Mr. Whiteman just stared for a few seconds as the teenagers didn't even acknowledge his existence. "Don't stop on my account," He said, picking up the trash can and emptying it out. He grabbed a pen from the counselor's desk and put it in the door. "It won't close now, so you shouldn't get locked in. You might want to leave soon though."
He left the office and as soon as the door hit the pen Gerard and Charlotte broke apart and caught their breath.
"What the fuck?" Charlotte said.
"Your lips are a bit chapped, and what kind of lip gloss is it? Lemonade or something? It tastes nice."
"What the fuck?" She repeated.
"You know a better way to explain two teenagers being somewhere they shouldn't?"
"No, but still..."
Charlotte opened the door and they walked out of the office. Mr. Whiteman winked at them as they passed, causing them to uncomfortably quicken their pace. As they walked back to the gym, Charlotte took the locket out of her shirt and they avoided eye contact. There was no sound in the hallway except for their footsteps and the sound of Gerard chewing some gum. As they got closer to the gym they heard the faint sound of the cheerleaders chanting their cheers.
Gerard led the way as they slipped unnoticed into the gym and up the bleachers to the very top row. Frank had on sunglasses so that none of the teachers would notice that he was asleep. But there wasn't much point since the snoring might have given him away anyway.
"Did you get anything good?" Tracy said.
"Huh?!" Charlotte said, startled for a second, how did Tracy know already?
"Did you get any good information."
"Oh! Yeah, we did."
"Great."
Gerard gave the piece of paper to Bob who was going to look it over later.
"I saw the janitor go by, did you guys run into him?" Ray said.
"Oh.. he saw us, but didn't do anything, he just thought we got locked in," Charlotte said quickly, nervously running her fingers through her hair.
"You sure?" Tracy said.
"Mmhm."
"You're nervous about something, you always run your fingers through your hair like that and talk all fast when you're nervous," Josie observed.
"No, I'm fine, really," Charlotte said slowly as she put her hands by her sides to keep them out of her hair.
The pep rally ended about two minutes later and they flooded out of the gym to their lockers after waking Frank up.
Charlotte had just noticed that she no longer had the gum she'd been chewing in the office. "Did I swallow my gum?" She wondered out loud.
Gerard smirked and blew another bubble. Charlotte rolled her eyes.
"Want it back?"
"No, keep it."
Frank yawned. He was the only one within earshot of them, but he was still half asleep, so he didn't comprehend anything they'd just said.
"What's everyone's spring break plans?" Josie said.
"Grandma Elena's coming to our mom's new place to help us move in," Mikey said.
"Which means nothing but Italian food for a while," Gerard said.
"Why's that?"
"It's our Italian Grandma."
"You're Italian?"
"And Scottish."
"I'm Scottish too!" Tracy said,"We'll be Scottish buddies. Some day we need to come to school with kilts."
"Sure...."
"Together, Charlie and I make one white person, and one Hispanic person since we're both half and half," Josie said.
"I'd be the white one," Charlotte said.
"Yep," Josie said.
"I'm going to Kansas," Tracy said,"To see my Redneck grandma."
"Is that the one who sent you to church camp for three summers?"
"No, that's my Hick Grandma."
"Oh...."
"I'm going to California to see my brother," Josie said.
"Chicago, and my uncle's going to drag me to a bunch of Cubs games," Bob said.
"Florida," Frank yawned.
"I hear it's humid there."
"My brother's coming and I'm going to bug him," Ray said.
"Family reunion," Charlotte groaned,"at my house. My four bedroom, three bath house."
"Which family?"
"My mom's. Damn, all those cousins, second cousins, third cousins, uncles, aunts, great-uncles, great-aunts...."
"Good luck with that."
"Thanks."
"Did I leave my chemistry book at your house?" Gerard said.
"Yes. Come by after school if you want. My grandparents are already here though, so be fore-warned."
"Okay."
"Hey, if you're parents are just now getting divorced, how is it that your mom already has a house?" Ray asked Gerard.
"Mom's been looking for a while."
"Oh..."
"Rosaria!" A short old woman said as she hugged Charlotte.
"Grandma, why won't you call me Charlotte like everyone else?"
"Rosaria is your middle name, it's a beautiful name."
"But it means Rosary... doesn't suite me at all."
"Hijita, how was school?" A man with greying black hair said.
"It was fine. grandpa."
"It was what?" He said.
"I said, it was fine," She said louder.
"Oh, okay."
"�Qui�n es �ste?" Charlotte's grandmother said, looking at Gerard and Mikey.
"Oh, these are my friends from school, Gerard and his brother Mikey. These are my grandparents, Tony and Maria."
"Friends rule, Gerald and Mickey?" Tony said.
"My friends from school, Gerard and Mikey," She said louder. "Grandpa's half deaf," She whispered to Gerard and Mikey.
"No way, we would have never guessed," Gerard whispered back sarcastically.
"�Est�s fechando a cualquiera de ellos?" Maria said, eyeing Gerard and Mikey again.
"�Abuela! Soy tres a�os entonces el m�s viejo de ellos."
