The Others

Chapter Five

Chuckie's POV

I turned down a corner of the hallway and leaned against the closest wall breathing heavily in and out.

I couldn't do this.

Knowing she was here.

Knowing she was in my class.

Knowing that they were friends.

I sank down the wall and shrivelled into a ball on the concrete, hoping the earth would swallow me up whole.

"Hey Chuckie," the familiar voice spoke.

Shit.

I quickly rose to my feet.

"Oh, hey Yona, what's up?" I said wiping my tears away quickly with the edge of my already soaked tissue.

As she came closer, I became increasingly aware that I had no idea what mood she was in. She stood just a couple of inches away from my face as she caressed my cheek and looked me straight in the eye. I tried not to tremble as I placed my hand on her hand carefully removing it from my own face and linked fingers with her.

"You look like you've been crying. What you doing here?" she said softly running her fingers through my hair with her free hand.

"I... I... thought I'd come and surprise you," I hesitated looking down at the floor.

"You okay?" she frowned, her eyes narrowing.

'You're just so beautiful,' I whispered.

She slowly took her hand from my hair and placed it on my chin, lifting it up.

"Aww babe," she smiled as she leaned closer, grabbed my waist and kissed me on the cheek.

"Call that a kiss?" I grinned as I kissed her lips gently but firmly.

"Rough day?" she questioned as she pulled away.

"You don't know the half of it, but I don't want to talk about it. How's your day been?" I said giving her a kiss on the forehead and taking a step back.

"Ugh, you know same old, same old.." she sighed.

Yona continued speaking but all I could think about was Sav and the fact that I had to find a way to get her out of there. I had promised myself that I would do anything it took to get her out of there. If that meant pretending to be in love with Sav, then that's what I intended to do. I needed her on my good side.

"...isn't that hilarious!" Yona's question snapped me back to reality.

"Oh yeah, totally," I gave a half-hearted answer.

"Come on Chuckie, what's wrong? Why are you acting so strange?" Yona held out her hand to me.

I couldn't let her see through my façade for one second.

"Who is she?" she pushed me off her with some force and took a slow step back.

"Who is who?" I said quizically.

"The girl," her eyebrows furrowed.

"What girl?" I took a step toward her but she backed away further.

"Chuckie, don't play dumb with me... I know," she looked me straight in the eye, her fists clenched.

Shit.

I thought for sure she had heard me talking to Sav.

"I have no idea what you are talking about!" I hid my trembling hands behind my back.

"The girl you are sleeping with? Why else would you be acting this weird!" she was almost shouting now.

"Sleeping with?" I let out a little laugh.

"You think this is funny?" she practically had daggers in her eyes as she lunged towards me and grabbed my arm.

"Hey, hey hey, come on stop. You know there is no girl. I think I'm just in awe of you and how lucky I am to have you by my side," I grabbed her other arm and pulled her close to me.

"You are the one I love," I said pulling her against me and kissing her hard, tasting her smile.

"Oh my, you are a cringe!" she laughed after a few seconds.

It had been a while since we started going out and so I knew how to handle her mood swings quite well now. Everyday was different but I knew the one foolproof way to calm her down.

I pushed her against the wall unzipping her coat and throwing it on the floor. She lifted my top over above my head and started to kiss my neck. I spun her around so that I was the one now against the wall. Our bodies intertwined like a double helix that had just been spun and we moved to the floor. As soon as it was over, she rose from the ground.

"See you later," she said as she bit her lip, ruffled her hair and then walked away, leaving me alone on the cold, hard pavement.

Just a little longer.

For Sav.

I repeated these phrases in mind head as I rose from the ground, dressing up and dusting myself down before pulling out my phone.

***

She wasn't like this in the beginning.

It all started a couple of months ago. I was in town to do my weekly food shop and I had seen a woman at the checkouts trying to pay for some shopping with a credit card that wouldn't go through. She wore a scruffy grey hoodie, with baggy black trousers and white trainers. She had no makeup on and her eyes were a deep shade of red.

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but if you don't have enough money to pay for this you'll have to put some things back," the checkout operator explained as he handed back the credit card to her.

"Oh, you know what, I must have left my other card at home. Can I just put it all back and I'll come back later," she said her face a cracked shade of pale.

"Of course Ma'am, just leave it here with me," the checkout operator smiled.

"Thank you," she gave a weak smile and walked out of the store.

After I had finished paying for my shopping, I wheeled my trolley to my car and started putting things into my boot. I put in the final bag and went to return my trolley back to where all I had got it from at the front of the store. As I was walking to put my trolley in, I could hear a faint crying from a few yards away. I walked around a corner to see what was going on and that's when I saw her sat faced against the wall. She was sitting hugging her legs, mascara running down her face, rocking back and forth.

"Hey, you okay?" I hesitantly walked up to her.

"Uh, yeah, I am," She sniffled and turned around slowly.

"No you're not. What's wrong?" I said placing one hand on her shoulder and squeezing it sympathetically.

She didn't say anything but just burst into tears. I pulled her close to my chest and stroked her hair.

"Hey, come on, let's get you inside yeah?" I said taking her hand and slowly pulling away from her.

"Chuckie?" she spoke after a few minutes.

"Yeah?" I said as we reached the entrance of the library that was opposite the supermarket.

"Thank you," she smiled and squeezed my hand.

There was something about her that made me approach her that day.

Something about her that intrigued me.

Her innocence.

Her down-to-earthness.

I had fallen for her.

She may have been crazy,

Which is why it was so hard for me to betray her.