Dedicated to TINAballerina476.

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Chapter 39: Headlights

Despite numerous insecurities, Tyler and I felt confident about our relationship. Luke, on the other hand, still hadn't tried to talk to me. I didn't know if I should talk to him first or if I should give him a little time, but I couldn't stand not having him around. My days felt a little duller without his stupid remarks, and sometimes I regretted not choosing him. I knew that I didn't love him romantically anymore, but I missed him. I wanted him and Tyler to get along and be friends, even if that did mean more mockery, but I knew that was a lot to ask for from both of them.

I sucked it up and went over to his house. If he didn't feel like talking, all he had to do was say so and I would leave him alone and give him space. He was in his room, his music cranked to the highest possible volume, laying on his bed. I went over to his stereo and turned it down. "Hey, Luke," I said.

He sighed. "Hey, Charlie."

"Can we talk?"

"We are talking."

I sighed. I didn't like it when he was blowing me off yet not. "I'm sorry, Luke..."

He shrugged. "I was too late. It's not a big deal."

"But we're still friends, right?"

"Of course. I just need a little time to get used to the idea of you and Tyler together. Can you do that for me?"

I nodded. If that was what it would take to fix our friendship, I could do that. "Anything, Luke. I treasure our friendship too much to just let it go."

"I keep trying to pretend that it's all better, but it's not working out so well." He laughed humorlessly, and his eyes were dead. The sparkle was no longer there.

I didn't know how to respond to him, so I just asked, "Do you need anything?"

"I'm all right, Charlie. I'm not dying or anything."

I smiled. "Good. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Your life would be boring."

"I love you, Luke."

"I love you too, Charlie."

***

I was a little apprehensive about going over to Tyler's alone, but I figured if we were at a reasonable distance from each other and didn't start making out, we would be fine. We were watching one of Tyler's favorite movies (they were all the same to me, so I never remembered the name) when he got a call from one of his friends. I paused the movie and sat up straight when the look on his face got serious. "Okay...yeah...I'll be right there."

Once his phone call ended, I asked, "Who was that?"

"A friend. I need to bail him out of jail."

My eyes widened. I knew he was dangerous, but it never occurred to me that he had rebellious friends. Actually, I didn't even realize he had friends. I sort of assumed he was just a loner, which made me feel like a terrible person. "Who is it?"

"It's no one you know." That just made it twenty times fishier.

"What did he do?"

"He just broke into a couple of buildings. No big deal."

"Not a big deal!?" How was that not a big deal? It seriously made me question what Tyler and his friends did to entertain themselves. I didn't want to be involved with someone who wrecked other people's property for a buzz.

"Calm down, Summers. No one was hurt. Can you stay here until I get back? It won't take very long. I just have to pick him up and drop him off at his house."

"I can't come with you?"

"I don't think that's a good idea."

I sighed. "Just hurry up, okay?"

"I'll do my best. See you in a few, babe."

Babe. The only nicknames I had ever gotten from him were the first four letters of my name and my last name, but this was something couples actually called each other. For the next ten minutes or so, that was all I could think about. Could I call him babe now, or was this just a one-time-accidental-slip sort of thing? Was he overthinking this as much as I was? Probably not. He was most likely concentrating on getting his friend out of jail. Then I thought about whether or not his friends would like me. I was sure that we wouldn't have anything in common except for Tyler, but I didn't want them to hate me. I always told myself I was going to be a cool girlfriend, but that never going to happen. I would always be a little too needy for any guy's liking.

Lost in my paranoid, overreacting girlfriend thoughts (and my Facebook newsfeed), I didn't notice that a man had entered until he said something. "Who are you?" he asked, holding a switchblade in his right hand.

My eyes widened, fearful for my life. I pressed my back against the couch, as if it would help anything. I had my eye on the single throw pillow and was ready to shove it in front of me in case the man came at me. "I'm Charlotte," I stuttered, the adrenaline pulsing through my body. I was in fight-or-flight mode, and I certainly wasn't going to stick around and fight if it came down to it.

"Who are you?" he repeated.

Perhaps just my name wasn't sufficient enough. "I'm Tyler's girlfriend?" I offered.

