He was in Chemistry class, everything was going as it usually did, except Charlotte wasn't in the class at the moment. Not an interesting dream so far. The class worked on book work and took notes.
Charlotte walked into the class casually, no one but Gerard looked up. She walked up to Gerard's desk and leaned over.
"Hi Gee," She said non-chalantly before licking his cheek.
"Uh........." Gerard said.
Suddenly they were the only ones in the classroom. Charlotte pulled the empty stool next to Gerard over and sat down. Her bangs weren't in her face as much as they usually were and he could clearly see her stunning green eyes. She put her arm around his neck and tilted her head to the side a little. Gerard found himself leaning forward and pulling Charlotte closer to him. They kissed. Gerard liked this one much better then their last, Charlotte was using her tongue instead of just staying still from being stunned. She was a really good kisser....
Gerard glared at the red flashing numbers on his alarm before forcefully hitting snooze and closing his eyes again. No matter what he did, he couldn't fall back asleep, he couldn't get back the dream.
"Wait," he said to himself,"Why do I want the dream back, it was weird, we're just friends..."
The words of his grandma, Ray and Mikey kept swimming in and out of his mind.
"....You're being defensive..."
"....That, I said I wouldn't tell you...."
"...Doesn't mean you don't want to me more then just friends....."
"...you sure you hadn't been wanting to kiss her?...."
"... I wouldn't look you in the eye either...."
"...She's pretty..."
"Okay," he said to himself again,"Let's say, hypothetically of course, that I like Charlotte.... what now? I don't know, would it be weird? Of course it would..."
Gerard decided to worry about this issue a little later and got ready for school.
"Nothing," he'd say and try to get back to his notes.
A few times he was tempted to throw his arms around her and kiss her like in his dreams, but there was three problems with that plan. One: it was the middle of class and Mr. Marcus would certainly write them up for Public Display of Affection. Two: his arms and his brain weren't listening to each other anyway. And three: he didn't know if Charlotte was even interested in being more then friends.
Gerard tapped his fingers on the table quickly.
"Why are you so fidgety today?" Charlotte whispered as she put her hand on his to make him stop tapping his fingers.
Gerard stared at her hand on his until Charlotte repeated her question and moved her hand away.
"Oh, just not focusing today I guess."
"Okay."
"Charlie," Josie said as she walked over.
"What?"
"I need help."
"Well I know that, but if your parents pay for it, I'll drive you to therapy if you want-"
"No, after class can you come to the library with me to help me finish an assignment? It'll take all lunch.."
"Sure, go back to your experiment though, Mr. Marcus is glaring at us."
Josie turned and smiled innocently at Mr. Marcus before walking back to where Frank was about to put too much of a chemical into their experiment.
"Hey Charlie?" Gerard said.
"Yeah?"
"Um.....never mind," he said looking back at his notes.
"...K..." she said.
That class seemed to be taking much longer then usual. Gerard thought he would pop before the bell rang.
Before they had to leave Charlotte was looking through some of Gerard's notes.
"Still doodling little demon people I see."
"Yeah..."
"Cool, I like your little demon people."
The next second the bell rang and Charlotte fallowed Josie to the library where they met Tracy.
"Okay, so what's the project?" Charlotte asked.
"English, bleh," Josie complained.
"What did he do?"
"He asked his best friend's sister out."
"You aren't suppost to do that," Frank said.
"Nope, it violates the unwritten rules."
"You mean like, never ask if 'they're real'?" Mikey said, glancing at Bob.
"I make one mistake..." Bob said.
"Right. So now his friend is ticked off at him."
"Did she say she'd go out with him?"
"Psshhh, no, turned him down flat."
"That sucks."
"Does the 'no dating friend's siblings' rule apply to step-siblings?" Frank said.
"Yes, I think so. Why? Who's step-sister do you like?"
"No one, just wondering."
Gerard remembered something else Ray had said. "...Charlie's like my sister and I feel like I should take care of her..."
"What if it's someone your friend considers their sister, but they aren't actually related?" Gerard asked.
"...ooh.. that's tough.... not technically related..." Bob said.
"I guess... as long as the friend is okay with it..." Frank said.
"So, just ask the friend if they're okay with it?" Gerard said.
"Yeah, and if they are, go for it..."
"I'll as for you Gerard. Ray, are you okay with Gerard asking Charlotte out?" Mikey asked Ray.
"Mikey, shut up," Gerard said.
"Ha, I knew you liked her," Bob said.
"..... Gerard likes Charlotte? When was someone going to let me in on this?" Frank said.
"You didn't know?" Ray, Mikey, and Bob said at the same time.
"It couldn't be more obvious if they spelled it out in the sky!" Mikey said.
"Shut up!" Gerard yelled,"I'm confused as it is. I'm not even sure if I like her, or if I don't like her, or if I want to slam her against another wall and kiss her again."
"... you kissed her?" Frank said,"Why does no one feel the need to tell Frankie these things?"
"Don't feel bad, they didn't tell me either," Bob said.
