Charlotte texted Alex under the table.
Jeez. He’s acting like a girl does when she’s got a crush!
Alex read the message and had to suppress the grin. He texted back while listening with one ear to Brian recounting the entire conversation he’d had with Theresa the night before. Again.
It’s kinda hilarious. You gotta admit.
Charlotte frowned at the text, but Alex winked at her. She looked across the table at Brian. His eyes were sparkling, and his grin was a mile wide. His breakfast sat, barely touched, on the table in front of him. She sighed.
It’s not hilarious. It’s romantic.
Alex shrugged. He figured it was a girl thing to think Brian’s behavior was romantic. He just hoped that, when he met the woman he was meant to be with, he didn’t act as idiotic about her. Brian may as well have had a giant heart smacked across his forehead because Alex was certain he could very nearly see the little hearts flying around Brian’s head and tiny hearts in his eyes. Boy, he had it bad.
He shook his head and nudged Brian’s tray towards him. “Hey, Brian. It’s great that you’re so into Theresa, but maybe you should eat up. Love requires energy.” He felt his phone buzz in his hand and could feel the holes Charlotte’s eyes were burning into his head.
Brian blinked in surprise and looked down at his tray as though he were astonished to find it there. Thoughtfully, he picked up a fork and dug in. “I guess you’re right, Alex. I’m just so excited and nervous about this date tonight. I mean, do I pick the movie? Does she? Do we go somewhere afterwards for something to eat?”
Alex tried really hard not to roll his eyes. “Dude. You’ve been on a bunch of dates. It’s not that hard.”
“It’s different this time.” Brian’s eyes went dreamy again, and Alex’s phone buzzed in his hand again. He ignored it this time. “She’s different. I wonder, how do you know if you’ve met the one person you’re supposed to spend the rest of your life with?”
“Ask someone who knows,” Charlotte told him sharply.
Brian’s gaze sharpened, focused on her. “Char, is everything okay? You sound annoyed.”
She studied him for a moment. The curly mop of hair, the soft blue eyes, the irresistibly adorable face and remembered that this was one of her best friends. If he was in love, lust, whatever, she had to be supportive of him. “I’m fine. Just tired. I think I’m gonna duck out of our plans for today.”
“What?” Alex and Brian both spoke at the same time.
Alex’s eyes narrowed on her while Brian asked, “Charlotte, you were the one who planned today’s trip. Why are you backing out now? We’ve done lots of fun stuff when we’ve all been tired. You can’t miss the hiking trip today.”
She patted his hand and decided that the people who said the first step was the hardest were right. “You and Alex have fun. I’m just gonna crawl back into bed and read.”
“But you hate to read!” Brian frowned. “Okay, Char, what’s going on? You’re not acting like yourself at all. You love to hike, and you’re backing out on us now?”
Maybe I don’t want to hear all about Theresa for the next eight hours. Charlotte shrugged. “I guess I’m just in a mood is all. I just have to take a little time for myself. Get over it.”
Before Brian could protest anymore, Alex nodded. “You go on then. Take that time, and me and Brian’ll have a great time anyway. At least we won’t have to run up the damn trail like you’d make us do,” he added with a wink.
Brian sighed a little. “Fine. Okay, fine.” He stood and grabbed his tray. “Just as long as you don’t skip out on our roadtrip to the Native American commencement ritual tomorrow.” He skirted around the table and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Get rid of those blues.”
“I will,” she murmured and watched him go before turning to face Alex. He simply stared at her, his expression expectant. “What? Don’t look at me like that.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, you do. I’m doing what I need today.” She folded her arms and slumped back in the chair. “I think if I had to listen to another eight hours of why Theresa is so amazing, I’d throw him off the mountain.”
“He’s just happy.” And you’re not, Alex thought, but he didn’t say it.
Charlotte sighed. “I know, and I want to be happy for him. I really do. But I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something off about Theresa. Not the she’s-a-serial-killer type thing, but more something’s going to go wrong for Brian with her. I don’t want to see him hurt. You and Bri are my best friends, and I’d hate for either of you to be hurt.” She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. “He’s just this big softie, Alex. And girls can just be plain mean when they want, and I feel like maybe Theresa’s going to play him for a while then drop him cold.”
Alex sighed now, too, and slid an arm around her shoulder. “Then we’ll just be there to catch him.”
She brooded about it anyway as she spent the free day she’d gotten packing. It was the last time she’d ever pack away her things at Duray. She wasn’t coming back in the fall. It hadn’t hit her yet that she was graduating and moving on to Harvard. True, she’d finished her political science thesis and taken all of her finals by the date required for seniors. She’d gotten her cap, gown, and stole a few days ago and had packed her bags for the booze cruise that the seniors traditionally went on after graduation. By all accounts, she was ready.
What she wasn’t ready for was to leave her friends. They’d been a constant comfort, always good for laughs and a shoulder to lean on during the tougher times. It wasn’t everyday a girl could stumble upon two guys that were such good friends for her. She wanted to treasure them and keep them near her always. She was already afraid that she was losing one of them.
Charlotte wasn’t naïve. She’d known that the day would come when she wasn’t the only girl in either Alex or Brian’s lives. She knew that they, too, wouldn’t be the only guys in her world. They’d each find their special someone and the circle of friends would, hopefully, grow.
