The Unicorn's Forest

In the end, Charlie got two push-up bras, the green velvet dress, and another regular bra. When they went to look at jewelry, she was happy that they weren't looking at that for her, since she had her pendant. They wanted something for themselves.

Then after her friends had been dropped off at their homes, Charlie's mother broached a topic Charlie hadn't expected.

"By the way, how does your friend Shirley know Heathcliff?"

"What?" Charlie wasn't sure she heard her mother correctly.

"I said, how does your friend Shirley know Heathcliff?"

"Oh, well she's his niece, I think," Charlie was pretty sure Shirley was Heathcliff's niece, but she didn't really think about it, so she couldn't really say. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, the papers she brought to your father was a contract with Heathcliff's business. Only how it was worded was strange. It seems like he needs your father's company to manage specific properties on a permanent basis and even offered specific details about how he would help his business accomplish what it needed to as the contract would require," her mother said before taking a deep breath. "Not only wasn't this about what your father had discussed with Heathcliff before during that business dinner, but this is a long-term contract that he could have offered to any number of security firms that would already have the resources he needs. Not to mention what he offered was much more than the going rate is for these sorts of things."

"Wow," was all Charlie could say in response. Not only because of how long-winded her mother's statement was, but because how much more was covered in what she was just hearing than what she had demanded of Heathcliff when she spoke to him with Beth.

"Yes, I agree. Wow."

After that, Charlie enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere in the car the rest of the ride home. Partly because she knew they'd done what they wanted to with the shopping, so she didn't need to suffer another trip there. At least right away. As well as partly from learning about what her mother had just told her about her father's business contract from Heathcliff.

And oddly enough, partly because of the conversation she had with Beth. Which she couldn't figure out why that would help her feel relaxed.

_

Charlie was confused. It was Friday. At the end of the school day. The Homecoming Dance was tonight. Yet it hardly felt like it was different from any other day. Yet, she knew this day was different. It felt rather surreal that everything felt so normal despite that fact.

"Charlie you okay?" Beth asked as they left the school building.

"I guess," Charlie replied, not sure what else to say.

"Well, do you remember what I suggested you ask your parents?" Beth asked.

"What was that again?" Charlie asked.

Beth sighed. "Come on, I've told you this several times. Ask your parents if you can stay at my place tonight," Beth huffed.

"Why exactly? You never did mention why," Charlie replied, happy that this conversation was distracting her from her earlier thoughts.

"So that way if things progress well enough with Alex, you can spend the night at her place. If not, then we can have a sleepover and you can tell us the juicy details," Beth replied.

"Wait, 'us?' Who's 'us?'" Charlie asked, not liking how that sounded.

"Hannah, Amelia, and me, of course," Beth replied, putting her arm around Charlie's shoulders.

"You're not going let me have a choice in this, are you?" Charlie asked, confident she knew the answer already.

"Of course not," Beth replied so cheerfully, Charlie wondered if she should have tried answering with her. "At least if you don't spend the night with Alex."

"But you know my mom is insisting on driving me there, right?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, I know. Just let her know that my grandma is picking us up," Beth said. "You'll love the way my grandma drives."

Charlie suddenly had a sinking feeling in her stomach. "What do you mean by that?" she asked as she had a bad, bad feeling.

"Nothing much. Just that she considered 'The Little Old Lady From Pasadena' by the Beach Boys to be her theme song," Beth said.

Charlie wasn't sure who the 'Beach Boys' were, but Beth's response didn't really reassure her. If anything, it made her more apprehensive about it.

"Um, Beth? Why are you trying so hard for me to get naked with Alex?" Charlie asked, hoping to get a real response instead of a politician's dodge.

"Why not? Everyone's doing that," Beth replied.

"Not everyone," Charlie protested. "If it was everyone then I'd be doing that too and you wouldn't need to try to get me to do that."

"Okay, fine, you have a point," Beth acknowledged. "But at the same time, why not? I mean, it's something that happens in every relationship I've been in and I'd be surprised if you sister hasn't done it with any of the guys she's dated."

Charlie had to admit she wouldn't be surprised either if Cherie had slept with any of the boyfriends she'd had in the past. However, Charlie wasn't her sister, so why should she use her as a gauge for any of her own relationships?

"Maybe, but I'm not any of them," Charlie said. "I can only be me and I'm just not comfortable with any of that."

"Wow, I'd hate to be whoever you marry on your wedding night," Beth remarked. "That'd be a terrible time for a cold shower."

Charlie looked up at the sky, partly afraid Beth was right. "It's more that I'm not comfortable with doing that right now. Maybe if I decide to get married with someone, then I'll become comfortable with the idea with them, but right now I'm just not," Charlie replied. "Why should I try to be like everyone else just to be like everyone else?"

"It's more that we'd like you to enjoy yourself," Beth said.

"Problem is my idea of enjoying myself and your idea is probably completely different," Charlie said.

"Maybe, but what about Alex? Don't you think she'd like something like that?"

Charlie shook her head. "If Alex can't wait to do that stuff, then she's probably not the right person for me."

Beth sighed. "Why can't you just work with me on this?"

