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"Sophie, cmon, your on our team"
"Yeah gimme, a second"
Today, Keating had us out playing football to show the bond of teamwork or something along those lines. I secretly think it was just because he didn't want to be stuck up in the room today.
I was balancing on my hunkers, tying my laces and was just about to stand when someone nudged me with their knee making me loose balance before falling onto my ass "cmon, slowpoke"
I squinted my eyes, blocking out the sun, looking up at the boy who put his hand out, waiting for me to grab it so he could pull me up
"I dont like this new Todd" I said joking, grabbing his hand as he pulled me up. I dusted off the dirt from my shorts, thankful the grass wasnt wet "your with us" I ruffled his hair
"Sophie" he groaned, both of us making our way over to the boys.
The class was split into two teams. The boys and I, with a few others, were on one while the rest of the class was on the other. It was like a sea of red with all our jumpers so After an intense game of Rock Paper Scissors, it was decided that the other team were to wear the yellow bibs.
To my left, with his arm around my shoulder, Charlie was wearing a red and white stripped bib after him and Meeks had a fight about who would be goalie.
"Okay this is not a competition, we're here to have fun. Now i dont want to name names but I'm looking at you Mr. Hopkins and you Ms. Perry" Keating looked between the two of us.
"Sir, how am I meant to stop sophia from disliking me?" Hopkins looked at the boys around him with his arms out to the side
"You could stop giving me reasons " I said as Charlie put his head down beside me and from the way his shoulders shook, it was clear he was laughing
Keating put his hands out and grabbed the ball from one of the guys "All right, are we ready?" Charlie moved away from me and took up his position in the goals as I turned to walk over to the left
The whistle blew and Keating threw the ball into the middle as Knox and stick jumped up to get it.
The game was in play as we all ran for the ball. Knox passed it to Neil. He ran with the ball getting close to the goal where he passed it to me. I got it and ran A bit before kicking it into the goals.
Keating blew the whistle as I scored and Neil came over, ruffling my hair "ye never lost it Phi" he said as lester kicked it out of the goals. We were off again, this time Todd got the ball and ran with it.
It went over towards Keating who hit it with his chest and kicked it back to us. Neil had the ball again when Hopkins tackled him and got it from him. He scored and the whistle blew as Knox helped Neil up
"What the hell, Hopkins!"
"He was in my way" he said shrugging his shoulders. Rage built up inside me while Neil made his way over to me shaking his head
"It's fine Phi" over his shoulder I could see Hopkins' sickening smirk. Asshole
I tightened my ponytail and the ball was kicked over again. This time I took note of the fact that Hopkins had the ball and all his goons were cheering him on. Meeks must have seen it on my face because he suddenly stopped smiling from beside me
"Sophie, no"
"What?" I smiled innocently looking at Meeks before brushing past him. I ran towards where hopkins was with the ball and clipped his heel from behind before turning and passing it to Neil who scored.
"What the hell Sophie?" I looked back down at Hopkins with a smile "What the hell was that?"
"Sorry, you were in my way" I smiled down at him. He hit his hands off the grass.
"Sir?" He called out as Keating shook his head looking away from us
"I dont know, I didnt see anything" I smiled to Keating and the ball was thrown back in.
We spent the next half an hour running and scoring and messing around.
I was looking behind me when Meeks called my name but, didnt see cameron and ran straight into him. Both of us toppled to the ground laughing when Meeks and Pitts came over helping us up.
One of the boys from the other team kicked the ball towards our goals and Charlie jumped up grabbing it, making us all cheer. He kicked the ball back out and Neil ruffled his hair.
Charlie met my eyes and smirked making me roll my eyes "what can I say?" He said motioning to himself.
"Charlie thats the first thing you've done all day. The ball has barely come up your side" I shook my head laughing.
"Oh is that right?" He asked making his way to me.
"Charlie" I said walking backwards but it was no use as he ran to me and put me over his shoulder "Charlie" I laughed hitting his back "put me down, I have to go play" he walked back to the goals with me still on his shoulder
"Oh yeah cause you're such a big help" he said putting me down.
"Excuse you ive scored like-"
"Once" he said looking down at me with a smile
"I could score more and we both know it"
"Oh yeah? Prove it. I bet you cant score two more goals before keating blows the whistle" he smirked down at me
"Okay, what do I get if I win"
"I will finally read, pride and prejudice" my eyes must have almost bulged out of the sockets cause Charlie let out a laugh.
"Really?" I received a nod in return and was suddenly satisfied. "Okay" I said turning and walking out of the goals but stopped short when a hand on my arm pulled me back.