"�Qu� sobre el otro? ��l te ha preguntado hacia fuera? No soy seguro sobre �l, �l es demasiado p�lido, y su pelo es demasiado largo."
"Abuela, no lo estoy fechando."
"What's going on?" Gerard whispered into Tony's good ear.
"Well, Maria just asked Charlotte which one of you she's dating and she said that she's not dating the younger one, and then Maria says, what about the other one? I don't know about him, he's too pale and his hair's too long. Then Charlotte said she's not dating either of you."
"�Lo has besado todav�a?" Maria said.
"�Abuela!"
"Now what happened?"
"She asked if you've kissed her yet."
"Oh..."
"Have you?"
"...no ..."
"��l intent� deslizar leng�eta?" Maria said.
"El Oh mi dios, Abuela, Gerard y yo no est� fechando."
"She said,'Did he try to slip any tongue?' and Charlotte said,'Oh my God, Grandma, Gerald-'"
"Gerard."
"Gerald-"
"Gerard."
"Gerald-"
"Ger-ARD."
"Gerald-"
"Oh forget it."
"Gerald and I are not dating."
"I'll be right back, your book's in my room," Charlotte said as she started up the stairs.
Maria continued to eye Gerard. Unimpressed.
Charlotte came back down the stairs. They were in just the right angle to see up her skirt as she decided the stairs. When Gerard noticed Maria watching him again, he quickly moved his gaze to the floor. Not that he'd been looking specifically up Charlotte's skirt... I mean, they were just friends... weren't they?
"Here you go," Charlotte said, handing Gerard his book.
"Thanks. Um... I'll go now. C'mon Mikey."
Once Gerard had closed the door behind him Charlotte turned towards her grandmother and said,"Did you scare him away like you scared away Ray yesterday?"
"What? I've never scared any of your friends," Maria said.
Charlotte rolled her eyes and sighed.
When he walked into the kitchen, his grandma walked over and gave him a hug,"Good Morning Gee."
"Morning Grandma."
"Are you hungry?"
"Not really."
"Well, when you are, just tell me, I'll make you whatever you want."
"Okay."
"So... I was looking at some of your drawings. You've improved a lot."
"Thanks."
"What about singing? Have you gotten back into that?"
"Not really. We kinda have a band and I sing in it but we barely have a song, so...."
"Sing a few lines for me."
"Grandma-"
"C'mon Gerard, sing for Grandma."
Gerard sighed and started to sing,"Forget about the dirty looks, the photographs your boyfriend took, you said you'd read me like a book, but the pages are all torn and frayed..."
"You're such a good singer Gerard, I really wish you'd get more into it."
"I like my comics, I want to be a comic book artist."
"And you're a great artist too. I want you to fallow your dreams. You'll succeed no matter what you do. Are any of your friends into art?"
"My friend Charlotte's in my art class. She's pretty good."
"That's good, I'm glad you have friends who share your interests.... Oh, I never gave you the gift certificate for your birthday." Elena took out her purse and took out a small gift certificate good for $50 at a drafting and design store in their town.
"Thanks."
"Get something nice."
"I will."
"I couldn't really hear well, there was a lot of noise in the background, it sounds like... Charlie for Gerard?"
Gerard took the phone from his grandmother and put it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Help me! I'll unpack, I'll paint, I'll do yard work, I don't care, just get me out of here please!" Charlotte pleaded.
"What's wrong?" Gerard said. Charlotte hated yard work, it must be bad.
"All these uncles, aunts, and cousins. More cousins then anyone should have and one of them keeps hitting on my dad... or was that one of my great aunts... I don't know, I can't keep track... just help me, please! They're going to play their funky Spanish guitars and make me dance with my uncle who has a peg leg!"
"Charlie, calm down, I'll come get you, you'll be okay."
"Okay, just walk in, don't bother ringing the bell, we won't hear it."
"'K." Gerard hung up the phone. "Mikey, want to go get Charlotte with me? We need to save her from her family."
"Sure."
"We'll be back in a few."
"Okay."
On the way to Charlotte's house Mikey said,"So, Friday when we were talking to Carlos, you seemed kinda.. hesitant when he asked if you've kissed Charlotte."
"Well... on my birthday she kissed my cheek, but that doesn't count does it?"
"No..."
Gerard got to the neighborhood and had to park across the street. There was people in front of , on the sides, inside and behind Charlotte's house.
"Yikes."
"Mikey, you first."
"Why me?"
"People take pity on skinny kids with glasses."
"Oh, gee thanks."
Mikey opened Charlotte's front door and they walked in. Maria started eyeing them again. Bradley walked over,"What are you doing here?"
"Saving Charlotte."
"I doubt she needs a knight in shining armor."
"Um... we're not anywhere near shining armor."
"Yes I know. Shit, here she comes, I was never here, and Charlotte's in the back yard last I saw her."
Bradley ran down the hallway and Gerard and Mikey looked to see who he was running from. A woman with short dark curly brown hair with much too much jewelry on was looking around, "Oh Brad? Where'd you go?"
