Chapter 1

3 years ago…

"Do you know why you've been called in here?" said the principal of Texas Middle School as he led five students into his office.

The group of five students followed, watching him sit down in his black office with a slight grunt. They looked around the cramped office. At the white-bricked walls and slightly spotted yet still dark carpet on the floor. Leading the five was a boy wearing a loose white long-sleeve and dark blue jeans. The principal gestured for the five of them to sit. Two of the five complied and found the two plastic chairs in front of his large wooden desk. The other two moved to stand behind them, leaving the boy standing alone in the doorway. The two in the chair bounced their legs restlessly as the uneasiness got the better of them while the two behind them fidgeted with the backs of the chairs.

"Close the door, Charlie." The principal had found a pen and was holding it in front of his mouth with his index fingers pressed on either side of it.

Charles nodded and slowly closed the door. Unlike the others he didn't move any closer to the desk, choosing to remain standing by the doorway.

"Cynthia was caught for cheating earlier today." The principal started.

Charlie's heart beated heavily against his chest when he heard that name. The other four turned to look at him but he continued keeping his gaze focused on the principal.

"She insists that her boyfriend and his friends were the ones that forced her to do it." He continued.

Charlie's heart sunk and for the first time he looked over at his four friends. All signs of uneasiness had disappeared and had been replaced with a ghostly white. They refused to look up as they struggled to hold their tears.

"That's you, isn't it Charlie?" The principals voice became hard.

"Right Charlie?"

"Charlie!"

Present

"Charlie!" Shouted Charlie's 5th period English teacher.

"Yes Mr. Liev." Charlie jerked his head up. Around him his classmates were all staring with the exception of the person sitting behind him who was doing his hardest to suppress a smile.

Mr. Liev sighed as he rubbed his temples with his left hand and dropped his right hand to his side while still holding the book he had been reading to the class from. "You're a junior now Charlie," there was an annoyance in his voice that Charlie was all too familiar with, "get yourself together man."

Charlie nodded quickly. "Yes sir."

With another sigh Mr. Liev resumed class and Charlie drew a heavy breath as his eyes found the nearest window.

"Get yourself together man," Nathan draped his arm over Charlie's neck as the two left class an hour later before laughing. "Man he's really done with you."

Charlie threw his arm off before taking a good look at him. Nathan stood at around six feet seven inches and had fiery red hair that he always buzzed short. He was wearing a graphic t-shirt on a pair of black shorts and had his small backpack slung over his shoulder.

"If he's telling me to get myself together with you being in the room then he's really done with me." Charlie fired back.

"Some of us have to change after school, you know, for practice, not sure if you know what that is."

The gave each other a hard look before laughing it off and continuing down the hallway to their high school common area. The large area was two stories with the second story serving as a balcony. Along the edges were walkways where students could go from one side of the school to another or stop and look down at the first floor which had their school mascot lining their floor. The railing on the second floor was made out of a thick wood that needed more finishing and the stairs leading down to the first floor were made out of bricks.

As Nathan and Charlie found their way down through the large crowd of students slowly climbing up the stairs, they saw that the commons was full with clicks of people scattered around.

"Ya'll won't guess what happened in class today." Nathan said as he and Charlie walked to their own group consisting of another guy and two girls.

"Let me guess, Charlie fell asleep again?" said Jack, the other guy. He was half a head taller than Charlie and had spiky black hair that had grown to the point of drooping down. His black glasses slowly slid down from his face as he continued to stare at the book in front of him. He wore a collared t-shirt on khakis and let his brown satchel hang across his body.

"Nah, Mr. Liev finally had enough of him and gave him the disappointed dad look." Nathan beamed as he spoke.

"Nathan hasn't gotten that look," Jack added, "he's gotta be done with you." Jack looked up at Charlie who shrugged.

"Dude I don't know why, I get good grades so why does he care." Charlie rubbed his neck with more force than usual.

A silence fell over the group as Charlie turned his attention back to the people around him. He saw Nathan looking away and Jack gluing his eyes to his book despite being on the same page since they arrived. Then one of the girls touched the other's shoe with hers and suddenly she jerked to life.

She wore black leggings on an oversized, graphic white t-shirt. Her wavy, brown hair swayed as she raised her head to look at Charlie with her brown eyes before returning her gaze to the ground. She cleared her throat and brought her hands behind her back. Charlie saw the subtle wringing as she squeezed her fingers and moved her wrist.

