Charlie

By the time the lunch bell rang, I was starving – not to mention grateful from the break from the bombardment of science information coming at me. I hastily bought a BLT sandwich from the cafeteria and headed over to my usual table. Emery and two of our other friends were already seated with their lunches spread out and we awaited the third. I use the term 'our' a little loosely, as they were closer to Emery than to me, but I made it that way.

Brenna and Phoebe were easily excited and always talking, so they got along easy with Emery. They all had history together, which they walked over here from together. Then there was Talia, who sat down a couple moments after me. She was perceptive, kind, and a little quieter than Brenna and Phoebe, which made it easier for me to be around the group.

I tuned out the chatter about Brenna and Phoebe's annoying history assignment and opened the wrapping on my BLT. Though I was excited for my first bite, I barely enjoyed it, nudged by Emery as I swallowed.

"What?" I asked, looking at her.

"Dallas Mitchell is coming this way," she responded. I followed her gaze to see the large hockey player walking towards us. He was one of the most popular guys in school, but he was also known as the classic bad boy. He was doing a "victory lap" otherwise known as repeating the twelfth grade, because he flunked a couple courses last year.

"He's probably going to the lunch line," I brushed it off.

"No, he's looking right at you," Emery insisted. Sure enough, he was. His piercing blue eyes were focused on me as he stalked over here.

Dallas placed a thick hand on the table and ran the other through his shaggy blonde hair, as if it was supposed to be charming or something.

"Hey Charlie," he said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Hi." It came out a little more flatly than I had anticipated.

"How are you?" he asked, leaning towards me. I knew he was bad news and felt very immune to his charm.

"What's it to you?" I answered. He blinked a few times, surprised my response.

"I – uh... I was just... See you." And just like that, Dallas Mitchell walked away just as quickly as he came here. Emery and shared a glance.

"What the hell was that?" Brenna asked, her nose wrinkled up in confusion.

"Yeah, that was really weird," Emery agreed, her eyebrows furrowed as she watched him walk away.

"I have no idea!" I exclaimed.

"He didn't even finish his thought," Talia mused with the same level of confusion as I felt. Phoebe on the hand, was suspiciously quiet as she dug into her rice bowl.

"Maybe he's into you?" Brenna suggested, taking a bite of her salad.

"Doubtful," I scoffed. "He's never spoken to me before..."

"Yeah, but you're pretty, maybe he noticed," Emery said. Her brown eyes danced with amusement. I laughed at that.

"As if. I think lack of nutrition is making you delusional. You should finish your lunch," I teased. Emery stuck her tongue out at me and picked up her pizza. As I took a bite of my sandwich, I glanced over at the rigid and silent Phoebe questioningly. I didn't know what her problem was... I couldn't think of a single reason why Dallas would want to talk to me.

***

After school, I found myself perched up on my window ledge as I did my English poetry readings. It had stopped raining and was just the right temperature for me to enjoy the fresh air.

"I swear one day, you're fall to your death!" I heard from outside.

"I'll haunt you from my grave if that happens," I called down, knowing it was Emery.

"Shut up and get down here! I have news for you," she laughed. I giggled and hopped off the ledge and into my bedroom. After ditching my homework, I dashed downstairs, and met Emery on the deck.

She was leaning against the railing, her dark curly hair tussled by the gentle breeze. Her eyes brightened as she saw me, and she bounced excitedly.

"Okay, what's the news?"

"Adam Hill!" Emery squealed.

"You're going to have to elaborate for me Em," I said.

"Okay, okay. Anthropology class. We got paired up!" she exclaimed. There was no lie that Adam Hill was a dreamy looking guy with his big brown eyes and dimpled smile. Emery has had a crush on him since grade ten when he moved here. They'd been friends for a little while, polite conversations here and there, but nothing major. "So, we were talking of course, and that lead to flirting and well... he asked me out!"

My eyes widened so fast; they almost fell out of my head. This was like winning the lottery for her.

"Emery!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around her. "You could have led with that! This is so exciting!"

"I know! It's on Friday and I'm kind of having heart palpitations!" she said dramatically.

"Well yeah! It's Adam Hill!" I replied, making her laugh.

"Okay, so we're totally going to have to go shopping, but for now, where are you in that English poem?" she asked.

"Just started. Let's work inside," I said, looking up at the clouds.

