Charlie twisted her lip and squinted out the window of the door at the end of the hall. Pace's figure was already shrinking into the distance beyond.
"Come on, Charlize," Printz, who was still standing next to her, placed a hand gently on her back. "We don't want to be late."
"Oh, right," said Charlie, turning to look up at her chivalrous prince. Maybe it was just her imagination, but he seemed even more handsome up close.
"Let's go," he smiled, guiding her in the other direction down the hallway, his hand still on her back.
For a moment they walked in silence, Charlie too nervous to say anything, but when they came to a stop outside of their classrooms, Printz finally spoke.
"So, will I see you out on the fields again this afternoon?" he asked, eyes shining. "I've got to say, you're the cutest mascot we've ever had," he chuckled playfully.
Charlie shyly looked to her feet and shook her head.
"No, hopefully that was just a one time thing," she told him embarrassedly. "I'm joining a new extra curricular activity today."
"Oh! So that's what you were doing in the bear suit!" laughed Printz. "Everyone else always wears it when they're being punished, but I knew you couldn't have been in trouble," he winked.
Charlie blushed and looked back at her shoes.
"That's too bad, though," Printz went on. "I really like the idea of having you out there cheering for us. Maybe you'll come to a soccer match sometime?" he lifted Charlie's chin with his pointer finger until her eyes were aligned with his. "There's one this weekend and the captain would really like you to be there," Printz gazed at her earnestly, waiting for an answer.
"Umm, okay," Charlie couldn't think of anything more to say. Printz's sparkling eyes were so distracting!
"Perfect," he grinned, tapping her on the chin and waltzing away into his first class.
Charlie remained in the hall, frozen with both nerves and excitement.
"Captain Printz," she smiled giddily to herself as the bell rang. "Oops!" she jumped and hurried into Math.
~~~
It was certainly hard to find the value of x when all she could think about was the upcoming weekend. Printz had invited her to watch him play soccer... but was it a date?
Charlie's mind and sight wandered to the window. The sun was beaming among the puffy clouds and Charlie couldn't help but think that one of them was in the shape of a soccer ball.
"Concentrate, Charlie," she told herself, lowering her eyes from the sky, but when she did, another distraction caught her attention-
Pace was stalking into the trees once again.
~~~
"Charlie!!!" Apollo and Demeter patted the empty spot on the seat between them in the cafeteria.
"Hi, guys," smiled Charlie, taking her seat at the Athens lunch table amongst all of her dormmates except for Pace.
"Are you ready for Chefs Club later?" asked Max, unfolding his napkin across his legs.
"Uh-huh," Charlie answered mindlessly, glancing around the room.
"It's perfect you're joining the club," said Demeter. "Now we'll get twice as many cookies tonight. And I won't have to share with Apollo."
"Uh-huh," Charlie repeated again, still looking from table to table.
"Yeah! Finally Charlie can give us a little sugar!" Apollo teased.
"Uh-huh," said Charlie without even hearing his joke. She continued to scope out the lunchroom.
"I do not think she is paying attention," frowned Max.
"Hmm," Rib narrowed his eyes. "Hey, Charlie! Are you in love with Pace?" he asked.
"Uh-huh," Charlie replied yet again.
"Okay, she's definitely not listening," decided Rib. "Charlie! Earth to Charlie!" he waved a hand in front of her face.
"Huh?!" Charlie snapped back to her present company.
"Who are you looking for?" questioned Rib, now glancing around the cafeteria too.
"Oh, nobody..." said Charlie quickly, turning to her lunch tray.
However, she still could not help but wonder... where was Printz?
~~~
When the last bell rang, Charlie met up with Max outside of the Home Economics room.
"Today's menu- Charlie Chip Cookies!" said Rib as he passed by. "It was nice knowin' ya!"
"He is only kidding," promised Max. "Come on."
The Home Ec room was very large and lined with ovens.
"You can share my counter," Max smiled, showing her to a marble-topped work space near a slightly open window.
Charlie followed him to the table as the rest of the club members continued to file in.
"Okay, everyone!" a lanky boy wearing a chef hat stepped to the front of the room. "Who's ready to do some baking?" he asked, tossing a mixing spoon into the air and spinning around before catching it.
The members cheered and instantly began grabbing aprons, but Charlie stood still, staring at the tall boy and feeling a little lost. He was now writing a recipe for snickerdoodles on the board.
"That is Seneca," explained Max. "He is the club leader. If you need any help, just ask one of us."
Charlie nodded. Reading over the list of ingredients, she tied on an apron and got to work herself.
Soon, Charlie was placing her dough onto a tray and popping it into one of the ovens.
"Hey, I'm not bad at this!" she smiled to herself, feeling mighty pleased.
Charlie glanced at Seneca's recipe once more.
"Bake for 10 minutes," she read. "Well, the hard part's over! Now just to wait!"
The time seemed to pass slowly as Charlie sat, impatiently watching the oven. Eyes boredly wandering to the window next to the oven, she saw a soccer ball roll across the field in the distance.
"They're having practice today!" she thought excitedly, jumping up for a better look. "Let's see..." she peered through the windowpane. "There's that short, spiky-haired kid from Sparta..." Charlie leaned closer. "And there's his friend..." she pressed her nose almost against the glass. "And there's- AGHHH!"
Someone in a hockey mask had jumped up on the other side of the window and began furiously beating the glass. Charlie leaped back in fright, knocking over her stool, but the rest of the room seemed unsurprised.
"RIB! GET OUT OF HERE AND GO BACK TO PRACTICE!" Seneca shouted angrily.
"Huh? Rib???" Charlie looked back out the window to see Rib pull off his mask with a guiltless chuckle.
"Hey, Charlie," he grinned.
"What are you doing?!" Charlie tried to catch her breath.
"Just thought I'd take a break from practice and come say hi," said Rib. "Looks like they haven't cooked you yet!" he added with a laugh.
"Practice?" repeated Charlie.
"Yeah, for soccer. I'm the goalie," Rib boasted, pulling his mask back on and running across the field.
"But isn't that a hockey mask?" Charlie frowned.
Seneca shrugged and returned to his own work station.
"I didn't know Rib was on the soccer team," thought Charlie, continuing to gaze out the window as Rib dove aggressively towards a ball heading for the net.
Charlie gazed blankly over the lawn as another ball flew towards the goal, but when she saw who had kicked it, she perked up immediately. There was Printz- decked out in his soccer uniform and looking extremely handsome. She had not gotten the chance to watch him practice the previous day because Pace had shown up and been given mascot duty- but there was no way she was going to miss it now!
"I bet he's a great captain," Charlie bit her lip. "He seems so strong and smart and-"
"Hey! Something's burning!" a voice suddenly shouted and Charlie realized that she was now standing in a cloud of smoke.
~~~
---AUTHOR NOTE---
Extra update this week since Chapter 2-5 was so short xD
I have been sick with the flu, but still doing my best to work diligently to bring new updates :3
xox Ray