"Charlie," her voice wavered, "It wasn't your fault."

Charlie inhaled deeply, closing his eyes in a slow blink and raising his head towards the roof of the second floor. The voices in the commons became loud shouts and all thoughts in his head were drowned out. A slight pain in his left shoulder brought him back and when he looked down towards it he saw Nathan's open hand returning to his chest.

"What Annie's trying to say is that it's time you got over yourself," Nathan was stern, "Can't let one girl ruin your life man."

Charlie scoffed. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Ask someone out." Jack added.

Annie's head suddenly shot up and the three guys turned their attention towards her.

"Not to get into a relationship," Jack clarified and Annie relaxed, "Just to get out of this slump."

"I'm good man, trust me I am." Charlie said.

"Jack's right here." Chloe finally spoke. Her curly black hair moved with her head, as if it were frozen in time. She wore a white top that made her black eyes stand out even more and light blue jeans that were cut and frayed at the bottom.

"Guys I'm good. That thing was three years ago. I'm over it."

"Then why do you act so distant man?" There was an edge in Chloe's voice.

Charlie pressed his lips together and exhaled aggressively with a little bit of his voice.

"Nah, we're settling this how we always settle things." Nathan said as he showed Charlie an open palm with a closed fist on top of it.

Charlie looked at it a moment before smirking. "You've never won you know."

"I'll change that today."

Annie, Chloe and Jack huddled around the two of them as they began playing. On the second tap Charlie looked at Nathan and saw his tongue push out from his mouth and sit on top of his lower lip. His fingers twitched and his thumb started moving. Having played him many times before Charlie knew that once that look appeared on Nathan's face he would only go scissors or paper, the two options he thought to be aggressive. With the fingers twitching he knew paper was coming and to counter he played scissors.

"I won!" Nathan shouted, holding a closed fist to his face.

Charlie looked at him with his mouth slightly open and his index and middle finger still extended. The other three were just as surprised.

"I'm learning Charlie." Nathan tapped his temples.

"Now then, who should we have you ask out." Jack closed his book with a quick thump.

The four friends began looking around the commons.

"How about Rebecca?" Jack said.

"Nah, she still isn't over Michael," said Chloe.

"What about Martha?" asked Nathan.

"She came out yesterday," said Chloe.

"Let's get him a big fish, someone who's out of his league," Jack smiled.

The group turned to look at him and he shrugged.

"It's a punishment right?"

Charlie rolled his eyes.

"How about Chandler?" Chloe asked.

Jack and Nathan opened their mouths in a small 'o' before letting a mischievous smile grow on their face. "I like it," they said in unison.

The two guys turned their heads towards Charlie and slapped him on the back.

"Do it," Nathan said as he spun Charlie around to face her. Before he could respond Nathan gave him a slight push sending Charlie stumbling forwards.

After he had caught himself Charlie looked back at the four of his friends, each of them grinning ear to ear except for Annie. He wondered why she wasn't smiling for a moment before Nathan's shouting broke the train of thought. He gave them a wave before walking towards the middle of the commons. As he reached the middle, he began having to slip by and move through people. Most would give him space but the closer he got to the center the less people were keen on moving. Eventually he began tapping shoulders so that people would move their heads and he could slip by. Then, he saw her. Standing in the middle of the commons with her blonde hair that bordered on red and sharp hazel eyes was Chandler. She was wearing a rustic red t-shirt that was tucked into ripped denim shorts.

"Chandler," Charlie said but she didn't respond.

She was surrounded by cheerleaders and football players, smiling and laughing with no idea that he was there.

"Chandler," Charlie said again but louder and a few of the students turned their heads towards him. He watched as Chandler continued to laugh and talk. Then she turned to his direction and waved. A smile formed on his face from relief but it quickly disappeared as someone behind him shoved past and hugged her.

"Chandler!" Charlie finally shouted. It was then that a girl standing next to her tapped her shoulder before pointing at him.

She turned to face him as he slipped through the final group of people, stumbling a bit before catching himself a foot away from her.

"Yes," her voice was light and inviting.

Charlie drew in a deep breath, "Would you-"

BEEEP! The bell signaling the start of the next period rang and the people around them began dispersing. Most of them said bye to Chandler who remained standing where she was.

"Would you meet me in the science wing after school today?" Charlie asked.

