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It was almost 5 minutes until school started when Celia arrived. Celia was usually early so this was a surprise to Karter. Her face was flushed and damp and Celia’s hands were trembling. Her shoulder-length auburn hair was still put up, but messy and unbrushed, something that almost never happened. “Are you okay?” Karter asked
“Nobody cares, so I’m fine” she replied, barely audible.
“Alright Celia, what happened?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She said holding back tears.
“It does to me,” Karter said seriously.
The bells rang and all of the students began running inside the building, leaving Karter and Celia alone. It took a few moments before she finally replied. “Fine,” Celia said, taking a breath, “Emily told me that she doesn’t want to hang out with me anymore, and everybody says that losing friends is normal but that doesn’t make it hurt less. Especially since Emily is one of my only friends.”
Celia wasn’t even trying to keep it together anymore. Tears began falling from her eyes. He won’t careeither, Celia thought as she took a step back, but to her surprise Karter took her in a warm embrace and whispered, “It’ll be okay, I won’t ever leave you.”
Celia closed her eyes and felt the wholeness of Karter’s gesture. “Me neither,” Celia whispered back.
She didn’t want to ever leave Karter’s embrace, but if she took any longer they would be marked as tardy. Karter realized this and let go. Luckily, today was a Friday so they wouldn’t have much work to do. “See you at lunch!” He called as they ran into the building. Karter felt his cheeks flush as he took in what had happened. He had actually hugged Celia, not daydreamed about it or thought about it, done it for real. Karter had been crushing on Celia for a few weeks now but was unsure on how to tell her. As Celia entered her first class she felt unsure of herself. Was Karter really being sincere, or was he just saying that to make her feel better? She walked into the classroom just as the tardy bell rang. “Ah, there you are Celia.” Mr. Laurier said as he took attendance.
Celia sat down at her desk and pulled out her notebook, but not to take notes. No, instead she was writing down a list of questions for Karter at lunch. It was right in the middle of one of Mr. Laurier’s lectures when she got caught. “Anything you’d like yo share with the class Celia?” he asked with an icy edge in his voice,
“No sir,” she squeaked,
“Good, now hand over that notebook,” Mr. Laurier stated sternly, “you can have it back at the end of the day.”
Celia did as told feeling her face flush. A few nosy students peered at the notebook, obviously expecting a drawing of Celia’s crush. They were disappointed that it was merely a list of questions. Finally fith period rolled around and it was time for lunch. Karter sat down at one of the few empty tables and waited for Celia. When Celia walked into the cafeteria Karter noticed something odd. Celia didn’t have her lunchbox or money. “Where’s your lunchbox Celia?” he asked with concern,
“I forgot it at home.” she stated glumly, “but don’t worry, it’ll be fine. I’ll just eat a big dinner.”
Celia wasn’t about to ask Karter for his lunch, after all, she didn’t want to impose and besides, Karter would want his food. “No way,” Karter said, handing Celia his sandwich, “have some of mine.”
“No, I couldn’t,” Celia says trying to hand the sandwich back.
“No really, I insist.” he says.
Celia reluctantly eats the sandwich in small bites. “Can I ask you a question Karter?” Celia asks,
“Sure,” Karter answers,
“What made you decide to hug me instead of just saying somthing nice?”
There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before Karter even managed to open his mouth. “Well, I thought that it would help you more if I hugged you than if I just said “you’ll be okay” or something like that.” Karter replied honestly.
The rest of lunch continued in silence at their table while they ate. Karter began to notice little things about Celia that he hadn’t noticed before, like the way she twirled her pencil when she was nervous, or the way her auburn hair curled slightly at the edges.
Celia wondered, how do I feel about Karter? We are friends yes but could we ever be something more? Celia smiled at the thought.
Karter and Celia had known each other since they were five, they practically knew everything about each other. “Karter,” Celia said disturbing the silence, “thank you,”
“For what?” Karter asked, now confused,
“For hugging me,” She said bluntly, “and sharing your lunch, and just being there,”
“Your welcome?” He says still confused.
After school that day Karter walked Celia home, and not just because they were neighbors. “Hey,” Karter said getting Celia’s attention, “do you want to go camping tomorrow?”
Celia thought for a moment, “Sure,”
“Great!” Karter said, beaming. It wasn’t exactly a date, but it would still probably cheer up Celia.
It was the next Saturday morning, and Karter was heading to Celia’s house to pick her up for the camping trip, “Hello, is anyone home?” Karter asked as he knocked on the door.
Celia’s mom answered it, “Oh, hi Karter!” She said with a hint of surprise, “Celia someone’s here to get you!!”
“Coming!” A voice that sounded like Celia called back.
“Where were you guys headed again?” Celia’s mom asked Karter, “oh you can come in in,” she added noticing that Karter was still on the porch.
“We’re going camping at lake Irom,” he replied coming in. Karter had been in Celia’s house before when they were younger. He took a seat on one of their big couches. Celia’s mom went into the kitchen to make breakfast for Celia’s younger siblings Lizzie and Eddie. Karter saw Celia walk into the living room wearing just a simple t-shirt and shorts. Her hair was still down, which meant she had probably just woken up. “Morning Karter,” she said, yawning, “Sorry for making you wait, my hair is a mess”
“It’s okay Celia, and for the record your hair is really pretty when it’s down.”
“Really?“ Celia said blushing.
“Yeah.” He said smiling.
Celia crouched down and picked up a big duffel bag.
“Ready to go?” Karter asked,
“Yep.”
They walked outside to Celia’s driveway and closed the front door behind them. “Hop on in,” Karter said opening the passenger side door of a car Celia didn’t recognize,
“You got a car?!” Celia asked her eyes wide with shock,
“I wish,” he started, “this is Riley’s car.”
Celia stepped into the car, still feeling a bit tired. The car was a pickup truck, painted a vibrant shade of blue. Karter climbed into his seat and fastened his seatbelt seeing that Celia had as well. He noticed that Celia’s hair was still down. “You still haven’t put your hair up.” Karter observed,
“I haven’t?” Celia said sleepily, reaching into her pocket to grab a hair tie “It looks like I forgot my hair ties,” Celia said, now resting her head on the window of the car. Today was very sunny and warm so Karter had put the camping supplies in the back of the truck. They had been in the car for 15 minutes now. Karter could hear Celia quietly snoring as he pulled the car into the parking lot of the park they were going to. It had a very picturesque landscape with a variety of trees and a small lake by a group of pine trees.