And. and every time you're so blatantly rude, or you rub it in his face with Rachel, it kills him! Don't you care?"
Shelby turned away. "Oh, so now you know everything, right? Oz left me, may I remind you, and I got on with my life. I can't help the way he feels, or, for that matter, the way I feel about Rach. Why shouldn't I show it? Don't I deserve to be happy? Should I stop loving Rachel just because Oz doesn't have someone to love?" Shelby had always done a world- class job of turning a situation to her favor.
"He didn't leave you, Shell, he went away for awhile. Do you not remember that he wanted to be able to support you, so that you would be happy?"
"I wouldn't expect you to understand." She walked out.
Charli stared at the door, swinging slowly back and fourth. "Why is she acting like this?" she asked herself. "She must care about him, at least a little bit."
With resolve, Charli walked through the dining room, thanked everyone for a nice evening, and walked out into the dark street. It was colder then than it had been when Charli had chosen to wear a tiny tee-shirt.
She walked in the dark toward Oz's house. She wasn't sure what she would say to him, but she thought less and less about that as she became more and more aware of how cold she was. She tried to wrap up in her scarf.
Charli stood in front of the door to Oz's apartment for at least ten minutes. Despite the fact that she was shivering with cold, she didn't knock. She wouldn't know what to say when he came to the door.
As Charli finally raised her hand to knock on the door, it opened. "Oh," she said softly.
Oz stood at the door. He looked even better than he had at dinner. His face lit up when he saw her.
"I just came by to." she paused. "Oz, I'm sorry about that," she said with a sympathetic look.
"It's ok. I was expecting it." He had been staring at her, but it just then registered that Charli's teeth were chattering. "Oh, God, sorry, come in!" he said, pulling her inside and shutting out the cold.
Charli followed Oz into the living room and sat on what was hardly a couch, where Oz wrapped a blanket tightly around her shoulders. "Better?"
"Much," Charli smiled.
"I shouldn't have gone over there. Why did you invite me anyway?" he asked, suddenly curious.
"Wha- well. I'm glad you came. Anyway, those dinners can get excruciatingly boring. It's kind of nice, though, just sitting here with you."
Oz was surprised. He and Charli had never really talked much in all the years they had known each other, and if they had, it was always about Shelby. He hadn't ever just. hung out with her. He kind of liked it, he realized, smiling. She was easy to be around, not to mention beautiful. And being without Shelby somehow didn't hurt quite as much when she was with him.
The two sat and talked, not about anything big (like Shelby), but idle chit-chat.
Charli glanced at the clock on the VCR. "It's nine, and we still haven't had a Thanksgiving dinner!"
Oz laughed at the funny expression on Charli's face. She looked almost frightened, like an evil turkey would come after her if she didn't have Thanksgiving dinner. "Well, let's go see what I have."
Charli and Oz walked into the kitchen. They rummaged around and found only bread, a can of tomato soup, a beer, a bottle of Tequila, and a shopping list which read "milk, beer."
"Wow, I just don't think this will make a meal," Charli sighed. "You don't even have crackers!"
"You like Chinese?" he asked hopefully.
"I love Chinese!" Charli said, smiling.
"Well why don't you wait here and I'll go get us a proper Chinese Thanksgiving dinner."
"Deal," Charli said.
While Oz was gone, Charli examined the contents of the apartment. There wasn't much to it. In the living room, there was a couch, a TV, a fireplace, and a large picture of the New York City skyline at night.
She wandered into the music room, which contained a drum kit, several guitars, and a microphone.
Upstairs was Oz's bedroom, which was fairly large. In the middle of one wall was an unmade king-size bed. A dresser stood on another wall, and clothes were scattered over the floor. Besides a stereo in the corner, there wasn't much else to it. "So this is where he sleeps." She sighed. Why do I have to like him? Even if he liked me, too, Shelby would never understand. It's hopeless. She sighed again.
Charli wandered back into the kitchen to find plates and silverware, and set up a picnic in the living room. Remembering the can of Margarita Mix she had in her bag, which she had been saving for after-dinner drinks, she set out to find a blender. It took longer than she had hoped, but Oz still hadn't returned with dinner when she was finished making them. She brought the Margaritas into the living room, and decided to light a fire. Luckily, it was electric. She stared at it, mesmerized, with cold Margaritas in her hands.
