My Best Friend's Brother // Young Love Book 1 ✔️

My Best Friend's Brother Ch. 44

Chapter 44

"Are you guys done giggling like teenage girls yet?" Penelope inquired, glaring at us.

Neither of us knew why, but both Zeke and I were acting like two ridiculously happy fools. Maybe it was because we actually accomplished something that was way out of our abilities' comfort zones, or you know, just other things. Trust me, we weren't professionals. At least we pulled it off.

"Stop spreading negativity, Penny," said Zeke, frowning at her while pulling me closer. "It's only like...the fourth act."

"Fine, but I'm going back to my seat and leaving your dress with Cinderella," Penny huffed, turning her back to us. She childishly stomped away, making me cringe. The echo of her footsteps were loud enough to be heard on the other side of the stage. Hopefully, it didn't ruin Karen's song. She was singing her own version of Kiss Me, the one performed by Sixpence None the Richer; it was perfect, her voice was perfect. Penny better not have ruined that.

Within a few minutes, a figure appeared in my line of vision. Unlike what I expected, it wasn't my dear best friend. Instead, I found Charlie holding my dress and shoes. He looked a bit funny holding onto them like my personal assistant. The thought had me suppressing my smile. Zeke snickered beside me and I elbowed him. I didn't know how, but I just knew that Zeke had an idea of what was going on in my head. He just understood, for some reason. Quickly, Zeke stood and then pulled me to stand with him. The cheeky bastard fled the scene before I could even properly scowl at him. He was a bit of a pushover like that. Thanks, I sarcastically snapped at him in my head. Which of course was followed by:

What have you done?

I wanted to yell at Zeke, but couldn't. He was too far away to yell at. So, I just kept my eyes low. I wasn't sure how to talk to Charlie as of yet. I kinda wanted to yell at him too (mostly for being Anna's partner) but at the same time, I didn't want to be a bitch. I didn't wish to be that girl. Nobody likes that girl.

"Cindy was feeling lazy," Charlie explained as soon as I was within hearing range. He smiled half-heartedly at me, though his eyes said something else.

Looking back, I cautiously peeked up at him; his dimples were pressing in. "Oh," I replied.

He handed me my next change of clothes and I gingerly took it from him, careful not to brush his fingers with my own. I knew what dress it was, but only because Mr Brower gave it to all of the candidates. All of them were carbon copies of each other, apart from the sizing. They were all pink and sparkly, all ending close to the knees. The heels were also identical, all white and strappy. The reason for this is because of the Question & Answer portion of the pageant. The school's tradition was to make the participants wear the exact same thing for this bit of the pageant. This way, the clothes didn't distract from the girl's answer--or so that was what they said. This way, her appearace was neither an advantage or a disadvantage. It didn't matter if one girl gave an average answer but had an awesome cocktail dress, or if she had an amazing reply and an unflattering dress; their choice of clothing was completely irelevant. Whoever came up with that idea was utterly brilliant, if I do say so myself.

"Uh, thanks, Charles," I mumbled, too timid to ask him what I was dying to ask.

He scratched the back of his neck, tilting his head to the side. "You did good, El."

"Thanks...I guess."

For the last time, he studied me. And then, he left without another word. At this point, the sixth act was on. The voice in my head was screaming at me to grab Charlie by the shoulder and ask him: Yo, what's up with you? But wouldn't that just be ironic? I was the one who was going to look weird if I did that. I mean, I was weird enough, I didn't need extra weirdness; other people might miss out. Instead, I just acted like a coward and turned the other way. Maybe I'd ask him later, after I finish with the change rooms?