UNDER EDITING
Charlotte Cooper's life had been a simple one up until Louise Bauman went missing. And she was okay with that. The day that the girl had gone missing, everyone immediately became on edge, growing suspicious of each other, trying their...
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"Staying up late last night was probably one of the worst decisions," Charlie spoke as she let out a deep yawn, glancing over at Ren who tried his best to wipe the tiredness out of his eyes. He then let out a yawn, looking over at her with a sleepy smile.
"I think we'll survive," He told her, resting his hands on his thighs. "Just gotta get through today and talk to Ben at some point - even if I really don't want to." The boy mumbled the last part to himself, chewing on his thumbnail as he looked out of his window as the people walking by.
"What was that?" Charlie asked, looking up from her notes for first block to the boy, eyebrows knit together. "Was that something about Ben you just said?" She then added, causing Ren's cheeks to turn a shade of pink.
"What?" He asked, laughing lightly. "I don't know what you're talking about." He denied, shaking his head.
"Do you- do you not like Ben or something? You always get all... moody, whenever he's even mentioned and you just- I don't know," Charlie spoke, messing with the papers in her hands. "You just don't seem to like him very much. He has nothing against you, and he's a very nice boy."
Ren let out a sigh, shaking his head. "It's not that I don't like him, Charls." He told her, turning so he could face her. "I just feel like he likes you, and I don't like that. It's not the boy himself, it's the fact that whenever he's around you-" He stopped, trying to think of what to say next. "I feel like he's going to just pull some type of charm on you, and it'll work."
"A charm?" Charlie snorted, causing Ren to look at her in confusion. "Ren, Benjamin doesn't like me. I don't even know him like that."
"I see how he looks at you, Charlie." Ren shook his head, "I've sat across you guys in science all semester. And not to mention I'm a guy, I know how we think. I'm not stupid, and I can see it because I've looked at you the same exact way. He might not be exactly acting out on his little crush, but it's there."
"Well, maybe he's not acting out on his crush for a reason." Charlie put her papers back into her backpack neatly, zipping it up quickly. "I don't think there's anything to worry about, Renny. And even if there was on his side, I don't think there's anything to worry about with me. There's nothing worth getting jealous over, I can promise you that."
Without speaking another word to the boy, Charlie finally unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the jeep, both feet landing on the concrete of the school parking lot at the same time. She shut the door, watching as Ren got out of the car also, getting his backpack out of the backseat. They met around the back of the car and walked side by side inside the school, doing as they usually did: going to each other's lockers.
People stared as they usually did, but both of the teenagers ignored the talk. They knew it was going to happen considering not only were popular Renfrow Hill and loner Charlotte Cooper walking together yet again, but they also skipped school the day before and the talk was still going around about the video of Charlie at the football game. It was a lot of gossip, and it was inevitable. The best thing for the group to do - especially if they were going to make progress as they talked about - is to ignore it as best as they could, even if it upset them.
