Charlie

Monday morning. No one's favourite day of the week. The day that begins with a jarring alarm that is a stark comparison to Sunday's lazy sleep in. Or, it should have.

I dashed down the stairs in dark skinny jeans, and a green long-sleeved top, backpack slung over my shoulder and then into the kitchen. I was running late for school which started in a half an hour.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I groaned as I grabbed a granola bar and poured myself coffee in my travel cup. Lorraine laughed, taking a bite of her cream cheese covered bagel.

"I was trying to avoid a pillow to the face," she grinned. Lorraine was almost three years older than me and in her third year at the University of British Columbia. Her mom was the one who brought me in and adopted me three years ago.

Linda Wilson. An older version of the twenty-year-old standing in front of me. They were similar in a lot of ways. Besides both having light blue eyes and light brown hair, they were both selfless, fun-loving and kind. Linda's husband, Jay was also pretty great.

"That's fair," I said, giving her a half smile. Lorraine was much cheerier than I was, especially in the morning. "Can you give me a ride to school? I'd run, but it's raining."

I usually liked the rain, and if I wasn't running late, I'd take the fifteen-minute walk to school with an umbrella. But, running without it would mean getting soaked and it wasn't fun to spend the day in wet clothes.

"You're just lucky you're on the way to UBC..." Lorraine said, tossing her plate into the sink. "Let's go!"

***

I slipped into English class a few moments after the bell had rang, making heads turn as my damp sneakers squeaked against the tiles. Both my socks and my reddish-brown hair was a little damp from the run to and from the car, but that wasn't unusual for a Vancouver school morning.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Tiffany Richards sneered as I passed by her. "A sewer rat." A few people chuckled beside her at my expense and I stopped mid-stride.

"Did you use all three brain cells to think of that one?" I retorted. Her ice blue eyes hardened as students within earshot snickered. Mr. Morrison gave me a look, and I rushed to my seat to avoid a lecture on being tardy.

"How did you manage to be late? It's the second week of school!" The voice was musical but hushed and came from beside me. While I had the misfortune of being in the same class as Tiffany Richards, the universe balanced it out by putting my best friend in it too.

Emery Young and I became fast friends when I moved into the Wilson household the summer before high school. She lived in the house right behind me, waved from her deck when she saw me for the first time, and the rest was history. Her outgoing and sarcastic personality seemed to be just what my introverted and equally sarcastic one needed. While Emery was much more of a sunshine, girly-girl than me, we just seemed to work. Like peanut butter and jelly.

"If there's a will, there's a way," I whispered, making a wide smirk dance across the features of her pretty face. Her pink lips pulled up at the corners. Her dark brown eyes glimmering with humour, that seemed to bring a glow to her pale skin.

"Alright, class. Today we're going to start talking about literary devices..." Mr. Morrison started. I opened my notebook up and began doodling in the corner as I listened.

***

The bell rang relieving everyone from their boredom. Hasty to get to their next class – or at the very least, leave this one – my fellow students rushed out of their seats and into the hallway. Emery and I, on the other hand, weren't in a rush, and slowly gathered our things.

"My schedule is still not in my head..." Emery said, checking her class schedule again. "Oh, crap! I keep thinking I have history after lunch, but it's now and on the other side of the school. I gotta go!"

"Same... I've got science with Mrs. Bowen," I replied, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. Ms. Bowen was super strict and while my classroom wasn't across the campus, it wasn't exactly a short walk.

"Yikes," Emery said. "See you!"

"Later!" I replied.

I left the classroom and headed down the hallway. While my eyes weren't particularly glued to the ground, I wasn't necessarily meeting the eyes of any students. I tried to keep out of the spotlight as much as possible, especially with my background being no longer a hot topic in a gossipy high school where the rich kids were the most popular.

A sudden foot in front of me sent me flying towards the tiles and the remaining students in the hallway laughed as they passed by me. Three pairs of expensive shoes appeared in front of me and I looked up to see a smirking Tiffany standing over me with her two cronies Kayla and Holly behind her. Tiffany flipped her pin straight, waist length blonde hair over her shoulder and glared down at me.

"Hello mousy," she said with a wicked grin. I rolled my eyes at that. She was always calling me names that both poked at my petite stature and my brief time as a street kid. "That little quip in English wasn't cute. So, I just thought you should know your place."

"Beneath us of course," Holly smirked. Her brown eyes danced with a red glow of amusement. Kayla grinned at that. I stood up and folded my arms across my chest.

"What did you all rehearse this before school?" I asked, starting to brush by the three girls. Tiffany put a perfectly manicured hand up against the lockers, blocking my path.

"Wow, Charlie thinks she's so clever and so much better than us," Tiffany sneered to her friends before turning to me. "Newsflash: you're not."

"Okay. You got me," I started. "I'm on my way to AP science while you're what... on your way to fuse your heads together to come up with one brain?"

"You know what!" Tiffany took a step towards me, making me flinch back towards the lockers. It echoed in the now almost empty hallway.

"Listen and listen good; you are nothing. You will always be nothing – especially in this school, where no one cares about you. So, if I were you, I'd show some serious respect to the one who can easily mess you up," she threatened.

"Well, first of all; it's 'listen well.' And second of all; I'm not going to kiss the ground you walk on. I don't even like you." I said defiantly. Tiffany stomped her foot and raised a hand to slap me. But that slap never came.

"Tiffany and clones, I am ordering you to get lost," a voice said. I looked up to see a tall slim guy standing over us. The first thing I noticed was that he was holding on to Tiffany's raised hand. He dropped it as he noticed my glance.

"Mason! Thank goodness you're here! Charlie was being so mean to us," Tiffany whined spinning around to face him. She picked up his hand and gave him her best pouty, glossed, lips and her doe eyes. Despite the way that Kayla usually sucked up to Tiffany, she rolled her eyes at the gesture; her face scrunching up in disgust. Mason pulled his hand away immediately and frowned at her.

"Actually, by the hand I just caught, I'm going to guess that it's the other way around," he replied. "Like I said, get lost." Tiffany huffed and stormed away, with her friends following behind her. He turned to me and then I noticed a second thing.

Mason Grey's breathtaking green eyes.

I mean, his was kind of breathtaking in himself really. His dark brown hair was just a little curly, but if he grew it out further, it could be soft, wild curls. His nose was strong and straight, his lips were full and pink. But his eyes. They drew me in. They were like the lush green of a forest. Peaceful, yet something was hidden away, lurking behind the trees.

I blinked it away and swallowed hard.

I'd seen him around but never really looked at him, let alone spoken to him. So, it was much to my surprise that someone that the most popular girls in school were fawning over would defend me against them. It didn't matter though. I was little Charlie Ross. I didn't date – both by choice and because who would want to date me?

"Um, thanks," I said quietly, looking down at my sneakers.

"Anytime," Mason smiled. One that didn't reach his green eyes. It took me aback. "You okay?"

I nodded. "I – uh – have to go. I'm already late."

"I'll see you around," Mason said.

"Yeah," I mumbled, with a pathetic wave. I rushed off to AP science, distracted with thoughts of not-so-bright, forest green eyes. I had enough of my plate as it was; I didn't need to be distracted... but I was. So distracted, I didn't even care that Mrs. Bowen yelled at me for being late. 

__________

Author's Note: YAY! First chapter!! This was so much fun to write and I hope you enjoy reading it! Do you hate Tiffany already? Do you love Emery? Do you want to know more about Mason Grey and his forest green eyes? HAHA! Let me know what you think! <3