Playing Ding-Dong Ditch, Not

Although Charlie is just dying to ask—okay, more like interrogate—Cameron about those bullies who have been causing him nothing but trouble at school, Ethan's words resonate in her mind, effectively reigning her curiosity back in. He's right. She can't protect her brothers for forever. Why? Because she's not going to be with them for forever.

It might be a scary thing to think about but it's life. Maybe it's time for her to take a step back and allow Alexander and Cameron to get the chance to see what the real world looks like. 

Discreetly, she peers into the mirror and catches sight of her baby brother staring out the window. It must be hard for him, but if he wants to handle the problem on his own, she shouldn't go against his wishes. To prevent herself from saying anything related to the matter, Charlie bites down on her tongue and attempts to occupy her mind with other things.

Like, how her heart felt like it was about to leap right out of her chest when she realized that Ethan was holding onto her hand the other night. Unlike the times where she had to make physical contact with Hayden and pretend that they were, indeed, a happy couple, Charlie actually did feel something with the boy whose eyes are the most gorgeous shade of grayish-blue she's ever come across.

She doesn't want to admit it, but at the time Charlie resembled one of those girls from Jillian's collection of sappy chick-flicks. You know, the kind that was unable to control her catastrophic thoughts. Although, in her case, Charlie's mind had been blank due to the fact that she was unaccustomed to the experience.

Therefore, it took a little while for her to comprehend what was going on. Oh, and let's not forget to mention the irregular heartbeats along with the birth of what resembles a thousand butterflies in the pit of her stomach.

Yet, despite the urge she had to vomit everywhere, Charlie's body had been filled to the brim with joy and it was all thanks to their entangled limbs. That night, she could hardly sleep. It's safe to assume nothing like this has ever happened to her before and to be honest, she's not even sure what she's supposed to do in this kind of situation.

Sure, she might be inexperienced in the field of relationships and love but she's watched enough movies to know there's a high chance that she has begun to develop romantic feelings for her neighbor. The real question, though, is should she run away from these feelings or embrace them instead? Besides, just because she might like him, doesn't mean that Ethan will reciprocate her feelings.

Who knows, this could ruin their friendship and she doesn't want to risk losing him because of something she's not even definite about. The best option right now is for her to lay low until she figures out what it is that she wants. She also has to make sure everything between her and Hayden is resolved cleanly before she does anything.

How did her life get so complicated in a time span of three months?

As Mr Gherardi lectures the class about the poor performance a majority of them gave on the exam from last week, Charlie glances over to the empty desk next to her and lets out a nearly inaudible sigh. She's not paying attention to anything the man is saying because a) it doesn't apply to her since she, as always, aced the test, and b) she can't seem to shake the thought of Ethan off of her mind.

Apparently, he's not feeling well and Charlie can't help but worry about the boy. She found out he might have contracted the flu virus thanks to Layna, who came out at 7:25 in the morning to inform her of the situation.

A tiny part of Charlie is disheartened that Ethan hasn't bothered to text her about his condition himself. However, she assumes he's probably sleeping it off or something. He is sick. Maybe she could visit him after school and bring him some comics to help cheer him up. It doesn't sound like a bad idea.      

"Hey, where's Ethan?" Mariana occupies his usual seat, bringing Charlie back to reality.

Her eyes sweep the room and she notices Mr Gherardi is nowhere to be found. He must have stepped out. "Why are you asking me?" she questions as she sits up straight.

Marianna quirks an eyebrow and crosses one leg over the other as she stares at the junior with a quizzical expression. "You're, like, his best friend, aren't you?"

"Excuse me?" Charlie turns to look at her properly. "Where'd you get that idea?"

"Well, you two are always together," she answers, shrugging her shoulders. "So I just thought you guys were really close. Am I wrong?" 

Not really. They are close. She won't deny that. "I mean, we're friends and neighbors but I wouldn't necessarily label myself as his best friend," Charlie explains as she clears her throat. "I'm sure he's got plenty of friends here."

"Not really," rejects Mariana. "Usually, I only see him hanging out with you. Do you have a thing with him?" The question leads Charlie's mouth to fall ajar as she tries her hardest not to openly gawk. "I guess you two would make an okay-looking couple."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Charlie doesn't know if the remark is a compliment or if she should be offended. Then again, it's Mariana talking here... She probably meant it in a nice way. Yeah, that's her being nice. Surprised? Charlie's not. Belatedly, her brain registers what the older girl said. "Wait, no. Don't be ridiculous," she condemns. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"That's right." Mariana snaps her fingers and flicks her hair over her shoulder. "You're dating that Hayden guy. How did I forget? Don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to imply that you're cheating or anything. It just looks like you and Ethan have more chemistry together."

"Weren't you the one who was all over him at the beginning of the year?" Charlie scoffs.

"Hey, I've got no regrets." Mariana laughs before she fans her face. "Have you seen the guy? He is H-O-T, hot. A bunch of the girls in the school have been trying to snag a date with him but it's practically impossible! I'm sure they're all jealous of you. Thinking about it now, even I'm jealous of you. Consider it an honor."

