My stomach flutters in excitement and anxiety. If I’m signing up for school, that makes this entire situation feel so much more concrete and long-term. I keep saying I’m afraid to get my hopes up, but who am I kidding? They are sky freaking high at this point.
“Okay, awesome,” I say quietly and smile.
Arthur gives me this terribly guilty look and says, “Right, so, the only thing is, I have a meeting at work at 11:30. I tried to reschedule it, but that’s looking unlikely at this point.”
Sebastian eagerly says, “I’ll pick her up!”
He’s so freaking cute and sweet! Arthur stares at him before laughing nervously. “That’s what I was going to ask. I hope you don’t mind. I hate putting any extra responsibilities on you like that.” He turns to me, still looking guilty. “And I hate that I’ve been so busy with work since you got here. I don’t want you to feel like I keep pawning you off on people or abandoning you.”
My heart warms and my smile softens. My uncle looks almost embarrassed at his words. I know he’s worried because of how my mother treated me and how she abandoned me after I was released from juvie the first time. What Arthur doesn’t understand is that he’s so completely different from the type of person my mother was. There’s literally no comparison.
“I don’t feel like that,” I tell him honestly.
Sebastian gives me a lopsided smile like he understands me without knowing the full story. “Seriously, we were planning on hanging out with her tomorrow anyways. I can pick her up from the school after I’m done at the gym.”
Arthur nods, crossing his arms and staring down at the floor. “Sounds good to me.”
When he doesn’t say anything else or look at either of us again, Sebastian shrugs at me and goes back to doing the dishes. A couple of awkward minutes go by before Arthur looks up at me with a wide grin on his face, but it looks like he’s forcing it, and his face is flushed.
“I also just wanted to, uh, go over house rules? So, your curfew is eleven, same as Sebastian’s. If you go anywhere with someone other than Sebastian or one of the guys, I need to know where you’re going and who you’re with. I’ll put an allowance on your debit card every week as long as you do chores around the house and pick up after yourself. When school starts, you’ll need to keep your grades up.”
There’s a long pause, and I nod at him. None of that sounds unfair. He’s pretty lenient, actually. Arthur’s face turns even redder, and he rubs his hands over his eyes. Sebastian turns the faucet off and stares at him in concern until Arthur gives me that same crazy smile and begins talking again.
“And so, um, I know you’re both teenagers with crazy hormones, and it’s not like you’re blood-related, so it would be completely natural for you to develop an attraction for each other, or um, anyways! I just want to make it clear that the two of you will be living like siblings, so any kind of relationship is just not possible. I think it’s fair for me to say that neither of you are allowed in each other’s rooms with the door closed. The same goes for the other guys in Charlotte’s room when they’re over here.”
The kitchen is dead silent. I know my face is void of emotion, but I’m sure my cheeks are flushed. I’m so embarrassed that I can’t even look at Sebastian, and poor Arthur looks like he’s about to throw up from being so nervous.
Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about Sebastian like that. How living here with him and Arthur might make him something like my cousin or brother. It makes me feel weird because I am definitely attracted to him. I can’t blame Arthur for feeling like he needed to say something and once again, his rules are completely fair. I finally manage to look up at Sebastian through my eyelashes to gauge his reaction. He looks even more mortified than Arthur does, if that’s possible.
Since neither of them are saying anything, I clear my throat and quietly mumble, “Okay.”
Arthur breathes out a sigh of relief and smiles nervously. “Alright, thank you. Do you have any questions? Or did you need anything?”
I start shaking my head until I remember my hideous glasses and touch the frames with my fingertips. “Actually, um, this morning I accidentally dropped my contacts in the sink. It was stupid, and I’m sorry, but could I please get a refill on my prescription?”
Arthur stares at me in surprise and laughs. “Yeah, of course! God, I honestly thought you were wearing those to be ironic.”
“Ironic?” I raise one eyebrow at him and laugh.
