Progress (The Progress Series) (10 page)

“Wow. Slow down. You’ll hurt yourself,” said Charlie.

Joining Charlie in a fit of laughter, Karalee squeaked, “I think I’m gonna pee my pants!” She hopped up and giggled her way to the cabin.

“Laugh it up.” Angie rolled her eyes.

Charlie and Angie sat back enjoying the partitioned view of the lake and the moon hovering above them. Angie grabbed the box of graham crack
ers and started munching. Remembering her diet, Charlie chose to stick with her margarita.

“Whew. So what’s this especially fantastic idea of yours?” Karal said, returning to the fire.

“Oh! Yeah, that’s what I was talking about! We should…go skinny dipping!”

“Oh my god, no. Seriously, all the fish in Lake Mille Lacs will float to the surface after seeing my naked body.” Charlie had fun laughing at her own expense.

Karal and Angie rolled their eyes. In unison they both replied, “Whatever!”

“Seriously Charlie, what have you lost now…like a hundred pounds? You are seriously hot now. Like,
skinny
even.”

No one has ever used that word to describe me. Liars. I still have a lot left to lose.

“No. Not quite a hundred yet,” Charlie said quietly. “But that’s the goal.”

“Well, if I were into chicks, I’d totally get in your pants right now,” said Karal.

“Ha! Don’t tempt me! At this point I’d probably take you up on it!” She laughed.

“What about Jesse? Haven’t convinced him to take you yet?” Angie asked.

Charlie glared.

“Whoa! Wait a minute. Jesse? Not Jesse Anders? Oh Charlie, no. Not Jesse Anders,” Karalee said.

“No. We’re not discussing him any further. This weekend is away from all that shit. Let’s just drink and…be merry.” Charlie forced a smile to her face.

“Seriously, is something going on between you two?” Karal asked.

Charlie wanted to respond, but Angie beat her to it.

“Oh, please Karal! Haven’t you seen the way they are together? Haven’t you heard the rumors? It’s totally obvious that he’s
in love
with her. He’s like this infection she can’t get rid of. He’s always there, probing, digging in deeper, taking over, wanting more,” Angie went off on a tangent.

Charlie’s eyes expanded and she forgot to breathe.
Love.

She began to shake and quickly lit a cigarette so that her friends couldn’t read her thoughts.

No longer hearing anything they were discussing, Charlie picked up a stick and started to fumble with the orange embers in the fire pit.
Could he really love me? No, surely not. This obsession of mine is certainly one-sided. And, even though I have lost some weight, I still wouldn’t be enough to get a guy like him. He’s perfect. Gorgeous. I wouldn’t even know what to do with a man like him if I had him. And he certainly wouldn’t have any patience with a freak like me. I’d probably start to shake if he tried to touch me. I’m a waste of a human being. A huge, worthless, disgusting human being.

But love? What can Angie see that I can’t? I don’t even know if he
likes
me. He sleeps with everyone, except me. He can’t be attracted to me. Surely you have to be attracted to someone before you fall in love with them.

“Earth.To.Charlie,” Karal said.

“Huh?” Charlie turned toward the words as she was yanked from her thoughts.

“Seriously, just tell me you’ll be careful with all that. He’s been known to break a heart or two around that place.”

“Why is everyone warning me about him?
I’m
the one who knows him! Everyone assumes he’s going to break my heart. He’ll never fuck me, can’t you see that? He only has sex with short, skinny brunettes. I’m a tall, fat, ugly redhead! Breaking my heart isn’t even possible.” After taking her stick and snapping it into the fire, she stood up and walked into the cabin.

Still reeling, she hopped into the shower and attempted to sober up before bed.  After donning fresh pajamas, she walked through the living room on her way to the stairs with a towel wrapped around her head.

Both Angie and Karal were curled up in their pajamas and in front of the TV. Angie was asleep, but Karal saw Charlie trying to creep by and shouted, “Oh no! You’re not getting off that easily! Get your ass over here!”

“I’m really tired. I’m sorry I snapped at you. Everything with him is, just so…unfavorable. And I’m so sick of being the girl that they’re all ‘friends’ with.” Charlie wanted to continue, but her head was starting to ache and her mouth was dry. “I promise I’ll explain it all in the morning, but I really just want to go to bed.”

“That’s fine. We’ll chat more in the a.m.,” Karal said. “Besides, Angie is passed out and I know she wanted to be a part of this conversation, too. We just love you and want to make sure you don’t really think you’re fat. Seriously Charlie. You’re really thin. I wouldn’t say that you’d need to lose another pound. You look…you look so pretty,” Karal said with an authentic smile.

“It’s amazing what a girdle can do.” Charlie shook her head. “I can’t blame anyone but myself. Never mind. Jesse is just someone who will never be interested in me like that. Even if he was, I’d never let him see me naked.”

Karalee shook her head. “Looks aren’t everything, Charlie.”

Ouch. That didn’t help.

“Good night.” Charlie displayed a wry face as she walked upstairs to her tiny twin bed.

*

The next morning, Charlie woke with a headache. She went straight to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. Lifting her head over the door at the sound of moaning, she saw Angie rising from the couch, bent over and running to the bathroom.

Wow. I thought I had it bad.
Charlie grinned. She walked outside to the smoking fire pit and sat down on the tree stump to have a cigarette.

The lake was calm. She hadn’t noticed it the day before, but Karal’s family cabin had five hundred feet of beach camouflaged behind the line of trees. She tried to peek between two birch trees to get a better look, but decided to just walk out to the dock.

