She's seated alone during lunch break. Tray half filled with some salad, I guess it's chicken salad , fiddling with the bottletop of her water bottle, flipping through a novel, Charli Dawson remained unnoticed. Except for a few rude students who would occasionally bump against her as an 'accident' before sniggering as they sauntered away, leaving her with a blistering glare thrown at them.

Tyson is talking too loudly I can't even think straight, my gaze snatched by this goth freak as she shrunk herself away from the venomous judgement of highschool students. It's not like it's unusual for her to eat alone, Charli was a lone wolf, never wanted to fit in, never cared about fitting in so she kept to herself. Some took this personally, people like me for example. Her don't care attitude made students gnash their teeth with rage, it's like yelling at someone and instead of them yelling back they remain all calm and laid back. That's certainly going to tick people off.

Seriously, I can't take my eyes off her. I know it sounds cheesy and romantic but it's anything but. In fact, the rage bubbling under my skin was undescribable. I can't believe I defended her only for me to get ISS! She was going to pay for this!

My fists tighten around the fork I'm holding, the metal jabbing through my palms painfully, nails denting sweaty palm skin with purple crescent moons.

Amidst the cheerful conversations, feet shuffling, clanking of utensils and cutlery, the usual sound track of the cafeteria during lunch hours , Charli remained mute, guarded. I watch just in time as Sarah McKinley shoves her roughly to the point her water spills on top of her tray, splashing it over her salad and the platic table. A few laughs awaken around her . Charli is up on her feet , a scowl on her face but she doesn't say anything.

Grabbing her stuff, she storms out and I don't waste a second of my life as I too am up on my feet and dashing out of the cafeteria to catch up with her. The smell of pasta wafts my nostrils as soon as I walk by the garbage cans outside the cafe where several students are dumping their leftovers, recklessly piling their dirty trays on the sink.

Charli isn't far from my straining sight, her darkened frame slowly sinking down the hallways as she matched away, determined to disappear from the rowdy atmosphere. It only me about three seconds to get to her with great strides and it doesn't help that I am a bit taller than her. My hand finds her shoulder where I proceed to swing her round, meeting with a fiery glare that seemed to be inextinguishable.

" What?" She snarls, he voice low and guttural.

" You are going to pay for what you did," I coldly replied. Her eyes roll at the threat.

" And what exactly did I do?"

" Your disloyal ass had me sent to the fucking principal's office! It's your fault that I'm in ISS to begin with!" Another eye roll, garnished with a smirk that spoke of the incredulity of the situation and the accusation posed my me.

" Look, jerk," The way she said that made my skin crawl. " I never asked for you to stand up for me when Leslie said all that stuff. I never asked for you to come to the rescue, never begged for you to confront her in behalf and I certainly don't recall asking you to punch her. "

That pricked. Just hearing her say those words stung like an unprotected open wound. Anger had blinded me and I refused to see the rational truth of it all. She was right, this was my fault but still, if it wasn't for her , I wouldn be in ISS.

" So please, leave me the fuck alone and go bother someone else," She's about to grant an exit but my hand found its way on to her upper arm, wrapped a fist around it and pulled her back causing her to stagger back a bit before getting her bearing.

" How ungrateful can you get!" I laughed humorlessly.

" Let me go , asshole!" She hissed through gritted teeth,her soft jaw ticking.

" No!" She flinched at the sound of my yelling. " the one time I actually do something nice to you and you reward me with ungratefulness?"

" Since when do you even stand up for me? It was so out of character!" Snapped Charli, trying to dismantle herself from my ruthless grip.

" I dunno know.... Maybe because you're a loser and you needed some kind of backup," Her eyes widened at that, for a moment, the flame that was dancing behind the sea of anger inside those blue eyes seemed to simmer down, momentarily replaced by shocked eyes . Maybe me calling her a loser had shifted something inside her . Mouth slightly open, I get a sneaky glance at the silvery knob nuzzled between the flesh of her tongue. An uncalled for shiver travels down my spine as I imagine the pain she must've gone through in the name of piercing her tongue. I can't believe they stabbed through her tongue! Talk about beauty hurts.

" Loser?" Her voice trembled but her face grew hard with disdain.

" Aren't you one?" I couldn't hold my tongue as I threw that word at her. I've once been called a loser by my father. I can't lie, it hurt for months but I'm over it. Sorta. Charli would soon get over it.

Her eyes searched mine , like cupid's arrow, they pierced deep into my soul, feeling both threatened and vulnerable, I found myself crumbling, tucking my tail between my legs metaphorically as she gazed deep into my eyes. I could see the pain, anger , bitterness and  disappointment within hers , mingling inside as she fought to be strong in front of me. So yeah, she acts all tough and apathetic but was that really true? Maybe she wasn't all tough as she portrayed herself to be. I've seen how they treat her . The snide comments, the shoving,the mocking laughs and pointing fingers.... probably tore her to pieces.

I wish I'd never called her a loser.

But again, Charli is all kinds of annoying so ....I don't know. Do I feel sorry for her? All these confusing feelings towards her, I really can't stand it. I really was out of character. I'm supposed to hate her , supposed to not feel sorry for her or stand up for her. My heart is not supposed to soften under the weight of her broken eyes.

" I guess I am," her voice cracked as she spoke, even through the forced smile I could detect the choking tears behind the admission. I was hurting her and I felt like I should stop. Apologize to her , say something to placate her. Something to turn that frown into her famous smirks that she conjured for me.

She's about to pull away when my mouth opens and the words " I'm sorry " spills out like vomit, catching both of us by surprise.

" Yeah right," She scoffs. " Since when do you say sorry to anyone,let alone me?"

