Charlotte's Tangled Web: L.B. Pavlov Read Online Free PDF Page A

don’t need to look out for me,” he said.
    I stopped and looked at him. “Daniel, you’re the best person that I know. Please don’t say that about yourself. I don’t tell you who to date because I trust you.”
    He sighed. “Of course you do. You are a much better person than I am,” he said, and we both burst out laughing as we walked into our marine biology class.
    The day was going by quickly. Before I knew it, the lunch bell rang. I always sat at Daniel’s lunch table per his insistence, and Steph and Kathleen would sit with me at the end of the table. The rest of the table was full of football players, and we stuck out like a sore thumb. We would laugh about it, but Daniel was relentless about me sitting at his table. I couldn’t deny him this small request when he just wanted to hear about my morning because I liked to hear about his morning as well. Kathleen and Steph didn’t seem to mind sitting with a bunch of cute football players, and they went along with it like good sports.
    Daniel ate like a horse. It was always a topic of conversation at the table. He ate the lunch that Grace would pack him and a hot lunch as well. He was very curious about what I would eat. This had gone on for years, and he constantly questioned whether I had eaten enough. I always joked that he was a worried old man.
    Suddenly I felt a jolt. It was Crystal Bryant, shoving her voluptuous bottom half in between Daniel and I at the lunch table. She squeezed in and put her arm around him. Daniel immediately tensed up. He looked over at me to let me know that he was annoyed, as if to check to see if I was bothered. I gave him a smile and honestly hoped that he would talk to her. If I had made out with a guy a few days before, I would expect him to talk to me. He frowned at me, and I gave him an encouraging look to behave.
    “Hey, Daniel,” she said very enthusiastically.
    “Hey, Crystal, what can I do for you now that you have shoved your ass in between Charlotte and me and disrupted our conversation?” he said, obviously annoyed.
    I tried to ignore their conversation to be respectful, but she was sitting so close to me that it was hard not to listen. However, Steph, Kathleen, and most of the football team all appeared to be listening to this awkward conversation. Sean burst out laughing at what I can only assume was the “ass” comment.
    Crystal was not put off one bit by his comment, and she replied, in her very flirtatious way, “Ohhhh, should I take you commenting on my ass as a good sign?”
    This girl truly oozed sex appeal. For a seventeen-year-old, I found this impressive. Most girls feel awkward and self-conscious at that age, but not Crystal Bryant. Even if you insulted her, she could flip it into a compliment.
    Daniel turned toward her and coolly said, “I wouldn’t.”
    Sean had just taken a sip of water, and he spit it across the table when he heard Daniel’s response. He looked very apologetically at Crystal, as if he just couldn’t control himself. This was probably true because Sean was a genuinely sweet person.
    Crystal snapped at him, “Grow up, Sean,” and then she turned to Daniel. “You know where to find me when you want to talk about my ass some more.” She winked at him and walked away.
    Of course she gave me a big shove with her fleshy bottom as she got up. She looked right at me and said, “Oh, sorry, Charlie. I bet you get that a lot,” and she burst out laughing.
    Daniel glared at her, but I wasn’t too fazed. This was typical Crystal behavior. Daniel and I started laughing as she walked away. “Guess I asked for it, huh?” he said, looking at me with his big smile.
    “You certainly did. Guess you better start thinking about who you choose to make out with from now on,” I said. He winked at me.
    All of a sudden, someone came up and squeezed in at the end of the table across from me. It was Blane. He had jammed himself in right next to Kathleen, who was staring at him as if she was in