Perfect Promise

Noah

I couldn’t help but wonder who Charlie liked. She had never not told me a secret before; I knew everything about her. So what was so special about this guy she wouldn't tell me about? Maybe he was a British guy her age who's really cute with an adorable accent. Or maybe it was a tan surfer from back in Miami. It didn't really matter that much what kind of guy he was, as long as he was good to her. I was just dying of curiosity to find out.

Jordan, Amber, Maia, Charlie, and I went shopping together, seeing as it was our day off. It was going to be the last day we had to shop in England, so we made sure to buy anything we possibly wanted or needed. I spent most of my day with Jordan and Amber. Maia and Charlie were always off to the side, having serious conversations.

Knowing that Charlie trusted Maia more than me made me feel jealous. I couldn’t fathom why she didn’t trust me to tell me who she liked. It couldn’t be such a big deal. I tried to come up with reasons why she would go to Maia instead of me, but I was at a loss. I couldn’t voice these concerns with Jordan and Amber because I wasn’t sure what Charlie had or hadn’t told them.

Gavyn was great to voice these concerns with. It felt like he really listened and took into consideration everything that I was saying. I tried to call him to see if he was free. The call went straight to voicemail. I tried not to be too concerned, since usually his phone was always on. I forced myself to assume his phone was dead, instead of jumping to other, more drastic conclusions.

Erys and Rudy took us out to dinner after our day of shopping. We went out to this incredibly tasty pizzeria that had come to be our favourite place to go. Even this didn’t take Charlie out of her funk, though. I didn’t have to be a mind reader to know her thoughts were racing. I just wanted to be able to shake her out of the downward spiral she was going through, but I couldn’t because she wouldn’t tell me the severity of what was going on. It had to be more than about some guy. It had to be much more important to her than that.

I sat between her and Maia at the restaurant, and as far away from Rudy as possible. Maia didn’t ask Charlie any questions, so I assumed she knew everything there was to know about this situation. I experienced another pang of jealousy, but I tried to push it away. Instead, I decided to be the most outspoken and bubbly person at the table, engaging in conversations with whoever I could. Even though I was only doing it to distract myself, it felt nice to get to know Erys and Rudy better, and continue to bond with Maia, Jordan, and Amber.

After dinner, we continued to bond in Jordan’s hot tub. Charlie told the group that she was tired and chose to retire to her room, but I didn’t believe her. She must have felt incredibly uncomfortable with Rudy, which made a lot of sense. Again, instead of following my instincts and going after her, I continued to distract myself.

We played truth or dare, which revealed some pretty interesting things. Erys and Maia had become friends with benefits, but weren’t into each other romantically. Amber and Jordan had been clubbing a few times, and ended up having a few one night stands with some british boys. After a long night, and a few drinks, the girls even revealed that one of those one night stands was actually a threesome with each other and a boy they both really found attractive. I couldn’t believe how much I had missed out on by being with Gavyn all the time.

Distracting myself was nice, but at around two in the morning, I decided to bid farewell to the group in order to check up on Charlie. I ended finding her on the balcony, legs dangling off the edge, sobbing.

“Charlie!” I hurried over to her side.

She continued to sob as I pried her off the edge and led her by the hand into my bedroom. She was crying so hard she was shaking, so I threw a blanket over her shoulders. I sat her down on the bed next to me and wrapped my arms around her. I sat with her and let her cry against my chest.

“You have to tell me what’s wrong,” I told her as her breathing began to slow.

“It’s fine, I’m okay,” she sat up to face me.

“Charlie, you’re literally sobbing. You’re not okay. You can trust me with whatever is going on.”

“No. I can’t do that.”

“Really? Something is clearly bothering you. Let me help you,” I felt exasperated, “Is this about the boy you like?”

“Just leave it,” she sounded harsher than I think she meant to be.

It broke my heart to see my best friend so upset. I knew the only way I could help was if I knew the whole story, but she refused to tell me. No matter how much I didn’t want to, I needed to pry it out of her. I knew it could make her more upset, but it would help her in the long term.

“Please, Charlie. Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I trust you, Noah.”

“Then why don't you tell me what’s going on?”

“I’m just,” she hesitated, “I’m scared that the person I like will hate me when they find out.”

"They won't, I swear, but you really do need to tell me who this is. How else could I convince you that’s true unless I know who we’re talking about?.”

She looked as if she were about to cry again, so I hugged her tightly. Charlie didn't say a word until I let her go.

"You," she said. "It's you."