Chapter Three

"He did what?!" Becca shrieked from the backseat of Corrie's car. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Why the hell did you want to leave?" Corrie asked me. "Shit, if Adam Pike tried to make out with me, I'd be all over him!"

I put my head in my hands. "Oh, man, I don't know!" I moaned. "Was he drunk?"

Corrie shook her head. "No, I know Adam when he's drunk, and he wasn't drunk at all tonight."

"So it was totally legit!" Becca exclaimed. "He really does like you, it wasn't the booze talking!"

"So really, why did you want to leave so badly?" Corrie persisted. "Why didn't you want to kiss him?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea!" I answered. "I don't know... I don't know what a kiss is even supposed to be like. I got embarrassed, I guess."

Becca rubbed my shoulders from the back seat. "Don't be embarrassed Char." She told me. "If Adam wanted a quick fuck or something, there was plenty of other girls there tonight that would have done the job. The fact that he came over to you when you were upset, gave you his jacket... I think he really does like you!"

"He doesn't even know me anymore!" I protested.

"It's only been a year since we stopped hanging out with Vanessa." Becca reminded me. "He's not going to forget you in a year!"

"He told me I was sexy." I admitted. Corrie and Becca stared at me. "And gorgeous, and beautiful." I added, feeling myself getting more embarrassed as I talked.

"Jeez!" Becca whistled. "Let's turn around, I don't want you to let this guy slip between your fingers."

"No, I want to go home!" I said firmly.

"Why?!" Becca asked. "We've asked you a hundred times, and you haven't really given us a straight answer. What is so bad about Adam liking you?"

"Nothing, except for the fact that he is super hot, really popular and experienced, and I'm none of the above." I answered. "I haven't even kissed a guy, really, and Adam is definitely not a virgin!"

"Who the hell cares, Char?" Corrie exclaimed. "He likes you, I don't think he cares whether you're a virgin or not."

"Well, I care." I told them. "So let's just drop it, okay?"

"Okay." Becca and Corrie replied in unison. I slumped in my seat and watched the moon follow us home.

I guess there isn't anything wrong with Adam liking me, if he actually does. I guess lots of girls would like to be in my shoes. But I think I would feel so nervous and uncomfortable being with a guy who was so obviously more experienced than I am.

"Char." Becca began, breaking the silence. "I think you need to lighten up."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked her.

"Quit worrying about whether or not Adam is a virgin, quit worrying about your difference in experience levels. Just quit worrying and just live a little. You worry way too much for a fifteen year old girl. I'm not saying you need to become a Slutateer," she continued, "but... just enjoy life. You're going to wake up one day and realize, damn, I could have dated one of the hottest guys in high school but instead, I sat at home and studied, and now I am a crazy cat lady!"

Corrie stifled a giggle, then glanced and me and straightened her face. "I'm sorry Char, but she's right." She told me. "Life is too short to spend it worrying about being embarrassed. You have nothing to be embarrassed about!"

"I don't want to talk about it." I told them. "Thank you for your advice. I'll think about it. Now, let's drop it."

We drove the rest of the way in silence. I felt bad about snapping at my friends who were only trying to help, but Corrie has never had a hard time finding a guy, and Becca has so much confidence, it's ridiculous. Neither one of them knows what it feels like to be a shy, inexperienced girl.

"Thanks for the ride." I said as Corrie pulled into my driveway.

Becca opened the back door to take my place in the passenger seat. "Char, please just think about what I said okay?" She asked. "That's all I ask, just think about it."

I nodded. "I will." I promised.

"Okay." Becca said, holding out her arms. I hugged her goodbye, waved and Corrie and walked up the front walk to the door. I didn't worry about washing my face or brushing my teeth. I went up to my room, tore off my jeans and Adam's sweatshirt and crawled into bed. I couldn't wait for this night to be over.

"... high of sixty two today. Right now, it's 7:30 and fifty three degrees in downtown Stamford."

