Charlie’s POV
That night, my parents were arguing about the temperature of their steak.
Sometimes I think that I might have been adopted, simply because of the difference in food tastes that I have compared to my family.
For example, my entire family loved steak, when it’s cooked to their preferred temperature, whereas I hated it. The last and first time that I had tried it was when I was ten, and not to be dramatic, but it tasted worse than hell-charred toast.
So, while the rest of my family had steak on their plates with roast potatoes, gravy and a variety of steamed vegetables, my mother had gone out of her way to make me a grilled cheese with garlic butter. Of course, she decided to add broccoli on the side.
“I told you i wanted it to be medium rare! Not over cooked.” My mother argued to my dad.
“It’s not over cooked, it’s just a little burnt on the outside.”
I took a bite from my grilled cheese, hoping that the crunch was enough to block out their argument.
It wasn’t.
Meanwhile, Nora sat on the opposite side of me and would not stop staring at me.
The minute I had gotten home from our lunch at Harpy’s, I angrily destroyed my diary by putting it in the shredder beneath my homework desk.
“A little burnt? It’s disgusting!”
“Nora, you like the steak, don’t you?” My dad looked to my sister.
“Uhhhhhh.”
“Nora, you can admit the steak tastes like garbage.” My mom spoke.
I set my grilled cheese back on the plate and reached for my crutches.
“Did you not like the grilled cheese?” My mom rose her eyebrows at me.
“I’m not hungry anymore.” I said, getting onto my crutches and making my way upstairs to my bedroom as my parents continued arguing about the steak.
When I reached my room and took a seat on my bed, a text came through on my phone.
Hey. Ryan texted.
I typed back a Hey.
What are you doing?
I yawned before responding. Nothing, what about you?
Same.
I didn’t know what to say to that. Should I ask him how his day went? An ellipsis bubble appeared, indicating that he was typing again.
Do you want to get coffee before school tomorrow?
I thought he didn’t want anyone to know about us. What if we see someone from school at The Coffee House, it’s not like Ryan and I are the type to be friends with each other.
Would it be just us?
Yeah..
Okay, sure.
Can’t wait! See you tomorrow 😊
I slightly chuckled before typing my response.
See you tomorrow 😊
I reached for the remote to turn my tv on when another text came through.
Goodnight Charlie x
I smiled, my heart beating at a quickening pace.
Goodnight, Ryan x
Cinnamon jumped up on my bed and curled himself up beside me when Nora entered my room without knocking.
“Learn how to knock!” I spoke angrily.
“Charlie, we need to talk about what I read in your diary.”
“No, we don’t.”
“Yes we do.” She sat herself on my bed.
It’s times like these I wish I had trained Cinnamon to attack on demand.
“Nora, I’m fine.”
“You can always talk to me, Charl. You can’t keep bottling up your emotions and hurting yourself.”
“I know.”
“I’m worried about you.”
“Life has been hard lately.” I admitted. “Ever since I got beat up, I’ve been more depressed than usual.”
“I swear to god, if I ever see Joey, I will break his leg!” Nora seethed.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine. I feel better.”
“You know I love you, right?”
“Love you too,” I said quickly. “But don’t ever invade my privacy again.”
“I promise.” She held her pinky up.
“You have to promise you won’t hurt yourself again. Or I will tell mom and dad.”
I rolled my eyes and groaned, lifting my pinky finger up to wrap it around her’s.
“I promise.”
~
The next morning, Ryan picked me up an hour before school so that we could have coffee together.
Being in a relationship was an entirely new concept to me, so of course I was a nervous wreck.
The waitress placed my regular mocha down before me and placed a vanilla frap in front of Ryan.
I took an eager sip to make me feel more awake.
Ryan, on the other hand, was rather skittish.
“You okay?” I wondered.
“Yeah, I’m great.” He said before he took a sip from his frap.
I silently and slowly drank from my mocha. This was starting to feel a little awkward.
Not only was I in a relationship, I was in a secret one in which I couldn’t tell my best friends all about it. Normally I would tell Ella and Clayton about everything, give or take a few things.
“Oh good, you guys are already here.” Ella appeared out of nowhere and sat down next to me, letting out an exasperated sigh. “I was just about to text you.”
“What’s up?” I wondered, noticing that Ryan was shifting uncomfortably.
“We should wait for Clayton.” She said, tapping her nails against the table. “Forget it, this can’t wait.”
She reached for my mocha and took a sip from it before inhaling a deep breath and releasing it a second after.
“I think Tom is cheating on me.”
My eyes widened.
“What makes you think that?” I wondered, taking back my mocha from her.
“Lately he’s been distant, and whenever he’s around, he gets texts that he never lets me see. Isn’t that suspicious?”
“Tommy doesn’t seem like the kind to cheat.” Ryan said.
“Then what is he doing, Ryan? What is he doing?”
“You shouldn’t jump to conclusions.” I said.
“God, are you two even hearing me?” She stood up from the table abruptly. “I’m going to order myself a coffee. You both better snap out of it by the time I get back.”
Ryan’s eyes met mine and we both began to laugh, silently as not to stress Ella out more than we apparently have already.
“Do you think Tom would actually cheat on her?” I asked Ryan.
“I doubt it. All he ever talks about is Ella. Even when we’re at family gatherings. It’s annoying.”
I’m surprised Ella didn’t say anything about the fact that Ryan and I were having coffee alone. Then again, she’s always preoccupied with her own life.
A few minutes later Ella returned with her coffee and a muffin.
“Do you guys think that I’m overreacting?”
“Uh, maybe?” I gave an unsure response.
“So you think I’m being crazy?” She looked at me with such evil in her eyes.
“No! I just think, maybe he’s not cheating on you?”
~
First period was science.
Which was a relief, given that Ella was not in science class and she had spent the entire morning going on and on about how she thinks Tom is cheating on her. Even in homeroom, it’s all she was talking about.
Ryan had also left the cafe before Clayton had arrived, claiming that he had to go do something before school.
I crutched to the back of the classroom where I had been assigned to sit, which was next to Ace, who surprisingly wasn’t late.
“Hey, Charizard.” He greeted me with a new nickname.
“Seriously? A Pokémon nickname?”
“What? I think it’s a winner.” He smirked.
I sat down and rested my crutches close by before punching him in the arm.
“Let’s get our science on!”
What is with him?
“You hate science.” I stated.
“No I don’t, I just think that it’s boring.”
“Science is not boring!” I rolled my eyes.
He just laughed at that.
“Please complete the worksheets on your desks before the end of the class. If you fail, I will suggest you change your elective to something more your speed.” Mrs Dandry gave a warning look to Ace.
I stifled a laugh.
“Don’t laugh at me.” He whispered.
“I’m sorry.” I frowned, opening my worksheet and beginning today’s work.
“What are you doing later?” He wondered, annoyingly clicking and unclicking his pen.
“Nothing, why?” I write down the answer to the first question.
“Do you want to come over and play Call of Duty?”
I paused, looking away from my worksheet and towards him.
“You want me to come over to your house?”
“Yeah.” He replied.
“Okay.”
For some reason my heart was pounding.
“Also…” He tapped me on the shoulder.
“Yeah?”
“Can you help me with my work?” He gave me puppy dog eyes.
I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Fine.”
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