The girl is utterly confused. "Why would anyone be jealous of me?"

"Is that even a serious question?" Mariana snorts. "You have the most perfect boyfriend ever and you're good friends with the handsome transfer student, who just so happens to live across the street from you on top of that. It's like every teenage girl's dream."

It seems like an exaggeration. "Really?"

"Yeah, sounds like a movie, doesn't it?" The girl proceeds to grin. "All you need now is a messy love-triangle and you've got yourself a hit."

"Why do you sound like Jill?" she mutters under her breath.

"What was that?" Mariana couldn't hear her over the other blabbering students.

"Nothing," fibs Charlie.

Mariana doesn't press the matter any further and repeats her original inquiry. "So, again I ask, where is he?"

She sees no harm in answering. "He's at home. He doesn't feel good." And for some reason, knowing that Ethan's not feeling good, makes Charlie not feel good. Yet, she is incapable of fathoming why. It looks like today's going to be a very long day. She can already tell.

* * *

"Should we go check the museum out this week? I hear there's a new exhibit that just opened up." Cecilia doesn't get a response, which causes her to look up from her notes. Hayden has this blank expression plastered on his face while he stares absentmindedly at the wall across from them. Her chest deflates in defeat, and without saying another word, she returns to studying.

Throughout the entire night, the two of them engage in small talk concerning how classes are going and the chilly weather. All of the conversations are initiated by Cecilia and her boyfriend's passiveness does not go unnoticed. Usually, it's the other way around. Hayden would be doing all of the talking while Cecilia tried her best to listen and provide coherent answers.

Something like this has never happened before and the girl is starting to become uneasy. They have been at the library for the past three hours and the smothering atmosphere becomes too much for her.

Her concentration is scattered everywhere, rendering her unable to focus on the material sprawled out in front of her. All Cecilia can think about is the boy next to her as she simultaneously tries to figure out what's going on in that mind of his. With no conclusive explanation, she concedes. It is only when she starts to gather her books that Hayden snaps out of his daze and speaks up.

"You're done already?" He checks the time on the large analogue clock dangling above the entryway. It's only ten o'clock. Normally, Cecilia would be cooped up in the library until midnight and that's at the earliest. Some nights, she would even stay until well past two in the morning!

"Yeah, I'm tired," Cecilia says as she stands up.

Hayden doesn't question her and climbs to his feet as well. "Oh okay. Let's go then. I should take you home."

"Take me home?" she repeats as they exit the facility.

"Mhm, since you're tired you should go to bed early." Hayden doesn't grab or hand or turn to look at her, like he would normally do, and strolls beside her with at least a foot of space separating them.

"You mean you don't want to hang out with me for a while longer?" Her gaze drops down to the ground and her heart clenches. "We could do anything you want."

"No, it's fine. Your health is more important. We can do something tomorrow night if you're not too exhausted." They both enter the vehicle and Cecilia continues the conversation.

"Are you sure? I thought you would have loved to spend more time with me outside of this place." She's secretly hoping that he would pick up on the hint and change his mind but unfortunately Hayden's detective skills are quite lacking.

"You know I would love to spend time with you, but you're tired," Hayden sighs. "What do you want me to do?"

Since he asked, she has no reason to hold back. "I want you to tell me what's on your mind," Cecilia announces at last, her nails digging into the denim jeans wrapped around her thighs.

"Why?" Hayden whispers softly. "Why do you want me to do that?"

"Because it's obvious that something is bothering you and you're not willing to tell me about it." Cecilia turns to look at him, but Hayden doesn't have the courage to meet her eyes and stares straight ahead into the dimly lit parking lot.

"There's nothing bothering me," he states. "You're overthinking this." This is the last straw.

"I'm not overthinking this, Hayden," the girl fires back fiercely, the volume of her voice increasing. "You've been different lately and I'm not just referring to tonight either." The harsh tone doesn't sit well with the boy and the muscles in his jaw flex.

"Cecilia, please," he begs, "I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"So when will you be ready?" she queries.

He pauses and thinks about it. Unable to come up with a definitive answer, he supplies her with the only thing that comes to mind. "I don't know," he breathes.

That is not the answer Cecilia wants to hear. "Well, when you do know, you know where to find me." She throws the door open, nearly hurling herself out of the car.

"Where are you going?" the boy asks.

Cecilia turns around and looks at him with glossy eyes. "I'm too angry to sleep now. I'm going back in to do more work. You can go home. I'll call my father to pick me up when I'm done." And without another word, she slams the door and stalks back into the building. Instead of chasing after her like he should have done, Hayden's head falls back while his eyes flutter shut.

They just had their first major fight and he's not even sure what the hell happened. What he does know is that he does not need this right now. He's already stressed as is.

To clear his head, Hayden drives around the entire city, blasting the radio so that the noise would drown out all of his thoughts. After spending a couple of hours wandering around aimlessly, he finally deems it time to return home. He makes a turn onto his street and parks his car in the driveway. However, he doesn't go into the house. He needs to talk to someone and not just anyone either. He's got the perfect candidate in mind.

