Becoming Better

Chapter 3 - Wyatt

Several jaws dropped when Charlie walked into John's house with Taylor.

"Hey Taylor. Wow Charlie! You're here!" John said, walking over and giving her a hug.

Charlie and John had sort of become friends over the last year. He was still friends with her ex, Nick, but there was no more bad blood between them. His house was crowded with Juniors and Seniors from Saint Peters, and some other people she didn't recognize. They were probably from a different school. John's parents were clearly out of town.

"Yeah, in the flesh," Charlie tried to sound enthusiastic. She wasn't quite sure it worked.

"Where's Cassius?" John asked, looking around.

Charlie's heart twinged painfully. "Not here," she said simply.

Understanding crossed John's face. "Got it! Well let's get you a drink then!"

More of her friends and classmates greeted her as she squeezed through the crowd with John and Taylor. Alex and Jessica squealed and hugged her when they saw her. Everyone was so surprised to see her there. They were especially surprised to see her without Cassius. Charlie was sure everyone would figure out that she had broken up with him by the end of the night.

Charlie planted herself on a stool at the island in John's kitchen after he handed her a beer. She had never had one before. Cassius didn't like alcohol and he didn't drink, so neither did she. Charlie figured she might as well give it a try now. Taylor ducked away quickly to say hi to Ben, the guy she was dating. She had broken up with her last boyfriend Tim ages ago in the middle of Junior year. Taylor wasn't devastated, in fact she was fine. Charlie was happy for her, but she wondered how she did it. She had no idea how Taylor was able to move on. Maybe she wasn't as in love with Tim as Charlie was with Cassius.

Charlie sipped her beer, which tasted disgusting, and looked around John's house. It had been so long since she had been to a party, she had forgotten how to socialize.

"Hey," someone said from the far side of the kitchen.

She looked over. Her eyes landed on a very tall, very handsome blond guy who was helping himself to a beer from the fridge.

"Hey," was all she said in return. Yep, her social skills were definitely a little rusty.

"I'm Wyatt," the boy said. "What's your name?"

"Charlie," she answered. "You don't go to Saint Peters, do you?"

"Nah, Saint Marks," he replied, referencing the all-boys private school in Bridgeport. "I know John from middle school. I take it you go to Saint Peters?"

"Yep," she replied lamely.

She was trying to think of something else to say when two more boys she didn't recognize walked into the kitchen and greeted Wyatt with fist bumps. They both were just as handsome as he was. What on earth was going on?

The one with jet black hair and olive skin waved at her. "I'm Aiden," he said.

"Jesse," said the other one, nodding in her direction. He had dark brown skin and big brown eyes.

"This is Charlie," Wyatt said for her. "She goes to Saint Peters."

The three boys stayed and hung out with her in the kitchen. Charlie was grateful that they did, because she didn't have to go try and mingle with the rest of the party. Surely someone would ask her about Cassius if she did. After her initial awkwardness subsided, it became much easier to talk to them. The three of them were about to be Seniors at Saint Marks, which sounded like it was even more strict than Saint Peters. They were all on the water polo team, which explained their athletic, lanky builds. Alex and Jessica came over, having noticed Charlie was surrounded by cute boys, and she introduced them.

People started to leave the party around midnight, when John's alcohol supply ran out. Charlie had a slight buzz going. She'd had a couple more beers and she felt great. She had completely forgotten, at least for the moment, how terrible things in her life were. 'Why haven't I done this before now?' she thought.

Wyatt was on his way out, saying goodbye to friends, when he came back over to Charlie.

"Hey, can I have your number?" he asked, smiling.

"Sure!" she yelled. The beer had apparently taken away her ability to control the volume of her voice. She grabbed his phone and typed her number in. She handed it back to him, smiling as well.

"Cool, I'll call you later yeah?" Wyatt said.

"Cool," Charlie agreed.