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I remember the day I met him so vividly. I can just close my eyes and picture it. Every tiny detail from what we were both wearing down to what flowers were in bloom in the garden. It was a scorching hot summer’s day so I had been wandering around the house in shorts and a vest, my hair sticking to my sweaty forehead, feeling the cold floor underneath my bare floor. My father had called me outside to meet someone. I had originally refused, claiming it to be far too hot for anyone to be out in the sun. I had never been happier that he insisted for me to come out. Because that’s when I saw him.
He was trying and failing to hide behind his father. He was short for a 10-year-old. I don’t think he has actually grown much since then. You would have hardly seen him standing behind the towering figure of his father if it hadn’t been for the fact that his father was trying to pull him to stand in front of him. Even then he was incredibly shy. He didn’t like new people and would do anything he could to avoid being around them but once you got to know him, he could talk your ear off. I knew he was nervous to meet me. Anybody could tell that by his body language. He was visibly shaking.
‘Austin, this is Donovan Summers. He’s going to be working in the garden from now on.’ My father said as I walked over. ‘And this is his son. He’s around your age so I thought it might be good for you two to spend some time together.’
‘Please, call me Don. Charlie, introduce yourself.’ Don gently nudged his son forward. Even though it was one of the hottest days of the year, he still had a hoodie on. Red curls peeked out from underneath his hood and slightly covered his bright emerald eyes. I noticed him sneak a glance at me before going back to staring at the ground, his freckled cheeks turning as red as his hair.
I was used to people reacting to me like that even then. People were always telling me how good looking I was, fawning over me and blushing whenever I looked their way. I thought it was hilarious the way people acted around me. I was 10 after all and was constantly being told by kids my age that they had a crush on me. With Charlie though it was different. He was the only one who hadn’t immediately tried to get close to me and that just made me like him more. I didn’t want him to be uncomfortable around me. I wanted to be his friend more than anything in the world.
‘Hi.’ I grinned at him.
‘Charlie, say hi.’ Donovan rested his hand on his son’s shoulder. ‘Sorry, he’s a little shy. Prefers the company of a book to a person any day.’
‘You like reading?’ I asked excitedly. Charlie stood still for a moment before nodding hesitantly. ‘Could I show him the library?’ I glanced between my father and his.
‘As long as it’s alright with Charlie’s dad, it’s alright with me.’ My father looked over Don’s direction who quickly nodded his approval. ‘Charlie will most likely be over here with his dad a lot so it’ll be good if you two got along.’
‘Come on then.’ I grinned at Charlie before grabbing onto his hand and racing off down the path towards the house, dragging him behind me. He had obviously not expected me to grab his hand like that.
‘Slow down Austin!’ I heard my father shout as we flew through the patio doors. ‘You don’t need to run everywhere!’
I muttered angrily under my breath as I reluctantly slowed down to a walk to allow Charlie to catch up, still clutching tightly onto his hand.
‘Guess we’re only allowed to walk in this house.’ I pulled him closer to my side before dropping his hand as we headed up the stairs towards the library. I scanned the room around me as we went up to make sure my mother hadn’t arrived home yet. I don’t think she would have like the image of me wandering around the house, shoulder to shoulder with a stranger.
‘You really don’t talk much, do you?’ I glanced over at Charlie
‘Not to people I don’t know.’ He said quietly.
I suddenly stopped in my tracks and held out my hand to him. ‘I’m Austin Isaac.’
‘I know who you are.’
‘Then I don’t see why you can’t talk to me if you know who I am.’ I smirked. Charlie opened his mouth to protest before realising he had no good argument and quickly closed it. ‘Let’s go. I need to show you this library.’ I continued down the corridor, Charlie following close behind. ‘Do you want to tell me everything else about yourself? Help me to feel more comfortable talking with someone I don’t know.’
‘There’s not really anything interesting about me.’ Charlie shrugged.
‘I’m sure that’s not true. I’ll find something out about you and I am positive that it’ll be interesting.’ I came to an abrupt halt in the front of the library door. It was incredibly tall and made of oak with an ornate carving of a tree on it. I loved to stand there and trace the design with my finger.
