Chapter 5 P2 - Charlie

"I enrolled for all schools!" Laughs Jake, who gets slapped by Nolan.

"We know that." I'm trying to interact, but I'm still pissed off at Walker's comment, jerk. I don't understand why I'm so bothered, normally something like that would never hurt me.

The boys laugh and continue to bully Jake. Who punches a few boys back. My eyes slide back to Jay, a smile plays on her face, a smile that reaches her eyes.

This is all new to her, I noticed that from the beginning and even though I'm not really attracted to newbies most of the time, something about her intrigues me. She is different from the rest and despite looking insecure she must have a piece of self confidence, how else would you explain her pixie cut? She does rock it.

Her green eyes really stand out. I stare at her light brown hair again, it's not blonde, but it's not as brown as my hair either. Would it smell nice? Wait what? Did I really think that? Man, it must have been a really long day.

Who am I kidding? She is cute and small, a head shorter than me, I catch myself looking at her hands. I wonder what it would feel like if they were in mine. I shake my head and look up again. See Taylor look at me, he grins when he looks from Jay to me and then raises his eyebrows.

I roll my eyes and look away, trying to think about something else, but all I think about for the past 2 weeks is her.

"Where are you from?" Taylor's question comes out of nowhere, cuts through everyone's laughter.

My eyes roll to Jay. "Seattle," she says, that big smile disappears from her face.

"My mom-" She falls silent, stares at the floor. "My parents are from there." It must be difficult, I don't know what it feels like to be confronted with it all the time. Taylor does this on purpose, I can tell from his dirty smile. I suddenly get the urge to protect her, she doesn't deserve this.

"I grew up in Seattle." She still tries to sound cheerful when she responds to the other questions, but she seems a bit sad. I keep looking at her, she's worried about it, I can see that in everything, the trembling hands, her left leg that keeps going up and down, she keeps looking at the floor. Fucking jerk.

"And what did your mother think about that?" Taylor insists he plays innocent, as if he only has 2 brain cells.

Jay looks down, I hear her gasp, her hands clenched into fists.

"Enough Tyler," I bark at him, everyone is quiet, staring surprised or furious at Taylor. Including me, if looks could kill he was already lowering into a hole in the ground. The world had lost another asshole.

He looks at me and winks. "But I'd just like to know why she went crazy out of —"

"Tyler, I said enough." I sit up and push my chin forward. My body vibrates the anger I feel inside. "Don't challenge me." I'm already throwing insults at him in my head. That this filthy typhoid just a word about -

"Oh what then? You give me a black eye, you and I both know you can't." I get to my feet, my hands clenched into fists next to my body. That little fucking shit.

"We'll find out soon enough." I send him knives with my eyes, he laughs about it before he sends them back.

He rises just like me, pushes his chest forward, which, by the way, he doesn't really have. "Indeed."

"Guys, guys." Jake jumps between us, he puts a hand on my chest to push me back.

I throw his hand away, take a step towards Taylor, forcing Jake to follow. "Get out of the way, Jake, I don't want to hurt you," I say, my teeth clenched. I don't even feel the pain in my hands, even though I almost crush them.

"Yes Jake, go away, I really want to hurt you." Oh how I want to slap this guy in his arrogant face and rip him apart! I crack my neck and let out a growl. This really is the fucking last straw.

"Guys come on, just drop it." Keith sighs. He tries to look at me to tell me to stop, but as usual it doesn't work. He may be my twin, but he's not good at talking me down.

"Don't get involved, this is something between me and Charlie." Taylor pushes him back, which makes me even more angry, nobody touches Keith, just me, but maybe what makes me even more angry is the way he looks at Jay. Almost defiant, as if he is claiming her with his eyes.

"Don't you dare." It's already over my lips before I can take it back. She's mine! These thoughts startle me for a moment before I get myself together. Keep you fucking shit together!

Unfortunately Taylor saw it and grins smugly. "Afraid of losing?" Without words, we still understand the conversation that is going on between us.

Piss off! I gesture towards him. I don't need to say it out loud, he understands the threat. Pretending he doesn't care, he steps closer, pushing Jake aside. Everyone around us rises, but I don't care. I prefer to put my fist in his face.

"There was already a fight last week, should it always go like this?" Andrew sigh, baby. Andrew never fights, he's weak.

"She's one of us, though I wonder if she's got a dick too," Taylor grins, looking straight at me. I shoot forward, but Keith holds me back so I can't move.

With a grunt, I shake his hand off my arm and turn my gaze back to Taylor. "I think yours was cut off when you were a baby, which explains that whining." This time it is Taylor who's growling.

I look at him with a grin. Fucking jerk. Big mouth, but so easy to offend.

