party.
Picking my phone up, I reply to Mystery Guy.
Charity: You might be right. Maybe how I feel about him has something to do with how I’m treating him. I have a lot of baggage that I don’t discuss with anyone.
It’s as though he’s sitting on his phone, because his reply is quick.
Mystery Guy: Tell me three things about you that no one knows.
Damn. What kind of question is that?
Charity: That’s a hard question. How about you go first?
Mystery Guy: 1. I’m jealous of my brother because he got away from the pushiness of our father. 2. I’m still harboring feelings for someone 3. I think she hates me. 4. My father rules my life, and everyone thinks it’s great he shows an interest.
Charity: Wow. How do I top that? Okay, here goes nothing. 1. My father emotionally abused me. 2. I didn’t even realize it was my birthday next Friday because my father never let me celebrate or acknowledge it. 3. I’m currently drinking alcohol for the second time in my life. And because you did four, so will I. 4. I understand the whole harboring feelings thing. I have a similar thing going on.
After hitting send, my heart doubles in beats per second. I literally told a stranger about my father. My mother doesn’t even know; she has her suspicions, I’m sure, but nothing confirmed. My phone remains silent.
“Who are you talking with?” Elsie asks.
“Some guy Paislee is trying to set me up on a date with,” I reply.
Elsie’s head whips to Paislee. “Who is it? Do I know him?”
She shakes her head. “Nope, my lips are sealed. They’ll find out when they go on their first date.” She waggles her eyebrows before taking another sip of her drink.
“Personally, I don’t want to know. I like not knowing,” I say.
Paislee gives me a skeptical eye. “You really don’t want to know who he is?”
I shake my head. “Nope. Not right now. When the time is right, all will be revealed.” I laugh.
“Okay, so long as you’re sure,” she says.
“I am.” I grab a different container of food and take a mouthful, followed by the rest of my drink.
“You should message your mom and let her know you’ll stay here tonight,” Paislee suggests.
“Oh yeah, I completely forgot. But I can walk home. It’s not far away.”
“You’re not walking on your own,” Addison snaps. “We can get someone to walk you back if you want to go home.”
“Okay, I’ll crash here. I’ll send a quick message to Mom and let her know where I am.”
Charity: Hey Mom, I’m going to stay with some friends tonight. Also, I realized it’s my birthday this coming weekend, and Paislee and I are going to have a party on Saturday night. Is that okay with you? We can still do something on Friday night if you want. If you don’t want to, that’s fine as well.
Nerves wrack my body. I kinda feel like I shouldn’t expect anything. As if I’m not worth it.
Mom’s reply seems to settle some of the unease knotting in my stomach.
Mom: Thanks for letting me know. As for your birthday, we can do something on Friday. Hopefully we can get your bedroom finished tomorrow so we can have everything set up and ready for when your bed and stuff arrives.
Charity: Thanks, Mom. I’ll be home in the morning so we can work on my room. Thanks for everything.
Mom: Not a problem, sweetie. Have a good night.
The silence from Mystery Man is taking its toll. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.
Charity: Sorry if I said something wrong. This is why I keep things to myself. I don’t want to scare people away from me.
Three sharp knocks at the door pull my attention from the message I just sent.
“It must be the boys. We should have told them to not bother,” Addison says as she stands from the couch and opens it. There stand all their boyfriends and an extra. Jase.
He’s always got to show up. No matter where I go, he’s there. I don’t see this ending well. We’ve already had one argument tonight; perhaps we’ll go for round two. We’re like fire and ice at the moment. We aren’t two peas in a pod—hell no. Yet, here he is, all swoonworthy-like and looking as hot as sin. Why does he have to look so tempting?
“Where’s the party at, ladies?” Aiden’s thick Australian accent carries through the door. “Look who we found downstairs. He looked like a lost puppy, so we put