Me: Do you play for the school's team?
Adam: Yeah, I'm a pitcher.
Me: Well, maybe I'll have to give baseball a chance when the time comes.
Adam: How are you doing? I know things are tense with everything going on.
Me: About as well as expected. Ever since the kidnapping attempt, my nightmares are worse. Not to mention the calls about the case. How are things with your mom?
Adam: Surprisingly well. Dad wasn't happy, but she apologized to me and him, and says she’ll go to AA when she’s home from rehab. She's been a new person lately from the sound of it though.
Me: That makes me so happy. You deserve better than that.
Adam: Charlie, I have a feeling you deserve better than a lot of things you've dealt with. I can handle it. Especially because I have you to talk to now.
Me: It is nice to have people to talk to. I had a best friend before, but she was always trying to be popular, and we stopped being real friends when we started high school.
Adam: Well now you have us. We don't just leave friends. Don't worry.
Me: I'm trying to get better at believing that. It's hard to change a few years of beliefs.
Adam: Well, we won't give up on trying to convince you.
I glance up and meet his smile with one of my own. I love that he noticed I was bored and decided to do something about it. He loves to break down that jock stereotype, since he’s the sweetest guy. Not to mention that smile gives me butterflies.
Adam
Seeing Charlie smile is one of my favorite things in life now. She was so sad when we first met her, not to mention her expression was hollow half of the time, like she wouldn't let herself even feel the basic emotions. I'm still dying to know what happened to her, but it's nice to know at least she's healing now.
She doesn't go back to texting right away, watching the game for a minute. She's trying so hard to seem interested for Alice, but clearly it's not her thing. When I saw her pull open a book, I couldn't help but text her. We don't get a ton of alone time, so I take the opportunities to talk to her when I see them. I really like her, and I need to talk to the others about it. I know I'm not the only one who does, we’ve all joked and danced around it, but I'm not willing to just step aside, either.
Me: We need to talk about Charlie
Cole: Is she ok?
Me: Yeah, I mean we all like her
Abby: Cole and I talked, we were waiting to find a chance to talk to you and Trent.
Trent: I like her, but she keeps pulling away and looking guilty anytime I get close to her.
Me: It's because she has feelings for all four of us.
Abby: She does, she admitted it. She thinks it’s selfish and refuses to date any of us because of it.
Cole: She said that?
Abby: Not exactly, but kind of hinted at it
Me: What do we do?
Cole: I say we date her. It's not exactly the 50s, she can like more than one person.
Abby: If it was anyone else saying it, I'd run. This is our group and Charlie we're talking about, though. That changes things.
Trent: I don't know how I feel about that. I love you guys like family, but I'm not sure I can handle my girl dating other people too. I just can’t picture that.
Me: You want us to have an open relationship?