She didn't even look up when Oz walked in with three bags of food. He found Nikki standing in front of the fire still wrapped up in the blanket, the beginnings of a picnic on the floor. He coughed to get her attention.
She turned abruptly. "Margaritas!" she said, holding up the glasses. "Oh!" she set them back on the mantel and rushed to help Oz with the food.
He began awkwardly, "I didn't know what you liked, so I got."
"Everything," Charli said, feeling the weight of one bag. She looked up to see Oz looking very uncomfortable. "Great!" she smiled, making her way to the picnic.
"I thought it would be nice to eat in here. cozy. is that ok?" she asked.
"Perfect."
They began to set out boxes and boxes of food. Not looking up from the box of fried rice she had suddenly become very interested in, Charli said quietly, "Oz, I'm glad you're my friend."
He stared at her, surprised. "Really?"
She looked up and smiled sheepishly. And that's when it hit him - it was Charli. He hadn't dreaded going to Giles's because of Shelby, it was because of Charli. He remembered the funny, happy feeling he got when he saw her name on the caller ID the day before. And he had gotten that feeling every time she smiled. He didn't care about Shelby anymore; he hadn't for a long time. It was always Charli.
"Really. And - And Shelby doesn't know what she's losing, letting you go. If - well, if I were in her place, no way would I let you get away." He blushed.
Charli lifted her Margarita. "Cheers," she said, smiling sweetly.
There was that feeling again. Oz followed suit. "To. To you. You deserve to be toasted."
"Wow, a whole toast, all my own," Charli said thoughtfully. "I'll drink to that." She took a sip of her Margarita.
They ate and talked, both completely aware of the awkwardness of the situation. "Oz?" Charli looked up suddenly. "Do you think, I mean, do you feel a little. never mind." She turned back to the food.
"What?" he asked.
She sighed. "Don't you think this feels a little. awkward?"
He frowned and stood up. "Oh God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean. you're freaked. I'm sorry, I didn't realize."
Charli joined him standing and put a finger to his lips. "That's not what I meant. Awkward was the wrong word. Maybe I mean. I don't know. like, a little too good. Doesn't this feel a little too good?"
"Well, yeah, maybe, I mean. this is just like. perfect timing or something," Oz said.
As if in slow motion, Charli began to lower her finger from Oz's lips, as they stepped closer to one another. Their lips touched lightly, and Oz carefully wrapped his arms around Charli's waist, pulling her close. They stood together for awhile, before Charli asked, "Oz?" right into his mouth.
He continued kissing her. "Oz?" she repeated. The kissing continued. "Oz, I think I might be standing in the Lo Mein," she said, smiling into his kisses.
They looked down, touching foreheads, to see that Charli's bare foot was right in the plate of Lo Mein noodles. They laughed and kissed again.
"How does it feel?" he asked into her mouth.
"Feels kinda. squishy," she said mischievously, wiggling her toes.
Unexpectedly, Oz picked Charli up in a cradle and walked her into the kitchen, where he set her gently on the counter next to the sink. He ran the warm water over her foot and softly rubbed it with one hand as he held the sprayer over her foot with the other.
Her foot felt soft in his hand, and so tiny. Her toes curled and her nose wrinkled when he touched a ticklish spot.
"This is nice," Charli sighed.
"Of course it is," Oz laughed, "you're getting a foot massage!"
"Well, as long as you're doing that one," Charli said, sticking her other foot in the sink, "you might as well do this one."
Oz dropped the sprayer and began to tickle her feet, a devilish glint in his eyes. Charli howled with laughter until there were tears in her eyes. Oz moved from her feet to her stomach.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Charli cried between laughs.
"Just say, 'I live to serve Oz in all his great sexiness,'" Oz said, continuing his attack.
"Never!" Charli screamed happily.
Oz began tickling her more furiously. When Charli couldn't take anymore, she gasped, "Ok. ok. I live... to serve... Oz... in all his extraordinary sexiness."
She leaned against the wall trying to regain control of her breath. Oz watched her contentedly. Once again, they were pulled, as if magnetically, toward each other. They kissed for several minutes, but Charli glanced at her watch. It was one-thirty.
"Oh, no, we better get going!" she said, running into the living room. She began picking up boxes of food. Oz took them from her.
"I'll take care of it, you go on home," he said, kissing the end of her nose.
"But I."
"You are going home," he said sweetly, but firmly.
"Ok," she sighed, leaning on him and kissing him.