I rolled over and turned off my alarm clock, forgetting that I didn't unset my alarm last night. Rather than hitting snooze, I threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. As soon as I stood up, I spotted Adam's sweatshirt on the floor, and all of last night's memories came flooding back.

"Oh, God!" I moaned, flopping back into bed. I rubbed my hands over my eyes and sighed. Now, in the light of day, I realized that I was an idiot. Adam probably went home with some skanky girl, and I missed my chance.

"Stupid, stupid girl!" I said to myself. I groaned and sat up, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and grabbed Adam's shirt. I walked out of my room and into the laundry room, threw his shirt and some towels into the washer and turned it on. Then I wandered downstairs. My mother was actually home, she was sitting at the table having a coffee and reading the paper. She smiled at me when she heard me coming down the stairs.

"Hi honey." She said. "How was your night last night?"

I slumped into a chair and rested my chin in my hands. "It was good, except for the whole thing."

Mom laughed. "What happened?"

I sighed. "Well, Becca and Vanessa and Haley got into a fight, and then Vanessa decided to throw her drink on me."

Mom shook her head. "I can't believe how that girl has turned out." She said. "I'm so happy that you and Becca didn't follow in her stupid footprints."

"Me too." I said. "I miss being her friend, but I don't want to be her friend now, not with how she is."

Mom stood up and kissed my head. "You're a good girl, Charlotte Johanssen." She told me. She put her coffee cup in the sink and stretched her arms. "I have to get ready to go, I have to pop in the office for a few hours this morning."

I let out a small sigh. I love my mother, and I love that she loves her career. But I wish she didn't work so much. She is very successful, but I miss her. Same with my father. He is a structural engineer, and ever since 9/11, he has been working more and more in Manhattan. He even has an apartment he stays at during the week, and sometimes on the weekend. I never really see him anymore. I miss him.

Mom ruffled my hair. "I'll be home for dinner tonight." She told me. "And Dad should be home early this afternoon. How about we order Chinese and have a family night?"

I smiled. "Really?"

"Really." Mom answered. "I'll be home by three at the absolute latest!"

"Okay." I agreed. Mom ruffled my hair as she walked past me and up the stairs. I stood up and poured myself a bowl of Cheerios, a glass of orange juice and wandered into the living room.

When you're a kid, the best part of Saturday morning is the cartoons. Now that I have pretty much outgrown the cartoons, the best part of Saturday morning is the reruns of The Cosby Show, Full House and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I settled onto the big, overstuffed chair and flicked on the TV.

After about an hour and a half, I decided to stop being lazy and go have a shower and get dressed. I went into the kitchen and rinsed out my cereal bowl. I was about to head upstairs when I heard a knock on the door. I dried my hands and opened the front door. I nearly shut it as soon as I opened it.

"Hey, Char." It was Adam, standing on my front steps, looking extremely gorgeous, and me, in an old tanktop and stained sweatpants. I self consciously crossed my arms across my chest and brushed my hair out of my eyes.

"Hi." I answered shyly. "What are you- how are you?" I changed my question as to not sound so rude.

"I'm good, how are you doing?" He asked.

I nodded. "I'm good too."

"Good." Adam said with a smile. We both stood there in silence for a few moments.

"Hey, um... do you want to come in, or something?" I asked him.

"Sure." Adam answered. I stepped aside, and he followed me into the house. I quickly grabbed an old sweater of my moms from the closet and led Adam into the kitchen.

"I um, I have your sweater." I told him. "It's in the wash."

"Oh, you didn't have to wash it." Adam said, grinning. "But thanks."

"I'll just go put it in the dryer." I said, wishing it was already in the dryer and not going to take forty five minutes to now dry. I ran up the stairs and threw his sweatshirt in the dryer. I stopped into my room and threw on a bra, a longer t-shirt and a pair of socks. After I quickly finger combed my hair, I went back downstairs. Adam was sitting at the table, flipping though the paper.

