I wake up sometime around four thirty the next morning, and realize how hungry I am. So, I get up, put my marvel hat on backwards, and tiptoe downstairs quietly.
I freeze in my steps when I hear someone walking around in the kitchen. On my way down here, I walked by Jared's room and the door was open, but him and Gen were fast asleep in there. The footsteps from the kitchen are too loud to be one of Jared's kids.
What if it's a burglar, or a robber, or a murderer?
These thoughts all cross my mind, causing fear to ripple through me. I hear the footsteps coming towards me, so I hide behind the kitchen door. As soon as the door opens, I swing my fist forward hard into the person's face.
"Son of a bitch," he mumbles, holding his face, and I instantly regret what I did. I swear, for a second it was Dean Winchester who I punched in the face.
"Jensen?" I ask, feeling terrible already.
"Uh-huh," he says, and I sigh in relief because it's not a burglar or something.
"It's four in the morning! What the hell are you doing here?" I ask, trying to keep my voice low so I don't wake anyone up. He doesn't really answer, so I just groan a little in frustration and pull him into the kitchen. Surprisingly, he doesn't say anything.
"There's ice in the freezer over there," he says, still holding his face and he sits down at the counter. I go over to the freezer and get him an ice pack and wrap a paper towel around it so it won't be too cold against his face. "That was one hell of a punch," he says as I hand him the ice pack.
"You know, you shouldn't be complimenting me, you should be mad at me, I just punched you." I feel even more guilty as I see a bruise starting to form on his left cheekbone. He doesn't say anything else, so I continue. "I'm sorry, I thought they were getting robbed or something," I say, staring at the ground.
"It's okay, Charlie," he says. "You should just go back to bed." I really don't want to, considering that he doesn't sound okay still. However, I cannot think of anything else to say, so I listen to him and go back upstairs.
_______________
"Charlie."
I hear a small voice saying my name, but I don't really pay attention to it. I'm way too busy sleeping.
"Charlie, you have to wake up!" I manage to crack an eye open and see Jared's son, Thomas, standing there next to my bed. When we got home from dinner last night, I talked to him a little bit. It amazes me how much all of these kids look so much like their parents.
"Five more minutes, bub," I murmur, turning over and burying my face in my pillow. It is too early to be out of bed and functioning and being productive. I'd much rather sleep all day.
"Come on, dad said we're going to the mall today," he says, before I hear him rush out of my room and down the stairs. I smile a little and turn to lay on my back, glancing at my watch and realizing it's eight o'clock already.
I rub my eyes and get out of bed, walking around my room as I try to get around the boxes without tripping. I unpacked almost everything last night, but the boxes were still scattered around my bed.
I find clean clothes and my towel, going into my bathroom and getting ready to go to the mall.
It only takes about a half hour for me to get ready to go. I put my hat on backwards, put my phone in my pocket, and hang my blue wireless headphones around my neck.
Then I remember that there are gum ball machines in the mall and the kids may want some when we get there. So, I grab a handful of quarters and shove them into my pocket. I also grab a twenty dollar bill out of my wallet in case I see something I want, then head downstairs.
As I step into the very large kitchen, the smell of delicious food fills my nose. "Hey," I say, announcing my presence. Gen turns to look at me and smiles a little.
"Morning, Charlie," she says, turning back towards the food. "Your food is on the table." I step over towards the table and see my full plate, right next to Thomas. "You got ready quick," Gen comments, sitting down across from me and starting to eat. I just shrug, continuing to eat the delicious eggs and toast.
After breakfast, the five of us drive to the mall, which is only about ten minutes away. As soon as we step inside the doors, I smell pizza from one of the places where you get food in here.
"Dad, can I have a quarter for the gum ball machine?" Thomas asks, tugging on Jared's sleeve. Jared reaches into his pockets and pulls a coin out, holding it out to his son.
"That's the only one I have," he says, as Thomas almost runs towards wherever the gum ball machine is. "Charlie, can you go with him? He gets lost so easy," Gen says, picking up Shepherd and saying something to him. I nod and rush after Thomas. I'm not sure why, I mean I'll probably get lost quicker than him.
I turn the corner and easily spot the candy machines, and I see Thomas putting his quarter in the gum ball machine. I furrow my eyebrows suspiciously when he puts another quarter in.
"Hey, I thought your dad only gave you one," I question. He nods, as the two balls of gum drop into his hands.
"I already had one." I tilt my head to the side.