She pulled away when she knew Oz would have liked continue kissing, grabbed her shoes and ran to the door. "Call me!" she said cheerily, going out into the cold without even putting her shoes on.
Oz stood, awestruck, at the beautiful girl as she bounced out of the apartment. He picked up the blanket she had kept warm in all night. Ignoring the mess, he walked upstairs and lay down. He wrapped the blanket around him. It was still warm. He gathered it into his arms and smelled the faint traces of Charli. He fell asleep, peacefully dreaming about his new love.
She picked up the phone, dialed the number from the phone book in front if her, and let it ring. Suddenly, the ring was interrupted with a slight 'click' and a "Hel-"
She slammed the phone back down on the receiver. She stared at it a moment before reaching to call again.
The telephone rang. Charli jerked, startled, but picked it up.
"Hello?" she said, praying for once that it would be some type of salesman - any type of salesman.
She heard Oz clear his throat, and finally speak. "Charli? Did you just try to call me?"
Charli took a deep breath to slow her heart's frenzied pace. "Uh. yeah, I did."
He cleared his throat again, and Charli swore she could hear an undertone of nervousness in his simple, "Why?"
"Well - I wanted to, um, invite you to dinner. for Thanksgiving! Um, at Giles's house?" she was doing a terrible job of hiding her anxiety.
Oz paused. When Charli opened her mouth to break the silence, he answered. "Yeah, ok. Sounds. It sounds great. What time?"
Charli nearly collapsed with relief. "Um, eight o'clock?"
"Great!"
There was an awkward pause. "Ok, well, see you tomorrow!"
"Great. Bye!" Oz replied.
Charli slammed the phone onto the receiver. The poor phone probably couldn't take much more of this, and neither could she.
"What is your problem?" she asked her reflection in front of her. "Why are you freaking out?" She was disappointed when the reflection didn't offer any logical explanation for her strange behavior.
"Hey, Charli, what are you doing?" Shelby Rosenbaum asked from the doorway. Charli whirled around to face her best friend, now even more nervous than before.
"Um. nothing, I just called." she stopped. "Oz," she said, under her breath.
Shelby apparently didn't hear her. "What should I wear tomorrow? Rach will be there," she said, holding up two sweaters to compare.
Rachel Monroe was Shelby's girlfriend, and they were absolutely crazy about each other. Charli cleared her throat several times in weak attempts to regain Shelby's attention.
"Shelby!" she called. Shelby turned.
Charli sighed. "I called Oz. You know, and I. I invited him to dinner at Giles's tonight."
Shelby's eyes widened in horror. "What? He's - he's not coming. is he?"
Charli nodded. "He'll be there at eight."
"Now I really don't know what to wear!"
That was the least of Charli's worries.
Charli rushed frantically in and out of Giles's kitchen. Giles watched her in amazement.
"I have never seen you so fascinated with cooking. You're paying more attention to that turkey than you ever have to me," he said with a slight grin.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked, looking up from the oven.
Alex, Charli's other best friend, burst into the room. "Have no fear, Alex is here! There will be no leftovers from that turkey tonight!!!"
His girlfriend, Kimberly, followed him in. "Can you eat that whole thing by yourself?" she asked, giving him a confused look. (She wasn't very smart.)
"Kim, honey, I was joking," he replied. "So. where's Shelby?" he asked Charli.
"Shelby? Oh, Shelby! Right, I don't know, I guess with Rachel." Everyone in the room wrinkled their noses automatically.
Alex was about to speak when the doorbell rang. Charli leapt toward the door. "It's not eight already, is it?" she called.
"Actually, it's eight-fifteen," he replied from the kitchen.
"I look terrible," Charli thought to herself.
Actually, she looked great. Charli was the type who could wear whatever she wanted and look fantastic, from a glittering gown to a shapeless muumuu. Today, she wore a tiny white tee-shirt from Abercrombie, very low, frayed hip-hugger jeans, and a colorful scarf around her neck. On anyone but Charli, it would have looked completely stupid.
She wore her long red hair completely natural - it was straight for the most part, but curled at the ends. It wasn't orange-red, but auburn, and had a few natural highlights. She had a few freckles across her cheeks and nose, which she didn't bother to cover up with makeup. The most she usually wore was mascara and lip gloss.
Charli bit her lip and pulled open the door. Oz stood waiting, his spiked hair black with blue tips today, holding a single rose. He smiled when he saw her, and offered her the rose.
