The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance(5)

CHARLIE: I’m not a stalker, thank you very much.



MICAH: Oh, phew! I was worried there for a second.



MICAH: In that case, I live in the Greenboro Trax.



CHARLIE: Oh.



MICAH: Well C, g2g. Got stuff to do.



MICAH: Good chattin with u.



MICAH: C u on the bus 2morrow. :)



CHARLIE: Alrighty then. See you tomorrow!



MICAH: ttyl





My fingers scrolled through the texts between us, as I read and reread every word again. I wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Micah knew the truth, despite me not wanting to admit it.

This was all Sam’s fault.

And yet, it felt strangely thrilling to know he lived close by. I would see him every day on the bus. I wondered if that was something I’d come to look forward to.

“Hey, Charlie!” Josh opened my bedroom door, peeking his nose in. I jolted in surprise. I hadn’t heard him coming. “We’re headed down to the creek to hang out. David and I were wondering if you’d like to tag along.”

“Is that an open invitation?” Micah and all my thoughts about him could wait until later.

“Take it while you have it.” He tapped his smartphone, lifting the screen to show me the time. “Come on, we’re leaving now!”

“I’m coming.” I pushed myself up from the bed and shoved my phone into my back jeans pocket.





“No Promises (feat. Demi Lovato)”

Cheat Codes





JOSH WAS THE KIND OF brother who used to climb trees to help me hang a swing with a line of rope and a wooden plank. He was the kind of brother who’d hang fake spiders from the staircase to scare me. He was also the kind of brother who brought ice cream home to me if he knew I was having a really bad day. Josh was my best friend. While we often avoided each other during the school year, there was a mutual understanding between the two of us: we were siblings. We might fight occasionally, but we loved each other. A surge of safety whooshed through me as Josh placed his arm over my shoulder, grinning at Ben and J as they joked. Intermittently, as we walked along the trail next to the creek, Josh glanced in my direction to check up on me.

“Josh! Tell Charlie what happened today with you and Jackie O,” Ben said smugly.

Josh pulled his arm away from me hastily. “Jesus, Ben. Nothing happened.” He brushed a hand through his dark hair. “You all want something to happen.”

“What happened?” I grinned. I had been banking on Josh hooking up with the beautiful and elegant Jackie O, as we called her, since eighth grade. Josh had had a crush on her for years.

“I found out someone else asked her to Homecoming,” Josh groaned. “I’d been planning for months to ask her, but Brent Pierce beat me to it.”

Oh, man. I gave Josh a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, Josh. You could still ask her, you know. It’s not too late.”

“Yeah man, it’s not like he asked her to marry him or anything,” Ben interjected. He was right; girls changed their minds about Homecoming dates all the time. Brent by no means had to be her final choice.

Josh shook his head. “It is what it is.”

“You can’t just give up like that. You’ve loved Jackie O forever!” I was surprised Josh wasn’t more determined. He had more gumption than that.

“Brent is hard competition,” J chimed in. “Jackie would be nuts to turn him down. I’m sure he’ll go all-out with a huge limo and dinner, and she knows it. I mean, being a wealthy lawyer’s son has its perks.”

Jackie Olivia Anderson resided on the east side of Grand Lakes, an upscale section of town. Her family owned one of those fancy houses that had three stories, balconies galore, an in-ground pool and a five-car garage. From the moment Josh first laid eyes on her, he was hooked.

She was the kind of girl who always had her hair straightened, lips perfectly glossed with something bubblegum colored and smelling of a floral, sugared musk, like she came right out of Victoria’s Secret (I avoid that store all together. I don’t need any of Victoria’s secrets underneath my clothes.) I never really understood what Josh saw in her, other than a pretty girl. I hoped my brother was into more than just looks.

“Maybe you can ask someone else?” I suggested.

“Yeah, but who else is the question,” J laughed. “Jackie O was Josh’s dream girl, and now she’s out of his reach.”

“There are always a few girls on the cheerleading squad you could ask to go with you,” David finally piped in. He had been walking beside Josh quietly, taking time to photograph the foliage, the creek, and sometimes even us. I was impressed by David’s photography. I directed my attention to him as he paused, taking a photo of a large, looming tree and a few limbs as they swayed in the gentle breeze.

“Who are you going to ask?” Josh asked David. “I figured you had your heart set on Charlie’s friend Rachel.”

I looked at Josh in surprise, and then back to David. Since when did David have a thing for Rachel?

“You like Rachel?” I asked. David darted a glare at Josh, and tried to shrug nonchalantly. “I mean, how long have you liked her?” I added.