The weekend had come and gone before Charlie knew it. It was a sunday night and he was standing alone in his backyard flicking the top of a silver lighter open and close. He looked at the large oak tree in front of him and watched as it's once green leaves were now turning red.
From the front of the house he heard a loud engine roar before everything went silent again. A few moments later his front door opened.
"Char!" shouted his father as he walked into the house.
"Where are you!"
A small soothing flame came to life in his chest. He turned around and through the large glass windows he waved at his father who looked up at where his room would be before looking at the backyard and waving back. His father was a head taller than Charlie and more muscular. He had salt and pepper colored hair that was styled in a comb over and an almost white beard. He wore a dark gray sweater on black pants and walked happily outside to join Charlie.
"Ooo it's cold," he rubbed his shoulders after he closed the door behind him, "what're you doing here?" His eyes fell to the lighter when he stood next to Charlie.
Charlie flicked the top open and closed it, "thinking."
His father made a popping sound with his lips, "couldn't you think someplace warmer?"
Charlie turned to look at his head who let out a small laugh as he bumped his shoulder with Charlie's.
"So," his tone changed, "what're you thinking about?"
"I'm helping again."
His father looked at the tree and exhaled a breath so heavy it could crush a person, "even after all that's happened?"
Charlie nodded and flicked the lighter open and close again, "I was doing it then because of you," Charlie said. No matter how much he tried, he was never able to keep a secret from his father. It was as if his heart and mind were no longer his when he spoke around his father.
His father shifted his weight from his left leg to his right, then back to his left, then back to his right as he pushed his hands into his pockets, "why?"
His fathers smiling face flashed in his mind. He could hear Mr. Scalone's laughter from that day loud and clear as he and his father now stood in silence, "because you looked really happy and said I did a good thing."
His father closed his eyes and tilted his head down to the ground, "so you continued to do it because of me?"
Charlie flicked the lighter open and close again, "maybe," he grumbled, "I don't know," his voice grew louder and he scratched his head.
His father smirked as he looked at Charlie and tapped a fist to his shoulder, "you did nothing wrong Char, absolutely nothing wrong."
Charlie froze, his breaths became shallow and his throat felt as if it had dried up. He went to speak but his lips wouldn't open, and the sound of his voice wouldn't start.
"Everything that happened that day, everything that happened since was never your fault," his father continued, "and no one blames you either." His father uncurled his fingers and grabbed Charlie's shoulder. His grip was firm but gentle.
"It's time to forgive yourself," his father let go and tapped his shoulder before going inside.
As he stood, an uncomfortable and creepy feeling started in his chest as he remembered that day. He flicked the lighter open and close a few more times, each metallic tink of the cap closing pushed the memories further and further away and after he was sure they were all but gone he close the lighter for a final time before heading inside and joining his father for dinner.
***
When Charlie entered the second cafeteria there were still a few students hanging around. He pulled out his phone and checked the time and saw that the teams practice would be over in a few minutes. With nothing else to do he walked down the ramp and placed his bag against a wall before sliding down against it and sitting.
He closed his eyes and wondered how he would be able to help Gray. He thought back to his conversation with Mr. Liev and sighed. There was a large part of him that didn't want to do it but after thinking of all the things he could do he realized that teaching Gray would be the only way he could help him.
"Oh." said Charles as he spotted Charlie from the top of the ramp.
He quickly moved down the ramp and stood in front of Charlie.
Despite the noise around him, Charlie kept his eyes closed as he thought of what he could teach Gray.
"Oh," he heard someone make the noise again. This time it sounded closer, as if it were right above him. He opened his eyes slightly and found Charles standing in front of him.
"What're you doing here?" Charlie asked.
"Practice was boring today so I started walking around, you?"
"Waiting for someone."
The cafeteria was now empty with the exception of Charles and Charlie. It was then that the sound of heavy breathing and bags bouncing filled the space around them.
"You here Charlie?" shouted Gray as he ran down the ramp, Bryce was close behind him.
"Charles?" Gray said when he approached the two of them.
"Me-"
"Yea," Charles responded.
Charlie's head snapped towards the middle schooler.
"What're you doing here?" Gray asked.
"I was walking around then I saw him," Charles pointed to Charlie, "so I stopped to say hi."
Gray raised an eyebrow, "you stopped to say hi to someone, that's interesting," he shot a look over to Charlie.
Charles then turned to face Charlie, "your name's Charlie?" he asked.
Charlie nodded, "and you're Charles then, man here I thought my name was one-of-a-kind."
"Do you wanna get started?" Bryce asked after he said hello to Charles.
Charlie nodded and moved over to the center of the room. Gray and Bryce joined him after they had placed their bags on the ground. He went to speak then stopped himself and looked past Gray and Bryce. Charles was still standing there, watching. Gray and Bryce followed his gaze and looked at the middle schooler.
"Don't you have to go somewhere?" Gray asked.
He shook his head then looked at Charlie, "can I hang out with you guys?"
Charlie turned to Bryce and Gray and raised his hands as if he were surrendering, Bryce mimicked his action and turned to Gray. Charlie could see Gray thinking from how he squeezed his eyes close and rubbed his chin.
Finally he nodded, "you can stay, just don't tell anyone about this, got it?"
Charles nodded.
"So Sites, what're you doing first?" Bryce asked.
"Sites?" Charlie repeated.
"Well, there's a Charles and Charlie so we don't want to get you confused, plus it makes us sound like friends don't you think?" Bryce said.
Charlie went to protest but was cut off by Gray who said, "I like it, Sites it is."