"For you. For, you know, inviting me to. to dinner," he said shyly.
She smiled. A completely perfect smile. "Thanks, Oz! Come on in." She was determined to mask her anxiety.
He walked passed her and into the kitchen, where he and Alex spoke in whispers.
Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang again. This time, Giles answered the door. Shelby and Rachel stood sloppily making out in the doorway. Shelby feigned blushing as she led Rachel in by the hand.
This should be interesting, Charli thought to herself.
Charli noted that Shelby had really gone all-out to impress Rachel. or maybe to impress Oz. Shelby wasn't Charli's kind of pretty. In fact, by most standards, she wasn't pretty at all. She didn't have even an ounce of natural beauty anymore. Her dark hair was highlighted with chunks of platinum blonde and straightened to the death; her brown eyes were covered with blue contact lenses; her fake tan made her look over-cooked; her makeup must have added at least an inch to her face. Shelby had gone through quite a few changes, from her appearance, to her sexuality, since. well, we're getting to that. She wore a black shirt with an extremely low neckline, a tight tan skirt, chain belt, and dramatic knee-high boots.
It was a very awkward pause indeed. "So now you come," Alex said, attempting a joke. "I'm starving. Giles said it wasn't polite to start until everyone got here. So." As Alex went on about food, he could tell no one was listening. They were shifting their gazes between Oz and Shelby.
"Hi everyone, nice to see you," Shelby said, looking pointedly at Oz.
The party moved into the dining room, where Charli had just set out the food. Everyone agreed that it looked delicious. They ate in awkward silence.
You must not understand what a weird situation this group of friends had. Shelby and Alex were life-long friends. And Shelby had been in love with Alex all of her life. Charli moved to the small California town of Sunny Dale her sophomore year of high school, where she met Shelby and Alex. Alex had fallen head-over-heels for Charli. The next year, Oz came into the picture. He and Shelby met at the local minors' club. They dated through high school. They were in love. Everyone thought they would get married.
Now, Giles was the school librarian. He had become like a father to Nikki throughout her years there, as Charli had tendencies to get into trouble quite often (though not of her own accord) and needed someone to bail her out. Giles was just that person. Almost a year before, Oz went away on tour with his band for a few months, and when he came back, he found a completely different Shelby. Charli was twenty-two, Shelby and Alex were twenty-three, and Oz was twenty-five. Giles was much older, of course.
"So, Oz... Good to have you for dinner. I mean, at dinner. I mean. you know," Alex muttered, in another unsuccessful attempt at conversation.
Oz nodded with a half smile on his face. He glanced at Charli, flashed a real smile, then stared at his plate. Shivers went up Nikki's spine.
Shelby cleared her throat, and he looked up at her. She forced a smile. "You should have kept in touch," she said quietly.
Oz raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Shelby didn't know what to say. "Well. I. It would've been nice to."
"You told me to move on. So I am."
Giles, Alex, Rachel, Kimberly, and Charli looked worriedly at the face of an imminent fight.
Shelby frowned at him. "Well it might have been easier for you if you had cared enough to call once in a blue moon."
Oz stood up, throwing his napkin on the table. "You're right. Absolutely. This must be my fault." He looked around the table at everyone else, who had suddenly become very interested in their food. "Dinner was great," he said, mostly to Charli. "Happy Thanksgiving." He opened the door, but stole one more meaningful look at Nikki before leaving.
"Shelby, can I talk to you?" Charli asked.
Shelby shrugged. She kissed Rachel on the cheek and followed her best friend into the kitchen.
Alex looked around with wide eyes. "What was that?"
Giles shook his head, not having an answer. Rachel stared at the kitchen door apprehensively.
Charli glared at Shelby. "What is your problem? I thought you were trying to be friends with Oz!"
Shelby glared back. "My problem? Maybe you didn't hear him," she replied evenly.
"Shell, he's trying! You broke his heart, whether you want to admit it or not! And. and every time you're so blatantly rude, or you rub it in his face with Rachel, it kills him! Don't you care?"
Shelby turned away. "Oh, so now you know everything, right? Oz left me, may I remind you, and I got on with my life. I can't help the way he feels, or, for that matter, the way I feel about Rach. Why shouldn't I show it? Don't I deserve to be happy? Should I stop loving Rachel just because Oz doesn't have someone to love?" Shelby had always done a world- class job of turning a situation to her favor.
