I appear to have turned into a soft touch! This is for Born2Try. You may email me the cherry and the sugar and sprinkles! Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Twelve

Bright and early the following morning, Charlie and Joey were sat in a campus cafe with bacon sandwiches and cups of tea.

"This is a good treat!" Joey enthused. "Well done for hitting your targets!"

She grinned. Charlie chuckled. At least if she was having to be without her daughter again this weekend then she was getting to have fun with someone who was starting to mean ever such a lot to her instead.

"Well, I do this most Friday mornings so if you ever want to join me..." she said.

"I definitely want to join you!" Joey confirmed.

They smiled affectionately at each other.

"So, Charlie Buckton... tell me something interesting about you," Joey said.

I've been a single parent since I was thirteen, Charlie thought to herself. But she shook her head instead.

"There's nothing all that interesting about me," she said vaguely.

A smiled teased Joey's lips as she studied her friend with curiosity.

"I don't believe you," she said. "But... if you want to do this the hard way then I'm game."

She grinned wickedly. Charlie tried not to worry.

"The hardy way?" she squeaked anxiously.

"I'm about to ask you a lot of questions," Joey informed her.

"Okay, shoot," Charlie relented, hoping there was nothing specific about whether she had any secret children or something scary like that.

She trusted Joey and she liked her but she wasn't about to try and explain the truth about the mess her life was in.

"Where did you grow up?" Joey asked.

"In the city. You?"

"In a little town called Summer Bay."

"Sounds pretty," Charlie said.

"It's great," Joey agreed. "Minus my family."

"You don't get on with them?" Charlie asked, eager to switch the focus of the conversation onto her friend.

"Not really," Joey said. "But don't think you can distract me, young lady."

Charlie laughed and held her hands up in surrender.

"You caught me," she said.

"Hmm," Joey replied. "Yes, I did. Hey, maybe I should train to be a cop too!"

Charlie smiled, trying hard not to picture how attractive Joey would look in the uniform. It was strange really, she'd not been attracted to another person in years and yet here she was, trying not to drool over someone she now considered to be a her closest friend.

"Maybe you should," she said. "It's a very good career path."

"What makes you want to be a police officer anyway?" Joey wondered.

"I don't know," Charlie said vaguely. "I want to do something that would really help people. I'm not so good with needles so nursing or being a paramedic wouldn't work for me. And I didn't fancy the idea of being a fire fighter so being a police officer seemed like a good idea."

"What do your parents do?" Joey asked.

Charlie coloured, feeling like she'd been caught out.

"My Mum is a school teacher and my Dad's a Detective."

Joey smirked at her.

"I'm guessing that's the real reason you wanted to be a cop then?" she said bluntly. "You wanted to make your Dad proud."

"There might be a little of that in there," Charlie admitted.

"It's nice that you get on so well with your family," Joey said.

Charlie looked down a little shyly. In all honesty, she didn't get on with her parents at all. It was Ruby she loved and cherished. Ruby was the reason she went home so much.

"So what do your parents do?" Charlie asked.

"My Mum's a hairdresser and my Dad runs a fishing trawler with my brother, Brett."

"Ah," Charlie teased, recalling Joey's life ambition. "Pot, kettle!"

Joey laughed.

"Maybe," she said. "What can I say? Fishing is in my blood. And it's pretty much the only thing I've ever done to make my father happy."

"I hear that one," Charlie said quietly.

Joey studied her with more curiosity, sipping her tea.

"Okay, next question," she said. "How old were you when you had your first kiss?"

Charlie choked on her own tea. Joey leapt up and patted her on the back until she'd stopped coughing. She turned even pinker with added embarrassment.

"That wasn't meant to be so difficult!" Joey remarked, sitting back down.

"Sorry," Charlie said, hoping that if she ignored the question, Joey wouldn't ask again.

"So..." Joey coaxed.

"You're going to think I'm even more pathetic than you probably do already," Charlie said unhappily.

Joey smiled sincerely at her.

"I don't think you're pathetic," she said. "And whatever answer you give, I doubt that will change."

Charlie took a deep breath before anxiously admitting that she had never been kissed. Joey stared at her in disbelief.

"I told you I was pathetic," Charlie mumbled, finishing her tea and hoping to escape.

"I don't think that," Joey assured her. "I'm just... surprised."

"It's pretty abnormal, hey?" Charlie said.

"It's not that," Joey said. "It's just that you're so beautiful, I'd have assumed you'd be fighting them off."

"I'm not beautiful," Charlie said quietly. "And even if I was, my poisonous personality would be enough to send anyone far away."

"You don't have a poisonous personality," Joey said seriously.

Charlie shook her head and sighed.

"You hated me when we first met," she pointed out.

"I didn't hate you," Joey said, feeling a sudden burst of extra guilt about the bet. "I thought you were nice. You just hid it really, really well."

Charlie laughed shyly and apologised.

"But we got past it, didn't we?" Joey said brightly. "We're here now."

"I don't really know why," Charlie admitted. "I didn't exactly make it easy for you to be my friend."

Joey felt another stab of guilt but she kept the smile on her face.

"Well the important thing is that we are," she said firmly. "Now, can I ask you a question?"

"Okay, I'm at a loss as to what you've been doing all morning!" Charlie remarked.

Joey laughed but looked suddenly serious.

"Have you ever been out on a date?" she asked.

Charlie blushed and look down before mumbling that she'd been on a date once, when she was thirteen and that it had not ended well.

"And do you find me remotely attractive?" Joey asked.

Charlie looked a little panicked. She continued to turn red.

"Yes," she said. "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever met."

Joey beamed at her.

"In that case, would you let me take you out on a date tonight?" she asked. "Because I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met and I very much think you deserve to be treated like the princess you are."

Charlie continued to blush. She couldn't stop smiling.

"Yes," she said happily. "I'd love to go on a date with you, Joey."

Next time… Charlie and Joey go on their first date…