Charlotte's Tangled Web: L.B. Pavlov (10 page)

“I’m just glad I don’t have to race her until the end of the season. I’ll just have to read all of the horrible things she has to say about me until then,” she giggled.

Our breathing had increased as we approached mile six and picked up the pace.

“You just let her keep talking, and you can keep training,” I said, laughing.

“Daniel? Can I ask you something?” she asked hesitantly.

“Anything,” I said reassuringly.

“You said that you had thought about kissing me many times. Why hadn’t you before now?” she asked.

Reluctantly, I answered, “Because I knew then what I still believe to be true: that I am not good enough for you.” My breathing was more rapid now due to our pace.

“Daniel,” she said firmly, which increased her breathing even more, “how can you say something so crazy? You are the best person that I know,” she declared with anger in her voice.

“Well, to be honest, I don’t think I would ever think anyone was good enough for you. And seeing you with Blane made me realize that I couldn’t stay away from you any longer,” I explained.

“Well, thank goodness,” she giggled.

“We spend so much time together anyway, I wonder what will change now?” I pondered.

“Well, the biggest change is that now I get to kiss you whenever I want,” she replied proudly, and she turned the corner and started to charge off down the last stretch toward our homes.

I challenged her, and we raced all the way home. We were both laughing and breathing heavy as we tried to walk a little ways to the driveway. We talked about what we were going to do for the rest of the day. I intertwined my hands in hers, and I felt a rush go through my entire body. Just the touch of her hand had a powerful effect on me. I could tell by the way she looked at me that she felt it too.

The weekend went by quickly. Daniel and I met some friends at the movies Saturday night. We went with Kathleen and her boyfriend Edward, Sean and his girlfriend Morgan, and Gomez. Everyone seemed to notice something different between Daniel and I, but nobody put us on the spot.

Kathleen pulled me to the side at one point and asked what in the world was wrong with Blane. She told me that he was definitely not the right person for me, but by the looks of it, she said, it seemed I had things figured out. She gave me a sweet smile, and we walked into the movie theater.

Sitting next to Daniel proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated. I did not appreciate public displays of affection; I always found it offensive when people made out in public places. I realized that was easy to say when I was sitting alone, but sitting next to Daniel in the dark while he held my hand and rubbed my arm, I desperately wanted to kiss him. I was not about to do that with my friends sitting right there next to us, but I definitely needed to exercise some self-control.

Sunday was another wonderful day. Daniel wanted to read
Charlotte’s Web
to me out back in my hammock. He ran up to my room and grabbed my book. My backyard was one of my favorite places to hang out. It was large and lush and filled with beautiful trees, plants, and flowers. Our house backed up to a stream, and my dad had hung a hammock between two trees that stood right above the stream. Daniel and I climbed in the hammock. You could hear the rushing water, gurgling against the rocks and splashing around. It was the most peaceful place in the world. Daniel placed his arm behind my head for me to rest on.

He gave the book a puzzled look. “I can’t find the page that we left off on,” he said, softly.

“Didn’t I put the bookmark in it?” I asked and took the book to shake it in search of our page. A little bookmark dropped out of the book. I picked it up to place it back in the correct page, and I noticed that someone had written on it. It contained five simple words:
I love you, Charlotte Ford.

I stared at the paper for a minute, and then I rolled my body in toward Daniel and propped myself up on his chest to look at him. “Hmmmmm…did you happen to write this?” I teased, smiling.

“I love you, Charlotte. I should have told you that before I kissed you,” he said softly.

“I love you too. I always have, and I always will,” I said as I stared into his eyes.

Our lips came together once again. His hands were caressing my head as he pulled me closer. I felt like we were in a cocoon as I pressed against him in the hammock. My hands began to explore, moving from his hair, down his face, and across the strong muscles on his back and his arms. I didn’t realize how badly I yearned to touch him until now. We spent most of the afternoon out in the hammock, alternating between kissing and reading
Charlotte’s Web
. I loved the way Daniel read to me. He understood what this book meant to me, and this was something that we had always shared.

Sunday night Grace invited my dad, Lenora, and I over for dinner. It was nice to have my dad join us because his dinners with the family were few and far between. We talked about the football game, the upcoming cross-country meet, Dad’s work, Lenora’s famous brownies that she had baked, and Grace and Tom’s weekend at Notre Dame. We talked and laughed for hours. After dinner, we cleaned up the kitchen, and Daniel took me outside to sit on the porch swing.

He pulled me on his lap and hugged me tightly. “You know Grace is beside herself over this, right?” he said, laughing.

“What? Does she know? She hasn’t said anything,” I said nervously.

“She noticed me acting differently when I got home Friday night, and then she saw us Saturday after our run. I told her she can’t make a big deal out of this and embarrass you,” he said firmly as he tucked my hair behind my ear.

“I wonder what my dad will say? My brothers…” I trailed off.

“Everyone will be happy, but they’ll wonder what in the world you’re doing with me,” he said, laughing.

Daniel walked me home and came inside to say good-night to Lenora. We walked into the kitchen, and she was staring at us strangely, smiling and giggling, and then she threw her arms around us both and warmly said, “I always knew this would happen. I’m so happy!”

Obviously the cat was out of the bag.

The week flew by just as quickly as the weekend. Daniel and I both were very busy with homework and practice, which left no time for kissing in the hammock, but were able to have dinner together every night. No one at school made too big of a deal out of our new relationship because things hadn’t changed that much publicly. Aside from holding hands under the lunch table, Daniel knew how I felt about kissing in public, especially at school, so we were still together in the way we had always been.

Blane would try to catch my eye and smile, but I tried to avoid him at all cost. He still continued to text me daily, which I didn’t understand since he and Crystal appeared to be dating, and clearly he had heard about Daniel and I.

