Page 53 of Charm Me Not

“Me too, honestly. Hey, do you ever wonder how fish talk to each other?” he asked, completely out of nowhere. Another school of fish came up to the glass before swimming away.

Charlie led us from that tank to another around the corner, walking slowly and reading the signs as we went.

“Not really? But if I had to guess… maybe they talk in bubbles? Maybe they don’t talk at all and that’s why the ocean seems so silent all the time.”

“Except for whales. They talk really loudly. And dolphins too.”

I looked at him, my head tilted, my brows knitted together. “How do you know whales are loud?”

He launched into a speech about the research he did on whales years ago for a school project.

“I used to be obsessed with squids,” I blurted out randomly. I didn’t know why I said it, but being next to Charlie made me feel more at ease, more trusting.

My cheeks burst into flames after admitting that. I ducked my head and turned away so he wouldn’t see how embarrassing that was.

“Like the squid ring you wear?” he asked gently, his hand casually brushing against mine, where I wore my ring.

“Um, yeah. It was a phase. My dad still calls me squidlet, even though that’s not the right name for a baby squid.” Once again, I was spewing information no one needed to know.

“I think that’s cute. My mom used to call me piglet, but that’s a whole different thing,” Charlie said with a laugh. It got a tiny snort of a giggle out of me too, but I was still so embarrassed by my confessions that I couldn’t read more into it. “What is the name for a baby squid?”

I flattened my lips together and scrunched my nose. The answer wasn’t cute. “Paralarva.”

Charlie stared at me now, his face completely blank as he hesitated. Then, we both burst out laughing at the same time, startling a family across the hall.

I took in a deep breath, trying to collect myself. We were still in public, even though there weren’t a ton of people here.

Charlie stood straight again, staring at me, his bright blue eyes serious. The waves of the tank reflected in them, making it seem like the entire ocean was in his eyes.

The lights in the halls were dim, allowing the bright colors of the waters to shine.

“Your dad made a good choice. Paralarva would have been a horrible nickname,” Charlie said, his face settled and serious.

“You think?” I retorted with a huff. “He still calls me that to this day. It’s embarrassing, but—”

“Family doesn’t care about being embarrassing. It’s pretty much the reason they exist, right?” he finished for me.

I shrugged. I didn’t have any family besides Dad, so I couldn’t say.

Charlie put his hand on my back again and guided me to another room, this time with a bunch of bright red crabs, lobsters, and other crustaceans.

“Tell me about your family,” he said softly as we stood side by side, watching the crabs scuttle side to side around the tank.

That was the first question I didn’t really want to answer. He already knew my dad. What more did he want?

Chapter 20

Charlie

“Pass. Tell meabout yours,” she countered, fully expecting me to turn the question down like she did. What teenager wanted to talk about their mom or dad? Not many.

Except me. I loved my family. “Not too much to say. Standard family, right? Mom, Dad, one younger brother. Dad owns the car dealership. Mom is an interior designer.”

She nodded, but deep down, my heart sank. There was no such thing as a standard family for her.

Finally, we made our way over to the dolphin exhibit. I guided us to the benches lining the tank, where we could watch them playing under water. Two of them zipped by, flipping onto their backs, and waving to us through the glass.

Then she brought the conversation back to family, surprising me. I figured she wanted to drop it, and I was more than willing to oblige. Pushing her past her comfort zone wasn’t something I wanted to do. She didn’t have to tell me anything she didn’t want to.

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