The Virginity Bet [#Wattys 2015]

Chapter 18

"Hey! Charlie! Where were you?" A voice called out to Charlie.

She swiveled around, and felt guilty for leaving Caleb in the middle of the day at school without an explanation. She smiled, adjusting the books in her hand, "Caleb. Hi."

"Char. I covered for you with Mrs. Cooper. But where were you?" He asked, worried.

Charlie sighed, and decided it would be better to tell him what had happened incase he heard from someone else and jumped to any conclusions. "It's a crazy story, actually."

He grinned, and pulled her arm to the side of the hallway after recieving glares from a few of the passing students. "We have 3 minutes before we have to get to class- so shoot."

She bit her lip, "Lucas told me he still loved me."

Caleb suddenly glared and his nostrils flared. He shook his head, "What the fuck?! He's lying. You know he's lying right?"

Charlie nodded, "I know he doesn't love me, Caleb. Relax. Even if he was telling the truth, I don't share the same feelings for him. I like you, not Lucas."

Caleb exhaled, still with a frown on his face, "Good. Because he was lying."

She nodded, "I know. I just don't know why."

He looked away, guilty. Charlie narrowed her eyes at Caleb, "Caleb Hughes. You know something."

He shook his head too quickly, "No. I don't know anything."

Charlie gaped at him, "What is it? You know why he said that, don't you?"

His eyes darted around the room, "I'm going to be late to class, Char. I'll see you later, okay?"

She grabbed his wrist. "Caleb?" She softly said. "What's going on?"

"You tell me." He said, suddenly changing the blame on Charlie, "So Luke told you he loved you? That doesn't explain why you were out of school for two hours? You never skip class."

Charlie glared at him, "Don't put this on me, Caleb! I'm the one asking you questions. So answer them. Why did Lucas say he loved me if he didn't?"

His eyebrows furrowed, "You answer my question and i'll answer yours." He stalled.

"Fine. I was crying. I was a big miss just sitting there weeping on the floor. Some guy saw me and showed me a nice spot behind the school and we stared at the sky until I stopped crying."

Caleb's eyes widened as if he didn't expect Charlie to have said that, "You were out with a guy? Doing romantic stuff?"

She impatiently tapped her foot on the floor. "I'm going to say this once and only once, so listen to me. Okay, Caleb?" She enunciated the words slowly so he would understand. "He saw me crying. He was being nice. So he helped me stop crying. There was no talking. There was no "romantic stuff.' It was just me crying. And him helping me. He means nothing to me Caleb. You're the one that means something to me. But if you don't start trusting me and explain what you know about Lucas, then you'll just be another person that means nothing to me."

Charlie gasped as she saw Oliver looking at Charlie and Caleb. He must have heard her. Suddenly, Charlie felt terrible. She shouldn't have said he didn't mean anything to her, she just didn't want Caleb to freak out over nothing. Oliver was her friend, and she was such a bitch for saying that. Oliver shook his head at her, disbelieving, and he fast walked out of the hallway and out of sight.

Charlie didn't follow him. It would make things worse and Caleb would never trust her. She decided she would find him later on today and explain everything to her.

Caleb relaxed and rubbed his forehead, "I trust you, Char. I'm sorry, I just got a little upset that I couldn't be there for you instead of some guy."

"Okay." She waited for him to start answering her questions, and she glowered when he didn't.

He sighed, "Fine. I overheard Luke... in gym class. He was in the locker room talking with some guys. He said he could get into your pants by the end of the month."

Charlie gasped. "He... what?" She felt like what Caleb was saying was a lie, but she realized she was being dumb because there was no reason for Caleb to lie to her about Lucas.

She bit her lip, holding back her emotions. She couldn't believe that the Luke she was in love with three years ago, would now try to play her and mess with her feelings and sleep with her because he thought he could.

She was angry, and she decided she would confront Lucas tomorrow. She had just had too much drama today, and she was sick and tired of all of the drama going on in her life.

"I'm so sorry, Charlie." Caleb mumbled, fumbling with the hem of his cute little plaid shirt. Charlie sighed and pulled him in for a long kiss.

The warning bell rang, and Caleb pulled away, grinning, "Char. I want you to meet my family tomorrow. My mom's going crazy telling me how she wants to meet my girlfriend." Family? As in plural? As in there's multiple people in his family? I thought his father passed away? Charlie thought.

Charlie nodded with a big smile on her face, "I'd love to meet your family Caleb. God knows you met mine already."

He grinned. "Yes. And I loved them, sweetheart." He winked.

Charlie groaned, "Back to that nickname?"

He saluted, "Yes, ma'am."

She blushed, feeling insecure. He pecked Charlie on the lips once more before walking away. "See you then, baby!"

A couple of girls jealousy gawked at the two, and Charlie happily sighed. She clutched her notebooks tighter as she practically skipped off to calculus, completely forgetting about Lucas and Oliver. All she was thinking about was Caleb Hughes and the fact that she was falling in love all over again. But this time, Caleb would catch her.

-----

Charlie's doorbell rang as she jogged down the stairs in a rush, still clipping on her earrings. She looked in the mirror and adjusted her hair and dress. She wore a strapless red dress that flowed down until just above her knee. She tried to dress conservatively but stylish too. With that, she wore a pair of red heels, and winced at the bright red lipstick her mom had forced her to wear. She rubbed it off quickly and put on a light pink lip gloss.

She opened the door and her jaw dropped. Caleb was actually black pants with a red plaid t-shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his hair was neatly gelled back. He held out a bouquet of red roses. She happily smiled, and couldn't believe how nice Caleb looked.

Before she could compliment him on how he looked, Caleb eyed her whole body down, making her feel nervous. "You look beautiful, Charlie." He said, awe in his eyes.

She blushed as red as her dress, "Y-You look beautiful, Caleb. I mean, not beautiful. I mean... handsome. Yeah, handsome."

He chuckled and said, "These are for you." He held out the bouquet and she eagerly took it from him. She put it in a vase and added water to the jar. "Thank you." She said softly.

"Are you ready to meet my family?" He asked with a smirk.

She gasped, "What?" Charlie was confused again that he said 'family.' She thought his father was dead. Did that mean he had a sibling?

He held out his arm and she hesitantly grabbed it, "Caleb!" She pouted, "I'm nervous. What if your family doesn't like me?"

"Oh, trust me, they'll love you." He said, planting a kiss on her cheek. She nodded, biting her lip, and thought about what Caleb's 'family' could possibly be like.