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Chapter Four
Grayson
I drive home feeling more alive than I have in a while. Chasing that girl was more fun than I’ve had in the last, well, I don’t know how long. Sure, I’m a little upset that she got away. My hand absently rubs over my heart and I wonder at the twinge I feel there.
I think about how it felt to have her wrapped in my arms, squirming against my body. It had been a while since I was interested in a girl but as soon as I saw her, I was hooked. As soon as I felt her against me, my body woke up.
I had never met a girl like her before. Usually girls are climbing over each other to get to me but Charlee couldn’t seem to get away from me fast enough. I’ve also never had a girl give me a fake name before and I smile as I remember her lying and saying her name was Sarah. She was so adorable. She’s also obviously clever. I want to smack myself for falling for that stunt she had pulled before she bolted again.
She’s younger than me but probably only by a couple of years. It was hard to make out most of her features since she kept to the shadows but from what I could see, she was beautiful. She had brown hair that floated around her head like a halo. It had tickled my nose when I was holding her against me and I remember how it smelled like strawberries. Her eyes were dark but I couldn’t make out their exact color. She had a round face with a nose that had probably been broken a time or two. I hate thinking about her being hurt and I wonder how long she’s been homeless.
My stomach starts to cramp as I picture her walking the streets right now, alone and scared. I want to snort at that. I doubt my girl has ever been scared a day in her life. She had seemed so tough. Regardless of that, I spend the next four hours driving around the closest neighborhoods, looking for my brunette baby.
I never find her and I eventually give up and head home. I pull into my garage and head up to my bedroom, emptying my pockets as I strip off my clothes. I pull out my keys and cellphone but when I reach into my back pocket, I come up empty.
I backtrack to my car and search the floors and under the seats but I can’t find it. I stand up and wonder if it fell out at the house. Then it hits me. She pick pocketed me. I smile at that and before I know it, I’m full on laughing. Was it just this afternoon that I was saying my life was boring?
I head up to my room and get ready for bed. I’ll just have to track her down and get it back from her. I fall asleep that night to visions of Charlee above me, smiling down at me as I run my fingers through her hair.
I spend my morning at the construction site, going over what the construction crew has gotten done. I can’t seem to get Charlee out of my head and I keep finding myself looking around for her, like she would still be here. The house is coming along great and we should be done two weeks ahead of schedule if it keeps up this way. I finish up and then as I turn to leave a thought hits me. I turn back to the foreman, Tim.
“Hey, do you know of any other abandoned houses in this area? Or any that are under construction?”
He gives me a puzzled look but luckily answers me.
“Yeah, there’s a couple under construction down on Maple. Their building that new neighborhood on Caroline too. Lots of houses under construction there too.”
I file this information away and thank Tim before I head back to my car. I have just enough time to make it back to town to meet my mom for our lunch and I pull in right on time. I hustle inside and see my mom is already sitting at a table. I walk over to her and kiss her cheek, giving her a side hug before I take the seat across from her.
“Hey mom.”
She smiles at me and slides a menu over to me.
“How was your morning, honey?” She asks after we’ve put in our orders.
“It was good. The new house is coming along great. Should be done in the next couple of months.”
“That’s great, Grayson!” She exclaims.
I smile at her. My mom is the best. She’s always been so supportive of anything that I wanted to do and I know that I’m lucky to have her as my mom. My mind flashes back to Charlee and I wonder if my mom would like her. Probably, my mom is a tough lady too.
“What are you smiling about?” She asks and I look over at her to realize that I was smiling as I stared into space.
“I met someone.”
I swear my mom almost spits her water out before she starts bombarding me with questions.
“When? Where? What’s her name? What does she do? When can I meet her?”
I laugh as I try to slow her down.
“Easy, mom! I just met her last night. She was at the new house. Her name is Charlee and that’s all that I know about her. We only talked for a minute. Oh, and she stole my wallet.”
Our food is delivered then and my mom still hasn’t recovered. She stares at me wide eyed and I grin back at her until she recovers.
“Huh. Well, I guess I can’t complain about you not having any excitement in your life anymore.”
We eat lunch and spend the whole time talking about Charlee and how I’m going to find her. I tell her about how I think she might be staying at another abandoned house or a house that’s under construction. My mom’s eyes soften at that and I promise that once I find her, I’ll introduce the two of them.
We finish lunch and my mom pays. I’ll have to find Charlee soon or order new credit cards. I walk my mom out to her car and hug her goodbye before I help her inside. I wave one last time before I make my way back to my car.
I head home and try to work for a couple more hours but I’m too worried about Charlee. Finally, when it starts to get dark, I head out. I drive over to the houses that Tim told me about and look for her sleeping bag. I try the new neighborhood and the house on Maple but can’t find her anywhere.
I try a few more places but finally, at midnight I give up. There’s been no sign of her and I wonder if I’ll need to spread out further from my house. I fall back into bed and once again, I dream of my Charlee.
