Belle of the Brawl Read Online Free PDF

midnight moon. “Do it for Allie.” Pressing her lips together in a determined line, Charlie pushed open the iron gate of the hybrid garden and headed for the glass structure at its center.
    The greenhouse flickered from the outside, and when Charlie walked through the door, she saw something written in red, pink, white, and orange peony petals. She squinted down at it in the dim glow of the candles, reminding herself to be strong and stick to her plan.

    Darwin stepped out of the shadows. “Like it?”
    Charlie grinned, her coffee-brown eyes locked with Darwin’s hazel ones in an eye-embrace that felt as comfortable as flannel sheets. She curled her toes and kept her feet planted, fighting her instinct to run over to him and wrap her arms around his ropy shoulders. Suddenly, a wave of paranoia washed over her, and she shook her head slightly to try to flick it away. What if Allie had heard her and was lurking in the garden somewhere, spying on them?
    Charlie’s throat felt like it was stuffed with tube socks.
Now or never.
Resolved to put the brakes on Darwin’s speeding car, she rushed over to the rose petal heart and scraped her feet across it, scattering the petals in the dirt.
    Darwin looked at her confused.
    “I’m sorry, Darwin, but…” She paused, looking at the petal-strewn grass. “I can’t.”
    “What? I don’t understand….” Darwin’s voice was husky, strangled with hurt. “You heard my mom tonight. We don’t have to hide anymore.” He walked over to Charlie and pushed a sun-bleached thatch of hair out of his face, then moved to grab her hand in his.
    But Charlie twisted her hand out of his grasp. “We can’t.
I
can’t.” Charlie couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye after getting the words out, so she stared miserably at the burgundy tips of his Pumas and swallowed hard. “I can’t risk hurting Allie.”
    Darwin reached out and cupped Charlie’s chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. His eyes, normally calmer than the Caribbean Sea, were glassy with emotion. “You’re telling me you’re choosing Allie’s feelings over mine? After everything that’s happened—”
    “I’ve never had a real friend before, Darwin,” she said, as if that explained everything. Because in a way, it did.
    Charlie was practically shaking now, just like the flames of the candles, their reflection dancing on the glass walls of the greenhouse. She took a rose-filled breath and went on. “She was so upset tonight, Darwin. You should have seen her.”
    “Charlie, the girl impersonated a celebrity and lied to the whole school for three weeks! How deep can her feelings be? She’ll get over this. Remember when Mel had acrush on that bossa nova singer in Sao Paulo? He still can’t listen to jazz, but he discovered country and fell for Taylor Swift. Allie will discover… country, too,” he finished lamely, probably realizing his analogy made no sense.
    Or did it?
    Charlie was about to tell him this wasn’t the same thing at all… that Allie was different… that she couldn’t just distract her with someone else… when she realized: Maybe she
could
.
    “That’s it.” A smile broke across her face like a lightning bolt.
    “What?”
    “Mel! Allie should hook up with Mel!” Charlie paced around one of the rosebud-covered tables, twirling a mahogany curl around her finger the way she always did when she needed to concentrate. A smile began to spread across her lips. Allie looked a whole lot like Mel’s Brazilian crush. Same dark blond waves, same tan, same dramatic blue eyes. And from everything Allie had told her about Fletcher, Mel was
exactly
her type. He was into clothes and shopping, he was objectively adorable by anyone’s standards, and he was just unattainable enough to keep Allie’s interest. If Allie fell for Mel, she wouldn’t care that Charlie and Darwin were an item again. And maybe, just maybe, Mel would prove to be Allie’s soul mate the way Darwin was Charlie’s. It was a