Nothing's Fine

• 16 Strawberry Shortcake •

The next morning, I pulled on a pair of light straight cut jeans with rips on the knees. I then pulled on a grey, long-sleeved shirt. I threw my curls into a quick up-do with a clip and grabbed my backpack before heading downstairs.

Breakfast was near silent, the only sounds were cereal bowls being hit with spoons, as it was only Mason and I in the kitchen. I avoided eye contact as much as possible, not able to take the pleading glances he'd been giving me since yesterday.

I dragged on my combat boots and coat quietly and headed to the car with Mason trailing behind me. The ride to school is filled by the radio, but I snuck a couple side glances at Mason every so often. His lips were pressed together in a firm line, but other than that his expression was blank. I knew it was on purpose, so I couldn't read him.

As we pulled up to the school, I quickly got out of the car, but before I could get very far, I felt myself being tugged back by my arm. I stumbled back and leaned against the side of the car. Before I could move, Mason's hands were on either side of me, pressed on the car. He leaned over me and I looked up at him surprised by the action. His close proximity made my heart beat faster, but instead, I glared at him.

"We're going to be late," I said.

"Charlie, please. I can't take it if you're mad at me," he said, ignoring my statement. His eyes pierced into mine. They were sad and tired and it hurt me to see for a reason I couldn't understand. I broke eye contact.

"I'm not mad," I mumbled.

"Then why won't you look at me?" he asked.

"I..." I bit my lip, unsure what to say.

Why should I start a fight? So what if he didn't trust me? I guess I could just live with that. It wasn't that big a deal. We'd only been friends for a short time... I wasn't sure why it bothered me so much.

"I'm sorry... I'm just being stupid and childish," I mumbled. Mason looked at me for a moment before conceding with a sigh. He began to move and I glanced over his shoulder, noticing Tiffany glaring at me from her car.

"Alright, let's go," he said. I nodded and we began walking towards the school. As we passed Tiffany, I noticed she was still staring coldly from her car. I raised an eyebrow at her and watched as her scowl deepened while her eyes followed us to the door.

***

Later, on my way to lunch, I heard talking as I passed by the washrooms. Normally, I wouldn't have noticed, but the hallways were less busy and I recognized Tiffany and Kayla's voices. What made me stop to listen was hearing my name.

"She was literally cuddling and flirting with Mason this morning outside," Tiffany sneers. "I should smack her."

"What's it to you?" Kayla replied to my surprise. "You were never dating him or anything..."

"I almost did. That is until Charlie came along and stole him," Tiffany snapped. I heard Kayla scoff at that.

"If that's the case, then I could say that you stole him from me!" she replied. There was a bite to her voice which was shocking. She was usually kissing Tiffany's butt.

"I did not steal Mason," Tiffany hissed.

"Sure," Kayla started sarcastically. "Because 'you can't like him anymore he's mine' doesn't fall under the category of stealing."

What I would have given to see the look on Tiffany's face... actually, I wondered what the expression on my face was. All I could think was 'I knew it!' from the sullen look on Kayla's face, and the disgustingly love struck look on Tiffany's.

"Oh shut up," Tiffany spat. There was a pause before she continued. "Besides, think about it. Charlie is keeping both of us away from Mason. And on top of that, she's been getting really close with Dallas as well... that's like, really selfish don't you think?" There's another pause. "That's what I thought. Now, let's maybe teach her a lesson? I'm thinking of major humiliation..."

It went quiet, other than indistinct whispering. I strained, but couldn't hear what they were saying.

Great, I thought. There's something else to worry about now. Revenge of the Barbie dolls.

***

On Thursday at lunch, I heard "Hey Strawberry Shortcake!" I already knew who that voice belongs to. Dallas. I frowned at the nickname and turned around. I was sitting in the cafeteria eating with my friends and Mason and his friends, and everyone had stopped and was staring at Dallas.

Phoebe was staring at him like he was a tall glass of iced water and she had been stranded on a desert island for days. Mason, on the other hand, was glaring at him as if he had lasers in his eyes. Brenna, Talia, Bailey and Tristan were simply curious and Emery looked amused.

"Never call me that... my hair is almost brown anyways," I sniffed.

"It was because you're short as well," Dallas replied. I glowered at him. Dallas smirked and pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket. He glances around at everyone at the table as if to say 'what are you looking at?' They quickly started talking amongst themselves and stopped paying attention to us.

"Teacher marked it first," he said, a small smirk playing on his lips. I looked down and saw the paper had a 78% on the corner of his test. I gave him a nod of approval. It was a drastic improvement.

"Great! We'll make corrections and keep working," I said. Dallas nodded and took the quiz back with that little smile still on his lips. He turned and began walking away.

"See you later Strawberry Shortcake," Dallas called over his shoulder. I glared in his direction before turning back to the group. Everyone was staring at me, waiting for an explanation of some sort.

"I tutor him... he did well," was all I said at first. Then added, "He's got to stop calling me that stupid nickname though." I got a couple laughs before the attention was off me and my everyone returned to their conversations and meals.

Everyone, except for Emery. She edged closer to me and whispered, "I think someone's starting to like-like you!"

"Shush!" I said turning to her. "He like-likes his new grade." Despite my firm tone, Emery had a playful smirk on her lips. I rolled my eyes and started to eat my lunch.

There was no way that Dallas would like me out of all of the girls at this school... and I was more than okay with that.

______

Author's Note: Yay! Another upload! Hope you enjoyed this one! What do you think Tiffany has planned for Charlie? Do you think Dallas has a crush on Charlie? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Easter to anyone celebrating as well! Until next time! xo <3