He shrugs and tilts his head while smiling. The action makes my heart lurch. I have a flashback of my dad doing the same thing. “Yeah, I don’t know. Kids wear weird things sometimes! Isn’t vintage cool again?”
Sebastian groans quietly and goes back to doing the dishes without looking at either of us. I feel like I should try to relieve some of the awkward tension in the room, and I feel like this is a really good opportunity to open up around Arthur and show him that I’m trying.
I snort and shake my head, messing with my glasses. “Sure, vintage is great, but I don’t think anyone could make these look cool. I used to have this really cute vintage pair of cat-eye glasses, but they broke a couple of weeks after I was in juvie the first time. Anne brought me these, and she’s such a sweetheart, I didn’t ever want her to think I was ungrateful.”
Arthur chuckles, and Sebastian turns around to give me a small smile. Arthur leans back on the counter, looking more relaxed now. “You know, Anne thinks you don’t like her.”
I figured as much, and I shrug as I lean my elbows on the island in front of me. “I know she probably thinks that, but I actually really love her. Every time I see her, she does this thing instead of greeting me where she just, like, sighs dramatically and puts her hand on her cheek.” I try to mock the way she does it like she’s in an old black and white film, putting my hand on my cheek in over-the-top horror when I speak in her slight Southern accent, “Oh, Charlotte!”
Sebastian and Arthur laugh at my impersonation. Arthur nods like he’s agreeing with me. “Yeah, she did seem pretty frazzled when I met her, but I thought maybe it was the situation, or her job in general.”
I shake my head and giggle. “Nope, she’s always like that. At least when I see her, but she really is the sweetest and she works really hard.”
Arthur and I talk for a little longer, and I manage to find the number online for the eyecare place that should have my prescription. Sebastian’s pretty quiet as he finishes cleaning up the kitchen and the rest of the dishes, but he doesn’t look as tense or as embarrassed as he did before. Eventually, Arthur retires to his office and reminds me what time we need to leave for the doctor in the morning.
Once Sebastian and I are alone in the kitchen, he leans over the island across from me. His eyes are wide and apologetic, and he holds his hands out in a shrug. “God, I am so sorry about that! That was completely mortifying!”
I giggle, feeling my cheeks flush. I thought for sure he would never want to bring it up. “It’s alright. He was probably a lot more embarrassed than we were.”
Sebastian snorts and shakes his head. “I don’t know about that!”
I smile shyly. “Well, I mean, he has a point, right? It’s not, um, totally crazy for him to be worried about that.”
Sebastian’s cheeks flush, and he doesn’t take his eyes off of mine. Ugh, god, I’m so stupid. I pretty much admitted I find him attractive. Why can I suddenly not control the words coming out of my mouth? It’s like I was holding back for so long that now I keep catching myself saying things without thinking them through first.
After what feels like forever, Sebastian laughs nervously and brushes his hand through his hair. “Yeah, you’re probably right. But, uh, on a sort of related but unrelated note...” He reaches out a finger and taps my glasses with a teasing grin on his face. “I know you don’t like them, but you were wrong before about nobody being able to make them look cool. They actually look really good on you!”
I giggle and shake my head at him. “Shut up, they totally don’t l
ook good at all! Even that stupid football guy from the arcade said I might look okay if I ‘lost the glasses.’”
Sebastian rolls his eyes. “Well he’s an idiot, and I can prove it.”
He gestures for me to follow him upstairs, so I do. When I realize he wants me to go into his room, I feel a nervous flutter in my stomach, but even after Arthur’s awkward lecture, it doesn’t feel like Sebastian is really flirting with me.
I look around his room. His bed is neatly made, and his sheets and comforter are gray and dark blue. He has black-out curtains on his window and a ton of those glow-in-the-dark stars stuck on the ceiling. Besides the queen-size bed, there’s a desk with two computer monitors on it, a dresser with a TV and video game console on top, and a large bookshelf with a bunch of photography books and several different types of cameras. I barely spare these things a glance because nearly every inch of his walls are covered in photographs.
“Wow.” I breathe out, stepping forward to get a better look at some of the pictures. “You took all of these?”
