charlie dalton 𝒙 reader

x. YOU STILL SMELL

CHAPTER TEN!
( YOU STILL SMELL. )

   AFTER SCHOOL THAT day you wanted to talk to Charlie about the girl. You were hoping to casually tease him about it in conversation, but you hadn't been able to find him for the last hour. You finally decided to give up and just walk around the campus for a while. The boys would be playing a soccer game tonight, so you figured you would just talk to him after that. You wandered aimlessly past the rushing river and tall brick walls. Despite the terrible experiences you'd had at Welton, it truly was a beautiful place. And you were slowly adding more positive memories this year.

As you walked, your mind wandered to Charlie. Instead of stopping yourself, you decided this was a good time to sort out how you felt exactly. You couldn't help but feel a bitter tightness in your chest at the thought of him in love with another girl. You thought about it for a moment, and to your horror, you came to the realization that you liked him much more than you initially planned. From his stupid jokes to his stupid brown eyes, you loved it all. The only problem was that you didn't see how it could ever work out. He had plenty of girls pining over him, that you were sure of. His flirty disposition didn't help, he just loved the attention he got from girls. You clenched your fists, quickly drawing in breath, hoping the feeling would pass.

That's enough, you scolded yourself as you turned back around to grab a book or start on your trig homework. Anything that required you to focus on something other than your wandering thoughts.

After getting through a few chapters of your book, you and Violet headed out to watch the soccer game. Sure enough, once you reached the bleachers you saw Charlie in his striped goalie jersey. By this point he would've usually winked at you or at least smiled in your direction, but instead he avoided your gaze and continued getting ready. You swallowed hard as it occurred to you that he was avoiding you. Why would he be avoiding me? Did I say something?

You turned to Violet to say something, but saw that she was staring at Meeks, who was staring right back until Pitts knocked him on the side of the head. Why didn't he just ask her out already??

After the game the boys lifted Keating into the air in victory and ran around the field. You grinned as you watched the scene and jumped off of the bleachers. You finally locked eyes with Charlie who had a wide smile on his face. He held his hands up in victory as he walked over to you. You smiled back, but just then Todd walked past, still looking a little disconnected from the group. You intercepted him and patted him on the back.

"Nice goal, kid," you congratulated. "You're full of surprises y'know? You're easily one of the best on the team."

"Thanks," he laughed. Todd turned back towards the rest of the team as Neil ran up to the two of you. Neil looked like he'd just dunked his head in water.

"Hey, Y/N. Good game right?" Neil smiled.

"Oh yeah, very entertaining," you nodded.

"C'mon Todd, you really need a shower. Bad," he laughed, ruffling Todd's hair.