‘Are we just going to stand here all day?’
‘Oh look who’s got an attitude all of a sudden.’ I laughed as I pushed the door open.
I grinned at the look of wonder that appeared on Charlie’s face as we stepped into the room. Charlie’s eyes lit up as he gazed at the enormous room before him. The walls were lined with shelves and shelves of books of various genres. The middle of the room was taken up by a large grey c-shaped sofa covered in throws and a colourful array of pillows of all shapes and sizes. A long white desk sat against the far wall below a grand window. Piles of paper were stacked upon it that I knew to be unfinished homework and the script for my next movie. Charlie wandered over to one of the shelves and ran his finger along the spines of the books, stopping every now and then when a title caught his eye.
‘I take it you like it then.’
‘It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.’ Charlie turned round to look at me, a big grin on his face. ‘You’re so lucky to have this in your house.’
‘Well you can come in here whenever you like. And you can borrow whatever books you want to. I presume you’ll find at least a few you’d like.’
‘Really?’
‘Of course. No one really comes in here except me and my father occasionally so you won’t have to deal with anyone you don’t know.’ I reassured him. ‘I do homework a lot in here so I can protect you in the off chance that someone does come in.’ I grabbed onto his hand again to pull him to sit beside me on the sofa.
‘You know you’re nothing like I thought you would be.’
‘I don’t know whether to be offended by that or not.’ I said, a confused look on my face. I leaned back on the sofa to be able to get a better look at Charlie as we talked.
‘Please don’t be.’ Charlie said quickly. ‘I mean it as a good thing. You’re a lot nicer than I expected.’
‘What? Did you expect me to be horrible or something?’ I tried to laugh it off to hide how hurt I was. I mean by then I was used to people thinking that I was some mean, stuck-up brat but it felt different coming from Charlie. He was so quiet and polite. You had to be a complete monster to be nasty towards him. It was like shouting at a kitten. A very cute, fluffy kitten, not one of those weird hairless ones.
‘You’ve been so kind to me.’ Charlie turned to face me. ‘I could never think you were horrible.’
‘I’m glad to hear that. I know what the media makes me out to be like. An awful human being.’
‘I’d say you’re definitely the opposite of that.’ Charlie smiled shyly at me. ‘A lot of those photos are probably taken out of context. Plus, it’s hard to understand someone’s personality through some pictures online.’
‘Has anyone ever told you that you’re incredibly smart?’
‘My dad but I don’t think that counts.’
‘Well you are Charlie. I bet your friends are forever getting you to help them do their homework.’
‘Don’t have any.’ Charlie mumbled.
‘That cannot be true!’
‘It kinda is.’ Charlie wriggled about in his seat as he awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck. ‘I’m just the weird kid that would much rather sit in the corner alone with a book than talk to anyone. No one wants to be friends with me.’
‘I do.’
‘What?!’ Charlie suddenly started coughing loudly as I reached out and gently rubbed his back. ‘Sorry, sorry. It’s just you’re… you.’
‘I’m me?’ I asked with a raised eyebrow.
‘You’re famous and popular and you could be friends with anyone you want to.’
‘Yeah, and I want to be friends with you. This is the longest conversation I’ve had with someone that wasn’t my parents or someone that I was working with in a long time. Most likely my longest conversation ever.’ I sat quietly as I studied Charlie. His facial expression was a mixture of confusion and glee. ‘I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you.’
‘I’ve enjoyed spending time with you too.’ Charlie grinned.
I don’t think either of us at that time realised how good of friends we would become. He was my first genuine friend and I’m pretty sure I was his too. We spent every minute he was at my house together. Charlie would help me with catching up on my schoolwork and I would help to try and build his confidence. He had better luck at his job than I did. He liked who he liked and that was good enough for him. And as long as he was happy, I didn’t care if he didn’t talk to anyone but me. In fact, I liked that a little bit. It meant he had more time to spend with me. Just being around him made me happy. I often found myself begging my parents to let him stay over so I could see him for even just a few more hours. The best times were when my mother was away and my father would let him sleep over. The fun we had. It was some of the happiest times of my life. Just me and my best friend.
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