Charlie

            After school, I made my way to track and field practice, ready to warm up. I did the middle-distance events 1500 metres, mile, and 3000 metres use to running for pretty long periods of time. Usually, I had one of the best times, even beating some of the guys, but today I was undoubtedly distracted.

"Ross!" Coach Elle screamed. I stopped mid stride and jogged over to her.

"Yes Coach?" I sensed her disappointment in my times. She looked down at the stopwatch in her hands with a frown etched into her facial features.

"What's up with you? You're not at your usual time," she said.

"I'm fine," I mumbled, the beginning to one of my most commonly used lies. "I'm just a little distracted."

"Then get your head in it, girl," she pushed.

"Right, sorry." I nodded, shaking out my legs, before heading back onto the track. As I ran, my mind wandered no matter how hard I tried to keep it focused on moving faster. Instead, I could only think about how awkward it would be to tutor Dallas. How weird it would be to be alone with him. How I wasn't sure if I'd be a good tutor or not.

I narrowly avoided running to one of my fellow runners and heard Coach Elle's whistle blow aggressively. I froze and closed my eyes for a moment in anticipation.

"Ross!" she yelled. "I think you're done for today."

"W-what?" I stuttered out in confusion. I've never went home early from practice unless I was sick or injured. I've seen Coach Elle sent other kids home early if they were goofing off or unfocused, but it wasn't the norm for me.

"You look stressed," she said softly. "I don't want you to hurt yourself because you're distracted. So, go home, and I'll see you next week."

"Yes, Coach. Sorry," I said. She gave me a smile before turning back to the rest of the track team. She blew her whistle as she jogged over to them.

"Conditioning! Line up!" she bellowed.

I walked over to where my stuff was and changed out of my track cleats, threw sweatpants over my tiny running shorts, and put on my sneakers. I sighed as I gave my team a last look as they trained without me.

Stupid Dallas, I thought as I grabbed my backpack.

***

I showered when I got home before throwing jeans and a brown sweater on. I grabbed my backpack and threw on a jacket and my shoes before heading out the backdoor. I launched myself up onto the fence easily – perks of being a street kid – and climbed down on the other side. In less than a minute, I was knocking on Emery's backdoor. Within seconds, I saw a flash of straight black hair flying down the stairs and brightly coloured mismatched socks sliding towards me. Emery threw open the door and pulled me inside without a greeting.

"Ugh! Finally!" she whined.

"Finally? I'm home early!" I laughed, pulling my sneakers off.

"Okay, yeah, but I've been dying to talk to you! You didn't tell me what Dallas said at lunch and I've been on a cliff hanger ever since!" Emery said. She was right, Brenna was telling a story when I came back, and Phoebe looked like she didn't want to hear anything pertaining to Dallas and I. So, I finished my pasta, and the lunch bell rang.

I was barely balanced before she started dragging me upstairs to her room. She had a baby pink comforter on her bed and fluffy pink pillows that matched her rug and curtain. They stood out against the dark brown wooden floor and white walls. She had a bright painting of one of Monet's Water Lilies paintings hanging on the wall behind her bed. It was all very her. The moment we were inside, she closed the door and dramatically turned to me.

"So?" Emery prodded.

"So... what?" I teased, sitting down on her bed.

"You're going to give me a coronary Charlie, please!" Emery begged. I laughed.

"Honestly, it wasn't very interesting. He told me I'm his new tutor," I sighed. Emery's eyes flashed with confusion and then amusement.

"I'd have thought it was something else," she mumbled. I narrowed my eyes at that, and she giggled. "Well, when are you tutoring him?"

"Tomorrow after school," I groaned. "Ugh! I can't believe Mrs. Bowen! She basically offered me up on a silver platter to the primate!"

"The high school bad boy? She did you a favour!" Emery said. She went over to her desk and grabbed her purse off the chair. "Well, now all the more reason to shop! I've got a date on Friday and you have one tomorrow."

"Em! It's not a date!" I insisted. "And I've got science homework!"

"You're a teenager. Live a little!" Emery laughed. I rolled my eyes at her but got off the bed. She wasn't going to quit until we went shopping, so I figured I'd save myself the energy of resisting.

***

"Can we go back to your house now?" I begged after almost two hours at the mall. I parked myself on a bench and put my numerous bags down beside me. Emery had coerced me into buying a new pair of jeans, a few tops, and even a denim skirt – though, she bought it and stuck it in my bag. She'd gotten herself just as many clothes, with the addition of a few dresses.

"Almost... let's just find you some accessories for that blue top you got!" Emery grinned.

"Em, I have accessories at home!" I whined.

"Alright, alright," Emery sighed. "Want to get a smoothie before we go?"

"Now, you're speaking my language!" I smiled standing up. Emery laughed and we began heading to the food court. As we walked, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I began fumbling around trying to find it and balance my shopping bags.

We turned a corner, and I looked up in time to see nothing but a white t-shirt. With an "oof", I fall backwards from the impact, slipping through Emery's attempt to catch me.

"Sorry," I mumbled before looking up.

"You better watch where you're going," a familiar voice said. My head snapped up and I noticed a smug Dallas Mitchell standing over me with one of his friends, Greg. "Wouldn't want you to knock the brains out of your smart little head."

I wrinkled my nose at that as I stood up. "Of course not."

"Hello, Charlie," he started. "Shopping... not something I'd think you did very often," he added giving me a once over. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Well, I was about to congratulate you on thinking... but we both know that was one thought wasted," I replied. Dallas ignored the comment, but Greg didn't. Instead, he chuckled loudly, making Emery giggle.

"Were you buying something sexy for tomorrow?" Dallas asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me suggestively as he stuck his hands in one of my shopping bags.

"Definitely not!" I snapped, yanking my bags away from him. He still managed to pull out an article of clothing, and to my dismay, it was the skirt. My cheeks betrayed me immediately, turning pink.

"It's not sexy, but it's cute... You're getting there," he grinned. My teeth were gritted, my fists clenched, and I itched to punch him in the face. Emery seemed to read me like a book as she grabbed the skirt from Dallas' meaty hands and stuck it in her bag.

"That's actually mine," Emery hissed.

"Oh?" Dallas stepped closer, a mischievous smile playing on the corners of his mouth. Emery didn't reply. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest and glared at him until he stepped back. "Well, whoever it belongs to, I hope you'll be wearing it tomorrow," Dallas said looking at me.

"Not even in your wildest dreams," I said, brushing by him, and dragging Emery along with me. "And you better be focused on work tomorrow or I'm not helping you!" I called over my shoulder.

"Aye, aye Captain!" Dallas shouted back.

As we walked a little further from them, I still fumed, and turned to Emery. "See what I mean? Total primate!"

"He is an ass..." she conceded. "But I think he's into you." I shot her a glare and she grinned in response. While she was blinded by his blue eyes, she was right about one thing; Dallas Mitchell was an ass.

_____________

Author's Note: Hello my lovely readers! I hope you are all doing well!

What did you think about this chapter? Is Dallas annoying? Or do you think he might turn out to be nice? And are we huge Emery fans? What about Charlie?

What do you think might happen next?

Stay safe and stay well! See you in the next chapter! <3