Page 4 of Finding My Charming

“Elle!” I turned at the call and saw Ari hurrying over to me from the side of the yard. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

Over her shoulder, I spotted the guy she’d left with coming around the corner.

“Really? You thought I’d be on the side of the house. In the dark. By myself?”

She started giggling and swatted at me.

I smiled and waved to her new boy as he walked past.

He looked embarrassed but waved back and walked toward the fire pit.

“Who’s that?”

“Ethan.”

“From chemistry last year?” He looked familiar, but he’d definitely done some maturing since I’d last noticed him.

“Yeah. We’ve been flirting for a few weeks, and he finally made his move.” She looked too happy for me to say anything to burst her bubble.

“I’m glad I finally found you. I’m heading out.”

“No! The night is still young!” She frowned and grabbed my hands while I shook my head.

“I’ve got my first day tomorrow. Go have fun with Ethan. I’ll see you later.”

She smiled at the mention of his name and pulled me in for a hug. After a few beats, she released me. “Sorry I didn’t hang out with you, but I hope you had a fun birthday.”

“I did. Thank you for this. It was definitely an interesting night.”

Her smile grew, and I shooed her toward her new boy, taking in a deep breath and mentally prepared myself for the battle to get back upstairs for my purse and then out the front door.

Chapter 3

my dad’s unblinking eyes mocked me from across the room. Slowly, his head bobbed as if he knew my thoughts. Although, if he did he wouldn’t be smiling like that.

The stupid bobble head, a marketing ploy for my dad’s law office gone wrong, didn’t budge. Just stood there nodding at me like he knew all along I wouldn’t be able to do it.

“Elise! Wake up!” My mom banged on the door and seemed to ignore my groans.

“I’m up!” I rolled over toward my nightstand to check my phone. It was only seven thirty! I should have at least another half hour before I had to get out of bed.

The door creaked, and Mom peeked her head in. “Honey, you need to get up. You don’t want to be late for your first day, do you?

“Of course not.” I flopped onto my back.

It might be the first day of summer, but to my mom, it was the first day of work. I would be spending the next three months in a law office answering phones and filing papers. No summer vacation for me. I groaned again and burrowed into my pillows.

“Come on, Elise. You’ve got to get moving.” The door clicked shut again.

I slowly shuffled out of my room and downstairs to the kitchen where my entire family was bustling around each other. My dad was sitting at the table sipping his normal black coffee and reading the paper. The only change I’d seen in his morning routine since I was little was his conversion to reading the morning paper on his tablet rather than in print. It took years of convincing from my mother to think about the earth and his waste before he finally caved.

“You look like death.” April, my sixteen-year-old sister, greeted me with a look of disgust. She, too, was on track with her morning routine. The amount of time she spent in the bathroom in the morning was shameful, but for whatever reason, she felt the need to wash, dry, straighten, and style her hair and apply a perfect face of makeup before leaving her room each morning. I preferred a more natural look.

“Good morning to you, too.” I shot her a glare and pushed past her to the fridge. Some people need coffee to function in the morning. I needed orange juice. Specifically, the kind from the carton. None of that fancy fresh-squeezed for me. It drove my mom crazy to have something nonorganic in the house, but it was the one thing I put my foot down about.

“Are you excited for your first day, Elise?”

I took my first gulp before turning to my older sister, Beth. She was dressed for work in a cream button-up blouse and gray slacks. Her energy was annoying this early.