"Then why did you ask for another one?" He holds one out to me and smiles a little.
"So I could get one for you," he says, shocking me. My heart fluttered at this. I hesitantly take the gum ball from him, putting it into my mouth and looking at the little boy in front of me in amazement. It's so shocking to me how nice he has been to me since I have met him, yet he hardly even knows me.
"Thanks, bub," I say quietly, still overwhelmed, a smile spreading across my face. "We should go back to your parents." He mumbles an 'okay', and walks beside me as we go back to Jared and Gen.
_______________
"This pizza is great," I mumble as I swallow another bite of pepperoni pizza. This is at least my third slice.
"Yeah it must be," Gen says, laughing a little. "That's your third piece." I smile back a little, finishing my pizza and taking a drink of my soda. I turn my head to the left, looking around for a bathroom, and my heart nearly stops as I spot a very attractive guy.
I don't mean attractive like, a leather jacket, a cigarette between his lips, a blonde bimbo glued to his side, and his nose so high in the air that he can't smell his own mouth wash.
I mean attractive like, black framed glasses, a dark blue plaid shirt rolled up to his elbows, a pencil tucked behind his ear like he works in some office, and perfect black hair that isn't quite as short as Dean's, yet not nearly as long as Sam's. On top of all this, he had a book in his hands, and open up to somewhere in the middle. I recognize the book as the last book in the Divergent series, Allegiant.
I think my heart literally almost melts at how perfect this guy looks. It's like God created my dream guy and put him right in front of me.
He surprises me a little when he picks his head up from his book, and glances over at me. Normally, I would look away, embarrassed. But when I see something gorgeous I intend on looking at it and memorizing it for as long as possible, before it has a chance to get away from me. So, all I do is bite my lip a little. Upon seeing this, he smiles a tiny bit and turns his head back to his book. I swear, I also see a tiny blush spread across his face.
I smile at his shy actions, my brain and heart both swooning at how adorable he is.
"Charlie!" Jared says, snapping me out of my gaze. I turn my head and blink a few times, trying to lose the love stare I was giving the pretty boy. "What are you looking at?" I shake my head a little.
"No, it's nothing," I mumble.
_____________
"Come on!" I almost yell at the arcade game I'm playing. It's so frustrating and I keep losing. I groan in frustration as my failure becomes clear on the screen, and walk away from the game. I spot a foosball table a few feet away from me. What I find strange is that there is a girl standing on one side of it, almost like she is playing by herself. I lower my eyebrows and step forward.
"Need an opponent?" I question, standing on the opposite side of the girl. Actually, girl isn't the right word. She is a few inches taller than me, and she has black hair, which is cut like Hazel Grace Lancaster's, but with a little dash of pink in it. I also notice an engagement ring on her left hand, and she is wearing almost all black, even black nail polish. She is also wearing a panic at the disco t-shirt.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks." We starts to play, turning the handles and trying to score points.
"My name's Charlie," I say, since she hasn't said anything. She smiles a tiny bit.
"I'm Haley," she says louder, so I can actually hear her voice clear. When I do, I'm surprised to hear a British accent. "What?" She questions, noticing that I'm staring.
"Sorry, I just never heard a British accent in real life," I say, and I score a point when she looks away.
"Hey!" She says defensively. "I wasn't looking!"
"That's your own fault."
"I demand a rematch!"
"Sure," I say cockily. "I got time to kick your ass one more time." I smirk. She raises an eyebrow. I can already tell that we are going to be great friends.
"So what grade are you in?" She asks. I remember to focus on the game so I don't lose.
"I'll be a senior next year," I reply, nearly getting a goal, but missing it by a little bit. "And yourself?"
"I'm a junior in college."
"Oh," I say, almost disbelieving. She is only a few inches taller than me, so she's probably very short for her age. "I thought you looked a little young to be engaged," I say, a little afraid to be prodding around in someone's business, especially since I just met her ten minutes ago.
She freezes up for a moment, giving me time to score a goal. I laugh a little in victory, happy that I won. I instantly regret it, once I look up and see Haley with an almost sad look on her face. I lower my eyebrows and feel guilty for asking about.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry," I say. "Just...congratulations on that." She smiles a little, taking a deep breath.
"No, it's fine," she says, shaking her head. "Thanks, though." We just stand there awkwardly for a few seconds. My hands start to shake again, so I shove them into my pockets of my jeans. "I'm thirsty, you wanna grab a drink over there with me?"
"Okay."