"He didn't leave you, Shell, he went away for awhile. Do you not remember that he wanted to be able to support you, so that you would be happy?"
"I wouldn't expect you to understand." She walked out.
Charli stared at the door, swinging slowly back and fourth. "Why is she acting like this?" she asked herself. "She must care about him, at least a little bit."
With resolve, Charli walked through the dining room, thanked everyone for a nice evening, and walked out into the dark street. It was colder then than it had been when Charli had chosen to wear a tiny tee-shirt.
She walked in the dark toward Oz's house. She wasn't sure what she would say to him, but she thought less and less about that as she became more and more aware of how cold she was. She tried to wrap up in her scarf.
Charli stood in front of the door to Oz's apartment for at least ten minutes. Despite the fact that she was shivering with cold, she didn't knock. She wouldn't know what to say when he came to the door.
As Charli finally raised her hand to knock on the door, it opened. "Oh," she said softly.
Oz stood at the door. He looked even better than he had at dinner. His face lit up when he saw her.
"I just came by to." she paused. "Oz, I'm sorry about that," she said with a sympathetic look.
"It's ok. I was expecting it." He had been staring at her, but it just then registered that Charli's teeth were chattering. "Oh, God, sorry, come in!" he said, pulling her inside and shutting out the cold.
Charli followed Oz into the living room and sat on what was hardly a couch, where Oz wrapped a blanket tightly around her shoulders. "Better?"
"Much," Charli smiled.
"I shouldn't have gone over there. Why did you invite me anyway?" he asked, suddenly curious.
"Wha- well. I'm glad you came. Anyway, those dinners can get excruciatingly boring. It's kind of nice, though, just sitting here with you."
Oz was surprised. He and Charli had never really talked much in all the years they had known each other, and if they had, it was always about Shelby. He hadn't ever just. hung out with her. He kind of liked it, he realized, smiling. She was easy to be around, not to mention beautiful. And being without Shelby somehow didn't hurt quite as much when she was with him.
The two sat and talked, not about anything big (like Shelby), but idle chit-chat.
Charli glanced at the clock on the VCR. "It's nine, and we still haven't had a Thanksgiving dinner!"
Oz laughed at the funny expression on Charli's face. She looked almost frightened, like an evil turkey would come after her if she didn't have Thanksgiving dinner. "Well, let's go see what I have."
Charli and Oz walked into the kitchen. They rummaged around and found only bread, a can of tomato soup, a beer, a bottle of Tequila, and a shopping list which read "milk, beer."
"Wow, I just don't think this will make a meal," Charli sighed. "You don't even have crackers!"
"You like Chinese?" he asked hopefully.
"I love Chinese!" Charli said, smiling.
"Well why don't you wait here and I'll go get us a proper Chinese Thanksgiving dinner."
"Deal," Charli said.
While Oz was gone, Charli examined the contents of the apartment. There wasn't much to it. In the living room, there was a couch, a TV, a fireplace, and a large picture of the New York City skyline at night.
She wandered into the music room, which contained a drum kit, several guitars, and a microphone.
Upstairs was Oz's bedroom, which was fairly large. In the middle of one wall was an unmade king-size bed. A dresser stood on another wall, and clothes were scattered over the floor. Besides a stereo in the corner, there wasn't much else to it. "So this is where he sleeps." She sighed. Why do I have to like him? Even if he liked me, too, Shelby would never understand. It's hopeless. She sighed again.
Charli wandered back into the kitchen to find plates and silverware, and set up a picnic in the living room. Remembering the can of Margarita Mix she had in her bag, which she had been saving for after-dinner drinks, she set out to find a blender. It took longer than she had hoped, but Oz still hadn't returned with dinner when she was finished making them. She brought the Margaritas into the living room, and decided to light a fire. Luckily, it was electric. She stared at it, mesmerized, with cold Margaritas in her hands.
She didn't even look up when Oz walked in with three bags of food. He found Nikki standing in front of the fire still wrapped up in the blanket, the beginnings of a picnic on the floor. He coughed to get her attention.
She turned abruptly. "Margaritas!" she said, holding up the glasses. "Oh!" she set them back on the mantel and rushed to help Oz with the food.
He began awkwardly, "I didn't know what you liked, so I got."
"Everything," Charli said, feeling the weight of one bag. She looked up to see Oz looking very uncomfortable. "Great!" she smiled, making her way to the picnic.
