Capítulo 57: The confession

Athanasia was stunned. Uh...This wasn't a reaction she expected? Sure, Adelia and Willow's speechlessness was understandable, but why did her own brother look like he had seen a ghost?

The silence continued for about 5 minutes. It was so awkward that even the measly 5 minutes felt like 5 years. Finally, Charlie found his voice and asked, "Sister...What on earth are you saying? I, I like, t-that ? Is there some kind of misunderstanding here?"

Athanasia sighed at his attempt to cover up. "No need to lie now, Charlie. I already said it. You don't need to hide anymore. I know you like Adelia. In fact, I knew from the day you told me your hopeless crush transferred to your class." She smiled sadly as she explained, "Sister is a lot smarter than you think. The only ones who transferred that day were the Astor siblings. From then on...I kind of knew you liked Adelia."

"..." Oh god. He didn't even know his sister had such a misconception. So that's why Willow disappeared that day instead of that bug! Because his sister thought his crush was the bug!

Charlie had a feeling that things will only worsen if his sister continued speaking. He grabbed her arm and tried to stop her. "Wait, sis-"

Athanasia brushed off his hand and continued in a loud voice, "No, Charlie, you wait. You chased long enough. I think it's about time you confessed."

"Since I already said this much, I will help you say it."

She turned to Adelia and announced, "Adelia Astor, my brother likes you. Would you like to date him?"

"...Uh, this is a little awkward." Just as Adelia was about to launch into a speech of a righteous and polite beauty about how she just thinks of him as a friend and how she's sorry that she can't reciprocate his feelings, Charlie held up a hand to stop her.

He could feel Willow's gaze on him. Charlie couldn't take it anymore. This whole misunderstanding...It had to end. And the best way to counter a misconception was explain the truth.

"I'll tell the truth now. I've been hiding it for far too long. Sister, I don't like Adelia. That's all a misunderstanding on your part."

Charlie's tone was firm, implying his honesty. Athanasia was stunned. Did she really misunderstand?

"-But Charlie, didn't you say your crush came to your class?"

"Yes, I did. And I wasn't lying when I said that."

Charlie turned to look at the boy beside him. Generally, he'd become very nervous even at the thought of confessing. In every one of his dreams, he imagined himself as a nervous wreck as he tried to say it, his words an incomprehensible mess. But strangely, he didn't feel any nervousness now. He wasn't even stuttering.

Charlie didn't know where the confidence came from. Maybe it was because of the fact that he felt just how helpless he'd be in the future if he remained just a 'friend' and someone like Claude approached Willow again.

Or maybe it was because of Willow, who helped him even in the moments when he was being accused. He...He just knew Will would never leave him.

"Willow Astor, I like you. I've liked you since the day we first met. Would you like to go out with me?"