In the Whitmen household, everyone is resting peacefully. Then, Charlie's phone rings incessantly, rousing her from her sleep. She must have forgotten to silence it before she went to bed. Whoever it is, she's going to murder them with her bare hands. With her eyes squinted, she reaches for her phone and checks the time on the alarm clock which reads 1:37 AM. Who would be crazy enough to call her this late? When she sees who it is, her brows knit together but she picks up.

"Hey, I know this is random and totally weird, but I'm outside of your house right now. Do you think you could let me in?"

Charlie turns the light on, tosses her blanket off and makes her way downstairs. Pulling the curtain back, she spots the boy standing out on her front-porch and rushes over to open the door. "Knight? What the hell are you doing here at this hour?"

Hayden lifts his head up and his chest deflates. "Cecilia and I had a fight," he confesses, his tone fragile and weak.

"I'm sorry but how does that involve me?" An idea wanders into her mind. "Shit. Unless... You guys didn't fight about me, did you?" She should have seen this coming sooner or later. Juggling your real girlfriend and your fake girlfriend can't be an easy task. Someone's bound to get jealous out of the two and since Charlie has no reason to be graced with a visit from the green-eyed monster, it only leaves Cecilia.

"What? No," Hayden immediately declines. "Why would we fight about you?"

She shrugs. "I don't fucking know. It's the only reasonable explanation I have for you showing up on my doorsteps at two in the morning."

"I just needed someone to talk to," he explains.

"Dude,"—a yawn escapes past her lips and she rubs her eyes with the back of her hand—"I am too tired to listen to your problems right now."

"Charlie, please."

Why does he keep showing up at her doorsteps unannounced like this? "Fine. Five minutes. That's all you're getting."

He crosses the threshold and walks over to the couch. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Why are you asking me?" Charlie shuts the door and trails him.

"Have you and Jillian ever gotten into fight before?"

"Yeah," she confirms as she nods. "But I don't think our fights are the same as yours."

"Why wouldn't they be? Can you tell me how you guys work it out?"

"I don't know. We just talk it out and are honest with each other, I guess. But seriously. I don't think our relationship is on the same level as the one you have with Cecilia."

"Just because you're two girls, doesn't make it different from our relationship," Hayden counters as he smiles bitterly, his eyes focused on his hands. "We can't help who we fall for, right?"

"How is us being two girls relevant to your relationship with Cecilia? You're not making any kind of sense," Charlie points out.

"What I'm trying to tell you is that it's okay," he clarifies. "Love is love. You have nothing to be ashamed about, Charlie. You don't need to keep it to yourself anymore. I know. You and Jillian. You guys are dating and that's fine. Why do you think I agreed to let her in on this whole fake dating situation? I didn't want there to be any misunderstandings between the two of you."

"What?" Charlie shakes her head and allows his words to sink in before she responds. "Jill and I aren't dating. Can't you tell she's with Ian? I mean, they went to homecoming together. It was pretty obvious." Then it dawns on her. She recalls the first time he approached her about starting a fake relationship and his proposal concerning how he could be her beard. She should have put the pieces together back then.

Her eyes triple in size while her jaw is slacked wide open. "Holy fuckery, Knight. Do you think I'm playing for the same team too?"

- - -

Author's Thoughts: Okay, I just want to rant a little. So please bear with me.

Honestly, this story is nothing special. It's not some crazy love story packed with a bunch of exaggerated drama and super cute fluffy moments (okay, that's debatable). There are no evil antagonists, plotting against the protagonist every step of the way. Not many exciting things happen either. It's just, in other words, a plain story about friendship, family, struggles and a simple love.

To me, this story is boring. I don't mean it in a bad way so don't misunderstand. I totally love this book. I mean boring as in it's simple and kind of bland. Sometimes, especially if we're in high school, there are people who have extraordinary things happen to them. But for the most part, we just go to school, go to parties, get swept up in rumors, make friends, hang out with friends, work and fall in love. That's it. And I guess that's what I'm trying to portray in this story. I probably don't make sense but oh well.

I don't know. I just wanted to get this out there. Do you guys get it? And let me clarify some things while I'm at it.

I'm trying to make this story as realistic as possible and although most stories which involve two people pretending to be in relationship usually results with them actually falling head over heels, that's not the case here. I can tell you that for certain. To be honest, Charlie's fake relationship with Hayden isn't all that important, which is why I don't talk about it much. It just poses as an obstacle for the characters.

It's obvious that she's starting to like Ethan as well. No, nothing big or life-changing happened for her to realize she sees him as more than a friend. He didn't save her life. He didn't try to sweep her off of her feet (again, debatable). All he did was be a good friend to her. Because sometimes, you just fall in love without knowing it. It's all of the little things that add up.

I would love to hear what you all think of this story as a whole. It would really mean a lot to me. It would be a nice early birthday present to read your opinions (mine is Friday). As always, I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading. Vote if you want to. There might be a gift for Jack fans too. Stay tuned!