Charlie looked at the cat-clock suspiciously as it's beady eyes searched the room, he held his bucket with both hands and sighed as he heard someone move off the bed. The nurse eventually came back from talking to the office aides, she smacked her gum before grabbing the SureTemp from her desk and asking Charlie to open his mouth.
She waited for the small machine to buzz, the stick indulged itself into the bottom of Charlie's tongue. He wanted to take the stick out from his mouth but he gulped the saliva forming in the back of his throat and waited. It finally buzzed and he immediately opened his mouth.
"You're fine," she looked down at the small box while pressing the button to take off the part he had used. "Go get an ice pack."
What the hell is an ice pack supposed to do?
He stood up anyway and got one. He thought of where to put it before awkwardly putting it on his stomach and setting down the bucket on the floor.
Sigrid groaned in distaste as she moved on the uncomfortable bed in the back side of the nurse's office. He turned in her direction, the nurse was writing their referrals, "In ten minutes go back to class, for now go lay down for a little."
He walked to the back and opened the curtains of the other bed, Sigrid's curtain was open and she was staring at the roof in boredom, pensive as well and her mouth moved slightly like a murmur when she thought of what to say. Charlie left his curtains open and laid down as well. He sighed lightly before looking over at her.
He bit on his bottom lip as he watched her cheeks go pink. She didn't want to turn in his direction, she was too embarrassed to. She wiped the corner of her mouth, suddenly feeling insecure and he mirrored her movements.
After a few seconds he gave up trying to get her to look at him and turned his head to look at the roof, the room was spinning from the movement. He put the ice pack behind his head and closed his eyes, it reminded him of the wind that gave him goosebumps the night before. He smiled to himself.
"I can't believe I thought that was a good idea," he finally let out with a laugh. "I mean come on we kissed once—no twice and I went in front of everyone to tell you how much I've been fantasizing about holding your hand since the first day we met."
"Twice is a big deal, Charlie."
She looked over at him and gave a small smile, "Who knows? It could've been my first kiss."
He pursed his lips before sighing, "And that doesn't bother you? I could've stolen that from you and your first kiss should be something monumental."
"Of course it didn't bother me. It wasn't my first kiss, it wasn't your first kiss. It was...good. I'm sure you quite enjoyed it," he was acting weird and she wondered if that's how she acted toward him on the days that she didn't feel like putting her guard down. "Does it bother you? I mean...am I wrong and it was your first?"
He took out the poem that he had unknowingly shoved in his pocket when he walked himself to the nurse's office, "No," he answered shortly but his tongue jabbed the side of his cheek. Signaling her that he was lying. She sighed and sat up on the bed. He curiously watched her sudden movements before quickly sitting as well once she had made herself comfortable.
"Look, I know one moment we were at each other's shirts fighting about the name-calling and who Theresa prefers—which is still me by the way—and then the next moment I was attacking you with the wind in my face because I got scared I was going to get rid of the only thing I was sure of," she bit her bottom lip as she wanted to retract her words. "You kissed me the first time, I'm assuming, out of the pure desire too because I was just in front of you and I gave you the chance. I know that," she looked down at her hands.
"I wanted you to kiss me and I reacted for a moment before I got scared. I always get scared. I always think of how something could go wrong and other shit I shouldn't be thinking about. But I do, I fucking do and all I feel is that hand around my throat."
"What are you so scared of?" He tried to joke but she glared up at him, "I'd never put you in situations you wouldn't want to be in, I'll stop running away from things that scare me too. I don't understand why you're so...angry at me all the time."
"I'm not angry," she roughed out before peaking over to see if the nurse was eavesdropping, she wasn't even in the office anymore so she went over to his side and sat on the bed.
"It might seem like I am, I've been told I could be kind of a bitch when I talk. Most times it's because I'm not thinking, or maybe I'm thinking too much to the point where the tone completely dissolved. But I'm not mad. Charlie, have you ever done anything to make me mad?"
He shrugged, "Isn't that why we're so conflicted over this? I bully you, you stomp around like a toddler, and then pinch my ears until I have to call my mom to tell her about you?"
"You gossip with your mom about me?"
"Besides the point," his cheeks went red as he tried to fly over the topic. "I've done plenty to get you mad, I don't even know why you like me back. Or if you do for that fact."
"Charlie, if everyone was so worried on whether or not someone liked them we would all lose our friendships within a few hours. I don't know why you like me but I respect that one day you will tell me, that might be in a few minutes that might be in a few years when you're off at Stanford and I'm baking cookies for Christmas dinner," if I had a quarter for every time I rambled I could pay off Theresa. "Sure you get me mad some times but I already passed the two day mark, I already passed the two weeks, in a matter of time it could be two years or two decades. I'm staying...and no matter how many times you get me mad, there's nowhere to run except toward you."
"Yeah, and the hills," he said to himself. He put the paper in her hands and closed her fist for her, the paper made a crumbling sound and then he stood up, "I want you to have that...so that in a couple years when I'm off at Princeton making sure that school shuts down because its too expensive, you could open some memory box and think of that one boy who told you he loved you after one good night. Maybe I would've matured a little more and won't brood when you call me and we could actually have good conversations."
He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, Sigrid stood up and checked the clock. The ten minutes had passed, "Charlie?"
He spat out the mint to talk, "Yes?"
She took the referrals from the desk before trying to examine the nurse's sloppy handwriting and getting another referral from the box. She tried to copy it, and no matter how poor the job was she doubted anyone could tell the difference. "Yes?" he called again when she didn't answer before sighing and opening the door for her to go inside. She took at the referrals she had in her hands hesitantly before setting his on top of the paper container. He raised an eyebrow before spitting out and grabbing the paper. He read it with his toothbrush in his mouth.
