Breathe Me

8. Pizza and an Emotional Massacre

Charlie's P.O.V.

The game ended all too soon but the entertainment was not over. Why is it that teenage guys can never keep their shirts on? Pete came out of the locker room with the other guys a while after the stands had begun to clear. None of them seemed to own shirts so my view was fantastic. 

"So, anyone up for pizza?" Amber asks.

"I'm in." Cameron and Jackson both say almost in unison then laugh. The rest of them nod in agreement.

Aliss turns towards me with her usual huge smile. "And you?"

I should probably check with Aiden since he was my ride here but I ignore that idea, "sure".

She squeals a little bit. "Yay! Pizza party!" and the energetic girl is off, practically sprinting towards what I assume is the car she came in.

"It's Guido's. That's the restaurant we go too." Pete laughs, "Sorry about her never ending supply of Monster that's caused her hyper personality. Would you like to ride in my car?"

I glance towards Aiden to find he's already looking at me. He nods his head as if to say 'sure', so apparently he was listening. I turn my eyes back to Pete, "Sure, thanks." And to my total surprise and against my will, he grabs my hand. I tense slightly and look at Aiden again. He starts toward us but I shake my head. We basically had a silent conversation, it went a little like this:

"He's dead"

"He didn't mean to make me uncomfortable"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

Or at least that's how it went in my mind.

I walk beside Pete, leaving Aiden to his friends. Pete seems oblivious to how uncomfortable and scared he's making me. I hate anyone touching me in any way. It just sends flashbacks of my father through my head and makes me want to run away. That's what I should do, run.

No. This is Pete. I trust Pete. He's my friend. I can't push everyone away and if what Amber said is true, I can't be rude towards him. I don't have the heart to do that.

So instead of letting myself run, I let him hold my hand on the way to his car. He's got one of those regular silver cars you can't tell apart from all the other cars. It doesn't even come close to the impressiveness of Aiden's car selection.

Pete pulls his Jersey out of his bag, sliding it on.

"So where is this 'Guidos?" I ask.

"About five minutes down the road. It's great, you'll love it."

We ride in silence. He probably thinks it's a comfortable silence, but honestly being alone with him is causing some bad feelings. He's fine and all, I just can't be around people as I said before.

I keep trying to push the feelings down but the uneasiness doesn't subside.

Thank god for Guido's because we pull into the parking lot right as I'm starting to lose it.

We get inside to find the other's in the middle of ordering. The waitress walks away right as we get to the table. "We ordered for the both of you," Cameron informs us.

"Uh, I'm a bit of a picky eater, that's probably not a good idea." Great so now I'm stuck with food I'll never eat. I'm very picky about my pizza.

"Trust me, you'll like the bread sticks." Jackson says.

Bread sticks? Well I guess they can't be that bad now can they?

"Fine, I'll try them." I agree, a little nervous still.