CHAPTER NINE - Transparent
"Hey Char, don't look so disgusted at the thought of someone mistaking me for your significant other," Byron said, laughing, holding the door open for me as we stepped outside.
"N-No! It's not that!" I protested, blushing even more.
"Suuure," Byron said, as he took a seat at one of the empty tables out on the sidewalk. "Really now, would that be such a bad thing?" he asked, with a twinkle in his eye. There was definitely no other choice but to abandon my plan of trying to avoid him.
"I don't know... You tell me." I said with a sly (but very nervous) grin as I sat down across from him. Wow. I was openly flirting with Mr. Byron Pike. Even more impressive was my success at not blubbering like a complete idiot.
"Ahh – there it is! There's the old Charlotte!... I was beginning to miss her," Byron said, smiling. "So what's up? It seems like you've been avoiding me the whole day. I thought you were pissed off at me or something."
"I – I was just... thinking... trying to figure some things out," I replied, swallowing a huge spoonful of delicious chocolate ice-cream.
"Okaaay... But that doesn't really make much sense," Byron noted, looking at me thoughtfully. "Unless –"
"Unless what?" I stared down at my sundae, swirling the hot fudge around in the cup.
"Well, unless you were thinking about me. Trying to figure me out." My heart skipped a beat. Geez, was I that transparent? I should've followed my initial plan – to shut my mouth.
"Are you that conceited, Byron?" I scoffed, recovering from my slight fumble.
He laughed. "Nope. It's just a thought," he replied, grinning. "But we should go. Everyone's probably waiting." I checked my watch and we were indeed a little late. It was even getting a little dark outside. We both got up and slowly started walking towards the arcade area.
"So hey, just in case it happens again..." Byron said, looking over at me. "I'm begging you not to look so grossed out when someone suggests the idea that I could be your boyfriend. That really can do a huge amount of damage to a guy's ego." I laughed.
"Seriously. I mean, come on!" he continued. "I'm nice, I treat girls better than most guys out there and hey, I'm not too bad looking, right?" He looked over at me for confirmation.
"Relative to what? A dog? Then sure," I joked, grinning. He laughed and playfully pushed me away.
"Shut yo' mouth, foo'!" he retorted. But then after a few moments, he added, "I guess I'll take you making fun of me over you trying to avoid me." I smiled and Byron draped his arm across my shoulders and pulled me closer to his side.
"I like you, Char. I really do. You're a cool chick," he said.
From that moment, I decided to change my original plan. Why be afraid of something that can't be bad for me in every aspect I could think of? To think about it, the worst thing that could happen would be staying friends with him. That wasn't bad in any sense.
He kept his arm on my shoulders for a second longer, then we came in view of our friends who were waiting for us, obviously very impatient. Jordan, Adam and Craig came running towards us with worried looks on their faces.
"Guys, what's wrong?" I asked, getting worried myself.
"Man, we wasted thirty bucks on this frickin game that we KNOW Byron can beat," Adam said desperately. I burst out laughing.
"Dumb-ass! You know those games are rigged," Byron said, shaking his head.
"Yeah! And that's why we need to get our money back! That's why we need the star pitcher on our baseball team!" Craig cried, roughly massaging Byron's shoulders. Byron shrugged him off.
"Come off it. I'll give it a try." He started walking ahead of me with the guys. Becca linked her arm in mine when I reached her. We fell behind the rest of our group.
"So, what took you guys so long? Been smooching under the stars?" she teased. I caught her up with everything that happened in excited whispers.
"Wow. This can definitely only get better! I have news!" she announced, with a grin. I looked at her inquiringly. "Apparently, Mr. Byron has been asking a lot of questions about you. This is from his brother, so it's a fairly reliable source." I gaped at her open mouthed, but quickly closed it.
"Wait. That doesn't really mean anything though," I said, after considering it.
"It does if you consider WHAT he's asking," Becca said knowingly. "He's been asking if you're interested in anyone right now, about your past relationships..."
"Or lack of them?" I interrupted, chuckling.
"Oh, shush! But this is GOOD! You like him. He likes you. This is perfect!"
"Ohhhh no you don't," I replied. "Before you go on with all that double wedding crap again. Let's just take it slowly. Nothing's set in stone yet, remember?"
"Right. But swear that I'm the first person you're going to tell if anything happens. ANYTHING."
"Of course, bestfriend." I said, grinning.
We stopped walking and realized we had caught up with our friends who were standing around a tented booth, watching Byron trying to win the guys' money back. It was one of those silly games where you tried to knock over a stack of milk bottles.
Byron was tossing an old baseball in his hand when he looked over at us and I found him staring at me straight in the eye. He smiled and nodded towards the ball in his hand.
I smiled back. If that moment had been part of one of those old black and white films, I SO could've pictured him saying in a deep Southern drawl, "This one's for you, sweetheart." I quietly laughed at the thought.
In one quick motion, Byron looked back at the stack of bottles, threw the ball with all his energy and the whole thing came crashing down.