Page 44 of Charm Me Not

“Save me one,”I said, tossing a bag onto the table, watching as it slid perfectly in front of Malia. “Scoot.”

Ali’s jaw dropped as he saw me slither into the booth next to Mali. He blinked so slowly, I worried he had fallen asleep for a second.

Malia dug into the bag and burst out laughing. “Can’t save you one if you’re toast.”

Ali reached up and adjusted his beanie. “Care to share?”

“S’mores? Sure. You want it cold?” Malia said, tearing into the ingredients. I snagged a graham cracker out of the box as she ripped open the marshmallows. She looked up and got Ali’s attention, tossing one to him.

He caught it in his mouth expertly, chomping down with a serious look still on his face. The expression on my behalf, no doubt.

“Here’s the thing,” I started. Apologies weren’t my strong suit, but this one was needed. Not warranted, but needed if I wanted my friend back. “I did something wrong. I stepped into your business when I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”

A loud thunk followed by a string of curses came from my right. Malia had dropped her cup of soda, the remnants spilling over the table top. She grabbed a few napkins and mopped it up, leaving the soggy mess in the middle.

Ali never took his eyes off me, though. I stared back at him, waiting for him to say something. I had done my part.

But he didn’t speak. I shifted in my seat, my skin becoming itchy. I cleared my throat, not knowing what else to do. I said my peace. I apologized. What more—

“You’ll need a little more than that,” Malia whispered in my ear dramatically.

Sucking in a deep breath, I started again. “Ali. I promise not to meddle in your love life anymore. It was wrong of me to do so the first time. I hereby solemnly swear that if your love life passes through my business again, I promise to turn down the deal on the spot.”

That got him to raise an eyebrow, which only told me I went in the wrong direction.

“Not that your love life will be a topic again. Because you and Aria have… something.” I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘a relationship,’ or ‘are in love,’ at this point. Even admitting that they had something took a bit of effort, the word straining to get out.

Ali rolled his eyes at that, but let me continue.

“All I’m saying is that your happiness means more to me than messing with other people. And I would like to be friends again. I’m working on myself in some ways that should benefit all. I’ve mended my ways. I’ve seen the light. Made a switch. Whatever. Is that enough?” I looked at Malia instead of Ali, knowing she would tell me if I needed to full-on grovel or not.

But she just jerked her head to Ali. I turned, finding him with his usual goofy grin on his face, leaning back in his booth with his arms crossed over his chest.

I kicked him under the table. “Are you kidding me?”

“It wasamazingto watch you cower,” he said with a laugh. “Never thought I’d witness it.”

“Don’t ever expect it again. Especially now,” I threatened. He let me go on and on, basically begging for forgiveness, when he probably had forgiven me before I even stepped foot in the diner.

“It was a great start. Still a little pissed at you, but we’ll see how things go from here.”

“Well, I, for one, am glad you two made up. I was tired playing for both teams,” Malia said, stacking a broken piece of chocolate bar on top of a graham cracker and smooshing it down with a marshmallow.

She wasn’t even going to heat it up. She was eating it cold. I grimaced, a bit creeped out by it, but that was Malia.

Ali snorted at her comment. “Playing for both teams? Do you know what that means?”

Malia shot him one of her signature glares, but it did little to stop him from explaining the phrase. I tuned them out for a few minutes, lost in my own thoughts.

When I said I was working on myself, I sort of meant because of Charlie. I didn’t mention Charlie to them. When Charlie said tell no one, I took it to heart. Even though it definitely was meant so Dad didn’t find out, it was sort of fun keeping a secret. Something just for me.

Did I want to be lying by omission to my best friends? Especially after I already messed up with Ali? Not really. But if he didn’t want me meddling in his love life, then they didn’t get to meddle in mine. Not that I had a love life. But Charlie was trying to convince meoflove, so it was a life dealing with love. Or something.

He was determined to get me to believe in love. If I could do that, then I could understand why Ali and Aria wanted to be together, even though the world said they shouldn’t be. Even though I knew it would only end in heartbreak.

If Charlie got his way, then I would be able to really see the wrongdoing in my actions. I would regret what I did to sabotage them. At least, I assumed that was what he wanted out of this scenario.

I shivered, an unfamiliar, unwanted feeling spreading through me. I didn’t want to do or feel any of those things. It seemed… horrible.

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