On Her Arms

Chapter 1

Charlie

My family disappered a month ago. It's true. They vanished into thin air. One moment, we're all in a car arguing about our favorite songs and the next I'm in hospital. Two weeks after that, I was adopted by this really cheesy rich country club family because my twenty year old aunt didn't want to take care of me. My 'Mom' or as i like to call her, Debby, took me shopping because all of my clothes are "Old" and don't suit me. Surprisingly, she let me pick out rather cool outfits. I made sure all of them had long sleeves.

Now I'm sitting in the back corner of my worst nightmare. Since Shay, my 'Sister' is obsessed with these boys, Debby bought us all tickets to go see them. The only problem is that I absolutely hate them. It's not that I don't think their funny or even possibly hot. It's just that, they're all Shay talks about on the bus. The worst part is when she shows me the pictures of them without a shirt on. Like, Shay, if I wanted to see a guy with his shirt off I'd go find one that's my age. The only one that's my age is Hayes. He's better than Nash, but only because Hayes isn't talked about as much as him. I tilt the chair up onto it's back two legs and let the seat balance against the corner of the wall. Two of the guys that I don't know the names of are taking some sort of selfie and everyone's pushing each other so they can get in.

"Chill" I mumble. I sketch in my notebook with my charcoal pencil. I'm careful to smear the lines just right so the shading looks okay. My hand makes fluid motions without me telling it to. It's like it has a mind of it's own. Before I know it, there's a face with dark eyes and a long braid sitting infront of me. Suddenly, the room goes quiet. I expect screams to end the beautiful silence, but that never happens and it suddenly becomes awkward.

"You in the back corner. Do you want to come up here?" When I look up, everyone's staring at me. I bite my lip before I put the chair back down and stand up. Hayes smiles at me and I think he looks better in person then he did in any picture. His eyes look like a sea of ice even though we're on separate sides of the room. I pull the strap of my leather bag higher up my shoulder before I go to my left and walk out the door.

The cold hits my stomach like a piece of cement would. I regret wearing a black and white crop top. At least it has long sleeves. Who am I kidding? The only thing close to keeping me warm is my sweatpants. I slide down the brick building in the middle of the city. People walk around me and mutter things that I try my best to ignore. I keep drawing and wait for the damn concert or show or meeting or whatever it is to be over. Even though it's only the end of October, it's only forty degrees and I have to blow into my hands every once in a while so i can keep drawing. Just as I finish drawing myself, someone sits down next to me. It's a boy who's about my age. He has dark brown hair that falls across his forehead and these pale eyes that anyone could stare at forever. When he smiles at me, I have to look away so I don't smile back.

"Are you okay?" His voice has a hint of compassion and worry in it at the same time. It annoys me.

I don't answer.

He looks at my picture and sounds pretty stupid when he asks "Are you okay?" again.

I don't look up from my drawing. "Didn't your parents tell you not to talk to strangers?"

The boy laughs a little. "I'm Hayes."

"What do you not understand about the stranger thing-"
"And you are?" Hayes leans in a little closer.

Who knew Hayes Grier would be the annoying one? "Charlie," I sigh.

"Stop messing with me. What's you're real name?"

What an asshole.

I shiver a little. "My real name is Charlotte. Everybody calls me Charlie."

He looks at me for a second before he says, "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

I get up to leave.

He grabs my arm. "Charlotte--"

"My name is Charlie." I take a deep breath and sit back down. The only other person that ever called me Charlotte was my mom. I didn't think I would ever be called that again.

"You wanna go do something together?"

I must give him this look that looks like a mixure between disgust and surprise because I think he moves over a little bit. Then I smile a little. Why not mess with him? "Depends."

"I was gonna go have dinner at my hotel, but I can skip that. How about my secret hideout?"

I roll my eyes. "I don't like surprises."

"This isn't a surprise." Hayes smirks a little and I can't help it when I laugh quietly.

"Then what is it?" I can't stop smiling for some weird reason. I haven't felt like this for days.

"You'll see." He jumps up and helps me stand. We walk along the streets of New York. Eventually, we find Central park and he guides me to a little circle surrounded by trees. No one else is there besides us and the orange and red leaves that are falling. In a few more weeks, this place wouldn't be hidden anymore. It would be just as exposed as any other cluster of trees in the park. "How did you find this place?"

"Every city has one?" He wraps his hands around mine and I surprise myself when I don't pull away.

"A circle of trees?" I ask.

He leans in closer and for a second I think he's going to kiss me and I start to panic, but he misses my lips and puts his next to my ear. "A hiding place."

And for a second, I want to believe him, but then I remember that anyone can be found at any time no matter where they are. No one is invisible.

"You're cold," he whispers. I shake my head and try to stop my teeth from chattering while he takes his jacket off and wraps it around my arms. It smells like laundry detergent and mint. He leans in closer and I lean in closer and for a second I have no idea what's happening. It's like I'm a totally different person who's known Hayes for all of his life. His hand presses against my back and my head turns just enough so our noses won't press against each other. Then, my phone rings.