"Oh." He put his weapon away. "In that case, my name is Arnold. I'm Tyler's Dad."

I almost snickered when he said his name. Here was this small, supposedly menacing guy whose name was Arnold. I didn't mean to discriminate by name or anything, but I just found it humorous. "Charlotte," I said.

"You already said that."

I laughed nervously. "I felt the need to repeat it."

"Where's my son?" he asked.

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to reveal what he was actually doing, so I lied. It was better to be safe than sorry. "He went to run an errand." I thought being vague would be better in the long run because I didn't want to come off as a liar if Tyler told him the truth.

Apparently Arnold didn't care too much about his son's location because he didn't push me for a more substantial answer. "So how did my son get someone as pretty as you?"

I smiled out of politeness because despite the compliment, this guy still scared the living daylights out of me. Tyler wasn't the type to exaggerate about people. "He has a way with words?"

Arnold snorted. "No, really. How?"

I couldn't tell him that we both connected over mommy issues and emotional moments (because that was a bulk of our relationship), and I couldn't tell him it was the physical connection. I had no doubt that he knew what his son was doing behind closed (or open) doors, but I didn't want to get into that subject. Talking about sex with Arnold was not exactly on my bucket list.

I shrugged. "We just get along, I guess."

"You're not much of a talker, are you?"

I blushed and shrugged again. "Sorry."

"I'm not going to bring this thing out again," Arnold said, patting his jean pocket. "You're safe here. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Oh. I wasn't worried about that."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really."

I bit my lip. "Well, maybe. But you didn't exactly make the best first impression."

"You didn't either. I come in and see a girl sitting on my couch. What am I supposed to think? She could be eating all of my porridge or something." I appreciated his Goldilocks and the Three Bears reference.

"You have porridge?"

"Not a drop."

"What about oatmeal?"

"Be honest with me Charlotte. Do I really look like someone who eats oatmeal?"

"No..."

"Well, I do. It's a good way to reduce cholesterol."

I didn't see what Tyler was talking about. Arnold had a good sense of humor and aside from the knife incident earlier, he seemed perfectly harmless. Then again, it was pretty scary that I could've died if I had said the wrong thing.

"Dad?" Tyler said, storming into the room and holding me protectively. "What are you doing home so early?"

"I got out early," he said. "Would you relax, Tyler? I'm not going to hurt her. She already knows that."

"How long have you been here?" He didn't wait for a response and turned to me. "How long has he been here?"

I shrugged, still slightly alarmed about Tyler's panicky entrance. "Maybe ten minutes?"

He grabbed my hand. "C'mon, Charlotte. Let's go."

"It's okay, Tyler," I said. "Your dad's nice."

"He's not," he snarled, tugging me out the door.

"Love you too, son," Arnold shouted out.

Once in Tyler's car, he said, "I'm sorry about all of that. I should've taken you with me."

"I'm fine, Tyler. Your dad was pleasant."

He scoffed. "And I'm still a virgin."

"How's your friend? Is he out?"

He nodded. "He's fine."

"And you? Are you okay?"

"Just glad to know you haven't been completely poisoned by my father."

"I think you should give him another chance."

"Only if you give your mom one." I bit my lip. He took my silence as a victory. "Exactly."

Somehow, someway, Tyler got me to have another meeting with my mother. He suckered me in by telling me that meeting her would make him extremely happy, and I was positive there were kisses involved. The meeting place would be at our house because I didn't want to be in public if I decided to blow up on her. I didn't understand why meeting my poor excuse for a mother was so important to Tyler. It wasn't as if she could ever replace his mother. He wouldn't want her to.

"Charlotte!" she said perkily, opening her arms for a hug. I didn't hug her back, but I didn't push her away either. I could see the hurt in her eyes, but I couldn't be bothered to care. If she couldn't see the hurt in her young child's eyes when she left (or did and just didn't care), then there was no reason my conscience needed to feel guilty. She was getting what was coming to her.

"Rochelle," I said unenthusiastically.

"You look so pretty!" she fawned, her hands still attached to my shoulders. Everything about her was annoying and even our short conversation, if it could even be called that, exhausted me.

