Carter
1323 Words
"Did you come to walk me to school?" Charlotte asked.
The wolf had been waiting for her when she turned toward the main road. At least that's what she assumed he was doing because he was just sitting there.
The wolf swished his tail, making Charlotte laugh.
"Alright come on."
The wolf trailed behind her almost all of the way there. He took off into the woods right before the school came into sight.
Something felt off when Charlotte entered the school.
Several of her classmates gave her ugly looks as she passed by them. She wasn't sure why.
Most of them hadn't acted especially welcoming in her first couple of days here but now they looked at her like she had done something to personally offended them.
She tried her best to ignore it all morning.
Then while she was sitting in French class one of the boys shot her in the face with a spitball.
Charlotte grimaced, wiping the spit from her face.
Madam Brouseaux had her back turned to them, preparing to start class.
Ugh, not worth bothering the teacher over she thought. She didn't want to seem like a snitch in front of the whole class.
Charlotte gave the boy an ugly side eye before burying her nose in her notebook. He just looked at her and laughed.
Rude.
Charlotte was so caught up in her thoughts that she had difficulty focusing in class. Her notes mostly consisted of doodles. Luckily Madam Brouseaux didn't appear to notice.
The boy sprinted off as soon as the bell rang.
Sighing, Charlotte shoved her notebook and books into her backpack.
She was making her way to her locker when someone slammed their shoulder into her. Charlotte gasped, looking up at a football player dressed in a leatherman.
She felt her backpack falling off her shoulders. The strap had snapped. All of her stuff went sliding across the floor when the bag hit the ground.
The football player turned to his buddies and they all started laughing as they continued down the hall.
Charlotte felt her face flush with shame. She hurried to pick up her books and papers.
"Need help?" A friendly voice asked.
Charlotte paused, her heart pounding she slowly looking up at the boy in front of her.
Dirty blonde hair and beautiful green eyes looked down at her.
Enchanting.
Was this her Greek hero?
"Here," Carter said, eyes dancing with laughter.
Charlotte looked down at his hands to take what he was offering her.
And that's when she saw it.
He had her pencil bag, chapstick, and her emergency tampon clasped in his hand.
Oh. my. God. Could this be any more embarrassing???
"T-th-thanks" She stuttered, quickly grabbing the items and stuffing them into what was left of her backpack.
"No need to be embarrassed. I have sisters." He assured her, after seeing her face turn red.
"Oh yeah." She said dumbly.
He smiled at her again. Could he be any cuter?
"Ok, let's go to the principal's office." Carter said, helping her up.
"I really don't think this is necessary. I don't even know the guy's name." She protested as Carter led her down the hall.
"I definitely think you should report bullying and I encourage you to do so but that's not why we are going to the principal's office."
"Oh. Why are we going then?" Charlotte asked, confused.
"Because that's where lost and found is and you need a new backpack." He answered, simply.
Much to Charlotte's amazement, the Secretary readily handed over the key to the lost and found closet. Although it might have had something to do with Carter flattering and joking with her.
Carter walked out of the office, holding the key up to her triumphantly.
"Shall we?" He asked, walking over to the closet.
It was just a small storage closet with a couple of shelves and a box of stuff at the bottom.
They found one backpack on a shelf and another at the bottom of the box.
"Won't people come looking for their stuff!?" Charlotte asked nervously. "I don't want to take something that belongs to someone."
"Nah, this stuff just sits there like lost treasure, collecting dust. Most of it has been here since last year." Carter assured her.
"Which one do you want." He asked, holding up the two black backpacks.
"They look the same." She laughed.
"The true treasure is not the backpack. The treasure is knowledge. Knowledge is their treasure." Carter said dramatically.
"Are you quoting Indiana Jones?"
"Maybe." He laughed.
Charlotte grabbed one at random, rolling her eyes at his antics.
"Good choice." He nodded.
They put the rest of the stuff back in the closet and Charlotte started transferring her stuff into the new backpack while Carter went to return the key.
"So what do you want to do now?" Carter asked.
"Um, go back to class?" She asked confused.
"We've already missed half of it. Might as well miss the rest." He shrugged. "I can show you the roof, I doubt you've been up there yet."
"What happened to the treasure is knowledge?" Charlotte asked lifting her brow.
"Yeah you're right, better get you back to class." He said, dragging her toward the classrooms.
"No, wait!" She squealed. "Let's go to the roof."
"If you insist" He turned on his heel and started running in a different direction.
Charlotte laughed, running after him.
They ran up the emergency staircase until they got to the last door. Carter opened the metal door, waiving Charlotte on.
"Oh wow," she breathed, stepping into the sunlight.
In front of her, there was a little walkway and garden. Some of it was overgrown. It didn't look like many people came up here.
"Cool isn't it?" He asked.
"Yeah, it's amazing!" Charlotte said in awe.
Carter showed her around the garden a little bit and then they sat down on the edge of the roof. They sat so close that their thighs were almost touching.
"I didn't take you as such a rebel when we first met." Charlotte laughed.
"I'm not. I just like to have a good time. Life is short." He answered coyly.
"Yes, it is." She agreed.
There was something so honest and likable about this green-eyed boy. She felt like she could talk to him forever.
"Carter, can I ask you a question? Charlotte asked, nervously.
"Of course."
"Why is everyone so upset with me?"
There was a short pause. For a moment Charlotte wondered if she should have just kept her mouth shut.
"I think they were expecting you to be gone by now. They weren't expecting you to stay." He answered carefully.
"Oh."
"But I'm happy you're here." He said turning his head toward her. Charlotte could feel his lips hovering above hers and her heart started pounding in her ears.
Was he about to kiss her? No way was she going to make the first move.
Just then the bell rang.
"Better get to class," Carter said grinning as he moved away.
What. The. Hell.
Charlotte looked up at him, eyes hazy and confused. Was he teasing her?
She shook her head coming out of the trance.
He helped her up and they made their way to class as if nothing happened.
*** GIO ***
Gio's furry ears twitched as he listened to his mate fawn over some boy at school. She'd been talking about him the whole way home.
"...and then he took me up to the roof and showed me the garden."
Took her up to the roof? Alone? Was his mate so naive that she couldn't see the danger in that? Gio thought angrily.
"He's so cute and nice and thoughtful." She spun across the ground with surprising grace.
"I thought for sure he was going to kiss me but then the bell rang." His mate lamented.
Gio couldn't stop the deep growl that came from his chest.
- Writer
