CHAPTER ELEVEN!
( YOU STILL SMELL. )

   AFTER SCHOOL THAT day Joan wanted to talk to Charlie about the girl. She was hoping to casually tease him about it in conversation, but she hadn't been able to find him for the last hour. She hated that she had gotten to the point of actually seeking him out, she never thought she'd be the girl who wanted Charlie's attention. She didn't even really know why she wanted to ask him about the poem, it was just another English assignment that everyone had to complete. Joan finally decided to give up and just walk around the campus for a while. The boys would be playing a soccer game tonight, so she figured she would just talk to him after that. Joan wandered aimlessly past the rushing river and tall brick walls. Despite the terrible experiences she'd had at Welton, it truly was a beautiful place. And she was slowly adding more positive memories this year.

As Joan walked, her mind wandered to Charlie. Instead of stopping herself, she decided this was a good time to sort out how she felt exactly. She was tired of not being able to stop thinking about him, she hated herself for the possibility that she liked him. Joan couldn't help but feel a painful tightness in her chest at the thought of him in love with another girl. She thought about it for a moment, and to her horror, she came to the realization that she liked him much more than she initially planned. From his stupid jokes to his stupid brown eyes, she actually did love it all. The only problem was that she didn't see how it could ever work out. He had plenty of girls pining over him, that she was sure of. His flirty disposition didn't help, he just loved the attention he got from girls.

Okay, that's enough, she scolded herself as she turned back around to grab a book or start on her trig homework. Anything that required her to focus on something other than her wandering thoughts.

After getting through a few chapters of her book, Joan and Violet headed out to watch the soccer game. Sure enough, once they reached the bleachers Joan saw Charlie in his striped goalie jersey. By this point he would've usually winked at her or at least made a face in her direction, but instead he just continued getting ready. Joan swallowed hard as it occurred to her that he might be avoiding her.

Joan turned to Violet to say something, but saw that she was staring at Meeks, who was staring right back until Pitts knocked him on the side of the head. Why didn't he just ask her out already??

After the game the boys lifted Keating into the air in victory and ran around the field. Joan grinned as she watched the scene and jumped off of the bleachers. She finally locked eyes with Charlie who had a wide smile on his face. He held his hands up in victory as he walked over to her. She smiled back, but just then Todd walked past, still looking a little disconnected from the group. Joan intercepted him and patted him on the back.

"Nice goal, kid," she congratulated. "You're full of surprises y'know? You're easily one of the best on the team."

"Thanks," he laughed. Todd turned back towards the rest of the team as Neil ran up to the two of them. Neil looked like he'd just dunked his head in water.

"Hey, Joan. Good game right?" Neil smiled.

"Oh yeah, undefeated huh?" she nodded.

"You know it," Neil grinned, "C'mon Todd, you really need a shower. Bad," he laughed, ruffling Todd's hair.

"Oh, you're one to talk," Todd muttered with a smile.

"What was that?" Neil's smile broadened as he held his hand up to his ear before hurrying off to the dorms.

"See you later, Joan," Todd said, following Neil.

"See ya, Joan!" Neil shouted as Todd caught up to him.

She turned back around to try to spot Charlie, but she didn't see him.

Meeks and Violet were walking hand in hand back towards Welton. Joan hated to ruin their moment, but she wanted to make sure that Charlie wasn't upset with her, a stark contrast between only weeks ago. Had she gone too far once? She ran up to them and tapped Meeks on the shoulder. He looked slightly annoyed, as expected.

"Hate to wreck the mood, but have you seen Charlie? Is he mad at me?" Joan asked quickly.

"Uh, he's probably just heading back to the dorms. Mad at you? Why would he be mad at you?" Meeks replied.

"I dunno, just kinda seems like something might be wrong."

"No way, Charlie looks forward to every minute he can get with you," Meeks stated.

"Huh?" Joan furrowed her brow and waited for him to elaborate.

"Never mind, I'm just trying to say that I'm sure everything's fine."

"Alright, thanks Meeks. See ya Violet." She continued towards Welton's doors when she saw him.

Joan ran up to him and punched his arm playfully, mostly just to see how he would react. If he had a playful response, it would mean everything was okay. If he...

"I gotta get back to the dorm Jo. I'm pretty tired," Charlie sighed.

...if he did that, it meant something was wrong.