"Well, I can understand not telling you, but not telling me?"
Bob hit Frank in the back of the head.
"Go ahead and ask her out Gerard," Ray said.
"I don't even know if I want to or not-"
"Don't start that, you do so," Mikey said.
"Fine! I like her okay!?"
"You like her a lot," Bob said.
"And how lovely the children shall be," Frank said, only to be hit in the back of the head again, this time by Gerard. "I'll get you guys back for hitting me."
"How will you do that?"
"Um... I'll jump on top of Bob and kick Gerard in the balls... ten years from now."
"... okay, you do that..."
"Let me hide."
"Jump in."
Frank stepped into Gerard's locker which he closed. Lila walked by and then Gerard let Frank out.
"Thanks. Where's Mikey?"
"He's staying after to re-take an English exam he flunked. My mom's picking him up on her way home from work."
"I see... Now, anything else you'd like to tell me so I'm not the last to know?"
"What? You want to hear about my dream?"
"I don't know, do I?"
"Charlotte came over all casual, like she was going to say hi or something and licked my cheek."
"...in your dream right?"
"Yes in my dream!"
"Okay, just making sure. Cool. How was it?"
"Kinda nice actually."
"Cool. Then what? Do I want to know?"
"We made-out."
"I see. And how was that?"
"Really nice. I was disappointed that my alarm clock went off."
".. And here you are saying you aren't even sure if you like her."
"No," Gerard said.
"What?! But I did everything you told me, it should equal seventeen!"
"No, that's not the right answer."
Charlotte looked over the problem again and sighed. "Negative seventeen?"
"Yep."
"For the love of zombies Gerard, I said seventeen!"
"Well, it wasn't seventeen, it was negative seventeen. If you put that on a test, they'd have marked it off as wrong."
"Dammit, I hate math."
"And it hates you too obviously."
"At least that was the last problem," She said, putting her stuff away.
"Yeah... hey Charlie? How should a guy tell a girl he likes that he likes her?"
"New crush? Cool, um... I dunno. You should draw her something. Some girls might not like your little demon people though.."
"You said you liked them."
"Yeah, but I like little demonic things, I think they're cute. Why do you think I hang out with you guys?"
"Because you're a dork, we're dorks, and us dorks have to stick together."
"...yeah, that too."
Charlotte and Gerard made eye contact for the first time in about a week. They started leaning towards each other, fully intended to lock lips before they herd the door to Brad's office open and they quickly turned back to their homework. Brad walked in talking on his phone to one of his co-workers. He got a water from the fridge then went back to his office.
"Um... so.." Charlotte said. The phone rang and Gerard cursed the phone and Brad in his mind. He hoped that his mind-cursing wasn't as loud as he thought it was though, because if it was then Charlotte would definitely be able to hear it.
"Hello?.... Today?..... I know, but.... okay.... yes, I understand.... Yeah, I'll be there in thirty minutes..... well, what do you expect? I'm not ready and I live twenty minutes away!..... okay...... bye." Charlotte hung the phone up. "Gerard, I need to go, so..."
"Say no more, we're done with homework anyway," He said, getting his things and heading towards the door.
"See you tomorrow," She said.
When Gerard got home he sat on the couch with Mikey.
"Now it's gonna bug me, why'd she have to leave?" Gerard said to Mikey.
"Oh, well, she told me... C'mon Gerard, like I know!"
"Sorry."
"It's okay.... maybe... she's secretly a hitman and she went to kill someone."
"I don't think Charlotte could kill someone."
"... you're right... okay... maybe... She's a super hero! Yeah, and Charlotte's just her secret identity."
"I highly doubt that, but if it was true that would be so cool."
"How are we going to be able to tell Charlie, Tracy, and Josie apart from all the other girls if they aren't wearing black?"
"They'll be the ones ready to lock themselves in their lockers."
"OW! My nose!" Some guy yelled from down the hall.
"Touch my ass again and it'll be more then your nose!"
"Well, I think we might have found Charlotte," Bob said.
The guy who had yelled scurried down the hall, his hand over his nose with blood dripping between his fingers.
They turned their heads in the direction the guy had been walking from.
All five jaws dropped slightly.
Tracy had on a blue halter top with a white jacket over it, blue converse, and white capris. Her hair was in a ponytail and curled.
Josie had on a small pink and white striped t-shirt with a pink skirt and white flip-flops. Her hair was as it normally was, but with a white heart-shaped barret in it.
Charlotte wore a light green tanktop and a jean mini-skirt with green sandles that had a skinny one-inch heel. Her hair was curled at the end and out of her face.
"Close your mouths, a bug might fly in," Josie said as they walked over.
"I haven't shown this much skin since the last time I went on the boat," Charlotte sighed,"I'm so cold, don't they ever turn the air conditioning down?"
"I miss my black jeans with the chains and studs," Tracy whined before sitting on the floor and pulling her knees to her chest, trying to hide her face.
"Pink, so much.... pink," Josie sighed.
"This is all your fault, you shouldn't be complaining," Tracy said, still hiding her face.
