Charlotte's Tangled Web: L.B. Pavlov (26 page)

She smiled at my reaction. “You look awfully handsome tonight,” she said demurely as she approached me.

I was actually speechless, and it took me a moment to pull myself together.

Thank goodness for Lenora. “Oh, Charlotte,” she exclaimed, throwing her hands over her mouth, “you are a vision, honey,” she said, and she walked out back to check on the guests so we could have a moment alone.

“You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen,” I said quietly. “You are absolutely breathtaking,” I whispered, and I leaned over to kiss her cheek.

“Good, that’s what I was going for,” she said, laughing, and continued, “Daniel, I love this dress so much. Thank you for making tonight so special for me,” she said so sincerely that it made me love her even more, which I didn’t think was possible.

I looked down to touch her hand and noticed that she was wearing her pink diamond ring and her charm bracelet. The bracelet may not have been something that most girls would have worn with a dress like the one Charlotte was wearing, but she loved it and so she would wear it. That was one of the things that made her so special and unique. I escorted her out back for photos, and I saw every head turn and admire her.

“Charlie Ford, you sure clean up nicely,” Sean yelled out, and Morgan slapped his arm. Everyone laughed. I noticed Steph and Kathleen staring, satisfied that their friend looked so beautiful.

Jack Sr. walked over to hug her. “Wow, Charlotte, you look gorgeous. You are the spitting image of your mother,” he said proudly, and I noticed his eyes welled up just a little bit, but he quickly pulled himself together.

My mom and dad rushed over, and my mom started clapping and spinning Charlotte around to admire the dress. “Honey, you look like something straight out of a magazine!” my mom said, jubilantly. Charlotte and I laughed.

“You look beautiful, honey,” my dad said, hugging her.

We all lined up for pictures and smiled until our mouths were frozen and uncomfortable. Finally the photo shoot came to an end, and we headed to the limo. Charlotte had her hand intertwined with mine the entire time, and she kept gazing into my eyes, causing my heart to skip a beat several times.

The dance was wonderful. They served a great dinner, and Charlotte and I danced nonstop. “You’ve got to be tired from your race today,” I said, concerned.

“I’m not tired at all,” she beamed, and we continued dancing.

When we took a break to eat a little bit more, I asked, “Are you having a good time?” as I tucked one of her loose curls behind her ear so I could see her beautiful face.

“The best time ever!” she proclaimed.

Charlotte was the happiest I had ever seen her—confident and relaxed and having a great time. She talked, laughed, and danced until the doors closed, and Kathleen and Steph had to pull us both off the dance floor.

As we were walking to the limo, I said, “Sean is having an after-party, but if you’re too tired, I can take you home. You tell me what you want to do.” I wanted to make sure that she knew she could choose.

“Let’s go to the party. We only go to prom once. Well, I guess ‘I’ only have prom once!” she said and burst out laughing.

How was I possibly going to say good-bye to her once summer was over? The thought made my stomach knot up, and I quickly pushed the thought away.

At Sean’s house, it was the same group of people, laughing, talking, dancing, and having fun. Charlotte was sitting on my lap on the couch in her fairy princess gown, looking more beautiful than ever. The room was loud, but she turned and just stared at me. Her eyes were so intense and sincere. I gazed right back at them. She was telling me that she loved me without speaking a word. She leaned forward and touched her nose to mine. “Thanks for a great night, Daniel,” she said in my ear.

“Are you ready to go home?” I asked, stroking her face.

“If you are?” she smiled.

We said our good-byes to everyone, and I couldn’t wait to get her home and have some alone time with her. When we got home, she asked if I wanted to change into more comfortable clothes and then come hang out in the game room and watch movies. “Absolutely,” I said, squeezing her hand.

I walked her to her door and told her that I would be back shortly, and then planted a kiss on her pink, perfect lips. When I came back, she was waiting at the door. She was in cute, pink sweatpants and a tank top. She had washed her face, and it was clean and beautiful. She had taken the clips out of her hair, and it was somehow falling around her shoulders and down her back as if it had been styled like that all night.

How could she be just as stunning in sweats and a tank top, I wondered in amazement.

“You look cozy,” she said, intertwining her hand with mine and leading me to the game room.

Jack Sr. and Lenora were asleep, but we could close the door so we wouldn’t wake anyone. We chose a movie, but I couldn’t tell you what it was. I couldn’t stop staring at her, and after watching her all night, all I wanted to do was kiss her. She grabbed some blankets and curled up on the couch with me.

We started the movie, but within minutes our lips were pressed together. Our tongues were almost desperate to find one another. They were twisting and tangling together as if they had been waiting all night for that moment. She pulled herself onto my lap, straddling me to face me. I looked up at her for a moment, her hair falling all around her beautiful face, and I looked into her eyes that were burning through me, and I pulled her to me.

We kissed each other for what seemed like hours. Our hands began wandering, and our breathing grew more rapid. I had slipped my hands under her tank top, running my fingers along her soft skin. Her hands were under my shirt and rubbing my chest, and I began kissing her gently down her neck. She lifted my T-shirt up and over my head.

I stopped momentarily to look at her. “I just want to feel your skin against mine,” she said, looking desperately into my eyes.

I found my hands at the bottom of her tank top, and she lifted her arms above her head to let me know that it was OK for me to take it off. My heart was racing, my breathing was growing fast and furious, and I was definitely losing all hope of self-restraint. I slowly lifted her shirt over her head. I had never seen Charlotte bare like that before, and I calmed my breathing because I wanted savor the moment.

She smiled at me. “I love you, Daniel,” she said in such a soft voice that it actually made my heart heavy.