He could see the apprehensiveness. She brought her right hand to the small area between her collar bones and pursed her lips. With her other hand she began fidgeting before she finally nodded.

A small wave of relief washed over him as Charlie smiled a bit and nodded back, "See you then, I guess." He started walking backwards before spinning around and going to his next class. The smile on his face now reached both his ears as he quickly disappeared into one of the many hallways that lead to the commons.

***

BEEEP! Before the bell signaling the end of the day could finish ringing Charlie had already left his classroom. He ran through the hallway as students came rushing out of the doors on his either side until he made it to the science wing. It was a standard hallway, lined with long blue lockers and doors made of a light brown wood with the exception of a long window that sat at the end of it, just before the stairwell to the left.

Taking his time, Charlie approached the window. It had three sections, each one separated with a thick, blue piece of metal with the one closest to the stairwell having a handle. Outside the window was the roof to the first floor hallway that continued below the science building. Charlie touched the handle to the window as he studied the area. It was covered in a light gravel with fences lining the end of it.

"Charlie?" Chandler said.

With a sharp jolt Charlie let the handle go and spun around to face her. "Yea," he said quickly as he noticed the handful of students that were left giving them a long look as they slowly left the hallway.

"Did you need something?" she asked. Her expression was light, as if she were having a fun conversation despite only just arriving.

"Yea, I wanna ask you something," Charlie said as he watched the last student leave the hallway, "but this isn't the right place to do it," he spun around and pulled the handle to the window before pushing out and turning it into a glass door leading outside. He motioned for her to follow.

Charlie watched as she looked around the hallway, her right hand returned to her collar bone while the other began fidgeting with her backpack strap.

"The teachers here are lenient," he explained, "they don't really care who goes onto the roof as long as there's nothing weird happening."

Chandler remained unmoving, not meeting Charlie's eyes and instead looking at the classroom that sat across from the stairwell. Seeing this Charlie grabbed his backpack and tossed it out the window before following it outside. Once there he walked over to the classroom window and tapped it before waving at the teacher who rolled her eyes as she ignored him. Then he stuck his head through the window.

"See," he said as he offered her a hand.

Chandler nodded slowly as she made her way to the window and gingerly took Charlie's hand. Carefully he guided her outside and watched as she looked up to the sky and out into the horizon with a small smile. The gravel crunched loudly beneath her feet as she went to the far edges of the roof, seeing as much as she could, as if it would be her last time here.

"How'd you find this?" she asked as she wrapped her hand around the fencing on the far side of the roof.

"Someone showed it to me a while ago, I've been coming here every now and then since," Charlie moved to stand next to her.

He looked out into the horizon, watching the beautiful, orange, Texas sun set. As it moved closer to the horizon a kaleidoscope of colors painted the horizon around it. For a moment Charlie looked behind them and saw a deep navy blue growing and as he went to look back he saw Chandler's face.

The slow wind was pushing her hair back and forth in a gentle sway, giving it a life of its own. Her eyes were glowing with the light of the evening sun that bathed the two of them. In the warm light her blonde hair had morphed into a cozy fire that invited Charlie to move closer.

After a moment more Charlie drew in a slow breath, "Listen, what I wanted to ask you earlier today."

"Yea," Chandler said, keeping her eyes glued to the horizon.

"I wanted to ask if," Charlie stopped. He felt his heart pounding in his chest so hard he thought it had found its way to his throat. His grip on the fence tightened and his legs felt as if they would give out any moment.

"If i'd go out with you?" Chandler said with a smile that Charlie found forced. Then she turned her head to look at him with a playful look that Charlie thought to be a bit stiff.

His chest rose and fell at a quick pace as he processed her expressions and what she'd said, unable to think clearly he said, "Yea, if you'd go out with me?"

The wind blew through her hair and for the smallest moment her playful look wavered and once again Charlie caught it. Her hands tightened around the fence before she spun away from him in a small circle, arriving face to face with him with her hands behind her back.

Something sank in Charlie's heart as his grip on the fencing loosened.

"Can I think about it tonight?"

"Yea, yea you can."

Chandler nodded before quickly making her way towards the window. She crawled through and disappeared leaving Charlie alone. He watched as the sun now dipped into the horizon and the kaleidoscope of colors that were once painting the sky disappeared, leaving only the deep navy blue and a light hue of purple in their wake.