Playing to Return a Favor

The absurd rumors concerning Charlie and Hayden being an exclusive item are still alive and kicking. They have been circulating throughout the halls of Highland High all day again long, and Charlie is on the brink of snapping somebody's arm in half. She's reaching her breaking point. There's no doubt about that. She hasn't been in the mood to talk to anyone, not even Jillian, her best friend. At the moment, she is sporting a rather fierce glare. She's positive her face will get stuck in this sour expression if she keeps wearing it, but she doesn't care.

The last class of the day comes to a conclusion and Charlie, like always, is the first person to exit the room. It's been almost a week since Matt's lame party and she cannot believe that her nonexistent relationship with Hayden is what everyone in the school is still obsessed with. Clearly, the situation hasn't blown over like she thought it would have.

As she marches out to the parking lot, eyes fixated on the asphalt beneath her feet, Charlie suddenly bumps into a firm and solid chest. The collision causes her to stumble back a few steps and she looks up in order to scowl at the perpetrator. Her eyes nearly roll to the back of her head when she sees Ethan smirking smugly at her.

She doesn't want to waste her breath on him and steps to the right in attempt to maneuver around him. The boy mirrors her actions and blocks her path yet again. It's obvious he's doing it intentionally. Against her will, Charlie concedes. She sighs and then speaks to him with her teeth gritted. "What do you want?" Fifteen seconds is all she's giving him, not a second more.

"I need a ride home," he states nonchalantly. The people in the vicinity observe the pair as though they are exotic animals in a zoo, but neither one of them notices.

"Okay. Is that it?" Charlie replies, her tone flat. "Have fun finding one then." She shoves him to the side and continues trudging towards the rusty old pickup truck. She can hear footsteps chasing after her and she whips around, startling Ethan. "What do you think you're doing?"

The boy chuckles and tucks his hands into the pockets of his light-washed jeans. "Catching a ride with you," he says in a duh manner.

His statement summons a loud and obnoxious snort and Charlie folds her arms against her chest. "I'm sorry. I don't recall offering to bring you home."

"I know, but you owe me." He shrugs.

"For what?"

"Covering for you. If I didn't, you would have gotten into trouble with your dad. You should be grateful I'm only asking for a ride. Would you prefer something more risqué?" he jokes, wriggling his eyebrows. Charlie is so close to punching him, mainly because she is just dying to take her anger out on someone and Ethan seems to be the perfect candidate. Her fists are trembling, itching for some action. However, she manages to remain level-headed as she stiffly nods.

He's right. Whether she wants to admit it or not, he did save her ass.

"Can I get shotgun?" Ethan asks once they reach the car.

"Why not. Ian should have gotten here sooner," she permits nonchalantly as she climbs into the vehicle.

"Wow, you're here early," Alexander states, shutting the door. Ethan glances back and the freshman furrows his brows and turns to his sister for an explanation. His expression is practically screaming: "who the hell is this and what is he doing in here?" Before she can answer him though, their guest cuts in, taking it upon himself to make the introductions.

"Hey, I'm Ethan. I live across the street from you guys. My car's in the shop so I asked your sister for a ride. You don't mind, do you?"

Alexander doesn't say anything. He simply alters his glances between the two of them for a minute, his skepticism shining as bright as the sun (it's eighty-five degrees out today and there are no clouds). Then, he relaxes and bobs his head up and down. "Oh okay. For a second there I thought you were dating Charlie. Thank god you aren't. That would've been weird."

Ethan plasters on an amused expression with that stupid smirk reappearing as he looks at her.

"Are you being serious right now?" the girl scoffs, glowering at the passenger beside her who is completely unbothered. "Why would I ever date this guy? He can barely handle one of my right hooks. You should have seen how fast he fell onto his ass."

"You caught me off guard," Ethan defends.

"How? I gave you warning. I even counted down for you," Charlie argues.

"I didn't think you were serious," he declares. "Plus, you looked hot. What was I supposed to do?"

Alexander chokes on his spit while his eyes double in size. "Did you just call my sister hot? You must be legally blind!" he cries out, horrified.