" I don't," I swallowed my pride for a microsecond. " It's a once in a lifetime opportunity so ...take it or leave it."

" Wow! That's your idea of an apology?"

" What, do you want me to go down on my knees and beg for forgiveness? You're not my prom queen, Charli,"

She draws her bottom lip between her teeth and bites gently on it as she contemplated on my words. That little action leaves me mesmerized but I held my guard, my hand slowly slipping down from her arm and back to my side.

" Whatever, " she exhaled as a response. " Apologizing to me isn't meaningful to me anyways so...."

" So ungrateful...." I murmur once again.

" But I guess, I should say something nice to you seeing as you were willing to lower your dignity for me by punching Leslie in the face ," She added and suddenly the anger in my heart slowly dissipated, replaced by this warm fuzzy feeling that weirdly centered around my soul in the most uncomfortable way possible although I didn't seem to mind it .

A lazy grin sprawl across my face.

" Say it then,"

With narrowed eyes , Charli breathed out a frustrated sigh , arms crossed under her perky breasts before replying," Thank you for doing the most lamest thing in an effort to stand up for me. "

" Lame? That shit is going to land me in the history books!" I argued back and she rolled her eyes once again.

" Punching girls is really not attractive,"

" I never said it was," I gave a casual shoulder shrug.

" So again, lamest thing you've ever done," A beat of silence. " But thank you regardless. "

Something about her expressing gratitude  just didn't sit right with me. It felt akin, very unusual and cringe. It evoked emotions I wasn't mature enough to face yet. It's unfamiliar ring was like razor blades on my flesh and I had to shut this down.

" I hate the sound of that," I truthfully expressed with a sage nod. " You saying thank you is like....I don't know, ...it just doesn't sound normal. " That being said, I decided to garnish my words with an exaggerated gag, a metaphorical throw up bouncing up my throat before forcefully swallowing it.

" I could say the same thing about you saying sorry," She countered back and I agreed. Etiquette words like please, thank you,sorry didn't really dwell in our conversations and it's oddity was too much.

" So we agree never to say those words towards each other ever again?" Holding my hand out for her, Charli stared at it before taking it as we shook hands firmly to seal the covenant. And for the second time today, I noticed how ridiculously soft her hand was. So fucking soft I hated how perfect it was!

" Totally,"

" As much as we're... saying weirdly nice stuff to each , that doesn't change the fact that we hate each other and always will, yes?" I asked amidst the handshake.

" Oh yeah! I still hate you with all my soul ,heart and strength," Charli said.

" Right back at you," her hand slips out of mine and immediately, the cold nips back at my palms announcing the sudden departure of her hands in mine , subconsciously wishing to hold it for a few more seconds having not had enough of its soft ,creamy texture. How can the most ugliest and annoying girl possess such soft hands?

" Just 'cause I said sorry to you  doesn't make us friends," I said.

" I never said it did," Charli scoffed, her stare falling away from mine. "I am not desperate enough to want to hang out with the likes of you. Quite frankly, you repulse me. " That was accompanied by a wave of disdainful dismissal.

" Trust me, " I exhaled, a smug hugging my handsome facial features. " the feeling is mutual. I'd rather chew shards of glass than breath the same air as you."

" Then you should heed to your confession and chew broken glass right now since we are literally two feet away from each other," The challenge lingered inside her harsh request, a daring look shot at me as a mischievous shadow rented her icy eyes. Eyebrow twitching upwards, I was no stranger to that look that she was giving me.  Her famous gambler's look had we been in a casino right in Las Vegas.

The previous awkwardness that had laced itself in the atmosphere a few minutes back, those cringe words we'd exchange courtesy of good manners, all seemed to plonk down, evaporating away as we both dived back into our usual everyday interaction of rivalry.

" Why would I do that?" A derisive laugh escaped my lips as I stared down at this short creature with the blackest hair I'd ever laid eyes on. Eyes framed with a smoky eyeshadow, she looked...alluring? No! She looked creepy. Yes, creepy. That's the word.

" You just said you'd rather chew shards of glass than breath the same air as I," She sounded impatient. Annoyed even as I shot her one of my 'clueless' looks.

" It was a figure of speech, dumbass," I informed, facing beside me where some few students were shooting us weird looks. I guess I should have seen it coming. I am talking to Charli, one of the highschool freaks. I'm tempted to shout something insulting to them , maybe even spice it up with an obscene gesture but realized that would only land me in more hot water. And Charli would somehow walk away from it all unscathed.  I can't believe she doesn't get punished but I end up with an ISS.

" Anyways," I rolled my eyes at the aforementioned students before facing Charli who by then had caught on the sight of the rude students standing not far from us. That smug look slipping away from her face, replaced by a glum one. " I gotta go....so..."

" Yeah , go," She replied in a dispirited tone , biting her bottom lip, contemplatively staring down at the linoleum floors. I could tell it bothered her , everyone giving her a tough time in highschool, including me. She probably suffered from low self esteem because of people like us roaming the halls bullying people like her on a day to day basis. She probably felt degraded, pathetic, wounded. I feel like I should stand up for he again.....Heck no! I was not going to suffer yet again in the name of defending her.

What do I care if her feelings get hurt? I don't even care about her .

" See you later, girlfriend," Her eyes immediately shoot up to face me , a look of disgust contorted on her face at the sudden mention of the title 'girlfriend'. " Or did you forget that we are fake dating." I wink at her and she groans before turning on her heel, marching off .

" I LOVE YOU TOO BABE!" I don't hesitate to shout after her , my voice booming throughout the hallway, leaving a sea of shocked faces in its wake, and in return, Charli lifts her hand , still not facing me as she flicks me her middle finger.

That was enough for me to smirk back at that juvenile response, silently amused at her expense.