Sebastian chuckles and runs his fingers through his hair—his signature nervous tick. “Yeah, I know it’s probably sort of creepy.”
I shake my head at him in disbelief. “What? It’s not creepy. It’s pretty amazing actually!”
There are all sorts of different pictures. Some of landscapes, animals, or inanimate objects. Some are more abstract, making me wonder what exactly I’m looking at. But most of them are of people. A lot are of the guys, Arthur, and Grayson’s moms. I don’t recognize most of them, but one thing is for sure. Sebastian is definitely talented. Every single photo here is absolutely brilliant.
Sebastian smiles more excitedly and pulls out his desk chair, motioning for me to sit down. “My mom was insanely talented, but she never really got the chance to do anything great with her photography. Most of her jobs were for, like, weddings and other events. She never complained. She still loved it. I don’t know exactly what I want to do with photography yet, career-wise, but I love photographing people. Like, this probably sounds totally weird, but I’m always looking at people I don’t know and wondering what they’d look like through my camera lens and what angles and lighting they would look best with.”
The entire time he’s talking, he’s leaning over me and clicking through a bunch of stuff on the computer screens. I look up at him, even though his gaze is focused on the screen. “That doesn’t sound weird. You sound like an artist.” I smile, looking around at the pictures on the walls again. “And I’m probably not the best judge, but all of these are really good!”
Sebastian opens a folder on the screen and smiles down at me. His eyes are intense like they were earlier when he had his camera focused on me. “I’ve wanted to photograph you all week, since you first got here. But I didn’t know how to ask without sounding like a weirdo, so I’m really glad you offered today. You’re the first person I’ve ever seen who looks amazing from every angle, and with any lighting.”
Alright, that definitely can’t be true. I’m starting to think maybe I was wrong and he is flirting with me because I’m pretty sure I’ve never had so many butterflies in my stomach. Then again, Remy made me feel like this when he was talking about drawing me. Maybe Arthur was right about me having ‘crazy hormones’ and I’m reading too much into what Sebastian’s saying. Before I can mumble some stupid response, Sebastian looks back at the computer and clicks on a picture so it takes up one entire screen.
It takes me a second to recognize he’s showing me a picture he took today. The girl in the photograph looks stunning. She’s smiling so brightly and looks so completely carefree.
“That’s not me.” I blurt out, even though it clearly is me. I’m still wearing the same outfit and stupid glasses as we speak.
Sebastian bursts out laughing and grins at me. “Really? Then who is it?”
He doesn’t give me a chance to answer as he begins clicking through different photos from the day. He lets each one stay on the screen for a few seconds before moving on to the next one. Most of the pictures are of me or of me with the other guys. There are only a couple of them on their own or without me in the photo, but every single photograph is completely breathtaking. I barely recognize myself! I look so dazzling and the pictures look like they could belong in a fashion editorial.
“See?” Sebastian says excitedly, glancing down at me. “I told you that you looked good with your glasses, and from every angle. I haven’t even edited any of these yet!”
I point to the screen to stop him from changing the photo when he clicks on one where my entire body is visible. I’m walking outside the ice cream parlor and peeking over my shoulder with an enticing smile on my face. It’s just as dazzling as all of the other photos, but I’m more stunned by this one.
“How did you do that?”
Sebastian raises his eyebrows at me. “Do what?”
I point to my legs, which look miles long. “I’m only five foot one, but you made me look like I’m as tall as Tyra Banks!”
He laughs and gives me a teasing smile. “Um, I don’t know who that is?”
I roll my eyes and sigh. “She’s, like, the greatest model ever. She was the creator and host for America’s Next Top Model, and she’s freaking five foot ten!”
Sebastian laughs again and shrugs. “Okay, well, I don’t know how you look that tall. But that’s all you! God, I know I sound like a total creep right now, but I swear I’m not trying to hit on you or anything like that, and I really hope we can be friends. But uh, yeah, you are seriously fucking stunning. These are some of my favorite photos I’ve taken in a long time, which only made today that much more fun for me.”
