Chereads / When Snowdrop Blooms / Chapter 2 - I'm Charlie

Chapter 2 - I'm Charlie

"Dad was mad today, I should have woken up early, it's all my fault..." Charlie mumbled to himself.

You must be wondering why a 17-year-old is so afraid of his father. Let me break it down for you,

This is Charlie… Charlie Fletcher. The only son of Charlotte and Benjamin Fletcher.

Charlie's parents are strict, especially his father.

Now you may ask what is wrong with that? Strict parents are normal in our society, isn't it? 

Well yeah… but there is something else: Charlie is gay. Yes, you heard it right, he is homosexual.

There is nothing wrong with being gay but being the son of very religious and strict parents presents its challenges.

Now Charlie is walking to school. He is now a 12th grader and soon will be joining college.

There were so many thoughts flooding his mind as soon as he reached the school.

As Charlie walked, he tightened the grip on his bag.

"Isn't that our little Charlie?"

Charlie paused as soon as he heard a familiar voice behind his back. 

Charlie's breath hitched as he turned around. It was none other than Noah standing there.

The guy who constantly bullies Charlie without reason. 

Noah walked arrogantly up to Charlie. He flashed a cocky grin as he stood in front of him.

"How was your vacation, Charlie? Did you miss me?"

Charlie didn't answer and looked down.

"I am talking to you and you keep looking down!? Look up!"

People around started to look at them as Noah's voice rose.

"Isn't that Noah? Why is he always picking a fight with that guy? Don't he get tired?"

"But why is that the other guy not standing up for himself? That's pathetic."

Charlie heard the whispering of others and slowly looked up into Noah's hazel eyes.

"It was good," said Charlie,

Charlie felt those hazel eyes piercing through his soul.

"'Good', you said?" Noah paused for a second and continued,

"I hope we are in the same class this semester too." With that, Noah left with a smirk.

Charlie's heart was beating like crazy. Not only because he just met his bully, but also for another reason.

He had a crush on Noah.

Noah doesn't know. Nobody knows about Charlie's sexuality except himself.

He is afraid. Some might call him a coward for hiding his sexuality from his parents or for falling for the guy who bullied him for years. But for Charlie, he had his reasons.

Noah wasn't always like this. They both were good friends when they were kids. Noah was good to Charlie until they entered 9th grade.

From then on, Noah started to act differently toward Charlie. He began bullying him and hurting his feelings with harsh words. Unfortunately, Charlie developed feelings for Noah before his change in attitude. Feelings aren't easily shifted from one person to another.

The bell rang, signaling the start of classes for the students.

Charlie checked his timetable and walked to his new class.

Charlie entered the class and sat on one of the vacant seats.

"Hello again,"

Charlie looked up and saw none other than Noah.

He was not surprised. His school had a tradition of shuffling students between batches every new semester.

But no matter how many times they did that, Noah would always end up in his class.

Before Noah could say something, the teacher entered the class and addressed them.

"Hello, class. Good morning."

The students warmly greeted back as well.

Noah was interrupted by the teacher and went back to his seat while giving a side-eye to Charlie.

"My name is Gigi. I am new here and I am going to be your homeroom teacher and I am going to mentor you guys for this semester."

Gigi said with a smile before continuing,

"I know you guys are all familiar with each other but I am not. So, it would be nice if you guys introduced yourself one by one."

And each student started to introduce themselves; it was finally Charlie's turn.

"Young man, can you introduce yourself?" Gigi said encouragingly,

Charlie felt all eyes on him, and his anxiety started to kick.

 He slowly stood up and tried to talk,

"H- hi. I'm Charlie," he said in a low voice.

"Are you going to cry, mate?" one of the students yelled.

Charlie touched his sweaty palm.

"Still the same scared little kid, huh?" Noah said with a smirk, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Silence!"

Gigi raised her voice,

"Is this how you all treat one of your classmates? You all are going to graduate soon and join college. Is this how you all behave?"

Gigi walked towards Charlie and touched his shoulder,

"I am sorry. What's your name?" As Gigi comforted Charlie, Noah glanced away, his jaw tightening. He hated seeing Charlie like this, but he couldn't stop himself from lashing out.

Charlie took a shaky breath, his voice barely above a whisper. 

"I'm Charlie. Charlie Fletcher," Charlie said, his eyes lighting up as he felt comforted by Gigi's presence.

Meanwhile, there was someone who was not happy about this situation.

"Look at him, smiling all across his face. He doesn't even look at me that way,"

Noah said to himself, 

"Charlie? Tell me about yourself. What are your hobbies? Who are your friends?"

Gigi continued,

"Friends?" Charlie looked at Gigi, then his eyes landed on Noah.

Noah raised his eyebrow at him,

"I prefer to be alone," said Charlie.

"Okay… I respect that. Don't you have any hobbies, then?"

"I draw," Charlie said in a low voice,

"That's a great hobby. Next time, show me your work, okay?"

With that, Gigi continued with her duties.

Just then the school attendant came to the class and called the teacher.

Gigi excused herself and went to him. He handed her a paper, and she read it,

"Students, we have a new transfer student here." With that, the new guy walked in.

 

To be continued…