"Thanks."

If I were in her position, I'd be pretty frustrated by my one-word answers, but I wasn't, and I had no plan on being the kind of mother she was. Elizabeth and Alec were better parents than she could ever dream to be. "Do you want to go inside?" she asked.

"I think I should be the one to ask that," I said. "It is my house, after all."

"Charlotte, please. Do you have to be so rude?"

I was well aware that I had an attitude towards her, but it wasn't as if I was going to stop. "Fine. Come in."

Dad was playing mediator but was failing miserably. Rochelle made numerous attempts to hug me, but they were avoided by fit of faux coughs. She asked what college I was going to, what I wanted to do as a career, and other boring stuff. There wasn't a high school senior out there who wasn't asked these things, so the answer I riddled off was automatic and thoughtless. She, of course, asked about boys. She knew everything that Dad knew about Tyler, which wasn't much, and I wanted to keep it that way. I couldn't tell Dad anything because I knew his information would go straight to the wicked witch herself. I didn't mind if he told literally anybody else, but I could not handle Rochelle knowing things about me.

When Tyler arrived, I wasn't sure if I was happy or not. I was glad to see him and he offered a distraction for Rochelle, but I also didn't want her questioning him. I also didn't want her to think that she was allowed to be involved in my life now that she had met my boyfriend. I didn't want to give Tyler or Dad hope for that either. After this meeting, I would go back to ignoring her and attempting to cut her out of all aspects of my life. I knew that attempt wouldn't be successful, but I could be as delusional as I wanted to.

"Well, aren't you a looker?" she giggled, shaking Tyler's hand.

My eyes widened. It sounded to me like she was flirting with him, but I did give her the benefit of the doubt (for once). I assumed it was my jealousy getting in the way because I knew she was a terrible mother, but I didn't think she was a cougar.

Tyler looked a little awkward, his eyes shifting to me. He stayed close to me and avoided all physical contact with her. To send a message, I held his hand. I wasn't taking any chances. I could tell that Dad didn't approve of my PDA with him, but this was a point that I needed to prove.

She asked him basic questions that she already knew the answer to. I was hesitant to leave them alone together without my supervision, but my bladder was persistent and making it impossible. After about three minutes of "gotta pee" thoughts, I excused myself and left. As soon as I was out of sight, I raced to the nearest bathroom. I relieved it quickly, half-wiped, did a poor job of washing my hands thoroughly, and ran back to the living room. When I got back, she was in my spot with her hand on his knee. I saw that Dad was getting a little annoyed (was he jealous, too?) and quite frankly, this was the last straw. It was completely inappropriate for her hands to be on him. He was significantly younger than her and was also her daughter's boyfriend. If she wanted to get on my good side, this was not the path to get there.

But then I began to feel insecure. What if Tyler wanted to be with her instead of me? This made my blood boil. I marched over, grabbed Tyler's hand, glared at her, and found refuge on the porch. "What was that about?" I demanded.

"Relax, Summers."

"Why was she flirting with you? Were you flirting back?"

He frowned, his deep eyes staring into mine, eyebrows knitted with concern. "You thought I would flirt back?"

I suddenly felt embarrassed. Tyler wouldn't do that. "I..."

He shook his head, making me feel even worse. "Why would I even want to flirt with her? You're twenty times prettier than her."

I cracked a smile, feeling silly. "Thanks. I get it from my dad."

He laughed. "I guess so. But in all seriousness, why would you think that?"

I shrugged. "I don't know...she's more experienced?"

"She's old, Charlotte," he deadpanned.

"I don't know what you like!"

He brought his thumb to my cheek and stroked it. "I like you, Summers."

"I like you too."

"No more insecure Charlotte, okay?"

I sighed. "No promises, but I'll try."

"Let's go away this weekend," he said. "No funny business is going to happen. Just you and me snuggling in my friend's cabin. It'll be good for us. I'm going to show you how much you mean to me."

I poked his side. "You're getting all mushy on me."

"Hey! I'm still muscular. And if that's what it takes for you to be confident in us, I'll do it."

"Tell me more about this getaway."

"Well, it'll be a time to escape from reality."

"That sounds nice."

