Page 34 of My Fake Date With My Childhood Friend
I shrugged. “Not much. Just school and hanging out with Alexander.”
Charlie nodded and put a plate down in front of me. He'd used strawberry jam and whip cream to draw Santa on each pancake like he used to do for me when I was a kid. I smiled gratefully at him.
“I know you haven't been in the Christmas spirit much lately,” he said. “But I can't just make normal pancakes in December.”
“Actually...” I said. I thought back to my weekend with Alexander and all the Christmas-y fun we'd had. I'd barely even thought of Joseph or Nikki the whole time. Maybe there was a Christmas without them. “I think I actually am getting into the spirit again. Better late than never, right?”
Charlie smiled widely at me, then sat down with his own plate. We both dug in. The pancake was fluffy and rich, perfectly cooked on both sides. Charlie was the best cook in the family other than my mom, so it shouldn't have been surprising.
“I'm sorry about last week,” Charlie said. “For suggesting you're not over Joseph and all that.”
“It wasn't so much a suggestion as you are implicitly saying it,” I said.
“Yeah...” He cleared his throat. “I guess sometimes I still see you as my baby sister, and I feel like I need to step in and protect you. It's hard to remember that when I'm away, you keep growing up.”
“You haven't been gone for that long,” I said softly.
“No,” he said, “but somehow, you've grown up a lot since I left.”
I guess being cheated on will do that to a person.
“The point is,” he continued, “If you really believe you've got a handle on this, I believe you. I hope you know I'm here whenever you need me.”
“Thank you,” I said after a beat of silence. “And I'm sorry for reacting so badly. Sometimes, it just feels like everyone is expecting me to be heartbroken over Joseph forever when all I want to do is forget him.”
“A little piece of advice?” He said. I looked at him. “You're never going to forget him. He was your first love and your first heartbreak, and the pain of that is never going to go away completely. And you'll never let yourself fall head over heels like that again because you know how much it hurts.” He looked at me seriously. “But make sure you don't let that hold you back from loving again altogether. Heartbreak is a part of life, Penny. But so are second chances.”
“Second chances?” I asked in a small voice. I wasn't planning to give Joseph another chance to ruin me.
“Second chances at love — with whoever it may be.” He eyed my plate, where there was still one more Santa pancake left. “And for what it's worth? You could do a lot worse than falling for the guy who's making you love Christmas again.”
I should have known better than to assume Joseph would just leave me alone. After school, I was walking to the debate club when a very angry-looking Joseph approached me. I was surprised to see him over here. Debate club was the worst part of the school — the addition that happened in the 1970s, where they decided to use the worst interior design of that decade and never change it again. Almost no classes were held over here, and any popular extracurriculars like student council were held in the main part of the school. This wasn’t the kind of place where popular football players were generally found.
I was busy reading an assignment handout while I was walking, so I didn’t even notice him walking toward me at first.
“Penny!” His booming voice carried across the hallway, and I jumped in surprise.
“Joseph!” I snapped. “What’s wrong with you? You gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry,” he said flatly. He looked around carefully, then leaned in and said quietly, “Listen, can we talk for a minute?”
“No,” I said immediately. I brushed past him and pretended to keep reading the page, though my mind was now on anything but my essay. The nerve of this guy! He looked tense. He had a girlfriend, and he still wouldn’t leave me alone. He was obsessed with me. I didn’t know if it was an ego thing, if he couldn’t just believe that I had moved on or if it was like a forbidden fruit thing. He wanted what he couldn’t have.
He chased after me and stood in front of me, blocking me with his hands.
“Move!” I said angrily.
“C'mon,” he said quietly. “Please, let’s talk. I’m begging you.”
“Move, Joseph! I don’t have time for your stupid games.”
“Please, just five minutes.” He clasped his hands in front of his chest. “I promise.”
I sighed deeply. “Two minutes.”
“Okay.” He let out a breath and just stared at me.
I raised an eyebrow. “Joseph, I’m already running late to debate club. The clock is ticking here.”