"I'm not deaf, you know," Charlie sneers. She is more focused on her little brother's snide outburst instead of Ethan's compliment (not that she considers being called hot something worth bragging about). Suddenly her phone chimes and she pulls it out to discover a message from Ian. Apparently he's going out with Jillian which means they don't have to wait for him.

Charlie unconsciously shivers, recalling how disheveled and breathless her brother looked on the first day of school. She shakes her head to get rid of those thoughts and places the device away.

"Where's Ian?" Alexander queries as she backs out.

"He's going with Jill," she replies.

"Ethan?" Alexander calls while the girl switches the gear into drive.

The older boy peers back. "Yeah?"

"You might want to buckle up. It's going to be a rough ride," he warns as he gulps and prepares himself for the hell waiting for them.

Ten minutes later Alexander's entire body is quaking with fear. He's never going to get accustomed to this. Ethan, on the other hand, is perfectly fine. He's not the least bit bothered by Charlie's atrocious driving skills since his grandmother's driving is even worse. They pull up to the middle school and find Cameron already standing by the curb. There is a wide grin on his face as he bounces up and down on the balls of his feet.

The car comes to a complete stop and he jumps in, not realizing that there's a stranger sitting in front of him. He's too excited to notice. "Charlie! Guess what?"

She resumes driving and glances into the rear-view mirror. "There's a zombie apocalypse taking place tomorrow?"

The youngest Whitmen juts out his bottom lip and shakes his head. "Nooo. At least I don't think there is! I got an A on my summer reading test!" he cheers as he waves the evidence in the air.

"Nice," acknowledges Charlie.

"Nice?" Cameron repeats. A frown makes its way onto his face as he slouches down into his seat. "That's all you have to say to me?"

She exhales and thinks of something her dad would say. "Good job?" Her praise sounds more like a question than a statement, and their neighbor bites back a laugh.

"You're not very good at this," Ethan mutters.

"What?" she hisses back. "If it was Chase, he would have called him a nerd," she whispers softly to ensure her brother doesn't hear.

Thankfully, Cameron's ears are not the keenest of his assets. "Shouldn't I get a reward or something? My teacher said I was the only one in the class who got an A!" exclaims.

Charlie looks up to Ethan for help and he nods his head, telling her that she should comply. Shockingly enough, she obeys and follows his suggestion. "What do you want?"

"Ice cream from Daisy's!" Cameron shouts exuberantly.

"Do you need to be home right now?" Charlie asks Ethan. He shakes his head. "Cool. Daisy's it is," she declares, resulting with an eruption of cheers from the two boys in the backseat.

They pull up to the tiny ice-cream parlor, which can be found off one of the main-roads soon after, and like usual it is swarming with customers. Daisy's Swirl and Twirl Homemade Ice Cream is one of the hottest ice-cream spots in the city. It's a hidden gem that the big manufacturers cannot compete with. If you're not a local, you wouldn't know about the place.

"Do you want something? It's on me." Cameron and Alexander are in front of them, too busy discussing what flavor they are going to get to pay any attention to Charlie and Ethan.

Ethan smirks and quirks a brow. "Is it now?" He notices the scowl starting to form on her face and laughs with his hands placed in a surrendering manner. "I'm kidding. What are you having?"

Her expression eases and she responds with the only flavor she gets when she comes. "A scoop of coffee on a waffle cone."

He nods approvingly. "I'll share with you."

Now her face is scrunched together in distaste. She stares at him like he has sprouted three more heads. "Uh—how about no?"

"I'm not big on sweets," Ethan comments truthfully. "I won't be able to finish one by myself. It'd be a waste of your money. If you think about it, I'm actually doing you a favor here."

She contemplates for a minute before she exhales. "Whatever. But I swear to god, if I contract anything from you, you're dead."

"I'm as clean as the Virgin Mary." Ethan holds three fingers up as though he is taking an oath of some sort. However, she isn't buying the bull he's trying to sell. She's not dumb.

Charlie openly snickers. "You and I both know that's not true."

"You have a point there," he agrees. "But seriously. I don't have anything. I'm not an idiot," he assures, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"But you kind of are," she rebuts.

