Saving Carter

Chapter 10 - Need You Now

Carter is my baby, ok? Okay.

Carter sat on the bench in Central Park, trying to take in more of his surroundings. He felt a pang of sadness as he saw a few couples walking around. On a regular basis, he would have been on a date with Sarah as it was a Saturday or out with his best friend Jordan but neither of those things were possible anymore. It was getting darker but it didn’t bother him as thoughts of Sarah filled his brain.

“Isn’t it pretty?” Sarah asked. Carter looked around at the garden, they were standing in. Sarah had invited him to visit New York with her family and as of now they were walking through a public garden. He had to admit, it was a beautiful garden.

“Yeah it’s great” Carter said, taking hold of her hand as they sat on one of the benches provided.

“Sure is. So what did you want to talk to me about?” she asked. He felt a pang of nervousness when she asked him that. Was this really the right time to tell her?

“Um – well. I don’t know how to say this Sarah” he said, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips when she started playing with his hair.

“Just say it” she said, giving him one of her signature smiles.

“I love you” he blurted out, he looked up at her nervously, waiting for her reaction.

“You do?” she asked, sounding unsure.

“Of course I do” he said, giving her a huge smile. He silently hoped that she would say it back.

“I love you too Carter” she said, pulling him into a hug, he did a fist pump. She loved him back, it was the best feeling in the world.

Just then he felt hid phone vibrate in his pocket, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Hello?” he said into the phone.

“Carter! My man. Everyone’s at Lucky’s house. Where are you?” he heard Nick say. He heard some laughter in the background. He sighed; he wasn’t in the mood to socialize.

“I’m on my way” he said, hesitantly. He didn’t want to go but he knew Nick would know that he had nowhere else to be considering he had no other friends in New York. He got up from the bench and hailed a taxi. Lucky didn’t live too far away from Central Park.

“There you are!” Nick exclaimed happily, wrapping an arm around Carter’s shoulders when he answered the door. Lucky was sitting on the couch between Daniel and Maria. Carter stepped into the house hesitantly, looking around for her brothers.

“There better be a good reason why I’m here” he muttered to Nick so no one else would hear. Nick smirked at him and led him into the kitchen and leaned against the island while Carter took a seat in one of the stools.

“Well you see, Lucky invited us over and she doesn’t have your number so I called you to invite you” Nick said. Carter just wanted to slap that smirk off his face. He was so lucky he was his friend.

“That doesn’t explain why I’m here” he said, cocking one eyebrow.

“Lucky wanted you to come. Don’t you care about Lucky?” Nick asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Carter elbowed Nick in the ribs and he groaned in pain. “That hurt man” he complained.

“Oh well” Carter responded, smirking at Nick and walked into the other room where Lucky, Maria and Daniel were chatting away. He took a seat on the loveseat and smiled at Lucky when she gave him a toothy grin. He tried to shrug off the strange feeling he got when she smiled at him.

“Hi Carter” Lucky and Daniel said simultaneously. They really were twins. He gave them a small, awkward wave and slouched down into the couch.

“So Carter, since you’re on the football team now, I expect you’ll be playing the match next Friday” Daniel said, giving him a hopeful look.

“Yeah, if coach lets me” he said with a shrug, playing with his hands awkwardly.

“Of course he will, you only joined the team two weeks ago and you’re already one of the best players. I guess it’s the Italian roots” Nick said and Carter shrugged. His father had taught him how to play when he was younger but that was the only thing his father ever did for him.

“You might even get to be captain” Daniel said, nudging Carter’s shoulder. He didn’t want captain if it meant interacting with more people than he was comfortable with.

“What about you?” Carter asked, cocking his head to one side.

“I’m already the basketball captain. I can’t be the captain of two teams” he said with a shrug. “Everyone thinks Sam might get captain but I sure hope not.”

“Sam can barely kick a ball” Nick commented with a laugh.

Just then, Lucky walked out the room with Carter staring after her. Had what Daniel said upset her? He didn’t even think about what he was doing before he got up and followed her out. He looked for her all over the house until he saw her leaning against the banister on the balcony.

“Lucky?” he called, since she was facing away from him. When she didn’t turn around, he walked towards her hesitantly and rested a hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him and she noticed her eyes were red as if she was crying or about to cry.  “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah I’m fine. Go away Carter” she said, shrugging his hand off. He shook his head and spun her around to face him.

“Why were you crying?” he asked, feeling genuinely concerned.

“Sam blames everything on me. If he doesn’t become the captain, he’ll blame me” she said, her voice sounding bitter. Why didn’t she just break up with him?

“He sounds like a jerk” Carter said honestly making Lucky laugh.

“He is” she agreed.

“Then why…?” Carter asked, trailing off when Lucky took a step closer, he couldn’t help but take note of how nice she looked when she gave him a small smile, her eyes brightening. Before he could stop himself, he took hold of her hand and he tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and gave her an encouraging smile. He honestly didn’t know what was going on with him.

“I don’t know” she said, her voice sounding nervous all of a sudden. “Thanks for coming out here” she said suddenly, leaning up to peck his cheek, making the blood rush to his face. They stared at each other for a few seconds and before Carter knew what was going on, he was leaning towards her.

“Guys! We’re gonna play a game!” Carter internally groaned when he heard Nick’s voice call for them. He noticed Lucky staring at him strangely. He couldn’t blame her though. He had no idea what he was doing.

“Let’s go” she said. He nodded quickly in agreement and followed her downstairs, trying to forget what had almost happened.

She’s not Sarah.

 

 

Frisky Carter is frisky when he’s ready

So guys I got my exam results! I’m feeling happy cuz I passed everything I wanted to pass. Well I failed one subject but eh. I got my 6/7 passes. I could apply to do my A levels with ease (I like to believe I’m well – behaved so…yeah)

Anyway remember to comment and vote and stuff like that.

My best friend abandoned me to go abroad. Everyone is going to where the real sauces are at and I’m stuck here cuz we didn’t plan a vacation this year but I might go away next year. There’s a plus! WOOT!

Ok. Bye