"After you Mikey."
Mikey glared at Gerard before they squeezed through the kitchen, getting weird looks from Charlotte's family, a lot of them saying,"Are they related to us?"
Once in the backyard they saw Charlotte sitting on a branch of a tree.
"There you are!" She said. "C'mere, we'll never leave alive if we try to get back in the house, we'll cut through Ray's yard."
She got down from the branch and hopped the fence dividing her's and Ray's yard
Gerard and Mikey fallowed her and saw Ray and his brother on their back porch.
"Hello," Ray said as he tuned his guitar.
"Hi."
"Whatcha doing?"
"Escaping my family," Charlotte said.
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
"Wanna come?" Gerard said.
"No, that's okay," Ray said.
"Okay."
"Bye."
"Thanks so much, I owe you," Charlotte said to Gerard.
"No problem. You're helping unpack though."
"Better then sticking around here."
"Our grandma's over."
"Oh... she isn't like mine is she? Please say no, I love Grandma Maria, but she's just too much."
"Nah, she'll like you, I told her you were in my art class."
"So?"
"She's into the arts... like, a lot."
"She made Gerard's Peter Pan costume."
"Aw! You were so cute in your Peter Pan costume," Charlotte cooed.
"It was... green tights..." Gerard said, his eye twitching slightly.
"Just put them in the cabinet right there."
"This one?"
"Yeah."
"So, Charlotte, you're in Gerard's art class?" Elena asked.
"Yeah."
"What kind of art do you like?"
"I'm getting into digital art."
"On the computer?"
"Yeah."
"I admire anyone who knows how to work those things."
"It's not that hard, unless it's a Mac.... so I herd that you're the one who made Gerard's Peter Pan costume."
"Not the Peter Pan thing again," Gerard groaned.
"Yes, wasn't he adorable? I was so proud of my little Gerard. Were you in the play?"
"Nope. I helped make the set."
"You look like someone who'd do well on stage."
"Nah."
"Well, you know Shakespeare pretty well," Gerard said,"Remember you were reciting the lines with the actors when we were fixing the set."
"I just know that one line," Charlotte said.
"You seem like someone with charisma, I think if you put your mind to it you'd do well on stage," Elena said.
"No problem Hun," Donna said.
After Charlotte got into the car she looked out the window. Gerard noticed that she'd been avoiding eye contact with him since the 'incident' in the counselor's office.
A few moments of complete silence went by before Gerard decided to break it.
"Wanna pull over and make out?" He said.
"What?!" she said looking at him with wide eyes.
"Just kidding, just kidding," He said,"Put your eyeballs back in your head."
Charlotte rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to the window. Gerard started pulling over.
"What are you doing? I thought you said 'just kidding'!"
"Fire Engine, you didn't hear the siren?"
"No, my mind must have been somewhere else."
Charlotte looked behind them to see the fire engine speeding down the street.
"Shit," She said, as she watched it continue down the street,"Don't turn right, don't turn right...."
It turned right.
"Shit," She said again.
"You think it's heading for your house?"
"I certainly hope not."
Gerard started towards Charlotte's house, sure enough, that's where the fire engine had stopped. "Uncle George!" Charlotte said as she got out of Gerard's car before he had finished parking it, causing her to almost fall. "What's going on?"
"Oh, nothing, dinner started burning, someone freaked out and called the fire department," A man with grey hair and a white mustache said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."
"Okay."
A fire fighter was talking to Charlotte's mom who was nodding and saying,"Yes, I understand" an awful lot.
"Well, I'll see you around," Charlotte said to Gerard before walking towards Ray's house.
"Um... you jumping Ray's fence again?"
"No, they're being nice to me and letting me use their shower, I already dropped some stuff off there. All these people at my house plus three bathrooms equals not going to go well."
"Okay then."
"Drive safely." As Gerard drove away Charlotte mentally kicked herself,"Drive safely? What am I? A traffic cop? Ugh!"
"Hello?"
"Hi."
"Charlie?"
"Yep."
"How'd everything go with the fire department?"
"Aparently we were way over the maximum ocupancy."
"No way," He said sarcastically.
"Yeah, so most of my family went to a motel, I get my room back, life's good."
"Yep. So when's everyone getting back from being out of town?"
"Tracy's coming back Thursday, Josie's comming back Wednesday, Bob's coming back Saturday, and Frankie's coming back Sunday Night."
"Okay."
After a few minutes of talking about random topics, Charlotte had to go help clean the kitchen so they hung up. Elena knocked on the frame of Gerard's open door.
"Hey," he said.
"Hi, who were you talking to?"
"Charlotte."
"She's nice, I like her."
"Yeah, she's cool."
"She's pretty, don't you think?"
"I don't know, I guess."
"Do you like her?"
"Grandma, she's just my friend..."
"That doesn't mean that you don't want to be more then that," She said in a sing-song voice as she walked down the hall.
"Why is it that grandparents always think that if you have any friend that's the opposite sex, the only explanation is that you're dating?" Gerard asked himself aloud.