✔︎ 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, Charlie Conway ¹

𝐨𝟓. 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍

THE sound of a phone ringing broke through the banks household, causing a small jump from eliza with the sudden noise. she let out a sigh, setting down the mechanical pencil she held in her hand against the white sheet of homework. she hopped off the kitchen stool, moving herself towards the wall phone. she quickly answered it, immediately hearing the noise of someone she called her, 'friend'. eliza slightly rolled her eyes, putting on a fake smile.

"hi, hannah." eliza whispered, listening as her brunette 'friend' squeaked through the phone. "hey, el! want to do something tomorrow." she heard through the phone, having slight relief wash over her, knowing she had a good excuse not to hang out with the female. "sorry, han. i have to do a science project with charlie conway." she grumbled, picking at the jeans she wore. the brunette let out a gasp, "oh, my god. he's so cute! think you could put in a good word for me?" she could practically hear smirk through the phone.

eliza let out a huff, resting herself against the wall. her eyebrows had slightly furrowed, biting her lip. "no." eliza slightly laughed, looking down at her feet. "why? i mean, you're not interested in him, are you? because, eliza, if i'm honest, we both know i can pull way more guys than you ever have." hannah smiled through the phone.

eliza's head had turned back up to face what was in front of her, sadness washing through her body. pain ran through her face, wanting to hang up and cry right there. "what?" she slightly stuttered, biting onto her lip harder. "eliza, i mean, the hottest guy in our school rejected you just because you aren't even a natural blonde. you're a fake." hannah laughed at eliza, causing the banks girls eyes to water.

"hannah, i gotta go." eliza whispered, quickly hanging up the phone before the brunette could let out another word. tears ran down her face, quickly whipping them before running to the bathroom. she slammed the door behind her, turning herself towards the mirror. she slightly frowned, looking at her figure in the mirror, seeing her roots growing out with her dark brown hair showing, causing her to frown. she slowly started to pick at her face, dragging back the parts she didn't like with her finger, pulling at her nose and her lips, at all the parts of her face that she thought were imperfections.

she frowned, dropping her hands and just stood there, taking in her look. tears watered into her eyes, just from her look. she let out a shaky sigh, wiping the tears and making her way back down to the kitchen, continuing her night with hannah's words roaming around her mind, reminding her that no matter how hard she tried, she'd never be good enough for anyone.

the chilly air of minneapolis blew through eliza's blonde locks as she was sat in the front of the library on the cold steps, patiently waiting for the conway boy to show up. she fiddled with her fingers, feeling nervousness wash over her as she thought about the fact she was hiding this from her family. she was hiding this from adam.

the sound of a throat clear came from behind her, causing herself to whip around, facing the taller, older conway boy. she gave him a blank face, before shooting herself up onto her two feet, gripping his hand and pulling him into the dark library. he followed without a word, a small smile coming onto his face as he had his own palm on hers.

the two quickly found a spot in the back of the library, settling themselves in. the two silently got to work on the project, letting out small mumbles to one another when needed. as the day got later, eliza constantly felt the stare of the boy next to her on her. she kept catching his stares, watching as they slowly became into glares when she caught him. she simply rolled her eyes, going back to work. expect this time, she had enough. "stop staring at me, you creep." she growled towards the brunette, causing him to scoff, staring down at his paper.

"i'm not staring." he spat back, avoiding eye contact with her as she was now the one staring. a small smirk came onto his face, leaning back in his chair. "stop staring." she rolled her eyes, letting out a deep sigh and getting herself back to work. she noticed she was running out of paper, so she quickly got up, only for her papers to all fall completely on the ground. eliza let out a groan of annoyance, bending down on her knees, swiftly picking the white sheets up. charlie felt bad, helping the girl with her accident.

she slightly stared up at him, wondering why he'd possibly be helping her. he only sent her a small, comforting smile, continuing to pick up the papers. "thanks." she muttered, gripping onto the stack of paper that they had put on the ground. he only nodded, leaning against the tables leg. eliza let out a sigh, setting the stack up on the table. she silently joined his side, resting herself on the other leg table near his.

eliza once again, felt his stare. she slightly turned her head to face him, catching his emerald eyes. the two continued to stare at one another, not moving, or saying a word to each other.

eliza's thoughts got torn away by the slam of a door, causing her to turn away, opening her mouth. "you know, my 'friend' wanted me to give her a good word for you." eliza laughed, fiddling with her fingers. charlie quirked an eyebrow, staring at her in amusement. "oh, yeah? which friend?" charlie smiled at her, causing her to turn back to him. "her names hannah smith." eliza shrugged.

charlie's face cringed together, giving her a disgusted look. "god, she's annoying. why are you even friends with her? seems like a total snob." eliza giggled to herself, nodding her head in response. "she's a bitch, especially to me. i think she hates that i never mention her with my team. we're not even really friends, honestly." eliza huffed, biting onto the tip of her thumb, looking at charlie with a sad face. he only nodded, smiling at the girl.

it seemed as the two teenagers grew into another stare, maintaining the eye contact. it was quite odd, the two rivals seemed to be memorized by one anothers eyes so easily. but why? they'll never know. a small blush began to creep onto charlie's face, his slight rosy cheeks turning bright red. eliza in all honesty, thought it was cute. "flustered, conway?" she teased, smirking at him. he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

the conway boy slightly scooted closer, second by second. as the boy was almost by her side, the library lights shut off, only the dim light of the lamps they had on were shown in the room. the twos eyes had widen, giving each other a horrified look, before shooting up. "why did the lights just shut off?" eliza whispered, making her way towards the front door of the library. she quickly pushed on the door, only for it to refuse to open. eliza and charlie had turned to one another in shock.

"we're locked in."

— AUTHORS NOTE
fun fact. the first bit of this story before the library is based off an actual reaction i had with a friend that turned into a bitch when she went into high school😼