Zoey's pov
"Oh Charlotte," I call, unable to keep the mischievous grin off of my face, "come here. I have a surprise for you."
My best friend walks into the room, her eyebrow raised. I point behind me, where Peyton and Jace were sitting on the hotel couch, their Xbox headphones on, completely ignoring everything that wasn't their game.
"Are you serious?" Char asks, crossing her arms over her chest. Her cheeks start to turn red. I laugh and nod. Charlotte rushes forward and grabs my arm, dragging me out of that room, out to the hallway.
"Zoey, why is he here?" She demands, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Because he's Peyton's best friend,"I answer, "And our friend. You should go talk to him."
She shakes her head no miserably, "I can't."
"Yes, you can," I urge.
"No Zoey, I can't. I really can't. I can't talk to him. I get so nervous whenever he's around. If I speak, then I'll say something completely stupid and make a complete fool out of myself. I just can't," Charlotte tells me, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
I was shocked at first. Charlotte is normally really confident. Hardly anything ever scares her. And she was never afraid to say anything. If she wanted to say it, you'd hear it. No matter how much it would hurt your feelings. This was totally unlike her. She must have it really bad.
"Charlotte," I start off gently, "you are the awesomest, most confident, kick-ass girl I know. You can talk to Jace, no problem. You've got this." She bites her lip and nods, but her eyes still seemed nervous and unsure. I figured it was either now or never.
"Jace!" I yell. Charlotte's eyes widen. She turns, ready to run. I grab onto the back of her shirt, gripping it tightly.
"What's up?" Jace calls, removing his headphones.
"Charlotte needs to talk to you!" I shout, struggling to hold my best friend back.
"Okay. Shoot," he says, still focused on the stupid video game.
"No Jace," I say, "like a one on one talk. Alone. In private. Without the video game."
Jace and Peyton let out a collective groan, but hit the pause menu. Peyton saves their game and closes out. Then he shuts off the game system.
"Please don't make me do this, Zoey," Charlotte begs, her eyes pleading with me.
"You got this Char," I reassure her, giving her a quick hug. She doesn't look assured, but stops struggling. Peyton grins at me, knowing exactly what was about to happen. He walks over and pecks my cheek, before intertwining our hands together. The two of us exit the hotel room, leaving our best friends alone to talk. With any luck, the Chace ship will be sailing soon.