What she hadn’t expected was for that circle to be expanded by a girl who gave Charlotte bad vibes. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Theresa. It was just that she’d felt that there was more to Theresa than what met the eye. She wasn’t sure that all of it was perfectly nice.
The door to her room flew open, and her roommate breezed in with shopping bags in tow. Melanie Grishom was someone who would understand Theresa and the world she lived in very well. Charlotte had grown up in middle class suburbia, but Melanie was from the world of the wealthy. Charlotte loved her and couldn’t have asked for a better roommate, which was why they’d been roommates for all four years. Melanie had also dated both Alex and Brian, and Charlotte figured she’d be a good sounding board.
“Char-Char! This place already looks more gloomy with your posters down!” Melanie tossed her bags on her bed and threw herself onto Charlotte’s bed. “Please, don’t pack anymore! I don’t want to be sad yet.”
Charlotte smiled and nudged Melanie off of her clothes and, folding them, put them in her suitcase. “Mel, we’re going to have to pack sometime. I’m just starting with the winter stuff. For today.”
“Okay, good. Then I won’t feel like such a lazy bum for not packing yet.” Melanie’s eyes narrowed on Charlotte’s face. “Hey, weren’t you supposed to go hiking with the guys?”
“Yeah. I decided not to go.”
“Why not? Brian said today was your day to plan something. It’s not like you to just back out.” Melanie raised one, perfectly arched brow. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Charlotte pushed the suitcase aside and sat on the bed with Melanie. “So, have you met President C’s wife and daughter yet?”
Melanie crossed her legs and studied her nails. “Yeah, I met his daughter at a boutique in town.”
“You met Theresa? What’d you think of her?” Charlotte was curious as Melanie was usually a great judge of character.
“She’s got great taste in clothing and shoes. And the Duray boys were following her around like she was honey and they were flies.” Melanie rolled her eyes. “Men.”
Charlotte grinned. She loved Melanie. “Tell me about it. Yesterday, Brian was falling all over himself to talk to her. He was like a puppy or something.” She rolled her eyes. “And this morning, at breakfast, all he could talk about was Theresa, Theresa, Theresa.”
Melanie wrinkled her nose. “It’s a pain in the ass when the guy you love can only talk about another girl, huh?”
“What?” Charlotte’s eyes popped open. “Where’d that come from?”
“Oh, come on, Char.” Melanie sat up and patted Charlotte’s knee. “You’ve been head over heels for Brian since freshman year. It’s not like it’s a big secret.”
Charlotte’s brows winged up. “What are you talking about? Have people been saying that about me?”
“Not really. I mean, I think it’s really just me that’s noticed.”
“Well, you noticed wrong, Mel. I love Brian as a best friend.” Charlotte shook her head. “Jeez, I can’t believe you thought I had the hots for him.”
Melanie shrugged. “I don’t know, I just thought there was something there. But then, I guess you know yourself better. Anyway.” She reached over and grabbed a bottle of polish off her bureau and began spreading slick ruby red polish on her toenails. “Theresa Campbell is a piece of work. I introduced myself, said how I was your roommate and that she’d met you yesterday, and how nice it was to meet her. And you know what she said?”
“What?”
“She said she didn’t think it was a good idea for me to dye my hair this color because it made me look like a vampiress.” Melanie tugged on her raven-toned hair. “Dyed, my ass! It’s my natural hair color. She’s the one waltzing around with hair darker than the color nature gave her. Then, she looked down her nose at me, and walked away.” She shook her head sadly. “I don’t know how it happened, but a great guy like President Campbell raised a true bitch of a daughter.”
Charlotte frowned, processing the information. She’d known from the start that there was something not so nice about Theresa, but she hadn’t been sure. No one, she thought, could be that rude, could they, if they were truly good? “Maybe if I tell Brian, he’ll back off.”
“No, no.” Melanie wagged a finger. “That’s the wrong thing to do. Trust me, if you try to tell him that she’s bad for him, it’ll only backfire on you. Guys have this pride thing. You just gotta let him figure it out for himself.”
“And if he gets hurt?”
Melanie sighed. “It’s a part of life. Besides, she’s only here for six more days. She couldn’t possibly do much damage. He’s Brian. He’ll bounce back.”
Charlotte leaned back against her pillows and contemplated Melanie’s words. Melanie knew Brian’s mind almost as well as she did as they’d been together for a year. Besides, she’d never been wrong before, so Charlotte figured she’d do just as she’d been advised. She didn’t want to fight with him just before graduation anyway.
“Oh, hey!” Melanie interrupted her musings and reached out to tug on Charlotte’s hair. “Let’s do something drastic to celebrate graduating!”
“What? Like get a tattoo?” Charlotte wondered with mild disdain at the idea.
Melanie rolled her eyes. “No. Let’s cut your hair.”
“What?!” Charlotte slid out of Melanie’s reach. “Are you kidding?”
“No. I think, in celebration of the next phase of your life, you should cut your hair. It’s gorgeous hair, don’t get me wrong,” Melanie added quickly, “I just think you’ve had the same long hair for too long. Since the start of freshman year. So why don’t you get a new style? Something short?”
Charlotte ran her fingers through her waist-length hair and shook her head. “Absolutely not.”
“Think about it?”
She lifted a brow. “Not even for a second.”
