Wild Nobody

Chapter One

The only thing worse than loving someone you can't have is hating them too.

She's on the other side of the library, but I can hear her from where I'm seated. Her loud laughter carries, before being cut off and pressed into giggles after what I assume was a sharp look from the librarian.

I love the sound, but at the moment I'm trying to focus on the conversation I'm having with Charlie, so it ends up irritating me more than anything else. I look over my shoulder and catch a glimpse of the red flannel she has rolled over her deep bronze forearms. I realize I've never seen those forearms before, she usually keeps them covered for reasons that are far beyond me. They're nice, very slender and graceful. I wish I had forearms that looked like that.

"Chloe, hon, anyone home?" Charlie asks, snapping her fingers at me.

I snap my head back to facing her. "Yeah, I'm listening."

"No, you're not, you're looking at Roxanne over there and I'm trying to ask you a question."

"I wasn't looking at her!" I exclaim indignantly.

"Yes, you were. Keep your voice down, love," she adds throwing a look to the librarian behind me.

"Whatever," I huff, irritated and embarrassed. "What were you asking me?"

Charlie's mouth is caught in a half-smile of amusement, but she forces a straight face before continuing. "I was asking if you wanted to join some clubs with me this year. It's not too late, it's barely the second week of school."

"Charlie, I don't know...you know I'm not really much of a people person," I say, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. The thought of having to force myself to be even close to the center of attention made me squirm, not to mention the hard plastic of the school chairs always cuts off the circulation in my legs.

"You don't have to be a people person to be in a club," she states, tossing back her hair and leaning forward. "besides, I'm sure being in a few clubs would make you prime Valedictorian material."

"Being the Valedictorian means I have good grades, not that I'm in clubs," I argue back. "Wouldn't it make more sense for me to just focus on schoolwork?"

"Chloe, love, if all you did was schoolwork your brains would melt and pour out your ears before the end of the semester," she says.

I inhale deeply and exhale slowly, trying not to show how frustrated I am. I love her, but sometimes Charlie doesn't understand that I have limits. I'm good at school, I like academia. Math, science, English, I'm freakishly good at being well-rounded like that. I can even draw and sing above average. It's just the social stuff I'm not good at. I know how to talk to people and carry a conversation, but I don't enjoy it and I have a hard time doing that in a group setting. Joining a club sounds like the opposite of a good time.

"And, to be honest...I'm worried about you. You need to have friends." Charlie says, her voice taking on a serious note. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes stare intensely into mine, and I feel like she's trying to transmit a lot more emotion than I'm receiving.

"I have plenty of friends," I say, forcing a smile and trying to play off my discomfort. "I have you, anyway."

Charlie smiles for a second at my comment, then goes back to being serious. "I know, but it's senior year. College is coming. I don't want you to be all alone. You need to at least learn how to make friends now so you can have friends when you leave."

I really wish I could get Charlie to realize that truly, I'm fine. I think she thinks I'm depressed or something, and I'm not. Truthfully, I'm pretty low maintenance. I don't need a lot of friends, I'm good with the few I have. I don't think she understands that I'm not lonely, I'm just an introvert. True, I will be leaving behind all my current friends, but I'm sure I can figure something out when I get to college.