Royal Dilemma

Chapter Four

(Charli's Point of View)

After CJ leaves I lay down in bed and try to get some sleep but it's a lost cause. I can't seem to stop thinking.

When I went to the bar with Piper I wasn't planning on picking up a guy. I'm not against casual sex, but I wasn't really in the mood for it and I just wanted to hang out and have fun with my best friend. However, when I saw CJ I knew I had to shoot my shot, you don't see men that good-looking every day.

CJ makes me laugh and he's sweet in a way that kind of reminds me of a puppy. He's bilingual which, despite what I said to him, is pretty impressive, and he's got passion which is admirable even if it is for corn. By the way he talks I think he's probably got a lot of other passions too. What is life without passion, anyways? Passion makes people do incredibly stupid things but I think life would be a lot more boring and dull without it.

CJ was easy to talk to, charming, and very, very handsome. All night I wanted to get closer, wanted to know more about him. I was hanging off his every word in a way I'm not at all used to. I typically don't have much interest in anyone other than Piper.

But then there was the alarm. That's a red flag if I've ever seen one. Having an alarm set to leave doesn't necessarily mean he's shady but it's also not very reassuring that he's not. Regardless, I wouldn't have asked for his number even if there wasn't an alarm. I don't like seeing men more than once. Maybe it's a loner thing or maybe it's a trust issues thing, but either way, I don't do repeats.

CJ is a dangerous combination of handsome and intriguing and I don't want to even think about the sort of trouble I could get into with him. I did have fun though. I'll file the night under awesome in my memory and leave it at that.

With that thought I turn over, pulling the covers up to my chin, and finally get some sleep.

A few days later I'm sitting on Piper's couch while she paints her toenails on the hardwood floor. I like Piper's place. The brightly colored furniture and decor isn't my usual style but it's uplifting all the same. I can also admire the various plants that are strewn all over her apartment. She was the one who bought me my first plant, a succulent that's doubled in size since then.

"I'm not mad at you," Piper repeats. "All I'm saying is you could've seen if he had an equally hot friend for me to bang."

Piper's been complaining about me ditching her for CJ for the last twenty minutes.

"I'm pretty sure he was there alone," I tell her.

"You don't know that though," Piper says. She gets nail polish on the skin of her toe and curses under her breath, using a paper towel to wipe it off. "He could've had loads of hot friends for me to pick from."

"What if his friends are all ugly?"

"Hot people gravitate towards each other," Piper says. "That's why we're friends."

I roll my eyes but say nothing. I haven't told her that CJ was more than just a pretty face, he was interesting too. I think revealing that would get me in even more trouble.

"How was work?" I ask her, changing the subject.

"The prince came in again," she says disinterestedly. "He must really love breakfast burritos."

"I think we've covered that what he really loves is you," I remind her.

One of the princes has been a regular at the restaurant Piper works at for the past month. He's asked her out at least three times and flirts with her every time he goes in. Piper turned him down every time. She doesn't think they'd be a good match and she's not the type to date someone just for their status or money.

Piper sighs and caps her nail polish, inspecting her painted toes.

"At least he tips well," she says.

Piper stands up and waddles to the couch, plopping down with another big sigh and putting her feet up on the coffee table.

"I can't wait until classes are done," she groans.

"Same."

While I enjoy learning, the classes I've been taking this semester have been kicking my butt. I've been keeping up though, I expected them to be difficult so I was prepared when the material started to become hard to grasp. I never thought majoring in engineering would be easy.

Thursday night I find myself being dragged along to a beginner's pottery class. I groan and grumble the entire drive there but Piper completely ignores me. She's more than used to my complaining.

The woman teaching the pottery class says we're going to make a bowl. She demonstrates how to shape the clay and then turns us loose.

"Isn't this fun?" Piper asks, glancing at me then returning her focus to her perfectly shaped bowl.

I stare at my misshapen bowl and sigh, trying to coax it into the correct shape.

"Fun isn't the word I'd use," I say.

Piper glances at my pathetic bowl and then offers me a half-smile. "You don't have to be good at something for it to be fun."

"Since when is sucking at something fun?"

Piper sighs. "You're such a Negative Nancy sometimes."

I don't reply, instead of putting even more of my focus on fixing my bowl. How am I so bad at this?

The instructor comes by and compliments Piper's bowl and then spends a significant amount of time helping me with mine, which I appreciate. I end up with an only slightly off-looking bowl. We're coming back next week to paint them. Piper's excited but I've never been much of an artist.

On the drive back to my apartment Piper gives me the latest gossip about her co-workers. When we reach my apartment complex I move to open the car door but Piper puts her hand on my arm to stop me.

"Thank you for coming with me tonight," she says. "I know that's not really your thing and you probably didn't have much fun but I really loved having you there."

I feel my shriveled-up heart warm at her words. I'd suffer through a thousand pottery classes if it would make Piper happy.

"It's no problem," I tell her.

After Piper leaves, I settle down on my couch with one of the new books I got from the library. I like reading about other people's wild adventures, probably because I don't have any adventures of my own. I had enough excitement in my childhood that now I avoid it altogether which means I don't ever stumble into having an adventure.

Excitement has always brought me pain, both physical and mental. I'd rather avoid it altogether than risk getting hurt again.

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Author's Note: Would you or have you ever taken a pottery class? I think it sounds fun. Let me know what you thought of the chapter in a comment!