Becoming Better

Chapter 14 - Don't Start Caring About Me Now

Charlie's weekend had been a confusing mess so far. By the time Sunday came around, she just wanted to hide at home instead of go to the Homecoming Dance. However, she had invited Wyatt. He wasn't going to his own school's Homecoming because she asked him to come to hers. She couldn't bail now.

They skipped the limo, and decided to just drive there instead. Wyatt could tell Charlie was not in the best mood, but she appreciated that he didn't say anything. That would have made her feel worse. Instead, he just tried his best to cheer her up and make her laugh. Charlie couldn't help but feel better after a while. They took pictures and danced with Taylor and Ben underneath the cheesy disco ball on the dance floor.

She still hadn't told anyone about how Cassius moved on. When a song came on that reminded Charlie of him, she got off the dance floor to go sit down. She tried, but she couldn't even fake being happy while it was playing. Wyatt came to sit with her.

"What's the matter, Charlie?" he finally asked. It made sense. Things had been going better until that point.

"I just can't deal with this song. It reminds me of Cassius," she said. "And now he's dating someone else, so I would rather not be reminded."

Wyatt nodded. "When did you find out?"

"This weekend."

Wyatt stood up. He said, "Hold on for a second," and then he walked over to the DJ booth.

Charlie watched and wondered what he was doing. When the song stopped playing, she realized he must have told the DJ to turn it off, and she was grateful. All the students looked around, wondering what happened to the music. Then after a few moments the next song started playing, and she couldn't help but smile. It was a cover of the Rolling Stones song "Wild Horses" by The Sundays. One of her favorites.

Wyatt walked over to her and held out his hand. "You look too beautiful to be sad. May I have this dance?"

Everyone was staring. Charlie blushed but didn't say anything, she just took his hand and let him lead her out onto the floor. To her complete surprise, she felt butterflies in her stomach. That was so... romantic. 

They found a spot on the dance floor. She rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her, and they slow-danced until she forgot why she was sad.

While the dance with Wyatt on Sunday had been a nice distraction, her thoughts returned to Cassius and his new girlfriend almost right after. He posted another picture with her again that Tuesday. Charlie decided to mute him, not that it helped that much.

The next weekend was Charlie's eighteenth birthday. She wasn't exactly in the mood to celebrate, but Taylor, Alex, Jessica and Rachel told her she didn't have a choice. They were doing something fun that weekend.

"What are we doing?" Charlie asked.

"It's a surprise!" Taylor told her. Charlie scowled. She hated surprises.

They told her to get dressed up and to look hot. Courtney had a couple of really nice dresses that were not too worn, so she let Charlie raid her closet. Charlie decided on a tight, midi length black dress, with a high slit on one side. She was eighteen now. She could dress a little sexy if she felt like it.

Her phone lit up with a message from Wyatt. You ready to have fun tonight?

You're in on this? She replied, but she wasn't surprised.

I'm in for anything that has to do with you, he wrote.

Charlie smiled at her phone.

She curled her hair into pretty waves, and Courtney let her borrow some jewelry. She did her makeup a bit more dramatic than usual. When she was finished, she looked at herself in the mirror and thought, 'Wow.' She almost didn't recognize herself. In a weird way it cheered her up to know that she looked different. Like maybe she could leave some things about herself behind.

All the girls were in Alex's car when she came to pick Charlie up. They covered her eyes, still not telling her where they were going. When the car finally stopped, they all got out and led her down a sidewalk and through a door. Once inside, it sounded like they were in a house, it was so quiet. Rachel removed her hands from Charlie's eyes.

"Surprise!" everyone yelled.

"What!?" Charlie shouted, utterly shocked.

They were at John's house, and it looked like almost everyone they knew was there. Charlie broke into surprised laughter as they cheered. They all came up to her smiling, wishing her a happy birthday. She turned around and hugged the girls tightly, thanking them for planning this party. It was nicest thing friends had ever done for her. Someone turned on loud music over the speakers, and pretty soon the party was going hard.

Charlie went to the kitchen right away to get a drink. People were still hugging her and wishing her happy birthday as she went. When she came across Wyatt, he picked her up and spun her around.

"Happy birthday Charlie!" he said.

"Thanks Wy," she blushed. Wyatt looked especially good that evening. She felt her whole body getting warm, suddenly feeling shy around him.

When she finally reached the kitchen, she grabbed the strongest drink she could find. She wanted to have fun tonight. It was her birthday after all.

She was well on her way to a strong buzz when Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" came over the speakers. Charlie loved this song. She grabbed her plastic cup and headed for the living room, swaying to the disco beat. She hopped up on a table and danced. Everyone around her whooped and cheered.

As she spun around, flipping her hair back and forth, she caught a pair of intense green eyes looking at her from across the room. It was Shawn. The alcohol made her feel brave, so she found herself swinging her hips even more, knowing she had a captive audience. She did another twirl and looked at him again. He was still staring.

After a couple songs dancing on the table, Charlie was overheating. The room was also slightly spinning, so she must have drank more than she realized. She needed to go outside to get some air. She exited John's house through the front door and walked toward the street, stopping at the sidewalk. She fanned herself. She had gone out here instead of the backyard so she could be alone for a second, but she felt someone else's presence out there with her. She smelled smoke before she saw him.

"Hey Goldie," said a voice she was unlikely to forget anytime soon.