Becoming Better

Chapter 6 - A Saint Peters Reunion

The rest of Charlie's summer was spent hanging out with Wyatt, Aiden, Jesse, Alex, and Jessica. Taylor and Ben joined their little crew after Ben and the other guys instantly became bros at a party one night. The eight of them spent almost every night together. Sometimes they would do normal things like go to the movies or out to dinner, and sometimes they would do something crazy like sneak into someone's backyard and use their pool to go night swimming. If they were lucky, no one was home. If they weren't, they would end up running away soaking wet because whoever owned the home threatened to call the police. They would also go night swimming at the beach if they didn't feel like breaking the law. Her therapist was right, it was much better than sitting at home, crying over Cassius.

Wyatt hadn't tried to kiss her again after that time at mini golf, but he also hadn't stopped flirting with her. Sometimes Charlie felt bad, knowing that she didn't feel the same way about him. But she liked having him around as a friend so much, she didn't want to ruin it by shutting him down.

Charlie kept busy during the day by getting a summer job working in a coffee shop. She was the youngest employee there, but the manager told her she seemed pretty mature for being 17, so he overlooked her age. She liked working morning shifts. That's when things were so busy that she could hardly think.

Taylor and Jessica came to visit her one day at work. It was early afternoon, so things weren't as busy. They leaned against the counter while Charlie cleaned the coffee bar.

"So there's a party tonight, we were all thinking it would be fun to go," Taylor said.

"Where?" Charlie asked. Not that it mattered.

"Remember Jake Michaels?" Jessica asked her. "The Senior who was Homecoming King when we were Sophomores?"

"Yeah," Charlie nodded.

"His house. He's home from college for the summer and his parents are away. It's going to be a bit of a Saint Peters reunion," Jessica explained.

Charlie stopped cleaning and looked up. "What do you mean, a Saint Peters reunion?"

"He's just inviting a bunch of people who used to go to school there, as well as people like us that still do. It's not like, an official reunion, or anything," Jessica said.

Charlie's heart started to pound a little harder. Jake Michaels was in the same grade as Cassius. They had graduated Saint Peters together. What if Cassius was going to be there?

"So, are you down?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah, I'm in," Charlie said.

Later that night as Charlie got ready for the party, she couldn't stop her hands from shaking. She was so nervous about the prospect of seeing Cassius. She wanted to look amazing, obviously. She redid her winged eyeliner at least twice, twisted her blond hair into three different hairstyles, and changed her outfit five times. She finally settled on an open-back black dress, and she left her hair down.

Alex texted her when she was outside, ready to pick her up. Charlie ran out to her car. Alex honked in appreciation as Charlie gave her a little twirl, showing off her dress.

"Damn girl, you look good!" Alex cat-called at her.

Charlie laughed as she got in the car. "Thanks babe, so do you."

"No, you look extra good, who are you planning on impressing tonight?" Alex raised her eyebrows at her. "Are you finally going to get with Wyatt?"

Charlie cleared her throat. "No. I thought maybe Cassius might show up, but whatever."

"Oh, right," Alex said. "Well Cassius or not, every guy in there is gonna be looking at you."

They met the others outside Jake's house. They all were waiting for Alex and Charlie to get there before they went in. Wyatt did a wolf whistle when he saw Charlie. She blushed. She had to admit he looked pretty handsome tonight as well. His blond hair flopped over his forehead, and his tan muscular arms looked good against his plain white t shirt.

When they walked in the party, it was true, everyone stared. Charlie felt a huge wave of anxiety threatening to overtake her, so she made a beeline for the kitchen where the drinks were. She grabbed a plastic cup and filled it with fruit punch that smelled like rubbing alcohol. She took a sip and winced. It was strong.

After 20 minutes or so, Charlie started to feel better. Much better. She was having fun seeing all the Saint Peters alumni. They all told her stories about college, or whatever they had been up to since they graduated. Nobody asked her about Cassius, much to her relief.

She had been at the party for over an hour and decided Cassius probably wasn't coming. He didn't really hang out with Jake at school anyway, and no one else he hung out with was there. Over the last year while they were together, he had basically stopped hanging out with friends entirely. All he did was spend time with Charlie.

Just then, Ari and Steve, two of Cassius' old friends from Saint Peters, walked through the front door.

"Oh no," she said out loud, to no one in particular. There was still no sign of Cassius though.

She went out to Jake's backyard and spotted her friends. Wyatt and Jesse were playing beer pong with some guys Charlie didn't recognize, and the girls were nearby watching. Aiden and Ben had probably gone inside to get more drinks.

She headed in the direction of the beer pong table, walking a bit slower than usual because she was tipsy. When someone crossed her path, she nearly stumbled.

She gasped, loudly. "Cassius?"

**** What do you think is going to happen between Charlie and Cassius? The last time they saw each other was their breakup! Xx