"Charlie, you're gonna get sent to the dean for violating dress code," Ray said.
"I know, I'm hoping that I can convince them to let me change into my black stuff I brought."
"Yeah, Charlotte and I plan on getting dressed in our black clothes after PE."
"Have you guys seen Mindy yet?" Josie asked.
"No," Mikey said.
"Charlotte was ticked off cause of Mindy's shoes."
"I've been looking for those shoes for months! And she has them! The most awesome boots ever," Charlotte said.
"Poor Charlie."
"Nice attempt," Mindy scoffed. Her long black hair in gothic lolita-esque pigtails. She had on a black skirt with fishnets, a black jacket and knee-high leather boots that had red straps and bat-shaped buckles. Lila had on jeans, a black shirt and a black armband, and Laura (if you forgot, the girl who's locker Frank jumped out of) had on pretty much the same thing as Lila, but with a black hoodie and black studded dog collar.
"I know, we don't look enough like hookers," Tracy said.
"Look who's talking, I walk into that Hot Topic place and it has chains, fishnets, a whip... and you guys walk around calling us sluts," Mindy said.
"Why is everyone looking at us all scared?" Lila said, looking around.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Tracy said.
"You guys might have over-done it a bit," Josie said.
"Whatever, we proved we could handle it."
"The bet was an entire day!" Josie said.
"Dammit," Tracy said,"You just had to remind her."
"Fine, for the rest of the day until the last bell rings."
"Fine."
"Now what?" Bob asked.
The three girls each took out at least fifteen sheets of paper each.
"What are those?"
"Phone numbers, we've been getting them all day," Charlotte said, tossing hers aside and letting the slight wind carry most of them away.
"Wow, captain of the lacross team," Frank said, reading one number that had landed by his shoe.
"What a man-whore, he gave me his number too," Tracy said.
"So you aren't interested in any of them?" Gerard said, all the while thinking,"Please say no..."
"Absolutely not, none of them are worth picking up a phone."
"Oh, good. Cause you shouldn't go out with someone who gave you their number just because of how you're dressed."
"... so now all of them just gave me their number because of that?"
"Well, why else?"
"Right, cause I'm just such a bitch."
"Well, yeah sometimes, but we love you anyway."
"Excuse me?"
"Don't over-react Charlotte."
"You just basically called me a bitch."
"Ooooh, this'll be interesting," Tracy said.
"I said sometimes, maybe next time you should listen more and over-react less."
"Maybe next time you should consider what you're saying before you say it."
"Well, maybe you should be less of a bitch sometimes."
"Maybe you should be less of a jerk."
"And there we go," Ray said, shaking his head
Pretty soon:
"Slut!"
"Bastard!"
"Smart-ass!"
"Jerk!"
"Bitch!"
"Erotic!-... oh shit." Charlotte turned bright red and wished terribly that her hair was covering her face.
"Did you just call me erotic?"
"No."
"Yes you did," Frank said.
"Stay out of this," Charlotte snapped.
"So, you think I'm erotic?" Gerard said.
"No, I never said that."
"Yes you did."
"How could I ever think that way about you? It was just a slip of the tongue," She said. She turned her heal and ran as well as she could in her heels, stumbling a few times along the way until she got into the school.
"Oh, look at the time, got to go-" Tracy started.
"Hold it! Sit." Bob said.
"Dammit," Josie said.
"So, does Charlie feel that way about our dear friend here or was it really just a slip of the tongue?"
"Slip of the tongue, she probably just ran out of insulting words to say," Tracy said. Luckily, she was a great liar.
"I see..." The bell rang and they left for their next class.
"Look, Gerard, I'm sorry, you're right."
"What?!" Gerard said, did she really think that about him? Was it really not a slip of the tongue?
"I over-reacted, and those guys probably did just give me their numbers because of the way I'm dressed today."
"Oh," He said, meanwhile thinking,"Dammit..."
"And I shouldn't have called you all the things I did, I really didn't mean it. I've just been in one of those moods today."
"Well, I shouldn't have called you all the things I did either, so let's forgive each other?"
"Okay."
Gerard got out a blank piece of paper and got to work on something.
"Tomorrow's that carnival, are you guys going?" Tracy asked.
"Yeah," Ray said.
"Cool, we are too," Charlotte said,"We can meet up."
"Okay."
Josie came back and they walked towards a staircase. Unfortunately, Charlotte still had on her heels and tripped. She grabbed Gerard's shoulder for support as he reached for her waist to keep her from falling. Too bad neither worked. They both fell down the stairs, landing with Charlotte laying on top of Gerard. Mr. Whiteman came by and stared at them for a moment. "You know, I have a perfectly good janitor's closet I could let you borrow-"
"That won't be necessary!" Charlotte said, getting off of Gerard and helping him off the floor.
"Okay then," Mr. Whiteman said.
Charlotte avoided eye contact with Gerard again as everyone else came down the stairs.
"You guys okay?"
"Yeah."
"Trust Me"