"Charlie," someone mumbles softly next to me. I will not be distracted. Yet I look back when I feel a small, well, a smaller hand on my arm. I stare into two green eyes. "Don't," she says softly. I want to pull my arm out of her grip and throw myself on top of Taylor, but then I see the tears in her eyes, tears that are about to fall and the last thing I want is for her to cry, I'm not good with tears and I don't want to hurt her.

My gaze falls, my anger seems to flow away, and I nod to show that I'm listening.

"Ahhh, look, Charlie listens when her girl calls." A switch turns in my head. That was it! Before anyone can stop me or grab me, I launch myself at Tyler, Fist raised. I push him back violently and hit him hard in the face. I see red with anger. How dare he! I keep hitting, don't even feel it when he hits me back. The others try to separate us. I can only think about Jay's eyes, the pain she felt. Fucking asshole!

------

"Enough!" I'm being pulled back by Keith. He puts his arms tight around me and lifts me off the ground for a moment so that I can't push him off me.

"Put me down!" I immediately push Keith away from me, when I get to the floor and chug some blood from my mouth. Fuck, my lip is cracked.

"Then stop fighting!" He shouts to me. I snort.

My eyes widened. Jay... I turn my head a little. Andrew holds her and even though I know he only helps her as a friend, I get angry at the face.

"Let me go so I can hit that bitch a bloody nose, dyke!" What did he just call me?

Keith immediately grabs me. "I will fucking kill you!" I yell at Taylor. "You are a pussy, you shit eating -"

"Charlie, enough." Keith squeezes my arm harder.

"Big mouth for a bull dyke like you." I scream in anger and get stopped again by Keith. Taylor just smiles, his mouth is covered in blood. When he talks I see his red teeth and would like nothing more than to smash the rest of his face so it's the same color.

"Shut up Taylor before I slam it shut," Keith growls, finally speaking up for me. I am so done with this.

"Let me go." I push Keith away from me a second time, pushing the bottom of my shirt against my bottom lip with a huff. "I don't want to hear another word about it."

Before Taylor can offend me back, Nolan and Jake pound him against the wall. "Fine," he grumbles.

I don't care if the guys stand around us and judge us. I grab a beer bottle and push it against my eyebrow. I hiss in pain for a moment, damn it, that bastard did some damage.

"Alright, let's forget about it." laughs Taylor. I wave him away and roll my eyes.

I feel two eyes looking at me and look up. I see Jay's shocked face when she sees me, even though she's still trying to hide it. It's almost cute.

"You need to press something cold against your jaw," she mumbles.

I wave the beer bottle and press it against my eyebrow again. Got it.

"No, something really cold." To my surprise, she takes my hand and starts pulling me after her. Did she feel that too or was I the only one who felt those little shocks in my hand?

I grin when I notice that she doesn't know where the kitchen is and looks around questioningly.

I pull her to the right. "Right here, smart ass." I pull her behind me into the kitchen. She lets go of my hand, I almost think it's a shame, her hand fits perfectly in mine, almost as if her hand belongs there. I quickly shake those thoughts away.

I open the freezer and grab a bag of ice to press against the left side of my face. Oh man, that's nice.

Jay walks over to me, I look at her for a moment. Her sleeves are up a bit and she is holding a wet towel.

"You see, now I'm pressing something cold against my face." Why did I say that? It wasn't even funny. I watch how Jay rolls her eyes and presses the cloth against my lip without warning. I growl in pain, even though I didn't want to.

"Sorry," she mumbles, dabbing a little more carefully this time. She looks at my lips, almost doesn't seem to dare to look up to meet my eyes. But when she does, she takes my breath away. Wow. I can't help but take a step closer. I have to say something, I have to...

"You don't have to help me," I blurt out. Shit. I run my hand over hers to take the towel, but she shakes her head that she doesn't want to let go. I feel those recognizable tingling sensations again, a shudder down my back. How does she make me so nervous? Why does it feel so good when her hand is in mine?

"It's my fault this happened, you didn't have to do this alone," she replies softly. What? Does she really think so?

I can only look at her, mmm. "Why do you think that?"

She stares down again. God she doesn't know how beautiful she is. I think I'm going crazy...

Before she answers she looks at me again, her eyes are full of guilt. "Because you got into a fight because of me." Her eyes slide to the ground again, why does she keep doing that?

"Taylor deserved another broken nose, this doesn't have much to do with you." I know this isn't enough, even if it's true, sort of. It has something to do with her, but even if she wasn't here now, I would have hit my fist in his face too.

