Playing the Right Way

Charlie, Alexander and Cameron gallop into the house, the door slamming shut behind them. The youngest of the three bounces up and down on the balls of his feet, enthusiastically rambling on about the class field trip he's going on this Friday. Ever since he got into the truck, he has been babbling nonstop about it. Thrilled to share the news with his father, Cameron bolts to the kitchen with his sister trailing behind him.

"Dad, guess what?" Cameron muses.

Amicable laughter resonates through the place and Charlie instantly freezes at the sight of Hayden acting all chummy-like with her old man. Their chuckles die down as the two of them glance over to the newcomers. The smile on Charles' face lengthens while the one plastered on Hayden's fades. He can feel a wave of chills coming from the girl and he tries his best to keep his eyes steady, cautious not to break their gaze.

"It took you guys long enough to get home," says their father in a light and playful manner. "Charlie, don't you know it's rude to keep a guest waiting?"

Her eyes narrow in on Hayden and her fist is just itching to punch him. "He's not my guest," she mutters pointedly. The audacity he has renders her speechless yet again. Clearly, he doesn't like listening to her. So why does she have to listen to him? It's not fair. She has shown him enough mercy these last few weeks. This is the last straw.

"We need to talk." She walks over and coils her fingers around his wrist, her short fingernails permeating his skin. "Let's go upstairs." It's not a request. It's an order.

"Why can't you two talk down here?" Mr Whitmen queries.

Charlie begins to drag her boyfriend towards the staircase. "It's... private," she states.

The man doesn't press them any further and nods. "Fine, but leave the door open."

Charlie is well aware of what is going on in his mind. She's heard him tell her brothers the same thing on numerous occasions. She could still recall her father's awkward speech from her freshman year, which had dealt with the classical tale of the birds and the bees.

Could you even imagine how shocked he must have been when his fourteen year old daughter told him she already had prior knowledge of Adam's snake slithering into Eve's garden?

"Dad, we are not going to have sex!" she exclaims bluntly, causing Hayden's cheek to grow scorching hot. He forgot how straightforward she could be.

"I'm sure that's what you want me to think," hums Charles.

"Dad," she groans. She is not in the mood to crack jokes.

"I know, I know. I'm only pullin' your leg," he chortles as he places his hands in the air. The smile quickly disappears though and his expression becomes stoic. "But seriously. Keep your door open."

Once they are up in Charlie's room, she closes her door, placing a barrier between them and everybody else in the house. "Your dad said not to close the door," reminds Hayden feebly.

"Do you want to risk one of my brothers eavesdropping on our conversation concerning our fake relationship then?" He doesn't protest. "What are you doing here, Knight? You really don't know how to listen. Didn't I tell you never to come here without discussing it with me in advance?"

"Your dad invited me in. I was about to take a jog around the neighborhood when he stopped me in the driveway." Charlie assesses his current attire, which consists of sneakers, shorts and a windbreaker. It seems like he is telling the truth. "Did you want me to reject him?" Hayden continues once she meets his eyes again.

"Okay, if that's the case, you can go now." Her arm stretches out to the knob, but he stops her by grasping onto her wrist.

Hayden can't cower away, not anymore. Not if he wants this to work. "Charles might have been the one who invited me inside, but you're the reason I stayed."

Although Charlie is still agitated with him, she knows that the anger will not last forever. Everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt. Instead of giving him the boot, she exhales and calmly pulls her hand out of his hold. She makes her way over to her bed and plops down. Hayden realizes that this is his chance to clear the air between them.

Sucking in a cavernous breath, Hayden walks towards her. He pulls the chair out and takes a seat. How should he start this? His thoughts are all jumbled up. He isn't prepared since he didn't expect Charlie to actually hear him out. The girl looks at him expectantly and he clears his throat.

"I thought about what you said," he says slowly. "You know, about how I dragged you into my mess and instead of being appreciative about what you're doing for me, I took you for granted."

"You can say that again," mumbles Charlie.

"You were right," he admits. "You don't owe me anything. So, it wasn't fair for me to barge in and demand all of these things from you. It's just that the thought of losing Cecilia kept haunting me and I didn't know how to handle it. At the moment, she's all I have. I'm not ready to tell you what's wrong yet, but I meant it when I said I couldn't afford to lose her. If I do, I would have nothing."

He sounds rather dramatic and Charlie isn't sure what's going on. She's having an arduous time understanding him. In her opinion (and many others as well), Hayden has the world at his fingertips. "I used your weakness against you. I knew you wouldn't back out from the promise you made and I tried to abuse that. I was a total jerk, who didn't think about you and your feelings, and I'm truly sorry. I didn't mean to ignore you and do things you didn't like."

"I could have gone back on my word. How could you know what I would've done? People change," Charlie remarks.

"People do change," Hayden agrees, "but you're not one of them. You're still the same Charlie I know. Did you think I learned absolutely nothing about you during those six years of inseparable friendship we shared?"

