String of Fate

Chapter Thirty Five

I shut down my laptop and headed up to my bed. I put my phone on charge and took a look at the MP3 player, expecting rain sounds. There were a bunch of different categories, including rain sounds on there, but there were also some songs by Charlotte. There were roughly thirty in total. Some were well known and others that I had never heard of. I didn't even know that she covered songs, let alone that she kept them on her MP3 player.

I clicked on a song, listening to it for a little bit. I realised that Charlotte had an amazing voice. The song was relaxing and made me feel like going to sleep. I went into the full list of songs and scrolled through them all, finding a really weird mixture. I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to listen to, so, I put all the music onto shuffle. I messed with the volume on the MP3 player and then rolled onto my side to try and get to sleep.

The next morning, I felt like it was the best night's sleep that I had ever had. I felt refreshed and energetic when I woke up. I checked the MP3 player and I noticed that I hadn't even made it to the relaxing songs, either. I had listened to all of Charlotte's songs through the night. She was a brilliant singer, and wished that I had known this about here before. Even though we were close, it seemed like I didn't actually know her that well at all.

I stretched and noticed the red string on my finger. It took me a moment to remember that it was Charlotte's birthday. I couldn't help but think that she was she at the end of my string? I felt like I needed to find out immediately. This couldn't wait.

I climbed out of bed and quickly dressed, pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Then, my alarm went off. I glanced at my phone, wondering what time it was. Then I looked at my phone screen and realised that it was my alarm to leave the house. I had forgotten to set the alarm to wake up to.

I cursed myself because I had to go to college now otherwise I was going to miss my bus and be ridiculously late. I might be lucky to see Charlotte on the way, but I really doubted it since she usually left for school a little later than me.

I headed quickly from the house, walking straight in the direction of the bus stop. I couldn't help but glance in the direction of Charlotte's flat and noticed that there was no one between my front door and hers, but the string did lead that way. I felt like Charlotte was the one at the end of my string, but I wouldn't be able to find out until later.

Hopefully I could see her before the meal. She would be home before me anyway since her school finished before my college lessons did. It would probably be the longest day of my life, though.

After college, I went via one of the stores near the college and bought a nice present for Charlotte ofr her birthday. When I got back to my flat, I didn't see Charlotte either, but I did notice that the string did lead to her flat again. I headed into my flat, dumping my backpack into my room before deciding what I had to do, pacing my room again. I had to see if Charlotte was at the end of my string, but I didn't know if I should go over to her flat. I should probably wait until her parents picked me up for the meal.

I still felt like it was going to be a long wait until the meal. Hopefully, it would go well, and hopefully Charlotte was actually at the end of my string. I still felt like I needed to find out. At that moment, my mother came home with some shopping and she dragged me into the kitchen to help put all the shopping away, so, I couldn't actually go and follow my string.

Once all the shopping had been put away, I checked the time and noticed that it was already nearly half past six. It was time for me to head to Charlotte's anyway. I guess it was the moment of truth. It was the moment that I was going to find out if Charlotte was at my string or not. I took a deep breath and decided that I needed to go to Charlotte's to see her.

I had just finished writing the card and slipping it into the gift back with the present when the door went. My mother headed over to open the door, and I could see that it was Charlotte standing there. I headed over to the door, too, and I had to look at her hand straight away to see if there was a string there.

Sure enough, the string was there. I don't know if she noticed that I was at the end of it. Charlotte saw me and smiled. "Hey, Joseph, I'm so sorry but I just realised that I'd put some of my songs on the MP3 player, too. I'll take them off for you and you can try again tomorrow, if that's okay."

"Happy birthday, Charlotte. It's fine. It was the best night's sleep that I'd had in a long while and I actually only listened to your songs. You have such an amazing voice." I answered, smiling at her. She looked surprised at what I said. I guess she hadn't expected me to like her music. "I was coming to find you, too. We're meant to be going for the meal, aren't we? I wanted to check something, too, though. Now that I have, I just want to say that I'm glad that it's you at the end of my string."

"Really?" She wondered, looking at our hands. "That's wonderful news."

"Thank goodness for that." I noted, pulling her to me and kissing her. Then, I smiled down at her, drinking in the sight of her. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She answered.