Charles put his backpack down with the others and stood by Charlie.
"So what's happening today, Sites?" Gray asked.
"The only way I can think of helping you is by teaching you how to approach girls and ask them out, so the first step is approaching them," as he finished he could see Gray turning white.
"So the first thing we'll do today is find you a girl and I'll watch you to see where you're at," Charlie finished.
Suddenly Bryce broke out into laughter and Gray took a few steps backwards. His eyes widened and he stopped speaking. Charlie couldn't help but suppress a smile, it was oddly amusing to see the famous school quarterback shrinking away.
"Let's go," he said as he walked away.
***
Chandler had been waiting on the roof for almost three hours now. She had made her way up when school ended and stayed, watching the sun slowly set in front of her. The sky had darkened and all traces of life with the exception of a car here and there had disappeared. She looked over to the classroom and saw the light flick off. Knowing what was about to happen she grabbed her bag and climbed through the window.
The teacher walked out as she pulled the handle and twisted. Without looking her way, the teacher locked the door with a loud click and walked away, her heels echoing rhythmically in the hallway. A part of Chandler wanted to ask her if she had seen Charlie but she had been standing on the roof the entire time, if he had come there was no way she wouldn't have noticed.
A flash of anger went through her as she thought that he'd abandoned her. She pulled her phone out and wrote out a threat before realizing she didn't have his number. With an incomprehensible grumble she pushed her phone back into her pocket and made it down to the common area where she saw someone she recognized.
It was the girl that stood in the small circle with Charlie and three others. She was sitting on a bench along a far wall. Her brown hair looked moist and on either side of her was a bag. She was slouched against the wall, holding a phone up to her face, watching something. But as Chandler approached her, she quickly put the phone away and jumped to her feet.
"Is Charlie with you?" Annie asked.
Chandler scrunched her face before shaking her head. She had a sixth sense for trouble and as she looked at Annie it was whispering to her that something wasn't right.
"He left," Chandler lied.
Annie tilted her head and smirked, "I checked his car, he's still somewhere here, nice try though."
Over the last few days Chandler had been watching Annie during the short passing period. She had always thought Annie to be a reserved and shy girl, someone who would never go out of her way to approach someone let alone smirk. It didn't add up for Chandler.
"Ah I should've clarified, he was with me on the roof until just now, said he wanted some air so he took the outside route," Chandler pushed.
Annie pressed her lips together before crossing her arms and shifting her weight to one leg, "and why would he be spending so much time with someone who rejected him? Charlie's simple but not dumb."
Chandler shrugged with a smug look, "sometimes you just can't help it, sorry for stealing your boyfriend."
Annie pushed her tongue against the inside of her cheek as she thought. She knew Charlie was helping someone but she didn't know what he was helping them with. The fact that he was still spending time with Chandler meant that he had something to do with her, "you're the classmate he's helping, right?"
Chandler's sixth sense came to life. She did her best to hide her surprise but the stiffness still broke through her facade.
Annie smirked, "So what's he helping you with?"
Chandler racked her brain for an answer that would satisfy Annie. She didn't know why but she felt like she couldn't tell Annie the truth, "I'm working on a project and I need data, Charlie is helping me get that data."
Annie took a step towards her, "hmmm, really? Does that data involve football players?"
Chandler looked down.
It was then that loud shouting and laughing filled the common area. It caught Annie and Chandler's attention and they both turned to the direction from where it was coming, a hallway that came from the second cafeteria. At first the voices were hard to make out, just noise but the closer they listened they both recognized one, Charlie's.
A second later Charlie walked out, next to him was Gray and behind both of them were two others, Bryce and a middle schooler that Annie recognized.
"Can you at least help me out a little?" Gray asked, the worry in his voice brought a chuckle out from Charles.
"Why're you laughing?!" Gray snapped at him.
"No, do this on your own, think of it like a test," Charlie said sternly.
They continued to walk, oblivious to the girls, it wasn't until Annie shouted Charlie's name that she got his attention and the four of them walked over.
"What're you doing here so late?" Annie asked Charlie.
Charlie turned to Gray who had gone pale. Gray looked to Annie then to Chandler, then to his feet. He wanted to say something but he didn't know what to say. He wondered if he should respond since the question was aimed at Charlie, then wondered what Charlie would say. He thought about starting a conversation with Chandler but it was then that he felt a sharp pain in his back.
"Ah," the girls looked at him and he quickly cleared his throat, "I thought it would be a good idea to give my cousin a tour of the school since he'll be coming here next year," he brought the boy around from behind him and to his side.
Annie's eyes lit up when she saw Charles and a slow look of realization grew on Charles' face as he remembered the girl. He was about to speak when the girl winked at him, sending him into a flustered state of silence.
"So why're Charlie and Bryce with you?" Annie asked.
"Uh, well, ah," Gray struggled to say words. After being unable to find a reason he looked to Charlie for help who sighed.
"He doesn't really know his place around here, all the football stuff has filled up his brain so we're here to give him a hand," Charlie explained. When he finished he could almost hear the relief washing through Gray.
"Oh, I see." Annie said quietly.
"It's strange to see you two together though?" Bryce walked around to stand by Charlie.
"Ah," Annie looked at Chandler then back to Bryce, "we just ran into each other is all."
Chandler nodded.
"Well, my parents should be here by now so I should get going," Annie said as she collected her bags and left, leaving the five of them.
As she turned around and created a distance between them a scowl formed on her face. She silently cursed the appearance of the four guys. She knew if she had spent a few more minutes talking to Chandler she would have found enough evidence to give Nathan. Silently cursing, she disappeared.