LOVE TO HATE YOU | c. conway

twenty-two

"charlie," she warned again. "you have to get ready. we have to go soon."

he looked up to her eyes. "five minutes. just give me five minutes."

she gulped. she didn't know what to do, their faces so close together now that she could feel his breath on her face. she wanted to kiss him, of course she did. but that was the problem.

was it really a problem? why couldn't she just let herself like him? she wasn't a hawk now, and charlie wasn't just some guy out to annoy her anymore. why did it feel so wrong but so right at the same time?

he must have been able to tell she was overthinking it, because he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

she kissed back, her arms looping around his neck. she reached a hand into his hair, which only made him kiss her harder. his other hand rested on her leg, setting her on edge more than she was already.

"charlie." she mumbled, but he ignored her, kissing her harder.

she pulled back, and he leaned forward, breaking the kiss but still hovering only an inch away. "you have to get ready." she said.

"you're no fun." he said with a grin, before sighing and sitting back up straight. "fine, i'll get ready. im offended that all you can think about while we're making out is me putting more clothes on."

she turned red. "shut up, charlie. we have somewhere to be, we can't just be late because you wanted a kiss."

"why not?" he asked cheekily, starting to finally get ready.

she shook her head and averted her eyes as he began to change, turning back around when he said he was decent.

decent wasn't the word she would have used. he looked incredible; she'd never seen him in a suit before. it was almost funny, seeing him in such a different look than he usually had.

he noticed her suppressed giggles, putting his hands on his hips. "you laughing at me, drea?"

she shook her head. "no, i promise. you look good. just laughing cause i've never seen you in a suit before."

he gently grabbed her hands, pulling her to stand. "ready to go?"

she nodded. "ready as i'll ever be."

rick had assured her that she didn't need to bring her wallet because the varsity seniors were paying, since she was technically a freshmen despite being on varsity. but just in case, she'd brought it along, which she would later be very grateful for.

on the ride there, charlie sat in the back seat with her, smiling at her as she conversed with his mother as she drove them.

when they arrived at the restaurant, andrea got out of the car, looking up at the fancy building nervously.

charlie got out behind her, slipping his hand into hers. she didn't remember when she'd made the switch from not letting him come near her to letting him kiss her and hold her hands, but she was too nervous to care.

"you okay?" he asked.

she shrugged. "i don't know. i just kind of have a bad feeling. places like this aren't really my scene."

he gently began to lead her into the restaurant, his eyes focused on her. "it'll be fine. it's just for an hour, then we can leave."

they walked in, being almost the last ones there. everyone was seated, greeting the two as they sat down.

two seats had been saved for them, andrea sitting in between charlie and rick, which made her nervous. the two didn't exactly get along, and she had a connection to both of them. rick was her team captain, and charlie... well, she didn't even know what to call she and charlie.

most of the dinner went well, surprisingly. even though it was a little bit tense, varsity seemed to be making an effort to be nice, and andrea enjoyed talking to her friends again without worrying that someone would be upset at her.

after most everyone had finished eating, rick stood, holding his drink in hand. "on behalf of the eden hall warrior varsity state champion hockey team, i'd like to welcome the future state champs, the eden hall freshmen. here here."

the jv team smiled, looking around at each other as they raised their drinks as well. "here here!"

"we're just glad you loaned us banksie and andy so that we'd have a chance to beat you guys in the annual freshmen-varsity show down." rick continued.

adam looked down awkwardly, and andrea could tell something was wrong. he almost looked guilty.

before she could dwell on it, rick spoke up again. "now, nobody move. we've got one last surprise. fellas?"

andrea frowned. she hadn't been informed about a surprise. the varsity team began to stand, presumably to go get this 'surprise.'

rick placed a hand on her back. "come on, andy."

hesitantly, she stood, following her teammates as rick kept his hand on the top of her back, making sure she followed them. but as they stepped outside of the restaurant and neared their cars, andrea stopped.

"what are you doing?" she asked, confused as they began to climb into their seats and start their fancy cars.

"leaving. isn't it obvious? the waiters are bringing them the bill and a little message from us right now." rick asked. he grabbed her arm, continuing to lead her to his car. "now get in, come on."

she ripped her arm away from him. "you're leaving them to pay? what the hells wrong with you! you said it was on you, they didn't bring any money!"

"yes, andrea, that's the point. now let's go."

she shook her head, stepping back. "i'm not going anywhere with you. i hope you have a great night, rick."

she turned around, walking back into the restaurant. she deflated as she noticed the ducks being led by employees to mops and window cleaning sprays, no doubt forcing them to work to make up their bill.

they all sent her looks as she walked in, but she headed straight for charlie, who was angrily scrubbing dishes.

"charlie-" she tried to say.

"what?" he spat, angrily turning to her. "why are you even here, shouldn't you be with your new favourite person, rick?"

"i don't like rick!" she argued. "i don't know where you got that from! i came back because i realized what they were doing, and i wanted to help."

"we don't need your help. you're one of them now. i saw you with rick, getting into his car. what the hell is that about, jones?"

her eyes widened. had he just called her jones? he hadn't done that since when she still didn't like him.

"i got in his car because you guys destroyed our stuff during practice! i was upset, so was he, so we went to get food. that's all it was, charlie."

"the only reason they did that is because he threw our clothes into the shower while we had practice!"

she crossed her arms. "well how was i supposed to know that? im sorry charlie, i didn't know he was going to do this. can you please just let me help?"

"forget it." he said, his eyes harshly set on the plates in front of him.

she could feel herself starting to tear up. "but, what about before the restaurant? we were fine an hour ago, we were great an hour ago! what's with the attitude now?"

"there is no we, andrea! you made that clear. now, just leave. none of us want you here." he said.

she sighed, pulling out her wallet and handing him everything she had. "fine. i'll leave. just, take this, alright? i know it won't even cover half of the bill, but maybe it'll take a couple hours of work off of you guys."

with that, she turned and left, hoping to find a phone she could use to find a ride home.

AUTHOR SPEAKS!

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