"You think you know me?" Charlie asks, brows kissing. An unsettling feeling stirs within her. Next, she purges her sincere thoughts and feelings without constraint. "Well guess what? You don't. You and I grew apart years ago. You became the golden boy everybody wanted to be friends with. I didn't want to waste my time competing with the rest of the world for your attention. Why should I?

After you were whisked away by the crowd, you never came over to my house anymore. What did you expect me to do? Wait for you to recall my existence? That's not how life works. People come and go all the time. The best thing you can do is learn to live with it, like I do." Is it just her, or is Mr Chavez's philosophy class beginning to influence her more and more every day?

"But I have never once stopped thinking of you as my friend," Hayden proclaims tenderly. "That's why when you told me off that morning, I was disheartened. I mean, I knew we had our differences and everything but you were always somebody I could count on, even now.

You're like a star, Charlie. I might not always get to see you, but I know in my heart that you'll always be there for me. This whole fake dating catastrophe is a prime example. You can deny it all you want, but you are still the Charlie I know. You're still the Charlie I—"

"Hold the fuck on," she interjects as she raises her palm up to prevent him from continuing. "Are we having a heart-to-heart right now? Because if we are, we need to stop. I don't like this kind of shit." Climbing to her feet because she is slightly frazzled, Charlie marches to the door with the intention of kicking Hayden out.

Sensing that the conversation is about to arrive to a conclusion, Hayden speaks in a haste. "You asked what you were to me and I don't think I ever gave you a proper answer." He pauses and reevaluates his decision.

"You're somebody I care deeply about. Someone I don't want to hurt. You're... you're somebody special to me." Charlie's throat has become dry. It feels as drought-plagued as the Sahara Desert. How is she supposed to respond? Nobody has ever said something like this to her before.

"From now on, I won't do anything you don't like. I won't do anything without talking about it with you first. So what do you say? Will you give me a second chance to do this faux relationship the right way?"

There's a right way to a fraudulent relationship?

* * *

Jillian yanks her hair and then throws both of her arms up into the air in exasperation. "Are you crazy?" she screams. "How could you wait until the day before homecoming to go shopping for your dress? I picked mine out months ago!"

Charlie licks her lips as her fingers are busying mashing the buttons on the controller. You guessed it; she's in the middle of playing another violent videogame. "I wasn't going to go, remember?"

"So? Hayden asked you to it last week! We could have gone when you came over to my house!" her friend yells.

"I don't see what the big deal is. How hard it is to buy a dress? It's a fucking dress." Charlie snorts. She could never understand why the girls at her school would always go berserk during these semi-formal and formal events.

"I should have expected this from you." Jillian shakes her head. "It's extremely hard if you don't know what you're looking for. You don't even want to know how long it took me to find one I liked. Where do you want to go? We could try the mall or go to some boutiques."

"Yes!" Charlie cheers, celebrating her domination in the match. After, she turns and peers to Jillian, a crooked smile swinging on her lips. She has the perfect place in mind. Twenty minutes later, they arrive at their destination. With a proud grin, Charlie cranes her neck to look up at the shop she chose.

"You've really lost it," accuses Jillian as her head begins to feel light. After, she latches onto Charlie's hand and tugs her back towards the truck. "We're going to get you admitted into an asylum because this is beyond insane."

The girl laughs and easily escapes her captor. "I'm perfectly fine, Jill."

"No you're not!" She denies loudly. "You want to buy your homecoming dress at a freaking thrift shop! A thrift shop! Please tell me you're joking. There has to be cute, little boutique around here." Frantically, Jillian scopes the shops nearby. She can only find hardware stores or art shops.

"I have a budget," declares Charlie. "Plus, why would I want to blow a ton of money on a piece of cloth I'll only wear once?" Figuring that there would be no use in arguing, Jillian doesn't even bother trying to change her best friend's mind.

"What about shoes?" she questions.

Charlie purses her lips out. "Can't I wear flip flops?"

What would she do without her? "No, it's considered a hazard. You can just borrow a pair from me. Now let's go and find your dress," Jillian exhales, glancing at the store in front of them.

A musty scent infiltrates their nostrils as soon as they step inside the establishment. The clerk greets them brightly and the two girls split up, going their separate ways. Charlie locates a rack with some dresses in the back and begins to sift through them. Nothing catches her eye. The dresses are either too outdated or too flashy for her taste.

Maybe Jillian's right.

Maybe finding a dress isn't as easy as Charlie thought it would be.

She continues to explore the store, her hope wilting rapidly. Then, Charlie catches sight of a dress on one of the mannequins located by the fitting room. It's simple, long enough so she wouldn't have to worry about any public indecencies, and just perfect.

This is it. This is the dress she wants.

- - -

Author's Note: Some progression with Hayden and Charlie! I thought their conversation was pretty cute. What do you think the dress Charlie picked out looks like?

The homecoming dance is the next chapter! Are you guys excited? I am! What do you think is going to happen? Please vote and comment! I hope you guys have a nice weekend!