"Probably because you're not trying to work with me," Charlie returned. "You're trying to push me into doing what you think I should be doing rather than letting me be who I am."

"Touché," Beth commented. "Though, keep in mind sometimes you have to change in order to keep those you want to be around… well, around you."

"Yeah, but only when it's clear that's what needs to be done," Charlie said. "Otherwise I'm just pretty much letting others walk all over me, and in that case, I'm just a doormat for others to do what they want to me."

"Well, regardless, you might find you want to go with Alex to her place for tonight, so ask your parents to sleep at my place and we'll see what happens," Beth urged Charlie. "Worst case, you join us in a sleepover at my place. Best case, you get to have your first time with Alex. However, you can't say what you might want to do now, since we haven't even gone to the dance just yet."

"Alright, I'll talk to my mom," Charlie relented, not wanting to touch the subject of her sleeping with Alex, whether they were intimate or not. "She should be back before I have to get ready for the dance, so I'll ask her around then," Charlie promised.

"You better," Beth replied. "Who else will we get to torment if you don't show up or are sleeping elsewhere first."

_

Charlie merely sighed in resignation. She had a feeling this dance was going to be a bigger drain on her energy after it was over than during it. However, it certainly looked like that's the way her life was heading. While she knew that she should accept it, at the same time, she felt really strangely about something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. I should be just a dance, so why was she feeling so scared? While she knew she was nervous about going to a dance in the first place, she couldn't understand why it was at this level. She felt that she should be at a level that was just above how she normally felt when she was nervous.

It also didn't help that her friends were trying to almost live through her, in relation to what level her relationship with Alex was. Sometimes she wondered if she should just leave her friends and head on her search for the world with the griffin canyon with the way they are now, but she had a feeling that she needed them. Why she couldn't say, only that she did.

Her mother had been suspicious when she asked to stay at Beth's house, but both of her parents gave their permission when Charlie told them that Amelia and Hannah would be there as well. Though, Cherie seemed interested in what she was doing, more than she was used to, she couldn't help but wonder if Cherie was thinking of when her school dances would start. Or maybe she was wanting to go to a school dance at a high school, but unless she used her magic to peek at her sister's thoughts, she couldn't be sure. Which was something she had to stop herself from doing on multiple occasions.

In the end, Charlie couldn't bring herself to wear the pads or the push-up bras. She just didn't feel comfortable with any of that. So, she made sure to have a jacket on, to hide the fact she wasn't wearing any of those, on the off chance her mother would require her to wear those.

Once in the car, Charlie felt her nerves start to make her antsy. She felt like she needed to get out of the car and start moving around. After all, it was only about an hour walk to the school. Plenty of time for her to calm herself through exhaustion.

"How are you feeling?" her mother asked as they pulled out of the driveway. "Nervous?"

"A little," Charlie admitted, not wanting to say anything more.

"While I think about it, I'm going to need you to let me take a picture of you before you enter the school," her mother said. Charlie groaned, having hoped her mother wouldn't remember. "Sorry, but you know how your grandparents are. They'll want to see just how beautiful you are tonight."

"Fine, just make it quick," Charlie muttered.

"But remember, you need to face the camera. They won't be satisfied with a picture of your back or a profile view of you," her mother said, her voice full of amusement.

"I'll try to stand still," Charlie promised. Though, with how her nerves were about the dance in general, she wasn't sure how well she'd be able to do that, especially with her dislike of getting her picture taken.

"Oh, wait," her mother said, pulling over to the side of the road. "Do you have your ticket?"

"Alex said she'd take care of that, mom," Charlie replied, just now realizing she hadn't shared that detail.

"Okay, that's good," her mother said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I was worried for a minute that you wouldn't be able to get into your first school dance."

Charlie sighed. If this was any indication of how her night was going to go, she was ready for it to be over with already. She certainly wouldn't have the energy to last the night if so.

As they arrived at the school, her mother parked in the parking lot rather than the drop-off zone, so she could get a picture of Charlie with the school as a backdrop.

Charlie was almost to where her mother wanted her to stand, trying to keep her hands from fidgeting, when she heard someone call out to her.

"Charlie! Over here!" the voice called.

Charlie looked in that direction and saw Alex. While Charlie had always thought Alex was cute, and once pretty, she couldn't take her eyes off of her for a minute. Alex was wearing a sea blue dress that was held up by spaghetti straps and came all the way to her feet. There were pieces of something sparkly that would catch the light as she moved, scattered across her dress.

"Give me a minute, my mom wants to take my picture before she leaves," Charlie called back, suddenly remembering the jacket she was wearing.

She quickly took that off and set it on the hood of her mom's car before moving back to where her mother had wanted her to stand. For some reason she couldn't explain, she was impatient for the picture to be taken and her nerves about the dance and night forgotten.

"Okay, that's one," her mother said, having taken the picture with her phone. "Ready for another?"

"Mom, you said one picture," Charlie protested.

"Gotta get another just in case, dear," her mother said.

Charlie sighed, and turned back to her mom. Then when she heard the click, she moved back to the car to get her jacket and went over to meet Alex, who had put on a satin jacket to cover her shoulders, and probably get past the dress code, that matched her dress and came down to her waist and had sleeves that came to just above her elbows.