Page 33 of Hope for the Best

"He was trying to get me to eat Mexican food, can you tell?"

"It's on a napkin from the burger place, so I guess it didn't work," he said.

"No, he drew those over here. He actually got the napkin out of that drawer." I pointed to the napkin drawer which was close to the refrigerator.

"Did you end up going for Mexican that night?" he asked.

"How could I refuse?" I said.

"That's funny. Those are both cool drawings."

"Those girls were nice today. Sophie and Kara. They were, I don't mean this to sound weird, but they were nicer than I thought they would be from their looks."

"You thought they looked basic?"

"Not basic. They were just so pretty that I thought they might be… b-basic, I guess," I said, smiling and shaking my head at him.

"You're prettier than them," he said.

But I was already saying something else and we talked over each other. "But they weren't basic at all. I liked them. They were nice. I'm always so nervous around your aunt, though. She wears those robes that make her look like she's in some kind of movie—the Great Gatsby or something. She needs a long cigarette."

Charlie laughed. "I know, I don't know why that lake house equals silk robes for Aunt Astrid. I've seen her in Florida, Houston, and Chicago—other places too. But she really only wears those robes when we're over here. I don't think I've seen her in them otherwise."

"Still, I bet her regular clothes are equally intimidating," I said, laughing.

"You don't act intimidated," he said, cutting his eyes at me.

I shrugged. "I'm faking it in front of them."

"What about in front of me?" he asked. He glanced at me and I crossed my eyes and stuck my tongue out in a non-flattering pose, and he laughed at me.

"You're my Charlie," I said. "I could never be scared of you." Even in this moment, I was highly intimidated. But I faked it, smiling at him after I made a face. "Do you want to go for a walk?" I asked.

He nodded at me, and we started moving. We walked slowly, and my apartment was a good distance from the lake, so it took us fifteen minutes to make our way to the shore. We talked continually. There was never a break in the conversation which flowed easily and naturally. We talked about video games and movies. Charlie was my age, and we were exposed to a lot of the same games and pop culture growing up. We debated which Mario Kart was the best.

"I have no idea where I am," he said, finally, looking out at the lake.

I wasn't sure of the context.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"On the lake. If I got in a boat, I don't think I could get back to the property from here."

"Sure you can. Just stay left. Except for that one little loop by the canal, but otherwise, stay left. You would start to recognize the property as you got over in that direction."

He laughed. "I would not," he said. "Not at night. And I would take that wrong left that you warned me about. I have no idea where the canal is."

"I think you could do it. If your life depended on it and it was just you in a boat, I think you could do it."

"Oh definitely, under those circumstances. If my life depended on it. I could swim if I had to."

"What about for a thousand dollars?" I asked.

"Swim to Broken Arrow? No."

"How about if you go by boat?"

He made a face like he was considering it. "At night?"

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