The Virgin Bet

18

Day 11 - 4:27 pm

"Charlotte, you're zoning out again." A hand waved feverishly in front of her eyes, causing her to blink rapidly. She was snapped out of her dazed state and looked over to the blue haired girl next to her in the taxi, who was currently motioning for her to get out. "We're at the mall, I was debating on leaving you in here. You're lucky that I am a good friend." Kristie scoffed as she took a step out of the taxi. That's right, she was on her way to go find Cole a birthday present.

She was so caught up in what had happened this morning. Kristie had came back to her dorm around nine in the morning screeching at Cole and Charlotte to wake up. This morning, she had been sprawled across Cole on the couch, the two of them sound asleep after that horror movie. That was, until Kristie decided to barge into the room and scare the life out of the two of them. After that, they all went their separate ways to class, and here they are now.

Cole's birthday is on Friday, although he still has not told her this yet, and Charlotte knew she had to find him a birthday present. So she asked her best friend to go to the mall not only to help her find Cole a gift, but also to help her pick out a dress for the Winter Social that was coming up next week.

The Winter Social is this huge event that the college throws in honor of the Winter Solstice each year. It was basically an excuse for the college students to get involved with their peers and community, and also allowed them to have some fun at the same time. Charlotte didn't go to it last year since she did not know many people, but this year Cole had asked her to go. Now, she was on the hunt to find the perfect dress.

Charlotte and Kristie stepped into the busy mall shortly after paying the cab driver. People buzzed by in blurs from rushing around for early Christmas shopping. The entire mall smelled of pine due to the gigantic Christmas tree standing tall in the center circle. Signs advertising early sales were plastered across the walls over a multitude of shops.

"Kristie, I'm honestly clueless." Charlotte groaned as her eyes scanned over the names of some of the shops that surrounded them. Honestly, she never had to buy a gift for a guy before. She had a younger sister at home, no fatherly figure, and her ex (surprisingly enough) was never into birthdays. He didn't believe in them so much that he actually skipped over her birthday completely as if it had never happened. "What the heck do guys like?"

"Sex." Kristie shrugged, tucking a strand of damaged hair behind her overly pierced ear. Charlotte proceeded to swing her hand out to lightly hit her shoulder, but she just rolled her eyes in the process. "I'm kidding, no pressure. I know it's different for you since you're a virgin, so you want to make sure it's with Mr. Right." She lightly nudged Charlotte as they continued to make their way to the JCPenney. "Get him something lowkey, you have only been talking to him for what, eleven days now?" She questioned.

Charlotte let out a small sigh before she nodded her head. It's true that they've only been talking for about eleven days starting today, but she felt something different with him that she had never even felt with Harry. Cole just started this fire in her that made her want to keep coming back for the warmth. He not only protected her, but he made her feel safe. Actions amount to nothing if the comfort is never felt.

"Well, give him something he needs. Has he told you about anything he's been needing or wanting to get, yet he hasn't?" Kristie suggested as she made her way over to the shoes, gasping at a pair of black heels with gems on the heel. Charlotte decided to look around the men's aisle, hoping inspiration will spark if she was physically there.

After a few minutes of wandering around the men's section with absolutely no luck, she ended up walking towards the accessories section. Of course, men's accessories included hats, watches, wallets, keychains, and other items like that. As she wandered throughout this section, she landed upon the hats and beanies shelf. That's when it struck her. A flashback came back to her mind as she picked up a men's black beanie.