"But—"

"No buts. Jayden, he has to learn, like Walker, that he can't say things like that, not about anyone." I pull up the corner of my mouth in pain when she presses a little too hard against my lip. Taylor is a guy who thinks he can make anything and you have to stop that quickly before he gets too arrogant. "You don't treat your teammates like that," I continue, to make my point clear.

"It wasn't just about teammates." It's just a whisper, but I hear every word when she says it out loud. I can't help it and laugh at her words, I don't know why I started laughing, it just happened.

I stop before I open my mouth again. "Scolding someone for his or her sexuality is lower than low, everyone knows that." Jay looks at me for the first time, her eyes give me peace.

She shakes her head. "You didn't have to fight."

"I know." She hadn't expected that answer, I can see that in her eyes, her eyes that seem to be getting greener. Would she know how fast my heart is pounding and that I have trouble breathing?

I get sucked into her eyes like it's all there is. A beautiful green forest. "Has anyone ever told you, you have beautiful eyes?" I blurt out. I see her blush, which makes me bite my lip. "Because they are."

I stare at Jay expectantly, she breaks our stare for a moment and shakes her head.

"Oh." I only manage to release. Of all I could say, I say oh. I forgive myself if I look at her again. I just have to... My hand reaches for her cheek, I'm kind of in a trance. A shock travels through my body as my fingers slide down her cheek, as if I'm electrically charged. Why is my stomach itching? I shake my head briefly and let my fingers end under her chin so she has to look at me.

She opens her eyes that closed when my fingers caressed her cheek and she stares straight into my eyes. She tries to ignore the attraction between us and dabs the cloth against my eyebrow, but she can't ignore this.

"Stop that," I mutter. She's trying to fight it, trying to ignore me. "Jay." Her name is a whisper and I see her shudder.

"Y-you're bleeding." Would she notice that she is shaking? How she behaves now. Her breath seems to get stuck in her throat, and like the rest of her body, her hands are shaking.

I grin when I see her face. Almost a scared deer. "Do I look like I care?" When I think she will continue to stubbornly dab, she lowers the cloth. Boom, I'm nervous and can feel my heart beating in my ears.

This is not that difficult, I have done this many times before, what makes today different? Right, I'm tired. My bed almost seems to be calling to me, but I'm not thinking about that right now. Jay is the only thing on my mind.

My hands find her hips, I spread my fingers almost automatically, she shivers again and it seems as if I am getting another shock. I walk forward until her lower back touches the counter, she lets out a trembling sigh from her mouth. God she's beautiful. It seems to be the only thing I can think about and her lips. Her beautiful lips. I bend my head towards her, pull her closer to me.

"Charlie..." It's a whisper, it's a very soft whisper, but I pause to look at her anyway. Should I stop? Does she want me to continue? I don't know what she wants. No one has ever said my name in such a way, so... so fragile.

It takes all my self-control not to break the space between us and press my lips on hers, it's only centimeters.

"We... I..." she stammers. She is clearly struggling with her words and I give her some time to think. If she had been someone else, I wouldn't have listened and we were already kissing, but something has changed. She's not... She's different.

It is quiet when we look at each other, very quiet, but it is not an uncomfortable silence, it is soothing, almost warm. I don't want to do anything but move closer to her, but I'm afraid she'll break away from me.

I can no longer take it and move forward, slowly, I let her process what is happening.

"Charlie," she mumbles again, our lips millimeters apart. I can feel her warm breath on my face, it smells like peppermint and lemon, probably because of the 0.0 radler she's been drinking all night.

Just a few more millimeters, my nose almost touches hers and what I want most is to dive forward to feel her lips, but I'm holding back this time.

"Charlie! We need one more bag of ice, so you better not take everything for yourself!" Jake calls from the hallway, causing this moment to pass. Jay quickly takes a few steps back and turns to the sink.

I force myself to take in a few gulps of air. I curse Jake in my head. That guy always ruins everything.

He walks in with a grin. He shoots bullets at me with his hand pistols and winks. "You look great," he laughs. "That will be a black eye and a blue lip."

"Oh shut up, Jake, what did you look like last time?" I bark at him, I can't take this right now. He rolls his eyes at me, pretending to be hurt, and wraps his arm around Jay, who was still standing by the sink. I just keep looking at her. Stop that! But I can't. Everything in me calls her and I don't know how I can stop it. Arghh.

And then we look at each other again, only this time something has changed. I find something of regret in her eyes. Fuck. Without saying a word, I take the cloth from her hands and push it against my pounding lip, this will bother me tomorrow. I don't even hear the conversation about Taylor, I have Jay in my head. Fuck.

"He's going home, Rambo," Jake grins, nudging me.

I can't help it and roll my eyes. "Great." It's all I get over my lips and I walk away, can no longer look at Jay, without getting annoyed. Does she regret our almost kiss?