There were both a large covered pontoon and small silver fishing boat floating atop the water. For years the beach had been untouched; thousands of small shells had washed ashore, and all she could see along the shore was a long strip of perfectly bronzed sand.  The lake was higher than usual and half of the beach was underwater. But it didn’t matter, because as far as she could see, there couldn’t be more than three feet of water atop a mile-long sandbar.
Heaven.
She breathed in and out, and closed her eyes in order for the morning sun to beat lightly on her face. The soft breeze made her feel like she was on a tropical island. Glancing into the water, she saw several schools of minnows darting through the ripples.

“You’re not gonna jump in, are you?” Karal smirked behind her.

“Thinkin’ about it!” Charlie beamed. “It’s so beautiful here. How do you ever leave?”

“Have you seen winters up here? Half this town is only populated in the summer and fall.”

“I’m sure winters have their place in all this, too. I can imagine how beautiful the fresh snow looks in February.” Charlie sat and lit another cigarette.

“You sure smoke a lot,” Karal sighed, changing the subject.

“How do you think I lost fifty pounds?” Charlie lifted an eyebrow and giggled. “I know, I know. I’ll quit when I get pregnant.”

“Pregnant?”

“I’m sure it will happen someday.”

Karal smiled.

“Look, I’m not going to press you about Jesse. But I’m here if you want to talk about it. I won’t judge you. I promise.” Karal put her arm around Charlie and rested her head on her shoulder.

Charlie smiled and tilted her head toward Karal’s. They enjoyed the sunrise in silence.

*

The afternoon had been spent napping in the sun, sipping margaritas, and dangling their feet off the dock.  It was dark now, after nine o’clock. The beer continued to flow, the s’mores continued to flame, and the three of them chatted the night away as the crickets and small animals were buzzing with life. Charlie kept staring at a large spiderweb that was catching the moonlight in a way that made the gathering dew sparkle. She couldn’t stop from gazing at it every so often.

“Truth or Dare!” Angie yelled.

“Oh, man.” Charlie rolled her eyes.

I keep forgetting how young Angie is.

“I haven’t played that in years! Okay. I’ll go first! Truth!” Karal said.

“Truth. If you could go back in time and eliminate one lover, who would it be and why?” Angie asked.

“Oh, easy. Jared. He was horrible at everything! I totally felt like it was a chore every time we fooled around. Horrifying.” Karal shuddered.

Angie and Charlie started laughing.

“Okay, Charl
ie, truth or dare?”

“Ugh. Dare?
” Charlie flinched at her own response.

Angie snickered and lifted her eyebrow. “Take all of your clothes off and jump in the water.”

Is she serious? Oh my. She
is
serious.

Charlie bit her bottom lip and glared at Angie for about thirty seconds.

“Dude,
you
totally chose dare,” Angie said.

“Fine.”  Charlie stood up and looked at the fire as she started taking off her shirt. As she slipped off her tee, it exposed her white satin bra. Walking toward the beach, she stopped half
way there to take off her jeans and stripping her lacy thong along with them.

“You go girl!” Angie shouted behind her.

Charlie kept in stride but lifted her middle finger to the moon so that Angie could read it. Putting one foot into the lake, she heard Karal and Angie giggle.

She unhooked her bra and threw it on the beach just as she lowered herself into the water. She was almost on her belly it was so shallow, but she didn’t want to remain nude in the moonlight, so
she got as deep as she could and sat in two and a half feet of Lake Mille Lacs.

The stars are so beautiful tonight. I think I can see every single one of them.

I’m drunk.

In a lake.

Naked.

Smart. Really smart. Get your ass back to the fire.

As Charlie walked back, she gathered up her bra, jeans, panties, and T-shirt and thought it was peculiar she couldn’t hear the girls talking anymore. Karal handed her a towel when she got near the fire and Charlie noticed Angie’s absence.

“Where’s Ang?” Charlie asked.

“She had to pee.”

“Ah.”

“How’s the water?”

“Surprisingly warm,” Charlie said.

“Oooo. I might have to go for a swim!”

Charlie was slipping on her bra when she heard Angie’s footsteps. “Um, Charlie! Oh, Charlie!”

Charlie turned to Angie’s voice, but couldn’t see her yet. The glare from the fire was too harsh and Angie was still back towards the cabin.

“You better be naked or in your swimsuit, ‘cause I’m dragging your ass to the lake and throwing you in!” Charlie said, letting out a chuc
kle and trying to slip on her jeans as quickly as she could.

“Put your shirt on Charlie, you’ve got company,” Angie said.

Charlie struggled to pull her shirt around her neck and giggled. “Did you pick up the pizza delivery guy? ‘Cause I’m feeling a little vagarious!” Charlie laughed at the word she chose.

“You could say that.” Angie was gaining ground and Charlie could just make out her silhouette. After pulling her arms through the sleeves, she rolled her shirt on over her damp torso.

“Oh yeah?” Charlie began combing her hair with her fingers.

“Yeah.” Angie’s voice sounded hoarse.

Charlie squinted to see a face, shaded behind Angie. Approaching the fire, the two faces became clearer.

“Ladies, Jesse Anders has joined the party,
” Angie grumbled.

“How…How did you find me?” Charlie was confounded.

“It was easy,” Jesse said, shamefaced.

Charlie had no idea what to do. What to think.
Why?
She was suddenly overwrought with anger. This weekend was supposed to be spent far from home. Away from work. Away from
him
.

“You just don’t know when to quit, do you?” Charlie scowled. “Follow me…now!”

Jesse said nothing, just nodded a hello to Karal and followed Charlie through the lawn, into the cabin. She went straight to the fridge and got herself a beer.

His lip was swollen and had a black crust dried to it. His rig
ht eyebrow was covered in steri-strips holding a gash together along with four stitches. There was also a large hole where his labret had been in his chin, appearing like it may have been ripped out.

She stood with the fridge door open, staring at him. He was still looking at the floor.

“Why?” she demanded.