"Hey, what is up with you? I couldn't find you after school, and trust me I looked for you, for like an hour. And after the game you just walked away, where's the cocky comment? I mean you played great. You should be gloating right now like the attention seeker you are. What happened? Did I do something wrong?" she expressed.

"No, no Jo. It's not that. I just-"

"Does it have something to do with your poem?" she interrupted. Charlie's eyes widened slightly. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. He sat down on one of the stone ledges on the walls of the school and motioned for her to sit as well. They sat in silence for a few seconds, all the while Joan looked at him expectantly, silently urging him to start talking. Once the crowd dissipated he finally spoke.

"Look, that poem, it was stupid of me to write. I should've just written about spaghetti or something," he sighed.

"What do you mean? Who was it about?"

"I-" he paused and looked out at line of trees on the horizon.

"Charlie, tell me. You can't just do that, you can't just pull me aside then say nothing! Why are you being so weird about this!" Joan huffed, standing up.

"It was about you, okay?! It was about you." He stood up to face her. Her eyes immediately widened at his statement.

"You're kidding," she said, perplexed.

"No, I'm not. But it doesn't matter okay? I know you like Todd, I didn't want to screw that up for you."

Joan let out a small laugh at this, "Todd? Seriously?" He finally looked you in the eye, confusion rolling over his features.

"Well, yeah. You're always looking at him, and just now, you-"

"Charlie, I do not like Todd. Definitely not. Don't you think him and Neil would be cute though?" she giggled.

Charlie began to smile, shaking his head as he laughed. Then his laughter suddenly ceased.

"If you don't like Todd, then..." he prompted.

"Then, I like you. I really like you. Don't make it a big deal though, you're still annoying as hell."

Charlie just stared at her for a few moments. Joan didn't mind the silence, she jumped on the opportunity to admire the way that his eyes looked like pools of honey in the setting sun, and how- Snap out of it Joan. She felt butterflies in her stomach as it finally sunk in. Charlie Dalton liked her. Joan bit her lip to stop from smiling too much, while Charlie's face broke out into a wide grin.

"Well thank God," he chuckled. His face was only inches from hers, close enough for her to see every freckle, every blemish, every eyelash. Slowly, she noticed his head inching forwards. Joan's heart beat faster and faster the closer his face came to hers. Her body didn't even seem to have any time to register what was happening to her. She waited, unable to move. Then he kissed her. Joan's eyes flitted shut as his lips moved against hers. His hands moved to her waist and hers to his hair. His hair was damp with sweat but Joan couldn't care less right now. All she felt were his hot, feathery lips. The world faded away around them, like it was utterly impossible for anyone to find them here, because the outside world didn't exist. Right now it was only Joan and Charlie.

Joan reluctantly pulled away from him breathlessly. She looked from his lips to his lidded eyes in slight shock. She wanted more, all she wanted to do was pull him back in and kiss him until she couldn't breathe. Though the kiss broke down many walls, she still managed to keep an ounce of self-control. Once again, she tried to fight back the smile that was pushing onto her face, but ultimately it won. Their faces were still so close that Joan could feel Charlie's hot breath fanning over her face. She stepped back and held out her hand for him. Charlie took it with a smile and began leading her up the steps toward the doors.

"Why don't we just stay out here? We could spend the night in the cave, have some fun if y'know what I mean," he winked.

"Not so fast, you have to go take a shower. You seriously sweat," Joan teased. He shook his head and mocked offence in response her comment. They finally got to the tall wooden doors and Joan reached for the handle.

"Wait. I gotta ask, will you be my girlfriend?" he inquired.

"Do you really have to ask?" Joan turned back around to look him in the eyes with a sly smile.

"I think so. Well, on second thought, who would ever say no to this?" he smirked.

"Hold on, slick, let's not get too overconfident," she chuckled.

"Well, what's your answer?"

Joan rolled her eyes playfully. "Now you're making me wanna say no."

Charlie only raised a brow, waiting for her true response.

"Yes, Charlie. Of course I will," she smiled.

Charlie grinned and pecked her lips again. "Point proven," he boasted, puffing out his chest.

"Oh, stop. You still smell."

AUTHOR'S NOTE.
❪ ⋆࿐໋ 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒎. ❫

I hope this wasn't too cringey. I
kind of left the angst behind,
hopefully you guys are okay with
that. Thank you so much for reading.
I really do love you if you've made it
all the way here.