Ethan resigns on the idea of persuading her that he is, in fact, untainted and free from any kind of transmittable disease. Arguing with her is pointless. He'd get nowhere. Although he hasn't been acquainted with Charlie for long, he can tell that she's as stubborn as a bull. She will not budge unless she wants to, and there's nothing he can do about it. He will just have to let her think whatever she wants. "Says the girl who didn't know you could put pot into anything you can bake."

Charlie gasps and rams her elbow into his ribs. "Shut up. I don't want my brothers to hear about that." she shouts in a hushed tone.

He pretends to double over in pain. After, he straightens his stature. "They're going learn about all of that stuff sooner or later. It's inevitable. You can't keep them in the dark forever."

She shrugs. "I know I can't. Doesn't mean I won't try."

"Sometimes, I wonder if you're really the same brute girl that punched me in the face," he states, recalling the incident. Next, he examines Charlie from head to toe. "You're not as terrible as I thought you'd be. You're actually pretty chill."

The girl sucks her teeth. "I don't need you to tell me something I already know," says Charlie as they move forward, following the line.

"I'm being serious here," he quips with his lips pursed out. "How about we call a truce? I think it would be fun being friends with you."

"I wish I could say the same about you," she replies, her voice monotone.

"Oh come on. You haven't gotten to see me in action yet. What do you say? Do you want to be friends with me or not? This is an opportunity of a lifetime. Don't let it slip through your fingers. You'll definitely regret it if you do." He holds out a fist and Charlie stares at it with her lips slightly ajar. Her brain is calculating a list of pros and cons attached to the newfound friendship. Objectively, she can't come up with many negatives, which is definitely a good sign.

Her eyes trail back up to Ethan's face. Having another friend to hang out with wouldn't be such an awful idea, especially since Jillian has been spending a generous amount of time with Ian lately. Jack has also been too caught up with the cage to do anything with her. Besides, if she does end up regretting her choice, she can always beat the living daylights out of Ethan since she knows where he lives.

Charlie kills the ignition and everyone exits the truck. "Thanks for the ride." Ethan slams the door and walks over to her. "Would you mind if I tagged along until I get my car back? I hate taking the bus."

"Sure, but we leave at 7:30. Cam has to be in by 7:45. If you're late, we're leaving you behind."

"I won't be." He smiles. "See you tomorrow." With a mock-salute, he crosses the street and disappears into his home.

"He's cool!" Cameron beams as they enter the house.

"You don't even know him," Charlie answers curtly, glancing over her shoulder.

"I know, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy. You even talked to him without looking like you wanted to rip his head off!" her baby brother exclaims. If only he knew how many times she had come close to it.

"Whose head does Charlie not want to rip off?" Mr Whitmen questions as he shuts the refrigerator door, his arms stocked with various ingredients.

"Ethan's! He's the boy who lives across the street from us!" Cameron explains.

"I see." The man nods. "Layna has told me a lot about him. I haven't gotten the chance to meet him yet." Next, he redirects his gaze at his only daughter. "Charlie, I ran into Heidi today. She told me something very interesting," he announces ambiguously, setting everything down on the kitchen island. Heidi is Hayden's mother.

She's a nice lady and all, but Charlie isn't fond of her perkiness. She's like a vacuum. She can suck out all of your energy with those chatty, loose lips of hers.

"Yeah, I'm going to go upstairs," Alexander says awkwardly before he rushes to his room and shuts the door. He's heard the rumors at school, and he's a hundred and ten percent certain that this conversation isn't going to end well.

"What about her?" Charlie tosses her bag on the couch and saunters back, plucking up a green apple from the basket and sinking her teeth into the crisp and tart flesh.

Charles takes in a deep breath before he continues. "When did you and Hayden start dating?"

---

Author's Thoughts: cliffhanger much? and look, the budding of a new friendship? what do you think Charlie's going to do next? Also I will refer to her dad as Mr. Whitmen and Charles. Hope that isn't confusing. Please leave comments and votes <3 I also hope your holidays were wonderful! Bring it on, New Years! And look, it's Ethannnnn :D

I've also changed the faces for Jillian and Charlie!