Read Online Charlotte's Tangled Web: L.B. Pavlov by L. B. Pavlov - Free Book Online

mother to ask what to do! Is that what you want to hear?” I shouted. I was beyond consoling now. I was embarrassed and tired, and the night had not turned out the way that I had hoped.
    Daniel refused to stop hugging me until I calmed down. I finally did, but only after a long time. “Charlotte? Can I speak?” he asked in the sweetest voice I had ever heard him use.
    “Yes,” I said softly. I could hear how tired I was in my response.
    He continued hugging me and said, “I would never want to embarrass you, Charlotte. Never. I just wanted to know what was wrong. I am sorry for pushing. I am sorry for asking why you hadn’t had your period before now. I was only concerned and wanted to make sure that you were OK. I don’t know much about it, but I thought girls got it before they were seventeen, and I mean no disrespect by saying that. It is not my place to ask, and I am sorry that you had to tell me. Do you want me to have my mom talk to you about it? You know Grace loves to play the role of your mother any chance she gets. I could also take you to the doctor if you’re nervous about going alone, just to make sure that everything is OK.”
    He pulled me out of our embrace and looked at me. He wiped my tears so he could see my eyes, and he tucked my hair behind my ears—I was sure it was as out of control as I was feeling. I couldn’t be mad at him now. He was the only person whom I felt truly close to. He was doing this because he cared about me, not to embarrass me.
    “I think it’s OK, Daniel. I had looked it up on the Internet a while ago. I think it’s just because of all the running maybe? Or I may just be a late bloomer? But it doesn’t mean that anything is wrong with me because lots of people get it late. Plus, my mom wrote about it in one of her journals, and she got hers for the first time at seventeen years old too. She ended up with four kids, so I think everyone is just different,” I said in a hopeful voice.
    “Of course nothing is wrong with you. You are the most perfect person that I know. My sweet little late bloomer.” He chuckled and continued, “But I don’t think it would hurt to talk to a doctor and just make sure that you aren’t pushing yourself too hard with the running.”
    I agreed to consider that as long as he didn’t tell anyone, and I would think about telling Grace myself. I didn’t want them to discuss it. It was embarrassing enough that he knew. He agreed to my terms.
    He then grabbed my hand and said, “I’m really sorry that you don’t have a mom to talk to about this, Charlotte,” and I could tell that he genuinely hurt for me just by the look in his eyes. My waterworks started again This was unbelievable. I had never cried this much in my entire life.
    I hugged him tightly again, and after a while he said, “Charlotte?”
    I quietly said, “Yes?”
    “Did you really call me an idiot when you were yelling at me?” he said, and we both burst out laughing again.
    We ended up talking about my date and the BMW, which made Daniel absolutely sick. He went on and on about pretentious cars and pretentious people. I told him how Blane fed me tiramisu, which made him cringe and made both of us laugh some more.
    He told me about how his night went. How Crystal Bryant made yet another attempt to repeat their evening from a few weeks back, but he restrained himself this time, probably due to worrying about me, he said. We laughed some more.
    I told him how Blane asked me to go to Johnny Grant’s party after the game Friday night. He thought it was a fine idea because he would be there as well. “You’re growing up, Charlotte. First it’s the date, then it’s the period and now a party.”
    I slapped him on the shoulder. “Please, please, don’t say the word ‘period’ ever again, Daniel. It’s too embarrassing for me,” I said desperately.
    “OK, I won’t use that word again. But you know you can always talk to me, and you can trust me, Charlotte,” he said