Charlotte sat on Josie's bed as Josie looked through her old yearbook and Tracy sat on the floor, leaning against the bed.
"So, what did we miss while we were gone?" Josie asked, putting the yearbook away and sitting next to Charlotte.
"Not much."
"So, remember at the bowling alley when you said you'd tell us later who you liked?" Tracy said to Charlotte.
"Yeah."
"You never did, and it's way later," Josie said.
"Oh... um..."
"Charlie, us girls tell each other these things."
"Besides, we've got a basic idea anyway."
"Well..."
"Want us to guess? Would that make it easier?"
"Um..."
"Is it one of the guys?" Josie said.
"What do you mean by 'the guys'?"
"Mikey, Gerard, Frankie, Bob and Ray."
"Oh... yeah."
"It's not Mikey is it?"
"No, I like him better then any other freshman, but not in that way."
"Okay, I didn't think so, but I was just making sure."
"Is it Bob? I didn't think it was."
"No, but he is a very good hugger."
"He is!" Josie said.
"I know, it's weird, he's like, the best hugger ever," Tracy said.
"Anyway, so that leaves Gerard, Frankie, and Ray."
"Didn't you like Ray in fifth grade?"
"Yeah, for like two months."
"Do you like him now?"
"Just as a friend."
"Okay, well, we're down to who we thought you liked, and someone else."
"Is it Gerard? Cause that's who we thought you liked," Tracy said.
"Um.. Yeah."
"I knew it," Josie said triumphantly.
Charlotte sighed,"He's just... so cute, and smart, and... artistic... and his eyes and hair..." She sighed again.
"He does have pretty eyes," Josie agreed.
Charlotte bit her lip,"Okay, you know how you said that girls tell each other these things? I think I should tell you this, but you can't tell any of the guys or anything okay? I'm not even sure if it's a secret or not, but we haven't told anyone so-"
"Charlie, you're rambling."
"Okay. So, you know how I said that Mr. Whiteman walked in on me and Gerard and he just thought we got locked in?"
"Yeah."
"Well... what happened was, Mr. Whiteman was coming, so Gerard shoved me against the wall and..."
"And?"
"Um..." She said, twisting hair around her finger and turning red.
"What?!"
"Kissed me."
"Are you serious!?" Tracy said.
"Mmhm."
"Wait, was it just a peck, or what?"
"Um... first base."
"Oh my gosh!"
"What did Mr. Whiteman do?"
"He didn't do anything, he just told us to leave soon," She said.
"What happened after he left?"
"Well, all Gerard said basically is that it was the best way he could think of to explain why we were there."
"That's all he said."
"Well he said my lip gloss tasted good."
Josie and Tracy glanced at each other before all three of them started giggling like crazy.
"So... gonna ask him out?" Tracy asked once they caught their breath.
"Oh... I haven't even looked him in the eye since then."
"He's gonna think you're not interested."
"But it's so akward, and what if he's not interested? I'll seem so pushy when he doesn't even like me."
"How do you know he doesn't like you?"
"He liked Mindy for crying out loud."
"So? Every guy who's liked you has moved on to Mindy, so who's to say it won't work the other way around this time?"
"Gee... thanks."
"Sorry."
"Besides, what's there to like?"
"You're pretty Charlie, you're just shy."
Charlotte shrugged.
"...so is Gerard a good kisser?"
"Oh my God!" Charlotte said before turning bright red.
"What?" Gerard said.
"Charlotte, I've been trying to figure it out for a few weeks, but it's driving me nuts, do you like her or not?"
"Charlotte and I are just friends."
"That doesn't mean that you don't like her more then that."
"Why is everyone convinced that I can't have a friend who's a girl without her being my girlfriend?"
"It's not everyone."
"Sure seems like it."
"So do you like her or not?"
"I don't like you right now."
"That wasn't the question."
"I like Charlotte as a friend, she likes me as a friend, end of story, we're friends."
"Mmhm... so you don't find her attractive at all?"
"Will you fuck off?"
"No."
"Don't you have something better to do then pry into my personal life?"
"Nope. Besides, she's my friend too, you're my brother, it's kinda my personal life too. You'd think that if you were so convinced that you and her were just friends you'd be less defensive."