She smiled as he read and quickly finished brushing his teeth. "You're evil," Charlie threw the toothbrush in the trash as he grinned at her.
"It's the least I could do for making you vomit on Keating's shoes."
He opened the door and they both walking out. They quickly tried getting out of the office to make sure none of the aides would ask them questions but Sigrid couldn't open the door. Charlie opened the other side, which opened without a problem. She grumbled as Charlie joked about the please use the other door sign.
Keating didn't want to dismiss class early so he went to the back of the classroom to get his back-up shoes and told everyone they were going to have the rest of their class period outside.
The boys picked up their things and followed behind him, the janitor was walking into class as the last person left. Keating looked down at his shoes sadly as he walked to the corridor. Todd and Neil walked next to each other, almost holding hands as they got impossibly closer and tried to make small talk. Neil took his poem from out of between the pages of his book and put it in Todd's pocket before walking off a little faster than usual. Todd almost stopped walking to fork the paper out but he tried to ignore the desire of reading the contents of the page. He finally got close to a podium and turned so no one could see the paper.
For Todd.
He turned back around and walked to where Neil was, he was trying to act cool but he was balancing on different sides. He looked over at Todd, Todd hid the poem, a look of relief came over Neil's face. He feared what would have happened if Todd had opened the set of paper in the middle of class.
Knox, Steven, and Gerard will still in the hallway. Steven listened as Knox and Gerard arguing about Charlie's poem. "I'm telling you, he's liked her since the first day she came here, it was funny watching him get all flustered and shy just thinking of what he was going to say to her. He was almost as bad as you trying to get Chris."
"Pitts," Knox glared, "I will get her, you'll see. Charlie however? Sigr is always talking about how much she hates him and how she wishes she could erase him from Welton. I doubt that he'd think of her fondly enough to write her a poem, let alone read it in front of the entire class."
"Then why did she vomit?"
"Maybe she was grossed out! Who in the world vomits and considers it a good thing?"
"Maybe she was nervous," Steven finally removed himself from the middle of the arguing boys and displayed his own opinion. "Knox, who goes to dinner and doesn't talk to the person they like the entire night and consider it a good thing," Gerard stifled a laugh at the low blow, "And Gerard, who takes piano lessons , only knows Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and expects it to be a good thing when the girl you've been pinning over has been playing the piano since she was four?"
"Not fair Meeks, I learned that song in two minutes, she was impressed!" Gerard defended himself quickly. Steven rolled his eyes, "Sure, she was impressed that your little sister learned something from Debussy before you could ever think of it!"
"She still likes me," Gerard put his arms over his chest.
"Yeah even with the dribble of crying from missing a note off the most basic song in the world."
Charlie hissed as Sigrid ran through the hallway with his tie to get him to run faster. She giggled as she knocked on the doors, Richard was in the hall and he was getting ready to report to Nolan. Sigrid ran past him and he fell.
"Sorry Cameron!" Charlie laughed before Sigrid started running up the stairs. "Here's an ice pack!" He threw it at him and it hit him in the face. Charlie ran over Richard's huddled body and attacked Sigrid from behind as they got to the library. She laughed, putting her hands over his arms to get him to let go of her put he held a little tighter. "Give it back," he whispered in her ear, she pouted.
"Give back what? I haven't stolen anything," she gripped onto the tie, he let go of her and she tried walking to the back of the library, he walked up next to her, "You know, when you wrote those referrals to be free for the rest of the day I thought we'd steal Nolan's car to go into town...not hang out at the back of the library," he mumbled.
She carelessly took books out to check its pages, to which he took it from her hands and tried to put it back in its original order. She got to the gothic fiction and mumbled something he couldn't understand. She took out a book and sighed contently when she felt that it was hallow, "Let's hope Peter isn't ditching right now."
He opened it and then smiled when she saw the keys. She took them out and flashed them at Charlie, "It might not be Nolan's car but what are McAllister's?"
He took the keys from her with a smirk, "My my, where'd you get these Bambi?"
"The book dumbass," she put the book in her bag then looked for a nearby window. He looked around in confusion, "Just the two of us?"
"Yeah," she found Peter's emergency bag where he said it would be and looked through it, "Have you been planning this?" his eyes widened as he looked at the bag.
"No, but Peter probably already forgot he told me about this and I'm not missing out on going out into town."
"I could tell my mom you tried to kidnap me."
"I could tell your mom that you tried to put your hand up my shirt. She'll smack you," she didn't find anything useful just little bags with oregano and a pair of sunglasses. "Come on, through the window, his car is that ugly green one in the back."
"Ew no I don't want to go into town in that thing."
"Too bad, Dalton. It's the car or the forest and I know you're terrified of getting lost in there."
"I've gotten the acquaintance of the deers, they don't eat my socks anymore."
"Charlie."
"Sigrid."
"Sigrid no!" he hissed when she threw the tie at him and jumped out of the window, "That's too high you're gonna eat shit," but she landed like a cat on a bush.
"It's fine, but if you want to be a chicken take the stairs!"
He glared at her, "Putain," he said under his breath before backing away from the window. He heard the ignition turning on after a few seconds and his eyes widened. He threw himself forward, "Merde, merde, merde!" he cried before hitting the bush. He ran to catch up to the car.
Todd overheard from the corridor and grabbed Neil's elbow to catch his attention.
Neil's mouth flew open as he realized Charlie's pants ripping from the branches that stuck. Charlie got into the car, "We need to be back before 7."
"Why?"
She was driving on the main road now, he was taking the branches out of his pants, "I have a meeting."
"Oh boo hoo!" she laughed, he closed his eyes as the windows opened.
They were on the high road as Charlie put his tie back on, "Merde!"