Charlie lingered in the door to the AV closet, watching Ronni as she placed a projector onto one of the shelves. Ronni was a junior who had started working with the AV department earlier that year. She had straight black hair and always wore glasses with dark frames. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, with an unbuttoned black flannel shirt over the t-shirt.
Back towards the beginning of the year, Dinesh had asked her if she ever wore dresses. "I do," she said. "But not very often, and when I do, everyone says, 'Hey, you're wearing a dress today'. That makes me feel like not wearing them."
Charlie had never seen her in a dress. But he had a feeling she would look good in one.
"Okay," she said, looking at the shelves of equipment in the AV closet. "I think that's everything signed in and put away. You have anything else that needs to be done?"
"No, that's it," Charlie said. "But actually, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about..."
She gazed at him expectantly. "What's up?"
Charlie fidgeted. "You know the prom is next month... are you going?" Pine Hills only had one prom each year, with all the juniors and seniors invited.
A smile flickered at the edge of Ronni's mouth as she shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't decided."
"Well...would you ever want to go to the prom with me? I mean... we could go together. If you want."
Ronni grinned. "With you? Sure, Charlie. I'll go with you."
"Great!" Charlie smiled. He moved to the side of the doorway so she could step out of the closet. For a moment, as Ronni passed near him, he thought he could smell the slight scent of perfume on her.
The same perfume that Michelle liked to wear! Charlie started to open his mouth, to ask Ronni the name of the perfume. What a coincidence, that the two girls wore the same perfume!
But before he could speak and make a fool of himself, he realized it was just his imagination. It was lavender. Ronni used a hand creme that smelled like lavender; he'd seen her use it. She said she had dry hands. That's what he was smelling. Lavender. Nothing like Michelle's perfume.
Charlie looked over at a sound board on one of the shelves. THE sound board. The sight of it tempted him into falling into that memory, the memory he had started to think of as the Third Michelle. He looked away instead. Ronni was speaking to him and he focused on her voice as he turned off the light switch, letting the closet go dark. He closed the closet door and locked it.
***
Daryl had talked to him, the Monday after the Second Michelle. When Charlie arrived at his Euro Lit class, he found the guard waiting for him outside the door. "Charlie! Hold up a minute!" The guard pulled him to the side.
Daryl pitched his voice low. "Hey... I wanted to talk to you about Saturday."
Charlie shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah. I'm really sorry..."
Daryl chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I'm not gonna pretend I didn't enjoy getting some attention from your lovely lady. She's a wild one, no doubt. But no more of it, okay? I can't be involved in what you got going. I got a job to do." He fell silent as two girls passed by, then continued, "I can't be seen as being involved with any of the students here, in any kind of way. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah. Right. Sorry."
"Cool. See you later, Charlie." The guard started to walk away.
"Did you tell her the same thing?" Charlie asked quickly.
Daryl paused. "No... I haven't talked to your girl. I was hoping you would relay the message for me. Okay?"
"
Sure. I'll tell her."
Daryl gave him a thumbs up and walked away.
But Charlie didn't tell Michelle anything. He didn't talk to her at all. This time around, he knew what to expect, and when he saw her in the hall, he walked by without even looking at her. He pretended like he didn't know her. Just like before.
Unlike the First Michelle, the Second Michelle had left him with some souvenirs. He had the paper with the heart drawn on it, which he folded carefully and stored in the top drawer of his desk at home. He also had a pile of Michelle's clothes, an outfit of hers which he had never actually witnessed her wearing. Black blouse and skirt, blue bra and panties. At home, he separated each of the garments on his bed, thinking to himself that if his mom ever discovered them, he would definitely have some explaining to do.
The clothing almost made him confront Michelle. He considered throwing the garments in a paper bag and taking them to school. He would walk right up to Michelle. "Here!" he would say as he passed her the bag. "You forgot these the other day!"
And then what? He could picture her response clearly. She would look uncomfortable. She would take the bag and say, "Oh, thanks." Then she would leave him standing there. She would hurry to hide the bag in her locker. That would be the end of the interaction.
Better to keep the clothes. He hadn't known at the time that the Third Michelle would happen, but he still imagined that if it ever did, he would ask her what to do with the clothes then. Charlie carefully arranged the outfit on his bed, placing the bra inside the blouse and the panties inside the skirt. He moved each item on the bed to where he thought they would be if she was wearing them, laying on his bed. He could picture her there, wearing the sexy outfit, waiting for him with that impish look in her eyes. Charlie picked up his camera and panned slowly over the clothes.
Another shot to add to his project.