"I'm not being defensive!"
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, I'm pretty sure you are."
"Mikey, I'm about ready to hit you with grandpa's paperweight."
"And that's not being defensive?"
"What do you want from me? A detailed description of what went on in the counselor's-.... never mind..."
"What about the counselor?"
"Nothing, never mind."
"Tell me and I'll consider not prying anymore."
"No way, you'll pry more if I tell you."
"Tell me or I'll tell grandma where mom packed the tape of you as Peter Pan."
"Damn you..."
"So what happened?"
"Okay, so the janitor's about to walk in and I think of the most obvious reason why Charlotte and I would be in there."
"And?"
"So I pinned her up against the wall and started kissing her."
".... and here you are saying that you just like her as a friend."
"I do just like her as a friend, it was just the best excuse I could think of at the time..."
"Sure it was."
"See, this is why I wasn't going to tell you."
"You sure that you hadn't been wanting to kiss her and you thought that it was the best opportunity?"
"I'm sure."
"Okay then..."
"This is Halloween, everybody make a scene," Frank whispered into her ear. She jumped and hit him in the shoulder.
"Don't sneak up on me like that."
"Is there a better way to sneak up on you?"
"Okay, let me re-phrase, don't sneak up on me at all."
"But that's no fun."
"Oh well."
"So how was your family thing?"
"Bleh, it was horrid, I spent most of the week with Gerard and Ray's families. It was okay once the fire department made most of them leave. How was Florida?"
"I got a sunburn. A really bad one.. I'll never sit the same."
"... I don't want to know how you got a sunburn there."
"No, you don't."
"Lila's about three yards behind you by the way," Charlotte said as she was about to close her locker.
"Wait," Frank said, stopping the locker door. He climbed in and closed the door. "If Lila asks, I was never here."
"Don't worry, she doesn't talk to me-"
"Um, like, why are you talking to your locker?" Lila said to Charlotte.
"Um... it's like... how you talk to plants to make them grow... talk to your locker so.. um... it will open easier..."
"Uh... okay... Have you seen Frankie?"
"Nope."
"You sure?"
"Yep."
"Okay," Lila said before walking down the hall. Gerard and Mikey came over.
"Morning," Gerard said.
"Morning."
"What did Lila want with you?" Mikey asked.
"She wanted to know where Frank was."
"Oh. So when are we getting report cards?"
"Um.. day after tomorrow I think."
"Hope we didn't do too badly."
"Same here, we worked our asses off."
"Just got to hope for the best I guess."
"Yeah, and besides, this quarter's a new slate," she said as they started down the hall.
"Right, everything's re-set we get to start over, get a high grade now and keep it high."
"Is today the dress rehearsal for drama?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, we need to go, I mean, we have the most important part."
"I know, without us, that curtain would never be pulled and the play would never begin."
Charlotte suddenly stopped walking and turned around.
"Shit," She said.
"Where are you going?" Mikey asked.
"I left Frankie in my locker!"
When Charlotte got to her locker she heard Frank say from the inside,"Nice of you to remember me, I mean I am after all just one of your best friends that's locked in your locker."
"I'm so sorry Frank," She said as she started twisting the lock.
"Why are you in there?" Gerard asked.
"Hiding from Lila," Frank said.
"Oh."
"Charlie, we have a problem," Tracy said, glaring at Josie as the two of them walked over.
"What's wrong?" Charlotte said, opening her locker and letting Frank out.
"Genius here decided to get into an argument with Mindy and bet her," Tracy said, pointing to Josie.
"What did you do?"
"I bet her that she and her friends couldn't handle dressing goth for a day, and she bet that we couldn't dress like them for a day, and so I'm all,'You're on!' and she's like,'Fine! This Friday then!'..." Josie said.
"... So, what does this mean?"
"Well... no black this Friday for me, you and Tracy..."
Charlotte scoffed,"All the clothes that I wear besides the uniform are black."
"Well, Mindy, Lila and Laura have to dress goth on Friday, that should be worth a laugh, right?"
"Like they'll really go through with it."
"Sure they will, and if they don't we'll bring some black to change into, c'mon Charlie."
"I guess."
"Where are you guys going to get clothes that aren't black?" Mikey said,"That's all I see you guys wear outside of school.. well, except Josie, she wears colors sometimes..."