"Sorry." I apologized. "I would of had it in there already if I knew you were coming over."

"No worries." Adam told me. "I um... I came over cause I talked to Becca last night. After you left."

"What did you talk about?" I asked, feeling a nervous pit in my stomach.

"You, mostly." He said with a small grin.

"What about me?" I couldn't help asking.

Adam took a deep breath. "Well." He began. "She came up to me as soon as she got back from dropping you off and asked me point blank if I liked you."

I was quiet, waiting to hear the rejection from him. Adam grinned at me.

"Don't you want to know what I said?" He asked me.

"Do I?" I asked him quietly. I just knew he was going to tell me that he was just a bit drunk last night (no matter what Corrie said) and was sorry for embarrassing me.

Adam gave me a cute, crooked smile. "Well, I guess that depends on whether you like me or not." He told me. He suddenly got a bit shy and started rolling the corners of the newspaper up. "Truth is..." He started. "I do like you."

Whaa-aa-at?

"I think you're a super awesome girl." He continued. "You're cute and sweet... and last night, when you pushed me away... I think that was a smart thing. I mean, you're not one of those girls, and I know you're not one of them, so I shouldn't have put you in the situation to be one of them. I'm sorry for that. I do like you though. I really do."

"Really?" I asked shyly.

"Really." Adam answered. "Is that... okay? I mean... how do you feel about me? Do I want to know?"

I smiled at him. "I like you too." I told him. "Last night... I got scared. I mean, you're older and more experienced-."

Adam cut me off. "Char, I don't care about any of that." He told me. "I don't want you to think I'm some kind of playboy, cause I'm not. We'll leave that one up to Jeff."

"I don't think that." I said. "I just don't want you to expect anything from me."

"Never." He said firmly. "We can go slow. Like... how about coffee?"

"Yeah." I said with a smile. "I'd like that."

Adam grinned. "And just so you know." He added. "I really do think you're beautiful."

Later that day, Adam came by my house again to pick me up. I told him he needed to let me shower and get ready before he could take me out. I think he went and cleaned out his truck, because when I got in it, I could still smell the Armoral.

"Where would you like to go?" He asked me, climbing in and starting the engine.

I shrugged. "I don't know." I answered. "Um... The Rosebud?"

"My favourite." Adam declared, pulling out of my driveway. He drove up Locust Avenue and turned right onto Burnt Hill Road, heading downtown.

"Hey, Adam?" I asked. "Do you think anyone will care, or say anything, if we are seen together?"

"Do you really care?" He asked back.

I shrugged. "No, but I can think of a few people who might not like it."

"Like who?"

"Like your sister."

Adam laughed. "My sister is hungover in bed, she's not going to be at the Rosebud." He assured me.

"I don't mean just at the Rosebud." I said. "I mean, like... just in general."

"Like around school and stuff?"

"Are we going to be hanging around at school?"

Adam glanced sideways at me. "Jeez, it's no wonder you're so smart." He teased. "You never stop asking questions!"

I blushed fiercely. "Sorry." I mumbled. "I just... Vanessa gives me a hard enough time at school."

"Trust me, my sister won't be harassing you anymore." Adam assured me. "And if she does, she'll probably regret it. Big brothers can be kind of evil you know."

He gave me a wink and I smiled. "Okay." I said. "As long as you're sure."

We pulled into the parking lot at the Rosebud. It looked a little busy and I suddenly got nervous. I was really hoping that neither Vanessa nor Haley were in there. Or Tiffany and Kerry for that matter. Any one of them would have some sort of smart remark to say about me being in the Rosebud with Adam.

I opened the door and jumped out of the truck. Adam walked over to my side of the truck and immediately laughed.

"What?" I asked. "What are you laughing at?"

He touched his lip. "You have a chunk of Chapstick on your lip." He told me with a grin.

"Where?" I asked, carefully touching my lips. He stepped closer to my and put his finger on my lips. I stared into his gorgeous eyes as he came closer.