"But don't worry, this won't be our last hurrah before senior year is over."

"I can't believe we're going to graduate. It's so unreal..."

"I'm glad to be done."

"Of course you would be. It's probably a living hell hole for you."

"Not entirely. It served as a nice setting for-"

I narrowed my eyes. He didn't finish his sentence, but we both knew what he was going to say something about it being a battlefield to get virginities. I had no idea why it dawned on me in this moment, but I realized that Beckett could've easily been the winner had he said he was into men. He would've gotten to sleep with guys, something unimaginable to the others.

"For what?" I was curious to see if he'd actually finish the sentence.

"For my golden years to be wasted on learning absolutely nothing?"

"Mhm."

"So how are you going to get your dad to agree to come up with me for the weekend? He doesn't exactly trust me."

"I'll just tell him I'll spend the night at Emma's."

Luckily, Dad was distracted (and still infatuated) by Rochelle, so I didn't have to worry about either of them eavesdropping on our conversation.

"It's a date, then," Tyler said, making me wonder how I got the bad boy to be on my side.

Dad was completely oblivious to my secretive, completely exciting weekend plans. I had defied him so much this year, but this was the icing on top of the cake. I was spending the night with my first boyfriend, who hadn't had that title for very long, and no one knew about it. Tyler could take me up there and kill me and no one would have any idea.

We left at nine o'clock in the evening that Friday. Tyler was tied up at work until then and I was too busy wondering what to pack, much less do the actual labor of putting my clothes into a suitcase. I wasn't sure if I should bring my bathing suit (it probably wouldn't get that warm) or what pajamas I should bring. I wanted to wear my comfy ones, but I needed want him to judge the cartoon characters that were plastered on the cotton fabric. "You look nice," Tyler said, loading my bag into the trunk.

"I'm wearing a t-shirt and leggings."

"I'm just trying to compliment you, Summers!"

"Well, cut it out. You're starting to freak me out."

Tyler was a notorious speeder and I despised going fast, especially around corners. He thought speed limits were just suggestions and not the law, which made me want to get behind the wheel. I knew that would never happen because I had no idea where this cabin was, I was a terrible driver, and it was dark. I knew that headlights were there for a reason, but they just didn't give me enough warning. I was too easily distracted and unobservant to be a good nighttime driver.

"I brought a couple of movies for us to watch. The majority of them are chick flicks. I hope you don't mind."

He groaned. "I feel like I'm living a chick flick. If we get desperate, we'll just watch reruns."

"I also brought board games. I hope you like losing."

"We're not staying there for eternity."

"I know. I just don't want to be bored."

"How could you possibly be bored when I'm around? Don't answer that. It's a rhetorical question. Did you bring a pillow and a blanket? Mine might be a little too manly for you."

I lifted a curious eyebrow. "What? Do you have skulls and flames on it?"

"Rainbows and unicorns."

"You should join a fight club."

"My membership request is pending."

I began to feel a little uncomfortable down there, and it wasn't a good thing. My period was due three days ago and still hadn't arrived yet. I was counting on it to be on time that way I could prepare for it before the weekend started. If there was one thing that could go wrong, that would be it. I wasn't planning on doing anything with Tyler (and this definitely prevented it from happening), but I would've liked to not spend my weekend bloody. "Are we almost there?" I asked.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Are you tired? You can sleep in the car. I don't need someone to talk to."

"Just answer the question, Tyler. Are we almost there?"

"We might be ten minutes away. Why?"

There was no way to tell him without completely embarrassing myself. I knew it was a natural part of life for a woman and he would understand, but that still didn't make it awkward to talk about. "I'm on...you see, it's that time..."

He looked confused. "Spit it out, Summers."

I scratched my cheek, something I did when I was nervous. "I'm on my period," I blurted.

He laughed. "That's it? You couldn't tell me that without tripping over your feet?"

"I'm not even standing!"

"It's an expression," he said. "I think."

"Well, I normally don't tell people this, but if you could just hurry up-"

I didn't get the chance to complete my sentence because there were bright lights coming straight at us. The light was blinding and all I could see was white. I saw the faint silhouette of the other driver before everything became a blur.