Olivia

I'm sitting in my English class waiting for it to start when my phone buzzes. I scrunch my face as I pull my phone out of my hoodie's pocket. Who could be messaging me? Naomi's in class right now, Sasha is too, Nick would be working but he never texts me unless it's to ask me to cover for him. I doubt it would be him since he seemed fine yesterday. Mom also wouldn't text me since I'm at school and dad barely messages me for anything. Is it sad that I know those are the only people who would text me?

Unknown

Welp, I'm definitely not answering that. It's probably a link to some sketchy website that will steal all my info. I go to delete the message but the little preview catches my attention before I can.

Hey, It's Char...

Charlie? How'd he get my number? I swipe into the conversation instead of deleting it.

Hey, it's Charlie. I got your number from Naomi since I forgot to ask you for it

I shake my head. Thanks, Naomi. I add him as a contact before replying.

Hey, what's up?

There's a job fair after school. While we wait to hear about the showings I figured we could check it out?

This kind of sounds like he's asking me out, but he can't be. I know he isn't. I shake my head to get rid of the thought. It's all just part of finding a job for me. Nothing more.

What time?

I don't have to work today but I'm not sure if I'm really in the mood to walk around and check out jobs.

About 4

I'll think about it

The bell rings. I scramble to put my phone back in my pocket and pull out my book before my teacher yells at me.

***

I shove my books into my bag as kids around me push and shove their way through the halls. Naomi leans against the locker beside me. She glares at all the kids who pass by us.

"One of those days?" I ask.

She nods. "Does anyone in this school know how to not be annoying?"

I shake my head. "That would be too nice if they did."

She groans. "Moving onto a topic that might lift my spirits. Are you and Charlie going out?"

"No."

She rolls her eyes. "Not like that. I know you and Nick are already smooching faces."

My face goes hot. "No we're not!" But my voice is too high pitched when I say it.

She raises an eyebrow and wears that face that says she doesn't believe me. "Sure. Anyways, are you and Charlie going out to the job fair?"

"Oh." I shrug. "I haven't given it much thought."

"Well you better start. He's heading this way." She nods towards the opposite side of the hall.

I spin around and sure enough he's snaking his way through the crowd, his gaze brightens when he catches me watching.

I don't know whether to groan or grin. So I settle on waving. He slides up to me on the other side of my locker.

"So what's your decision?" he asks as he adjusts his grip on his backpack.

On one hand I know that I should go. It would give me the opportunity to see what's out there. Open my eyes to new jobs or close my eyes to previous ones. But on the other hand, I'm not sure I have the energy to walk around a boring job fair with old people talking about a job they only somewhat like.

I look at Naomi as if she can somehow get me out of this. But all she does is shrug.

I groan and rest my head on the shelf in my locker. "Fine. Let's go."

He grins. "Great. I can drive us."

I look at him with a grin. "You drive?"

He nods. "Not often. Mostly when my dad lets me borrow the car, and he thought today would be a good day to lend it to me since the fairs across town."

I nod. I grab my bag from my locker, close the door and slam my lock on it. I turn to Naomi. "I'll see you later then?"

She nods. "See ya." She spins around and waits for a break in the crowd so she can cut across the hall and head the way Charlie came from. After watching her head disappear into the crowd I turn to Charlie. "So where are you parked?"

He takes a lanyard out of his pocket and swings it around. "Right this way." He continues down the opposite way of which he came from. Instead of leading me towards the parking lot he leads me to the back of the school farthest from it. "Should I be worried?" I ask, trying to peek around his shoulder as we leave the school.

He looks back at me, a confused look on his face. "No. Why would you think that?"

"You're leading me to the deadest, most creepy area of the school," I point out. The only kids who come to this area are the ones who like to smoke during the winter and don't want to be outside, and don't want to be caught. And the kids who want to have a full on no clothes make out session in private."

Charlie smirks. "Don't worry. I won't make you get naked or kill you."

I cringe. "I wasn't worried about the first one."

He laughs. "I think I'll take that as a compliment?"

I nod. "That's the best it can be." And then I see it. The single red car. "Is this it?"

Charlie nods.

"Wow. She's beautiful." I take a closer look at the car.

He shrugs. "If you say so."

I look up from peeking into it and look at him. "You don't think so?"

"It's just a car."

"Wow. I've never seen a guy this uninterested in a car." I cross my arms.

He shrugs. "You'd be surprised that not all guys turn out to be the same douche bag, sports player, car guy."

I laugh. "God. That's what the last guy I dated was."

"I know." He grits his teeth.

I raise an eyebrow. "You okay?"

He shakes his head which seems to get him out of whatever mood he was just in. "Fine. I'm just not a big fan of him. What did you see in him anyways?"

I sigh. "Wish I knew."

Charlie grins. "At least you realized your mistake."

I laugh. "I guess that's true."

"You ready to rock this fair?"

I grin. Maybe a few minutes ago I wasn't but now I am. "Let's go."

***

The ride lasts for about twenty minutes before we arrive at one of the hotels that's farther in town.

"It's here?" I ask as Charlie pulls into the parking lot. The silver and blue building is about twenty stories high.

"Yep."

"Why would a job fair be here?"

"It's got one of the bigger spaces that people can rent for events."

"You're telling me it's big in there?"

He chuckles. "Trust me, it's bigger than it looks."

I quirk my mouth to the side but sigh. I have no choice but to trust him at this point.

After he pulls into a parking spot we hop out and make our way over to the building. It's even more imaditing walking up to it than driving past it. Charlie grabs the door and does a little bow. "After you."

I laugh. God, he's such a dork.

When I walk into the lobby a blast of cold air hits me. The front desk is decorated in gold accents. The lady sitting there looks up and smiles. "Hello. What can I do for you today?"

A shadow falls over me as Charlie comes to stand behind me. "We're here for the job fair."

The lady nods. "Can I get your name please?"

He brushes past me and walks closer to the desk until he's standing right beside it. I walk up beside him as he leans against it. "It'll be under Charlie Masko."

The lady turns her head to the computer while typing his name out on the keyboard. "Ah. Right here. It says you have a plus one?" She eyes me.

Charlie nods. "Yep, that would be her." He jabs a thumb in my direction.

"Lovely." The lady spins around in her chair and reaches behind her into the cubbies behind the desk. She produces two blue and white passes with lanyards on them. She spins back around and holds one out to Charlie and then one out to me. "You two have fun in there."

Charlie smiles as he takes his and puts it around his neck. "Thank you."

I reach out and grab mine from her. I eye it. It says Jobs For The Great in white on the blue part. Underneath that it says Charlie M's plus one. I try to hold back a grimace. I look up at the lady and try to sound as grateful as I can. "Thank you."

She nods.

Charlie places his hand on my shoulder and guides me down the hall. "Don't mind the name or the badge. It's... it's a weird thing some people do."

"You mean rich snobby people?" I ask as I place mine around my neck.

Charlie rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah." At least he has the decency to look sheepish.

"It's fine." I set my shoulders back and prepare myself as we reach the doors. "It's just set my standards very low."

Charlie tries to grin. "I hope you don't mean that." He splays his hand on one half of the door. "Because these things are a lot of fun." He then grins and pushes the door open.