Back To You (Chenry)

Chapter 2

Today was good.

I actually got sleep after venting to Charlotte. If I knew that would help I would've done so a long time ago. And who knew studying actually worked? I know these answers, like, a lot of them. I haven't had to use my guessing method (disclaimer: not sufficient) the whole test.

I looked over at my best friend and smiled. She was hard at work, her forehead propped up by her arm on the desk and her eyebrows scrunched up in concentration. She must've noticed me staring because she waved with her free hand without looking up from her paper. I felt my face turn red, embarrassed for getting caught staring. I glanced in her direction once more and noticed a smile lay across her face.

She's adorable.
Did I just call my best friend adorable?

I got back to the last three questions left on my test. Checking my watch, there was still 15 minutes left of class. I breezed through the remaining of the test, then got up to place my paper amongst the accumulating pile on Ms. Shapen's desk. She looked at me above her glasses, eyebrows raised. I grinned.

As I walked back to my seat, Charlotte got up to put hers in the pile, elbowing me in the ribs along the way.

"Hey!" I whispered rubbing my right side.

She got close to whisper in my ear, "I was done way before you. I just didn't want you to feel bad."

"Psh," I rolled my eyes jokingly. "Whatever. I feel great."

"Good," Charlotte said. Suddenly, I felt a pair of lips on my temple. Of course, it could've only been Charlotte, considering how close she was to me to whisper. The look on her face looked stunned, as if she had just crossed a major line. The feeling of her lips on was only there for probably a quarter of a second, but apparently long enough for my heart to skip a beat.

"Please take whatever it is you two have to discuss after the test is over and out of my classroom, Mr. Hart and Ms. Bolton." Ms. Shapen looked at us sternly, and the entire class had their eyes on us. We quickly went back to our seats.

I felt my face grow warm from embarrassment. Or was I blushing from the kiss? I mean, it was probably just an accident, since she was really close to me. I slumped a bit back into my chair as I felt a wave of disappointment rush over me.

Did I not want it to be an accident?

The bell rung, interrupting any thoughts I was having. I don't know if I felt relieved or disappointed.

As I collected my books to go to my locker, Ms. Shapen called my name.

"Henry, come see me please."

I gulped in worry. I really don't want another detention.

"Yes, Ms. Shapen?" I asked.

"I graded your test," she said, stacking the graded tests against her desk.

"Oh."
"I'm actually pretty pleased, Mr. Hart. Whatever it was that you did, keep doing it," she said as she handed me my test. In red pen at the top marked an 85.

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed. "Thank you, Ms. Shapen!"

"Don't disappoint me!" she said as I ran out the room to find Charlotte. I almost crashed into her when I found her outside the room against the wall. I should've known she'd be there.

********************************************
"Charlotte!"
"I heard!"
"I got an 85!"
"Congratulations!"
"All thanks to you!"
"Well, you know me-"
"Oh my God, I love you!"
He pulled me in for a tight hug. I hesitated at first, stricken from what he had said, before wrapping my arms around his waist.

Since the night before when he last said that to me, those three words have been contemplated in my head. It's not like this was the first time he's said it to me. We casually say it all the time; jokingly or before leaving.

It's that this was the first time I felt different when he said it.

We rocked back and forth, forgetting about everyone else surrounding us. All I knew was that I didn't want to let go.

"I'm so proud of you, Henry," I said so softly only he could hear.

"Couldn't have done it without you." There goes that heart marathon again.

"Henry!"

Immediately the space between us went from none, to like, half a foot. It would've been more if we hadn't unlinked our arms. I knew it was Bianca, but I was just having the best goddamn hug with my best friend ever and I was not about to let go.

"Hey, babe," Henry finally let go of his grip on me and I had to let go, too. The safety I felt only in his arms disappeared. She came over and pecked his lips while I rocked back and forth on my feet awkwardly.

"Hey, Bianca," I finally spoke, hoping she'd realize they weren't alone.

"Hi Charlotte! I saw Jasper over there, by the way!" She said a little too cheerfully. I raised my eyebrows getting the hint that she wanted me to leave them alone.

"But wait, Char-"

"It's okay, Henry," I said. "I'll walk home with Jasper." I don't know if I was just seeing things, but I could've sworn the smile on his face faded after I said that.

"Great! We can finally spend some time together!" Bianca exclaimed to Henry, linking her arm with his. I winked at him, suggesting to take his chance to fix things like he said yesterday, then backed away giving him the thumbs up. He chuckled.

"Hey, Jasper," I said to my other best friend who I haven't seen in a while.

"Charlotte! I missed you!" He hugged me and I laughed, hugging him back. I tried to see if I felt the same way hugging Jasper as I did hugging Henry.

Marathon? Nope.
Not even a walk through the park.
Dammit.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Jasper. I just- wait, what difference is Jasper to me than Henry is? They're both my best friends. They're both of the opposite sex, and being the basic heterosexual fifteen-year-old girl that I am, it's completely physically possible for me to have feelings for either of them. But that hug just told me I don't have feelings for Jasper. I sighed in relief.

"What?" he asked me.
"Oh, nothing."

But wait, so does that mean I have feelings for Henry?

Seriously, is my heart beating, or did Usain Bolt suddenly decide to course through my veins?

It's not the latter, in case you were wondering.

I gasped in realization.

"What now?" Jasper asked.
"Oh, n-nothing, let's just start walking home."

I have feelings for Henry Hart.

********************************************

Yay! She finally admits it lmao. Chapter 3's gonna be pretty dramatic. Thanks for reading!