Velvet and Ink: A Novel

Chapter Seven

"I'm serious!" Charlie mocks. "You should join the track team because if you can go through hurdles like you do men, then you'll win every race hands down."

"There is nothing wrong with my dating habits," she retorts. "I'm just testing the water to see what I like."

"Yeah, well at this rate you're going to dry up the Atlantic by the time you finish high school."

She laughs, knowing that it's true. "Oh shut up," she says, shoving him.

He jokingly swerves the car and says, "How many times have I told you not to distract the driver, woman!"

She continues to laugh.

"Like I said, give it a week. By next week, who knows? You might be in love with Kirk Patricks."

"Ew!" Milly exclaims. "That's disgusting! I would never."

"Well you say that now, but soon enough I'll be pushing him into a locker for shoving his long, wet, and slimy tongue into your throat," he says slowly, exaggerating each word.

Milly made a gagging gesture. "Never in a million years. I promise, if Kirk ever tries to do anything like that to me, I will give you full permission to pin him against a wall and punch as hard as you possibly can. Yuck! Besides, who says that Dalton and I can't last?"

"Sorry," he jokes. "I just don't think the stars are with you on this one."

"You are not the only star that matters, brat," she giggles.

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe Kirk is your star-crossed lover?"

Milly almost rolls over laughing in her chair. "You are so mean!"

"Ah, you love it. Free entertainment at your beck and call," he remarks sarcastically. He pulls up to a stop sign and glances sideways at Milly. Her entire face looks like it caught fire, and he can see every one of her slightly imperfect teeth shining through her perfect lips. Her smile is disarming at times. He knew exactly why Dalton should want to talk to her. He could make lists of all the reasons anyone would want to talk to her. But Beaumont High School was blind and deaf and mute, so rarely anyone talked to her—except for the guys that want more than just a conversation from her, which seemed like more and more guys since the previous year. While most of the student body refuses to speak to her, they enjoyed the common practice of talking about her.

Milly finally settles down and finds that Charlie was staring right at her. She looks up at his yellow-green eyes and suddenly feels incredibly vulnerable. She snaps her head forward and laughs nervously.

"There's no one stopped, you can go."

"Oh," he responds quickly, snapping his head forward, as well. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't dying. You can never tell with that laugh of yours," he says.

Milly rolls her eyes at him and turns the radio up. Her favorite stations are programmed to his car, which he gave up arguing about shortly after he got the car. He's not really supposed to be driving anyone for another few months, but his parents don't care and Milly needs a way to get to and from school. Mostly, they would walk, but after Charlie got his license a few months ago, they arranged that he would drive her to school.

Milly bobs her head listening to Taylor Swift and Charlie just chuckles. It's not what he would listen to, but she has a way of getting what she wants. Charlie always told Milly she should join the forensics team at school because she could charm, bullshit, and lie her way out of any situation at school or with friends.