Friday arrived, and I had just finished up practice and was walking to the truck to meet Daniel when I saw him standing by his truck waiting for me. He was literally glistening in the sun. His shirt was wet with sweat and sticking to his strong body. His muscles were more pronounced than ever. His skin was tanned and sparkly. The bottom half of his tattoo peeked out from under the sleeve of his T-shirt. His hair was wavier than usual, probably because it was drenched in sweat. His cheeks were flushed pink, and his lips…I just couldn’t help but stare at them. He had never looked sexier. As I walked toward him, all I could think about was
how could this possibly be my boyfriend?
When I reached him, he grabbed me and swung me around. I felt a shiver run through my body. He hugged me tightly and set me down. I was breathless. His smoldering green eyes were burning through me.

“How was practice, beautiful?” he asked sweetly.

My heart was racing, and I chirped out “good” in a breathless voice.

He laughed, opened my door, and lifted me into the truck, placing me on the seat like a porcelain doll. Reaching over me, he buckled my seat belt. Just his arm brushing across my body caused me to shiver. He jumped in the driver’s side and started up the truck. We were on our way home.

“Are you ready for the race tomorrow?” he asked, smiling at me.

“Daniel, please pull over right now,” I said urgently.

“What? Are you OK?” he asked nervously as he immediately pulled over and put the truck in park. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” he continued with concern in his voice.

Without warning, I sprang into his lap, imbedded both of my hands in his tangled hair, and pulled his lips to mine. I was madly and deeply in love with him, and I needed to feel his lips against mine right then. We were panting, and his hands were adventuring as well. They traveled down my hair, to my ears, to the back of my neck, and down my back, rubbing and caressing me. Our tongues became one once again, as they twisted and turned to be closer.

He gently pulled me back; he was breathless now too. “What was that for?” he asked with a flirtatious smile.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t wait any longer. I couldn’t sit here next to you for one more minute,” I said shamelessly.

“Never say sorry for wanting to kiss me, Charlotte. It’s the best gift you can give me. I could never kiss you enough. I just don’t want to push things too much for you. Your virtue is as important to me as it is to you.” He chuckled, and continued, “I am practicing self-control every minute that I’m with you,” he said, and I blushed. He quickly kissed me again and said, “Now let’s get you home and load you up with pasta.”

As we ate dinner, he inquired about what teams I would be racing tomorrow and what time we needed to be there. I told him there were a bunch of girls that were really good that I would be racing, but our team definitely had a chance to get first if everyone ran a good race. Daniel knew most of the cross-country courses because he had been going to my races for years. He told me where he would stand on the course to cheer me on.

“Now, Charlotte, I want you to stay focused. Don’t tackle me and try to kiss me when you pass me on the course,” he said, teasing.

Daniel knew how I was during races. I took it seriously, and I always remained focused until the race was over. He loved to razz me about it.

“When do your brothers get home?” I could hear the excitement in his voice.

“They said they would be here around nine or ten tonight,” I said happily.

I would be going with my team to the race, and Daniel, Jack, Eric, James, Lenora, Grace, Tom, and my dad would all come together. I always had a great support system with my two families cheering me on.

“OK, sweet Charlotte. You need to get to bed early,” he declared, and he pulled me into his arms and carried me up the stairs.

I could feel my heart racing with contentment. He set me down on my bed, and he kissed me on the top of my head. “I love you. I’ll see you in the morning,” he said and smiled at me.

“I love you too. Good-night,” I replied.

The next morning, I rode the bus with our team. Everyone was excited. I sat with Steph and Kathleen as we drove to the host school. There were going to be thirteen schools at this invitational, so there would be a couple hundred runners in the boys and girls race. These always made me more nervous. You had to get out quickly so you didn’t get tripped, elbowed, boxed in, or caught behind a group that you couldn’t get around.

Cross-country was not on a track; it was an off-road race with turns and hills and unexpected holes in the ground. You always need to pay attention to the course and to the other runners. I liked to take my time on the warm-up to relax my mind and visualize my plan. This was a time when most people were talking and laughing and getting excited.

My teammates were used to me being quiet before races, so no one questioned me while we went through our pre-race ritual: warm-up, stretch, stride outs, and head to the line. Coach Miroballi always gave me a game plan to follow, and I fully trusted him and did what he told me.

I never talked to Daniel and my family before a race, but Daniel always met me at the finish line with a water or Gatorade. My brothers liked to spread out all over the course and, although I couldn’t laugh about it during the race, I always teased them afterward about the cheering and screaming.

I was on the line. Each team lined up in their team box. There were around three hundred girls in the race. My heart was pounding, but I was ready. When you train hard, you want to perform.

Mr. St. John, the head of the NIAA cross-country program for our region, was on the loudspeaker and held the starting gun. “Ladies, don’t jump the gun, and let’s make it a clean race,” he said. “Take your mark, set…”
Bang!
And we were off and running.

As soon as the gun went off, calm descended over me. I comforted myself by imagining it was my mom watching over me. I hoped that were true. The first half-mile of a 3.1-mile race is always clustered with a mixture of experienced runners and young runners who are fueled by adrenaline and burn out very quickly. I was out in the front and followed by a pack of about fifteen runners, while the rest of the pack filed in behind us.

As I made the first turn at the half-mile mark, I felt the pack drop down to maybe five or six girls who were sticking with me, but by the time I hit the mile mark, I was alone. Now it would be me racing the clock, pushing myself to get the time that I had trained to run. Along the way, I heard Coach Miroballi telling me that I was on pace, and when he told me to surge, I listened. He knew my capabilities better than I did most of the time. I heard Daniel, my family, Lenora, Tom, and Grace shout encouraging words as I ran by.