"But, if I win" he started and I'd suddenly remembered that bets work both ways "I get to sleep in your room" my forehead crease as I looked up to him.
"You already do that"
"No, no. I mean sleep in your room overnight. With you in the room too" my expression must have said it all because Charlie smirked
"Charlie , you and I both know you cant do that. What if Hager catches you? What if Neil catches you?" I asked him quietly
"Sophie we always stay in the same room I doubt Neil is going to notice"
"Not overnight Charlie, its usually only naps" I told him as a cheer was heard from the other end of the field
"I woke up in your bed the other morning, who's to say I didn't stay the night then?"
"Charlie that was after you got annoyed and told Cameron that 'sleep was good for you"
"Well then you better get out there and start scoring or thats a risk were going to have to take. Unless of course you want to tell your brother now" he said teasingly as I pushed him away
"Fine, fine" I walked out of the goals and made my way towards Pitts who had the ball. He passed me the ball and at this point I was close enough to the goals to score. I looked back at Charlie, cocking one eyebrow, anf from where I was I could tell he had his tongue stuck into the side of his cheek
Todd came barrelling towards a smile on his face before jumping into Neil who was beside me, Meeks came along too as we all clattered to the ground a few others joining.
Once we got back up, the play started again. Knox and Neil were passing it back and forth to each other and when they got to where I was, Knox called out to me and passed it.
I kicked the ball and just as it went into the net the whistle blew. The boys jumped up cheering and Charlie came out of the goals, making his way to me.
"I win" we said simultaneously both smirking which quickly faded.
"What? No I won. I got two goals before the whistle blew" I said looking up to him, he chuckled and shook his head
"Eh, no, you got one and then the whistle blew before the second one hit the back net"
"It hit the net before"
"After"
"Before"
"After" I shook my head ay him
"Before"
"Fine! Do they have any other copies of pride and prejudice in the library?" I smiled in victory as I nodded "fine, ill go later" he said sulking, turning to walk away
"Charlie" he turned back looking to me "Wait till Cameron's asleep tonight and then come down to me" his face opened into a big grin as he turned and ran towards me, capturing me in a hug and spinning.
When he let me down we noticed that the other boys had Keating on their shoulders and were carrying him around. Laughing we ran over joining them, the sound of Keating laughter filling the air.
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That evening we all lounged around in the student room after dinner. We were all in our usual positions except, todd, who now sat on the floor infront of neil, who was going over his lines for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. The boys did some homework while discussing different things and I focused on studying for an upcoming Latin test.
Charlie was sat in between Knox and I as usual and was focusing on something in his notebook when he sighed and put down his pen. I didnt notice until I could feel him move toward me a bit. When I lifted my head to the side to look at him he was looking down at my writing.
His eyes flicked up to mine then down to my lips as my eyes flittered over to Neil who was now talking to cameron.
"Wanna go and get the book?" Charlie asked me, pulling my attention back to him. I nodded picked up my books and stood as he followed me.
"Where are you two going?" Neil called out, stopping both of us by the door.
"Library. Charlie lost a bet today and has to read pride and prejudice" I told him as all the boys looked up snickering
"Charlie, read? Please don't make me laugh" Pitts said from his seat as Charlie smiled sarcastically before pushing me out the door. I left my books into my room before leaving for the library
The journey to was short and when we walked in Margie was behind the counter opening a new stack of books.
"Evening, Margie" I said walking over to the counter "new order?" I asked looking into the box. Charlie made his way behind me and leaned against the counter.
"Yes dear" she said looking up. Her face went blank when she looked at charlie. For all she knew he was one of the new kids like Todd.
"Oh, this is Charlie Dalton" I told her as realisation and a grin crossed her face.
"So this is Charlie Dalton" she said putting her hand out to shake his, her eyebrows raising as she looked at me. "Well it's lovely to meet you"
"And you" Charlie said with his 'im an angel' smile.
"I've heard so much about you from Sophie" my eyes widened a bit. Charlie smiled over to me as he dropped her hand
"Is that so?"
"You want me to put these away?" I asked Margie, ignoring him, pointing to the books students had returned on her desk
"Yes please" I nodded and grabbed the book, pushing off the counter and making my way to one of the isles, Charlie's steps close behind me.
"You talk about me?" He asked coming up close behind me
"Shut up, Dalton"
I put the books back into their respective places and moved around to the other shelf where all the classics were. Charlie leaned against the shelf as I crouched down scanning for the book.
He pulled out a copy of wuthering heights and read the first line before putting it back.
"How can you read these?"
"I dont know it allows me to escape when the real word gets too much" I asked, looking up at him.
"Okay but how can you re-read them. I mean don't you get bored because you know how it ends?"
