Chapter 17 part 2

Charlie was a nervous wreck. The day had gone well up to now and nothing had happened out of the ordinary. Charlie found she was even relaxed around Alex at school.

The issues for her began when she'd returned home. She first went to take a shower while Cherie was still watching TV, but then as she started to get dressed afterwards, she began to have trouble deciding what to wear.

She'd never had this problem before, so why was she so indecisive now? And on top of that, what was the problem with just picking something out at random? Charlie couldn't help but pace in her room, wearing nothing but her underwear as she debated on two dresses that she liked and a shirt and skirt combo that she also liked. However, her mind was still telling her that these weren't the right options. She needed something better, yet nothing she looked at in her closet or dresser felt like the 'right' her mind was looking for.

The options she had laid out before here was a white dress that had pink hearts all over it. She liked the light pink colors, but wasn't sure about the hearts. The other dress had flowers and other plants over it, but all the colors on it were dark colors. Dark purple, dark green, dark blue, and so on. While she liked the floral aspect of the dress, she wasn't as sure about the dark colors. Mostly she preferred bright colors if not lighter colors, like the pink on the other dress. Lastly, the shirt and skirt combo were both bright red. No patterns or other decorative aspects of them. While Charlie wasn't too big on red, it was a bright color and didn't have anything like hearts on it.

In the end, Charlie felt she had to pick one in a way that would give her no room to second guess her choice. So, she put numbers by each item, and decided to ask Tim for 'help.'

–Tim?– she called out with her magic.

It took a minute and she waited patiently. She didn't know what he was doing at the moment, so figured it might take some time before he could respond.

–Yeah?– he finally said.

–Could you pick a number for me? One, two or three.– Charlie asked.

–What's this about?– he asked, amusement clear in his question.

–Just trying to make a decision about something.– Charlie hedged.

–Okay, let's go with one.– he said. –So, what choice did I make?–

–I'll let you know later.– Charlie replied as she sighed and picked up the with and pink heart dress.

At least she was able to get a random way of selecting what to wear. She just wished she knew that her method would work out well for her and not make more problems later on.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, Charlie put the dress on and put the other selections back where they had been. When she was done, she sat at her desk, wanting to finish her homework, so she'd at least have that done.

She was almost done with her math homework, when she heard the doorbell ring. She immediately put her pencil down and got up, rushing from her room, confident that it was Alex at the from door. However, part of her was demanding to know why she was in such a rush. Since when did she act this way for visitors of any kind that knew her?

She couldn't answer that part of her, so she pushed it to the back of her mind. If nothing else, letting those parts of her clamor for attention would only make her feel more on edge. Though, as she reached the stairs, she slowed herself down and took several deep breaths as she started walking down the stairs.

"You're really worked up today," Cherie asked, causing Charlie to jump. She hadn't heard her sister come up behind her.

"Why would I be worked up?" Charlie asked, hoping Cherie wouldn't press the point, though she was sure her sister saw through her weak attempt to dodge the question.

"Uh-huh," Cherie replied. "I have to assume your 'friend' is someone of interest to you."

Charlie closed her eyes and prayed Cherie wouldn't try to embarrass her in front of Alex. Or at the very least tease her about it. Fortunately, Cherie didn't wait for Charlie to open the door, instead she merely followed Charlie down the stairs, then turned to head towards the kitchen.

Charlie opened the door and saw Alex. Alex had put a red barrette in her hair, holding her hair away from her face on her right, which Charlie could only say enhanced how she looked. After all, she'd always thought Alex looked cute, but now she was starting to think of her as pretty. Alex wore a simple blue dress, that had had reflective pieces of material scattered all over it.

"Glad you could make it," Charlie said, not sure if she should comment on how Alex looked, though while she like the dress, she couldn't say that she would have expected to see her in it. It just seemed a little juvenile, for lack of a better term, for her, though the thought tickled something in the back of her mind, which she did her best to ignore. "Come on in."

"Thanks," Alex said, stepping into Charlie's house, moving to the side as Charlie closed the door.

When the door was closed, Charlie escorted Alex to the dining room. As they entered, Cherie was already sitting at her place, grinning like the cat that ate the canary, her eyes full of mischief. Just looking at her sister, Charlie felt her stomach getting ready to plummet down.

Charlie began to introduce Alex to her sister, then as she finished, her mother began bringing dinner out. So, Charlie introduced Alex to her mother.

"So happy you could make it," her mother said to Alex. "If you take a seat here, we'll have dinner shortly." Alex was directed to where Charlie usually sat.

While Charlie was rather irked about that fact, she did her best to push that feeling down, since she didn't want to make a fuss.

Charlie's mother returned to the kitchen as Alex sat down and Charlie sat next to her, not sure what else to do. She couldn't think of anything to say, so just sat there, looking at what was for dinner: stroganoff. It wasn't Charlie's favorite, but it was far from her least favorite dish.

The plates, cups, and flatware had already been set out, so all that seemed to be left to put out would be the beverage. Usually it would be water, but Charlie had a feeling it might be something else. The way things were going, she suspected that her mother was up to something. Maybe she suspected of a relationship between Alex and Charlie or maybe it was something else. All Charlie could tell was that this dinner was already different than their usual dinners.

"What do you see in Charlie?" Cherie asked Alex.

Charlie stared in shock at her sister, who was certainly ignoring Charlie, as she was focusing her gaze on Alex.

"Well, I'm not sure if I can just put it down on any one point," Alex said. Charlie felt her face begin to heat up as she heard Alex's response. "Maybe it's just that she's thoughtful, keeps her word, and is considerate of others."

Charlie looked down at her lap, not sure what else to do. While she was pleased at what she heard Alex say about her, she certainly didn't think of herself in the same way. While she did try to keep her word, she never thought of herself as thoughtful or considerate. She just was.

As dinner started, Charlie found she didn't have as much to say as she had in the past. No one seemed to notice, so she was happy about that, but a good amount on the conversation was directed towards Alex.

"So, what gave you the idea to give Charlie that purse?" Charlie's mother asked, as the dinner was nearing its end. Charlie hadn't eaten as much as she usually did, but again, no one seemed to really notice.

"Well, I noticed she didn't have one and that she'd gotten a phone. So, I thought it would be something she could use," Alex replied. Then after a momentary pause, she laughed. "I tried to dye it green, but that effort failed miserable with how badly it came out."

"It is green," Cherie commented.

"Yeah, but isn't not a very good green. I mean, I'm surprised Charlie is still using it," Alex replied.

Charlie started to wonder if she should have tried faking being sick or something. At least she'd have been able to avoid being present for this conversation.

"Well, what exactly is your relationship with Charlie," Charlie's father asked, and immediately alarms started blaring in Charlie's mind.

There wasn't a reason for her parents to ask that question if they didn't suspect that she was in a relationship with Charlie. A relationship as more than a friend. It was a question that Charlie desperately wanted to know the answer to, but at the same time, didn't want to know. However, despite that, Charlie couldn't help but look at Alex out of the corner of her eye.

Alex laughed. "What do you mean?" she asked. "We're friends. We haven't gone on a date or anything like that, so you can't say we're dating. We have a few classes together and are friends."

Part of her response felt like a punch to her gut, but the rest actually made her feel a little calmer. While Charlie had agreed to go to the homecoming dance with Alex, they hadn't actually gone on a date, so it was a response that didn't give her parents whatever it was that they were seeking for with their probative questions.