"Well, what do you think our aunts and grandmothers send us every Christmas and birthday?"
"Oh, right."
"Yeah, most of it gets donated, but we keep some of it for scraps."
"Oh, and Mindy said we had to keep our hair out of our face."
"WHAT!? But then people will see it! I don't want them seeing my face," Charlotte said.
"What's wrong with your face?" Gerard said.
"What's right with it?"
"Don't be like that Charlie," Tracy said.
"Your hair's always in your face too."
"Well-... yeah okay."
"I don't know, it's Monday and everyone's in a bad mood, sixteen, and I herd coach and his wife, seventeen, were having an argument earlier, so now he's, eighteen, taking it out on us."
"That's not fair, not as unfair as what Charlie, Tracy, and Josie have to do on Friday though, nineteen."
"I know, that'll be interesting. Twenty."
"Sure will, last time I saw Charlotte in anything that wasn't black, red, or something very close, twenty-one, was fifth grade."
"Tracy's always been a bit of the dark-minded child, it'll be pretty hard for her, twenty-two."
"Josie's about half-way, shouldn't be that bad. Twenty-three."
"Charlotte really isn't into showing her face, Twenty-four."
"Nope."
"She doesn't think she's pretty does she? Twenty-five."
"Nope. No one other then her family's ever given her a reason to. Twenty-six."
"I don't know how she thinks that."
"Me neither, on a strictly friends-only bases, I think she's not bad looking at all, twenty-seven."
"Same here, seen her eyes?"
"Yep, Tracy and Josie aren't that bad either."
"You two like gossiping like little girls? Well, you can do that while you're running laps, GET STARTED!" Couch yelled at Gerard and Ray.
"Shit," Gerard mumbled as he and Ray stood up and started running.
"Why are we talking about them and how they look anyway?" Ray said.
"Dunno, hormones?"
"Probably."
"Didn't you have a crush on Charlotte in fifth grade?"
"For like two months. We're just friends, we've known each other since we could walk, that would be too weird."
"Yeah."
"Are you and her arguing?"
"No, why?"
"Cause she hasn't been looking you in the eye a lot lately."
"Oh that... well..."
"What happened?"
".... you really want to know?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, here's what really happened at the counselor's office..." Gerard explained what had gone on with the janitor and the kiss.
"Well... that's interesting..." Ray said,"I wouldn't look you in the eye either."
"Well, I'm not kissing you any time soon so you won't have to worry about that."
"So do you like her?"
"No. Not more then friends anyway."
"You sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Okay then, just making sure, cause Charlie's like my sister and I feel like I should take care of her, I had to meet all her old boyfriends and give her my opinion on all of them."
"So what, am I not worthy of dating Charlotte?"
"I didn't say that. And it doesn't really matter anyway, cause you don't like her that way does it?" Ray smirked.
"... you already knew didn't you?"
"Yep, Charlie told me a few days ago and Mikey told me again yesterday."
"... what else did Charlotte say?"
"That, I said I wouldn't tell you," Ray said."
"What does that mean... does it mean that she said she liked me, or did she say it scared her, or she hates me now, or what?" Gerard thought as he waited for Mikey by his locker. "Why is this stuff so complicated?"
"Prom Queen Nominations, don't forget to nominate someone for Prom Queen," Someone from student council said unenthusiastically at a nearby booth that was set up.
"Pshhhh... prom, just another dance," Gerard said to himself.
"Says the guy who never got asked to one," Mikey said as he walked over.
"Shut up."
"Maybe you should ask someone this year."
"Like I want to go."
"It's senior prom, you have to go, it's like the unwritten rule."
"Whatever."
"Bet Charlie will go with you-"
"Will you shut up about that?!"
"You're being defensive again."
"I'll make you walk home."
"No you won't."
"How do you know?"
"Cause no matter how much I bug you, I'm still your brother, and you love me."
"Well, that doesn't mean I like you all the time, now does it?" Gerard said as he walked away. Mikey rolled his eyes and continued to get his books from his locker until he relised that Gerard wasn't coming back.
"Wait! You aren't really going to make me walk are you!?" He said as he closed his locker and ran down the hall after Gerard.