"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all" I quoted, continuing to look through the shelf
"Did you just come up with that?"
"No, Oscar Wilde did" I told him
"Do I really have to read this? I mean a whole book for just one night doesn't seem fair" he said with one hand in his pocket as he ran is hand across the books
"It was your bet"
"I know but I didn't fully think it through"
"Okay how about this, for every four chapters read is equivalent to one night in my room. Now there's 61 chapter in this book so-"
"Sixty-one? That's gonna take me a lifetime to read Soph"
"But that's 15 nights in my room" I said raising an eyebrow which made him smirk. "Do we have a deal Mr. Dalton?"
"We have a deal Ms Perry" we reached out his hand and shook mine before I turned back to the shelf
"Got it" I grabbed the book and stood, slightly losing my balance. His hands reached out a gripped my waist.
"Steady on, Soph" he chuckled as I handed him the book. He looked down at it in his hands before handing it back to me "I'm not checking that out, you can" he made an effort to shove it back into my hands but I crossed my arms
"No, no. Your the one who's going to be reading it so you can sign it out"
"Sophie do you know how it's going to look if I walk out with that in my hands?" He looked down at the book with a sorry look on his face
"Well then maybe you shouldn't of agreed to reading it"
"Yeah but now I get to stay in your room, 15 nights to be exact" he said grinning earning a small laugh from me
"I would've let you stay in my room either way" I told him watching his face drop. It dawned on him that he had just agreed to read a book for nothing.
"Please just check it out for me?" He asked me. Annoyed I huffed and grabbed the book from his hand.
"Your not staying in my room tonight because of this" I told him turning away. I had hardly made it halfway to the end of the isle when his hand reached out and grabbed mine, pulling me back to him.
His lips captured mine, and it was like euphoria. Something I always felt when Charlie kissed me. My back ended up hitting the bookshelf and I dropped the book, forgetting completely about my surroundings.
I had a craving for Charlie and as odd as that may sound it didn't help that no one else knew about us. It was only when we were alone that we could actually kiss and be close. Everyone knew we were close but unless I started kissing all the boys when I saw them, they were going to get suspicious.
Charlie's hands travelled from my hair to face down to my waist. He pulled me closer to him as my hand found it's way through his hair.
It wasn't until, in the distance, someone coughed pulling us back to the present moment. We both pulled away clearing our throats. I fixed Charlie's tie which I didn't know I had messed up while he smoothed out my hair. He wiped the edge of my lip getting rid of the small smudge of my lip gloss. I fixed his hair before bending to pick up the book.
"Ready?" He nodded and cleared his throat before putting his hand behind my neck pulling me to his lips for a quick peck
"Now I'm ready"
Both of us moved towards the front counter and signed the book out. Margie told us she would see us soon, before we turned and left.
We went to see ur rooms before going back to the langue and changed into our pyjamas seeing as it was beginning to get late. Charlie walked in just as I finished brushing my teeth.
Once we were done, I grabbed my copy of little women and Charlie's copy of pride and prejudice.
We got back to the student lounge and took our seats again. None of the boys had moved apart from Cameron who was no longer in the room. This caught Charlie's attention as he turned to Knox
"Where Cameron?"
"Went to change " he told him not looking up from his chemistry questions.
It was only now that I noticed some of the boys had the same idea as us and changed into their pyjamas.
The October sun had just gone down and while the sky was still lit up with the blue haze there was no sun or moon.
I handed Charlie the book and he groaned, taking it from me begrudgingly before I grabbed my book and put it on my lap. I put my legs that were covered with the plaid fabric across his, and he rested one hand on my calf before moving it as he opened the book.
He read the first few lines before looking back at me with a tired look on his face. I held four fingers up with a smirk 'four chapters' I teased. His head immediately turned back to the book.
I moved a bit to get comfy and heard a sigh to my left. I lifted my head to see Pitts shaking his head at me "can you not move Sophie? I'm trying to draw you here" he said ripping out the page
"Why are you drawing me?" He shrugged and put his pencil to his page again
"I'm bored and i need a new hobby" I exchanged a look with Neil who raised a questioning eyebrow to me before shrugging
The pot belly stove was now producing heat and it was only then that I began to get really get comfy.
After a while, Cameron had come back and the room had filled with a few others. Charlies head turned to me, causing me to raise my head to look at him
"He just told his friend that Elizabeth is 'tolerable but now handsome enough to temp me" he told me as I nodded. "He's a dick" Charlie said looking back down at his page making me laugh.
My eyes began to get tired and the warmth of my jumper wasn't helping in keeping me awake. The book was open on my chest as my eyes shut.