“I’ll let you know,” Charlie said, her patience getting thin. She’d never been a particularly subtle or serene person, and her plan on waiting until after they ate and were outside were starting to seem very silly. And time wasting, considering how long the meal would take to get out, to eat, to pay for, and then she knew she’d have to use the bathroom (because she’d already had two glasses of oj and a coffee while waiting for Ben). It was having Christmas presents under the tree, but ten more days to go until she could open them. She had no idea if it was something awesome like a laptop, or lame like a Barbie from someone who had forgotten just how old Charlotte was. She wondered which kissing Ben would turn out to be.
He probably wouldn’t appreciate being called a Barbie if this went poorly. Charlie got out of her side of the booth, walking around the table and scooting into Ben’s. She did it all without saying a word, and pushed Ben over by just forcing him to either move or be sat on. She turned her body to face him, lips thin and brow furrowed at him as if she was thinking very hard about this all.
“I’m going to do something. And if it’s bad, then we’ll always know. And all the weirdness will be over. And if it’s not bad… well, I don’t have a plan for that, so we’ll just have to roll with the punches. Capiche?” she said, not waiting for an answer.
She leaned over, lips gently landing on Ben’s. It was, all together, a very chaste kiss. But there was just enough pressure that made it more than just a peck between friends; and it was just enough to ask Ben to push back. For a few moments, Charlie inwardly panicked, because it didn’t seem like Ben was doing anything.