I automatically giggle in response, but holy crap, I feel so nervous and giddy at his words, and I have no idea what I should say. It’s really nice to hear that he likes the way I look and that he likes photographing me. It’s equally nice to hear that he wants to be friends too.
I manage to look away from the computer screen and meet his eyes with a warm smile. “I still think your camera is just magic.”
He chuckles and playfully nudges me with his elbow. “Nah, you’re just in denial.”
I turn in my seat and brush my fingers over his forearm, smiling up at him sincerely. “Thank you for showing me the pictures and for saying all of that. And for everything else today too. I had so much fun with you and your friends, and I hope you meant it when you said you want us to be friends, because I want that so badly!”
“You’re welcome! And yeah, of course I meant it.”
Chapter Thirteen
I wake up early the next morning so that I have plenty of time to get ready for the day. Even though I was up super late the night before, I’m too excited to feel tired. As nerdy as it may sound, I’m excited to sign up for school. I’m a little nervous about meeting another student, but I think I’ll be okay.
Plus, I can’t wait to hang out with Sebastian, Elliot, Remy, Liam, and Grayson again later today. I spent a couple of hours hanging out in Sebastian’s room with him last night. He showed me the rest of the photos he took yesterday, as well as a ton of photos he’s taken over the years. He also showed me how he edits his pictures, and we spent a lot of time talking in general.
When I’d gone to my room for the night, I had originally planned on reading before going to sleep. But once I’d seen the lion stuffed animal sitting on my bed, I’d decided to text Remy. After everything that happened at the arcade, I’d somehow completely forgotten to thank him for winning the stuffed toy for me. He responded almost immediately, and we were only talking for a few minutes before Elliot, Grayson, and Liam started texting me too. It makes me think Remy mentioned to them that we were texting, because the timing was just way too coincidental. But either way, I’d been up late talking to all four of them.
While I’m finishing my eye makeup in the bathroom, somebody knocks lightly on the door. Assuming it’s Sebastian, I lean over and open the door for him.
“Hey, I’m sorr
y. I swear I’ll just be another minute!”
He stares at me and rubs his eyes sleepily before laughing, “Um, what are you doing?”
I sigh and turn back to the mirror, leaning super close so that I can see while I finish my mascara. “I can’t see what I’m doing unless I get really close. Arthur said my contacts won’t be here until Monday.”
Sebastian keeps on laughing until I turn to him again and raise one eyebrow. “Oh my god, what?”
He shakes his head, still laughing uncontrollably. “You’re sitting in the fucking sink! Do we need to get you a stool for the bathroom too?”
I’m finished with my makeup now, so I very dramatically put my mascara away while I glare at him. “I am not sitting in the sink, okay?” I’m sitting between the sinks on the counter, but that’s beside the point. I shuffle back down to the floor and put my glasses on so I can finally see Sebastian clearly.
He leans against the door frame and looks me over from head to toe with a silly grin on his face. “You look cute. But seriously, do you want us to get a mirror for your room?”
I look down at what I’m wearing—a mint green knee-length sleeveless dress with a peter pan collar. “Thank you! And yeah, I mean, that would be lovely. But I just don’t know how to ask Arthur for something like that. It makes me feel bad.”
Sebastian rolls his eyes and smiles. “Don’t feel bad. I’ll take care of it, okay?”
I’m not sure what that means exactly, but I smile gratefully and step out of the bathroom so he can use it. When I get back into my room, I’m delighted to see that I have a text from Remy. I’m surprised he’s awake this early until I remember that he and Liam will be going to work soon. I quickly text him back and finish grabbing my shoes and a purse for the day.
Sebastian catches me in the hallway just before I head downstairs. “Hey, text me when you’re ready for me to come and pick you up.”
I smile and tell him goodbye, happily prancing down the stairs. Arthur’s already in the kitchen pouring coffee into a thermos.
Smile Like You Mean It (Charlotte Reynolds Book 1) Page 13