Where is Louise Bauman? + Original, Book 1 ✔

4

'There is no remedy for love,
but to love more."

It was finally the next day, and Charlie couldn't help but feel nervous as she waited patiently outside for Renfrow to show up at her house. She paced back and forth on her tiny porch, the wood creaking underneath her feet every time she passed over it.

The shiny blue jeep pulled up, Charlie's heart racing as she already knew that it was Ren. She'd been in his vehicle yesterday, and he'd even offered to drop her off at home the night before so she'd been in his car more than once.

As she began walking off of the porch, by the time she got to Ren's vehicle he was already out, opening the passenger door for her. "Hey!" He greeted her, a bright smile on his face despite how early it was. It was as if it seemed as if he were a morning person, but it was really only that he was excited to see the blonde and spend more time with her.

"Hey Ren," Charlie spoke, her voice as quiet as it normally was.

Charlie got into Ren's car, the boy shutting the door after her. She patiently waited for him to get in so they could head toward school, the smell of French Vanilla invading her nose. Once he was in he buckled up, perking up as he seemed to remember something.

"Oh! I hope you like French Vanilla!" He picked up a latte from the middle console, handing it to her. "I got us some lattes. Careful though, it's hot."

"I do, thank you." Charlie politely said, taking the cup from him. She smiled to herself as the warmth from the cup kept her fingertips hot. "You didn't need to get this for me."

"Don't mention it," Ren spoke. "I also listened to some Wallows! You were right about them, they're amazing."

"I told you," Charlie said. "Definitely underrated."

"Definitely," Ren repeated, "So I was thinking, free period is just after lunch..." The boy started, glancing over at the girl to see her reaction to his words even though he hadn't finished his full thoughts yet.

"Yes, as it's always been for me," Charlie replied.

"And I know that I usually sit with Trystan and our other buddies for lunch and you sit with Kiya and Michael for lunch," Ren continued.

"More like Kiya, Mikey, and whoever else they're sitting with. It's just whoever happens to be there, but yes. You're right." Charlie took a tiny sip of her latte. She was oblivious to whatever it was that Ren was getting at, but the boy didn't seem to mind.

"I was thinking maybe since free period was right after lunch, you and I could possibly sit together so we could walk to the library together?" Ren questioned, looking over at the girl before back at the road in front of him. "I mean, if not it's okay, I'm okay with sitting with Trystan still it's just-"

"No no, if you want to sit with me it's okay." Charlie cut the boy off, "I just figured you would want to sit with your friends still."

"I'm always with those guys. I see them all the time at practice. They'll survive if I don't sit with them for lunch." Ren stopped at a red light, "I want to sit by you."

"Okay, then we can sit by each other." Charlie couldn't help but smile, her cheeks turning bright pink.

"Cool," Ren said, looking back at the road. "I'll be looking forward to it."

"Yeah," Charlie breathed out, looking out of the window. She could barely contain her excitement, despite her short response.

Then again, neither could Ren. It'd taken years for the boy to finally gain the courage to simply ask to study with her, and if he'd known how easy it was to ask her to do that, and that once he'd do that it'd be even easier to ask to tutor her and drive her to school and sit by her at lunch he'd have done this years prior.