Charlie’s POV
I had too much on my mind.
Tom seemed like a good guy, but how could I be so sure that he’s telling the truth? Sure, Ella can be overly dramatic at times, but the fact that Tom had a secret friend that’s a girl is admittedly suspicious.
Also, Ace.
Ace was arrested for fighting, just hours after our argument. Did I feel responsible? Kind of.
In the back of my mind, he’s there, unrelenting.
After school had finally ended, Clayton and I went over to Ella’s place to convince her to attend the football game with us without spilling the beans about what Tom had planned.
“I’m not going to the game!” She groaned into her pillows.
“You have to go.” Clayton said.
“Why?”
“Uh, because… just trust us.”
She removed her face from her pillows and looked at Clayton and I.
“I don’t want to go. Tom will be there, and I don’t want to see his pretty face and his stupid, attractive skills on the field.”
I internally groaned at that.
I knew Ella. There’s no way on this earth that she would be willing to go to this game unless we tell her the truth.
Or, option b: Blackmail.
I decided with option b.
“Ella, If you don’t come to the game, I will tell your first crush about-“
“You wouldn’t dare.” She glared at me with an evil glint in her eyes.
“Wait, who was her first crush?” Clayton wondered.
Ella looked as if she was silently casting a death curse on me. I looked into her eyes, not wanting to surrender.
“Jordan…” I lied.
“Jordan in our class?” Clayton wondered.
“Yep.”
“Fine, I’ll go to the stupid game!”
Thank god that worked.
Ella went to change in the bathroom whilst Clayton and I waited in her bedroom. “I can’t believe her first crush is Jordan.” Clayton spoke.
“I know, right.”
Ella has never had a crush on Jordan. Her real first crush was Clayton, who was, and remains to be, completely oblivious. She made me pinky promise to never tell another living soul.
~
I didn’t know anything about football.
All I knew is that there were two teams, one football, a field, and that there was a lot of tackling. There were also times when someone’s shorts ended up around their ankles, revealing their underwear.
Since Joey had been kicked off the team, Tom was now the best player at Clarence High.
I had texted Ryan before the game, wishing him good luck.
Is it weird that I still don’t feel like we were actually dating?
“OH MY GOD! THAT WAS A STRIKE!” Clayton shouted.
I laughed. I may not know much about football, but I’m pretty sure a strike is a term that is strictly used in baseball.
Ella just rolled her eyes, still clearly mad at us for bringing her here.
“Oh shit! Look how fast Ryan is!” Clayton pointed towards the field.
Ryan was running down the field with the football in his hands, faster than anyone I’d ever seen before. He darted towards the end zone and scored for his team.
I smiled and cheered with majority of the crowd before sitting back down next to Ella.
She was typing on her phone, and me being a nosy person, I couldn’t help but take a peek.
She was texting Ace’s sister, Adelaide.
“Is Ace okay?” I wondered.
“He just got back home.” Ella stated.
I looked down onto the field to find Ryan, who was currently tackling someone from the other team.
“I gotta go.” I said, standing up onto my crutches.
“What? Where?”
“I need to talk to Ace, now that he’s back home.”
“Can’t it wait?” Ella replied.
I looked down to Ryan again, contemplating whether or not I should stay and watch him play, or go and talk to Ace.
No. It couldn’t wait.
The argument Ace and I had had been haunting my mind.
I needed to talk to him now.
“No.” I started walking towards the aisle when Ella called out saying. “Wait, you don’t even have a car!”
“I’ll get an Uber!” I shouted back.
God, I feel like a crazy person. The guy is fresh out of lock up.
What will I even say to him?
~
The Uber dropped me off a few houses down from Casa Caldwell, as per instruction.
That was thirty minutes ago.
I’ve been stuck on the sidewalk, trying to rack up the courage to crutch up to the front porch and knock on the door.
Maybe I should just go home.
After standing there for what felt like another thirty minutes, I finally walked up to the front door, resting on my crutches as I reached for the doorbell.
Ding dong…
If I weren’t currently on crutches, I would have contemplated doing a knock and run.
The door opened, revealing a teenage girl with a septum piercing and a red streak through her dark hair.
“No, we’re not interested in your church.” The girl said.
I’m assuming that she is Ace’s twin sister, Adelaide.
“Uh, no I’m looking for Ace.” I explained through a sudden jitter.
“Oh, uh. Who are you?”
“I’m-“
“Hi Charwy!” Adam interrupted, running through the door to give me a hug.
“Charwy?” Adelaide raised her eyebrows.
“Charlie.” I gave an awkward smile.
“Cool.” She rolled her eyes as she walked away. “ACE! YOU HAVE A VISITOR!”
The sound of music blaring upstairs caused her to roll her eyes and groan.
“Just go on up, it should be fine. And Adam, go and brush your teeth.”
“Meanie!” Adam frowned and ran down the hall.
I slowly crutched my way upstairs, my heart racing faster with every step that I took towards the room where Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi was currently playing at full volume.
He listens to Bon Jovi?
I knocked on the door as loud as I could, hoping that he could hear me over the music.
After a long minute, he opened the door.
He had a cut on his bottom lip and his left eyebrow, along with a bruise on his cheek and a busted up right hand. It looked as if he had punched a wall of bricks.
He pulled out his phone and pressed pause on the music before sitting down on his bed.
“Hey.” I said.
Stupid Charlie. Hey? Seriously!
He just nodded.
“Are you okay?”
He didn’t speak.
“Oh, you have an ankle monitor? How long are you supposed to be in that?”
He just sat there.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be like that, I just. I can’t, I can’t.” I paused.
“You saw my arm and I got angry and scared. I-I.”
I took a deep breath to calm myself down.
“Im sorry for the things I said.”
He still didn’t speak.
“Ace?”
He clenched his jaw.
I waited a second to see if he would finally say something, but he didn’t.
And my heart broke.
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