Charming by Mette Bach

Author:Mette Bach
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: James Lorimer and Company Ltd., Publishers
Published: 2018-08-22T00:00:00+00:00

13

So Close

“Hey,” Char said, as she took her spot on the bed with her laptop open and facing a poster on her wall. “Sorry about that.”

“No big deal,” said Cinders. “I just solved something on SendLove and then started on something else.”

“Of course you did,” Char said. She didn’t laugh out loud. But she was amused by the difference between them. Char was having a breakdown in the bathroom. Cinders was pulling a Bill Gates.

“I should get going,” Cinders said suddenly.

Char knew that it was time to live up to her handle. She had to charm Cinders. Cinders was as shy as a half-tame animal. And Char couldn’t afford to let Cinders slip away into the forest. She had to keep her talking. Char knew that she wanted friendship with Cinders. She wanted romance with Cinders. She wanted it all.

“So, um, you know how we’ve been talking for a while now?” Char said.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t you think it’s time we let our guards down a bit?”

“I guess.” Cinders sounded doubtful.

“Like, what part of the world do you live in?”

“Fine. Canada.”

“No way! Me too,” Char said. “I should have known you were Canadian.”

“Why?”

“Hello. Awesomeness.”

Cinders laughed.

Char said, “I’m on the West Coast.”

“Me too,” Cinders said.

“Get out!” Char said.

“I’m by the border,” Cinders said. “Are you somewhere cool like Kitimat?”

“No. Like you. South.”

“I live in the suburbs.”

“Of Vancouver? Or Victoria?” Char asked.

“Oh, God. I don’t ever tell people stuff like this. Of Vancouver.”

“Me too! I’m in Delta.”

“Delta? How can that be? That’s where I am.”

“No! What school are you at? You better say North Delta Senior Secondary or I will completely lose it,” Char said, holding her breath.

“Seaquam.”

“No! That’s my school.”

“Are you serious?”

“Dead serious. Home of the Seahawks.”

It was fate, then. Char’s heart was about to pound its way right out of her chest. She was in utter shock. Who was this girl who lived and studied right next to her? Right alongside her? Where had she been hiding and how had they not met?

“We have to meet,” Char said.

“Um. I don’t know.”

“For real? All this stuff in common. And this weird cosmic connection we have. And you don’t know if you want to meet up?”

“I’m shy?”

Char shook her head. “What are you afraid of?”

“Honestly? Everything.”

“Yeah. I get that. Me too.”

“Really? Because you don’t seem afraid.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“You don’t. You seem kind of fearless.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“I don’t know. It’s worse that we’re at the same school. I don’t like who I am at school. Or who I’ve been made out to be.”

“Does anyone?” Char asked. “I mean, I don’t either. I’m getting by okay. This year is better than last. I’m looking forward to the whole thing being over.”

“Me too. I just need to focus. That’s the other thing. I like talking with you, really, I do. But I’m working on this project that’s taking a lot of my time. The augmented reality project.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I guess it came out of losing my parents. My idea is to use Google Glass technology to preserve footage of real people who’ve gone.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.