“I think you should give it a chance, that’s all. James is hot and so into you, and I bet he’s really good in—”
I cut her off before she could continue. That was an image I didn’t need. “Rach, like I’ve told you a million times, we’re just friends.” I pulled her back to the guys before she could argue.
The band took the stage, and I relaxed as the set started. I could push negative thoughts out of my head much more easily when I got lost in music. Music had always been my escape, and it had really come in handy over the past year. It felt good to zone out with my friends. I recognized that they weren’t as big of fans as I was, but I really appreciated them coming, and they seemed to be having a good time. The set went way too fast, and unfortunately, as soon as the music stopped, my relaxation was interrupted.
“Hi, can I buy you a drink?”
I lifted my head, startled to see a guy watching me expectantly. “Um, thanks, but no thanks.” I looked for my friends. I didn’t see Rachel and Henry, and James stood a few steps away, apparently oblivious.
“Why not?” the guy asked.
“Because I don’t need one.”
He laughed and stepped in closer. “Well, I was only asking to make conversation. I’m Dave, and you are…?”
I glanced at James, but he was still staring straight ahead. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t getting involved. Wasn’t he supposed to be one of my Guardians?
“Charlotte,” I said distractedly. I tried to move away, but the crowd had me cornered.
“Nice to meet you, Charlotte. You sure I can’t buy you a drink? What are you having?” He touched my arm as he talked.
“Excuse me,” I said as I stepped around him to edge closer to James. “James, please, can you get that guy to leave me alone? He doesn’t seem to be getting that I’m not interested.”
“You want me to get him to leave you alone?” James wore a funny expression I couldn’t read.
“Of course, why else would I be asking?”
“If you say so.” With that, James pulled me to him and kissed me. Really kissed me. At first, I was shocked and couldn’t react. By the time I came to my senses, James had his arms around me so tightly, it was almost impossible to free my hands to push him away. Finally, I struggled against him enough to push against his chest. His response was to hold me tighter, but eventually, his laughter made him loosen his hold. I acted out of instinct and slapped him.
“Wow. Charlotte. If I’d realized kissing you would get such a physical reaction, I would have done it sooner.”
Stunned and angry, I didn’t know how to respond. As I tried to calm down, I saw a familiar face in the crowd staring at me with disbelief. It didn’t take me long to place the face—William. I tried not to panic, but what was Calvin’s right-hand man on the Guard doing in Charleston? Was Calvin around?
“That guy isn’t going to bother you anymore. Trust me.” James laughed, but I didn’t even acknowledge him. I had to find out if the man I’d seen was really William. If it was, would he tell Calvin that I had been kissing James?
I pushed through the crowd in the direction I thought I saw him moving. I heard James call my name, but I ignored him. Completely distracted, I ran into someone and flinched as a drink spilled down my arm.
“Sorry, you okay?” a familiar voice asked. I gazed up into a set of equally familiar brown eyes.
Liam’s mouth hung open. “Charlotte, what are you doing here?” I didn’t respond and tried to move around him to search for William, but he caught my arm.
“Are you all right? You aren’t here alone, are you?” As usual, Liam was worried about me.
“No, I’m—”
James appeared next to me. “Did you honestly think Charlotte would be here alone?” James wore his all too common smirk.
“Great, James. Let me guess. You not only got her a fake ID, you’re also getting her drunk. Seriously?” If looks could kill, James would have been dead. Liam must have been taking lessons from Kevin.
“Come on, Liam, like I was going to let her miss the opportunity to see her favorite group. Clearly, you didn’t care quite as much.” The insinuation in his words wasn’t lost on anyone.
“Shut up, guys!” I yelled. Even a year later, Liam and James still didn’t get along. Kevin and Liam had never trusted James, and I could tell it really bothered them that I spent so much time with him. “And for your information, Liam, I’m drinking a diet coke.”
James nudged me. “You ran away before you could see that I successfully got that guy to leave you alone. You should have seen the look on his face.” He laughed.
“What guy?” Liam’s hands were in fists.
“James, you do realize that you could get killed for that, right?” Henry asked as he walked over with Rachel trailing behind him.
“Yeah, but it was still worth it.” James winked at me.
“What did you do, James?” Liam asked.
I could tell that Liam was getting frustrated by being left in the dark, but I still hadn’t come to terms with the fact that James had kissed me and I couldn’t think of a thing to say.
Rachel chuckled. “Oh, come on. All he did was kiss her. I don’t think Monty would kill him for that. Although, it was a pretty intense kiss.” I scowled at her. She took in Liam’s shocked expression and then mouthed “sorry” to me.
“You did what?” Liam got right in James’s face.
“I was only doing what she asked.”
“I never asked you to kiss me!” I was so full of emotion that I couldn’t control my voice.
“You told me to get the guy to leave you alone, and that seemed like as good a way as any. But seriously, Charlotte, why did you take off like that? It looked like you had seen a ghost.”
“I had to get away from you.” Even if Rachel wasn’t around, I wouldn’t have admitted the truth. I must have imagined seeing William because I wanted to believe that Calvin missed me and had sent William to check on me.
“To seventeen years of Charlotte,” Rachel said, raising her drink. Everyone raised their glasses, defusing the situation.
After taking a sip of my Coke, I noticed that Liam wasn’t alone. He was with a couple of his college friends.
“Hey, Charlotte.” Liam’s roommate Jason fought back laughter. I bet the situation appeared funny to an outsider.