“I love you too. Are you sure this is OK?” I asked, concerned.

“I’m sure,” she said as she pulled my lips to hers again.

We were lying facing one another, and her hands were pulling me against her, and she was gently stroking my back. Her chest was pressed against mine, and I could feel her heart beating rapidly.

I pulled the blanket on top of us so that our bare chests were covered. I ran my hands up and down her back, and she pressed herself against me with a moan. I was definitely in trouble now. If she didn’t stop this, I didn’t think that I was strong enough to. She wrapped her arms around me and began rubbing her hands down my back and then around to my chest. We started kissing once again, and our hands were exploring one another tenderly.

Moans escaping both of our throats, our lips gently searching, fueling one another…“Daniel,” her voice said suddenly, the urgency jolting me back to reality.

“Are you OK?” I asked, pulling away with a jolt.

“I’m OK, but I think we need to stop now. Is that OK? I’m sorry, I just think we better stop, or it’s going to go too far,” she said nervously.

I quickly lifted her up to look at her. “Of course that’s OK. I’m sorry if it was too much,” I said, concerned.

“No, it wasn’t. It was perfect. But I just felt like I better stop myself before I get more carried away,” she said shyly.

“Of course,” I said, hugging her. I found her tank top and pulled it over her head, adjusting her arms to get it on straight. I kissed her sweet lips.

“Daniel?” she asked quietly again.

“Yes?” I said hesitantly.

“It’s getting harder for me to stop myself. Is that normal?” she asked.

“It’s totally normal, Charlotte. But you spoke up right when you needed to. I’m glad that you did because I don’t think I had the strength to stop things tonight,” I said honestly, and I hugged her tightly. “I adore you, and I never want to do anything that you aren’t ready for,” I said, looking into her big, beautiful eyes.

“Thank you for the best night of my life. You are sure giving me a lot of best nights lately,” she giggled. “I wish I could wear that dress to graduation, I love it so much,” she added, smiling at me.

We both started laughing. “I will try to take you somewhere so that you can wear it again soon,” I said, and I kissed the top of her head.

We started a new movie, and we both fell asleep on the couch. I jumped, suddenly startled that I had fallen asleep here. “What’s wrong? Are you OK?” she asked, sitting up.

“Charlotte, it’s five in the morning, and we fell asleep. I don’t want your dad to get mad. I better leave. I don’t have a window to sneak out of,” I said, chuckling quietly as I got up.

“OK, let’s go through the garage and grab some waters,” she whispered.

We were both surprised when we saw that Jack Sr.’s car wasn’t parked in the garage.

“Do you think he slept at the office?” she said, surprised.

I didn’t think he slept at the office, but I wouldn’t say that to her. I assumed Jack Sr. was doing more than working every single night.

“Well, I guess I panicked for nothing,” I said, laughing. “I will call you later, I love you,” I said as I turned to leave.

“I love you too,” she called out as I walked down the driveway.

.

chapter
12

charlotte’s choices

The next week was an absolute blur. Prom was the greatest night, and I couldn’t believe that I ever thought I wouldn’t like dances. Although, there wasn’t much I didn’t like doing as long as I was with Daniel.

I was preparing for the state meet. I had never participated in so many events at the state meet, so mentally I needed to get my mind focused.

I was also trying very hard not to think about how I would tell my father and Daniel about Notre Dame and how I would explain it to Coach Little. Even Coach Miroballi would probably be upset with me. I couldn’t think about that right then. My whole life I had always done what was expected of me, and for the first time ever I wanted to do something that would make me truly happy. I didn’t understand why I had to feel guilty about that.

I decided that I would tell my dad and Daniel on Saturday night. We were all going to dinner once the state meet was finished. It was a two-day event, spanning Friday and Saturday. It would be the safest plan. All three of my brothers would be there, and my dad would certainly not yell and scream in a public place, and if he got upset, my brothers were great at calming him down. I imagined that Daniel would be happy—or at least I hoped that he would be. I figured that he would understand why I couldn’t tell him about it before now because he would have tried to talk me out of it. Well, that was my plan, and decided I needed to put it out of my head until after my races were done.

The Hollingsworths and my father were planning a big graduation party for Daniel and I for the weekend after the state meet. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed with all that was going on. The week went by so quickly, and Friday morning when I woke up, I instantly had butterflies in my stomach. I wouldn’t be going to school that day because we had the state meet all day and tomorrow. Daniel was missing school too so that he could be there with me. My brothers had driven home the night before, and I was so happy that they would be there too. I was also very happy that I was doing the relay with Kathleen and Steph.

We were hoping to place in the top five in the relay. I was ranked first in my three other events, but I had never run all the events this close together, so I was hoping that I wouldn’t be letting anybody down. My first event was the relay, and I was the anchor, which meant that I would be running last. I would run the thirty-two-hundred-meter later in the afternoon, so I had plenty of time to rest in between. I would have to remember to eat this afternoon so I would have fuel for my longer race later in the day.

The following day I would run the eight-hundred-meter and the sixteen-hundred-meter, so I would race Katrina once today and once tomorrow. I wondered how it would be. She had been unusually quiet this season, and I appreciated it. I hadn’t seen her since the state cross-country meet, but over time I had gotten over it and forgiven her for what had happened. I had three tiny scars on my leg that occasionally reminded me of what had happened, but aside from that, I had put it behind me. A part of me hoped that she wasn’t involved in the decision to do that, but for some reason I doubted that to be likely. Track was different. There were only eight girls in each event who qualified for state, so getting boxed in was highly unlikely, and I had learned a lot from my past experience. I was much more cautious of my placement at the start of a race now. I supposed I could thank Katrina for that.