"I thought it would be nice to eat in here. cozy. is that ok?" she asked.
"Perfect."
They began to set out boxes and boxes of food. Not looking up from the box of fried rice she had suddenly become very interested in, Charli said quietly, "Oz, I'm glad you're my friend."
He stared at her, surprised. "Really?"
She looked up and smiled sheepishly. And that's when it hit him - it was Charli. He hadn't dreaded going to Giles's because of Shelby, it was because of Charli. He remembered the funny, happy feeling he got when he saw her name on the caller ID the day before. And he had gotten that feeling every time she smiled. He didn't care about Shelby anymore; he hadn't for a long time. It was always Charli.
"Really. And - And Shelby doesn't know what she's losing, letting you go. If - well, if I were in her place, no way would I let you get away." He blushed.
Charli lifted her Margarita. "Cheers," she said, smiling sweetly.
There was that feeling again. Oz followed suit. "To. To you. You deserve to be toasted."
"Wow, a whole toast, all my own," Charli said thoughtfully. "I'll drink to that." She took a sip of her Margarita.
They ate and talked, both completely aware of the awkwardness of the situation. "Oz?" Charli looked up suddenly. "Do you think, I mean, do you feel a little. never mind." She turned back to the food.
"What?" he asked.
She sighed. "Don't you think this feels a little. awkward?"
He frowned and stood up. "Oh God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean. you're freaked. I'm sorry, I didn't realize."
Charli joined him standing and put a finger to his lips. "That's not what I meant. Awkward was the wrong word. Maybe I mean. I don't know. like, a little too good. Doesn't this feel a little too good?"
"Well, yeah, maybe, I mean. this is just like. perfect timing or something," Oz said.
As if in slow motion, Charli began to lower her finger from Oz's lips, as they stepped closer to one another. Their lips touched lightly, and Oz carefully wrapped his arms around Charli's waist, pulling her close. They stood together for awhile, before Charli asked, "Oz?" right into his mouth.
He continued kissing her. "Oz?" she repeated. The kissing continued. "Oz, I think I might be standing in the Lo Mein," she said, smiling into his kisses.
They looked down, touching foreheads, to see that Charli's bare foot was right in the plate of Lo Mein noodles. They laughed and kissed again.
"How does it feel?" he asked into her mouth.
"Feels kinda. squishy," she said mischievously, wiggling her toes.
Unexpectedly, Oz picked Charli up in a cradle and walked her into the kitchen, where he set her gently on the counter next to the sink. He ran the warm water over her foot and softly rubbed it with one hand as he held the sprayer over her foot with the other.
Her foot felt soft in his hand, and so tiny. Her toes curled and her nose wrinkled when he touched a ticklish spot.
"This is nice," Charli sighed.
"Of course it is," Oz laughed, "you're getting a foot massage!"
"Well, as long as you're doing that one," Charli said, sticking her other foot in the sink, "you might as well do this one."
Oz dropped the sprayer and began to tickle her feet, a devilish glint in his eyes. Charli howled with laughter until there were tears in her eyes. Oz moved from her feet to her stomach.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Charli cried between laughs.
"Just say, 'I live to serve Oz in all his great sexiness,'" Oz said, continuing his attack.
"Never!" Charli screamed happily.
Oz began tickling her more furiously. When Charli couldn't take anymore, she gasped, "Ok. ok. I live... to serve... Oz... in all his extraordinary sexiness."
She leaned against the wall trying to regain control of her breath. Oz watched her contentedly. Once again, they were pulled, as if magnetically, toward each other. They kissed for several minutes, but Charli glanced at her watch. It was one-thirty.
"Oh, no, we better get going!" she said, running into the living room. She began picking up boxes of food. Oz took them from her.
"I'll take care of it, you go on home," he said, kissing the end of her nose.
"But I."
"You are going home," he said sweetly, but firmly.
"Ok," she sighed, leaning on him and kissing him.
She pulled away when she knew Oz would have liked continue kissing, grabbed her shoes and ran to the door. "Call me!" she said cheerily, going out into the cold without even putting her shoes on.
Oz stood, awestruck, at the beautiful girl as she bounced out of the apartment. He picked up the blanket she had kept warm in all night. Ignoring the mess, he walked upstairs and lay down. He wrapped the blanket around him. It was still warm. He gathered it into his arms and smelled the faint traces of Charli. He fell asleep, peacefully dreaming about his new love.