"Right there." He said softly, taking my chin in his hands and pulling my face towards his. Then he kissed me, my first real kiss. It was soft, gentle and sweet. It was a good thing I had just put Chapstick on!

Adam pulled back and smiled at me. "You sure you haven't done that before?" He asked. "Cause you seem pretty good to me!"

I smiled up at him, and, in an amazing move of boldness that no one would ever believe I did, I took Adam's hand into mine as we walked into the cafe.

We sat down at a small corner booth and waited for our waitress to come over. We were both silent as we flipped though the menus, deciding on what we wanted to drink. Before we had made up our minds, a boisterous, blonde haired guy jumped into the booth beside me.

"Holy fucking Christ!" Jeff Schafer exclaimed. "Am I seeing what I'm seeing? Am I really seeing what I'm seeing? Damn, I don't remember this little match at all from last night."

"Maybe you would have if you weren't passed out by ten." Adam joked.

"You know, Pike, just cause I have balls and you don't, doesn't mean you have to get all parental on me." Jeff countered. "Speaking of balls, how you doin', Char?"

"Just fine, thank you." I answered, not taking my eyes off the menu. Jeff whistled under his breath.

"Damn, you sure found a cold one here!" He exclaimed. "I didn't even know Charlotte knew that there was a world outside her house and fucking school!"

"Jeff, shut up." Adam said. "Come on."

Jeff held up his hands. "Okay, okay." He said. "Sorry Char... But what is this?" He squeezed in closer to me and leaned over the table towards Adam, as if the three of us were going to have some deep, intimate conversation. "Are you guys like... humping each other?"

"We're actually just having coffee for now." I snapped at him.

"I like how you said 'for now'." Jeff said with a laugh. "Now we all know what's on Charlotte's mind! They don't teach that kind of animal behaviour in biology, do they?"

"Maybe if you went to bio once in awhile, you'd know." I told him. Adam started to laugh.

"Fine, fine, I can take a hint." Jeff said. "But hey, Char, I heard that their freezer is broken. You might want to go sit on some ice cream, you know, to keep it cold and all."

"Bye, Jeff." Adam said bluntly. Jeff grinned and stood up, giving us a little 'toodle-loo' wave as he wandered back to his table.

Adam laughed. "You do have a couple good comebacks on you, kid."

"I know he's a friend of yours, but I think he is so obnoxious." I told Adam.

"Yeah, he is." Adam agreed. "You handled him well though. Jeff only razzes people who let him, basically. Shoot a few snappy comebacks at him and you'll be fine."

I laughed. "His little ice cream remark was kind of funny though."

"It won't be once you hear it six or seven times a day!" Adam laughed. "Anyway, did you decide what you're having?"

"I think I'm just going to have a hot chocolate." I said, after glancing over the menu one more time.

"As long as you get it with extra whipped cream, I'm fine with that." Adam teased as our waitress came over to take our order.

Adam and I had a great time. I couldn't believe how comfortable I felt with him. I told him about my parents working so much, and feeling neglected, and he told me that he felt the same a lot of the time, having to share his attention with so many other siblings, especially when a couple of them- namely Vanessa- are such trouble makers. We made fun of Vanessa always talking in rhyme when she was nine and shared stories we had about one another from when I spent nearly every waking moment at the Pike's house. He told me the pressure he feels from his parents to go away to college, when all he wants to do is go into a trade, and I told him of the same pressures I feel, having a doctor for a mom and an engineer for a dad. We also laughed a lot. It felt really good laughing with him.

After about an hour, we decided it was time to go. Adam suggested we go for a little drive, and I agreed. After we paid (well, he paid), we walked hand in hand back out to the parking lot. Adam walked me to the passenger side of the truck, but before he unlocked the door for me, he nudged me against the door and leaned in to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. We were mid lip-lock when a shrill voice came from behind us.

"What the fuck is this?!"

Adam and I broke apart, and standing behind us, arms crossed and fuming mad, was Vanessa Pike.