now or never - charlie gillespie

chapter forty two

"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" Charlie asked once he was standing in front of Owen and I. Jeremy and Carolynn jogged over behind him. "I was trying to get it out of them, but someone threw my phone on the ground," he said glaring at Jeremy.

Jeremy gave him an apologetic smile and shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted to show you my new trick." Jeremy was about to do it again when Charlie glared at him again.

"Don't even try," Charlie said through gritted teeth. Owen and I glanced at each other quickly.

It was obvious he was getting irritated. Just wait until he finds out.

"Where did Kenny go?" Charlie asked.

"He had to uh.." I tried to say but my mind went blank. Where did Kenny say he was going?

"He had to go meet someone," Owen said for me.

"Well what did he want from you guys? Why didn't he call me over?" Charlie asked looking straight at me. Damn it! He knew how much I cracked under pressure.

I quickly looked away. "Oh gosh! We can't keep the poor guy waiting. Lets go you guys, i'm really really tired," I said shoving everyone towards the car.

Right when Owen was passing me I quickly put my hand on his chest and shoved him back.

"We have to keep him away from his phone," I whispered, turning my face away from the others as they were putting their bags in the trunk of the car.

"Yeah, just like- hold his hand or something," Owen said uncomfortably. "Just distract him." He went to step forward and I held him back again.

"Oh, Owen this is a disaster!"

"What is?"

I gave him a look that said 'have you been living under a rock for the past ten minutes?'

"Everything. Can you believe they think we're dating? How ridiculous is that?" I said awkwardly laughing. I think I was trying really hard to convince myself that the pictures meant nothing. That way I would be able to convince Charlie.

Owen looked at the ground and kicked his foot on the ground. "Would it really be that ridiculous though?" he peaked up at me.

I did a double take. Was he seriously asking me that?

"What do you-"

"You know what I mean, Lake. Don't pretend like it's unimaginable. Could it really be that bad?" He was getting more confident with every word he spoke. He grabbed me by my elbow and pulled me closer.

"Now is not the time for this, Owen," I hissed, yanking my elbow out of his grip and walking towards the car.

The car ride was complete and utter torture. Charlie wanted nothing more than to check his phone. We took turns trying to think of different ways to distract him. Thankfully, it wasn't that long of a ride. We were dropped off first.

"Good luck guys!" Jeremy called out as we got out of the car. "Ouch!" he squealed when Carolynn elbowed him in the stomach.

"What?" Charlie asked, turning around to look at Jeremy.

"I said goodnight guys!" Jeremy said, rubbing his stomach.

I had to place my hand over my mouth. This was cruel. We were so going to hell.

"Why is everyone so weird today?" Charlie asked looking at Owen and me. We just shrugged our shoulders, pretending like we had no idea. Charlie grabbed his keys and opened the door.