***

On Tuesday morning, I showered and put on a pair of black skinny jeans and a loose long-sleeved top. I wasn't really into fashion, though I didn't have an aversion to it either. I liked to look decent, but I didn't think to pour much energy into what I wore either. I looked in the mirror as I pulled my waist-length curls into a high ponytail and put a little mascara on my eyelashes. It made my hazel brown eyes pop a little and I liked it. I didn't wear any makeup on my light brown skin – more due to lack of knowledge, than anything. I was sure Lorraine would teach me if I asked, but again, I didn't think to. So, I was destined to showcase the light dusting of freckles scattered across my slightly curved nose until I did. I pursed my lips at my reflection for a moment and shrugged.

Decent, I thought, turning away from the mirror.

As went downstairs, I smelled eggs being cooked and wrinkled my nose in disgust. Eggs were far from my favourite food. I discovered it was Linda who was cooking them, as I walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning sunshine!" she chirped. I laughed at that. I was anything but sunshine and we both knew it.

"Good morning," I replied. I poured myself some coffee before walking over to the pantry and grabbing the only cereal that really mattered to me; Cinnamon-Toast Crunch.

"I don't know how you can have coffee and a bowl full of sugar in the morning and survive the day?" Linda asked, shaking her head. She wore a playful smile on her lips as she put her scrambled eggs onto the toast on her plate.

"The same way you eat icky eggs on an empty stomach," I replied, making her laugh. I poured just enough milk on my cereal to make it wet, but not enough that I'd have to drink it afterwards.

"Touché," she said. "Need a ride to school?"

"That's okay, it's not raining... I don't want you to be late," I said, before shovelling a spoonful of cereal into my mouth. I hated to inconvenience anyone – especially Linda – so I tried to ask for as little as possible. Besides, she already has done more than enough by adopting me.

***

 First and second period were pretty uneventful, and I found myself with a plate of penne pasta at lunch quickly enough. Phoebe seemed to be back to her regular self as Emery filled the rest of the girls in about her Friday night date with Adam Hill. I listened attentively, though I already knew the details as I ate my food.

Suddenly, there was an unfortunately familiar hand next to my plate. I looked up to see Dallas Mitchell standing at my table for the second day in a row. I shot a glance to Emery whose eyebrows shot up in response. I looked back up at the large hockey player and waited for him to speak.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked.

"I'm listening," I replied. He turned his head to acknowledge my friends, who were all staring curiously at him. Phoebe was wearing a variation of yesterday's expression however, and I turned back to Dallas.

"In private," he stated flatly. I sighed and stood up, following Dallas out the backdoors of the cafeteria, leaving us to stand under the cloudy skies of West Point Grey. I felt anxious standing here alone with him but didn't let it show. I hated how much he loomed over me and didn't trust his smarmy attitude and bad boy reputation.

What was I doing out here?

"So, what was so important you had to drag me out here?" I asked sharply. It came out that way to cover up my nervousness. An off-putting façade.

"You're in advanced science, right?" Dallas asked, ignoring my attitude and my question all together. I blinked away my surprise.

"Um, that's right," I said, trying to get a read on where this was going. He nodded, a half-smile appearing on his face.

"Good. You're my new tutor now," he replied. "Congrats."

"What?" I gasped. It was filled with surprise and annoyance. "Why am I your tutor? And better yet why are you assuming I'll do it rather than asking like a decent person would?"

"Look, Mrs. Bowen told me you're some sort of super nerd and aced AP science last year, while I failed basic biology, which I really need so she said to ask you."

"Key word: ask. And maybe not insult while you're at it," I scoffed. "You can't force me to be your tutor."

"I think I just did. I'll see you in the library after school then," Dallas said, smugly. I glared at him. "I'll pay you for your help."

"I have plans you know," I said, folding my arms across my chest in frustration, though I could feel my resolve wavering. Having extra cash would be nice, and one less thing to ask Linda and Jay for.

"I'm sure you do," he replied sarcastically, making me roll my eyes in response. "Then tomorrow after school. Library. Got it?"

"Yeah. I'm not an idiot," I snapped.

"You're right. Or you wouldn't be my new tutor," Dallas grinned before marching back inside the cafeteria. I watched him walk away with a sigh.

Maybe I was an idiot. Only an idiot would agree to voluntarily spend time with Dallas Mitchell. Sure, I was going to be his tutor, but it would probably cost me my sanity.

___________

Author's Note: Happy Tuesday! Here's chapter 2! I hope you're all enjoying Nothing's Fine so far! I know I've been having a blast writing it! Let me know what you think of the characters you've met so far, and who you want to see more of!

Until the next chapter, stay safe and healthy! xoxo