Alice

3

The only way for me to get to the food court from my biology class is if I pass by the football field. So, like usual, I do. But there's something different. Usually, the football team is outside doing drills or practicing. Today no one is on the field. But someone is sitting on the top of the bleachers. From here, I can see his hair - a beautiful chocolate brown. His head is down, and he looks like he's looking down at his phone. My feet start moving again. Except this time, it's towards the bleachers. Now that I'm closer, I know who it is. Charlie Danvers. I've never spoken to him before, but I know he's in my psychology class. He's not much of a talker - I've only seen him talk to a few people in school. And here he was, sitting on top of the bleachers alone.

I start climbing the stairs next to the seats until I'm at the top and I move down to the middle. He hasn't raised his head or acknowledged my presence so I sit down next to him and wait. His brown hair is messy as if he'd just gotten out of bed. His phone is in his right hand and the screen is black, but he's staring at it anyway.

I clear my throat and push my hair away from my face.

He raises his head and looks at me, his eyes meeting mine.

"I'm Alice," I smile brightly, extending my hand towards him.

He raises an eyebrow and stares at my hand for a few moments before slowly taking it into his own and shaking it gently.

"Charlie."

"Are you always sitting by yourself?" I ask, looking out into the area. You can see the entire football field from the top of the bleachers, I realize. I usually sit down closer to the field when I go to games.

"Most days."

"On the days you're not sitting by yourself, you're with friends?"

He just looks at me.

I bite down on my lip. "You look kind of lonely. I want to assume you have friends."

He chuckles. "I have friends, Alice. I'm not some loner."

"I didn't think you were," I reply quickly. "I've seen you around before, but I don't really remember seeing you with anyone else."

"I have friends," he repeats, a little slower this time.

"Okay."

"That why you came over here?" He looks out into the field. "You think I'm lonely?"

"I saw you sitting here by yourself. Just thought you wouldn't mind some company," I shrug.

"I mind."

I frown and turn my head to look at him. He's not looking at me, but even from the side he looks good. Strong jawline, soft-looking hair, and dark eyes. I frown when I see the faint outline of a healed scar by his eye.

Instead of asking him about it, I respond to his statement. "You do?"

He turns his head, his eyes meeting mine. There was so much emotion behind them. So much depth. His lips turn upward slightly but then his face was back to being neutral. He tilts his head to the side, as if considering my question.

Then, finally, "No, I guess I don't."

I smile. "I saw that."

"Saw what?"

"You smiled."

He frowns. "No, I didn't."

"Okay, but it was like a ghost of a smile," I clarify, shrugging. "You kind of smiled."

He mutters something under his breath. I ask him to repeat that, but he just shakes his head and stands. "I'm going to get something to eat. So by—"

"Oh, great!" I smile again and stand. "I was headed to the food court. Let's go!"

He sighs. "I was just going to get a pizza from some place, so—"

"I like pizza." I walk to the end of the bleachers and start walking down the steps. I glance back to see that he hasn't moved. "You coming?"

He mumbles an affirmative and follows behind me. I reach the bottom of the bleachers and start walking towards Benny's, the best pizza restaurant near campus. Charlie walks not too far behind me, his hands shoved in his pockets. I glance back at him and our eyes meet. There was something about him. His composition and the way he looks. Something intriguing.

"You always this happy?" I ask sarcastically, looking ahead to watch where I was going.

He doesn't reply.

"I know it sounds like it was, but that wasn't rhetorical," I try again.

Again no response.

Sighing, I stop and turn around. He bumps into me, and I nearly fall back but he grabs my arm and steadies me. "What the fuck?"

"Sorry," I murmur, blushing.

"The fuck did you stop for?"

I licked my lips. "You were ignoring me. In some places, that's considered rude."

He rolls his eyes. "You were the one who invited yourself to eat with me."

I opened my mouth and closed it. I bit down on my lip and nodded. "Right. Sorry to intrude."

Shaking my head, I turn and walk off in the opposite direction, towards the food court. I don't even know why I tried to talk to him. I barely know him and he obviously doesn't want me around. I can't help this feeling gnawing at me. The way he acted towards me bothered me. He was cold. I shook off the feeling and rolled my eyes at myself. Stop being stupid, I reprimanded myself. You don't even know the guy. So what if he doesn't want you around him?

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and pulled it out. "Parker?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm headed to the food court."

"Good. We're here. Cara's high on caffeine and if she doesn't sit the fuck down and relax, I'm going to hit her. Who drinks – shut up, Cara, I didn't ask you – who drinks four cups of coffee in less than two hours?"

I chuckle. "She does."

"Yeah, she does. And her energy is draining me out."

"I should be there in a few."

"Hurry up. Didn't your class end fifteen minutes ago?" she mumbles. "It doesn't take that long to get here."

I instinctively look back, but he was walking off. "I just...got caught up."

Sorry it's so short! I just wanted to get this up because I don't know when the next update will be. I hope it's okay, despite the length. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote and maybe comment.