Becoming Better

Chapter 11 - Bad Boy Alert

The interview was not going well. Charlie sat across from none other than Ms. Anderson and Dean McDonald, as well as several other teachers whom she had failed to impress last year. Why on earth did she think she stood at chance at this?

"What makes you an example of what other Saint Peters students should strive to be?" the Dean asked her.

"I, uh," Charlie stumbled over her words. "Well, I try to stand up for people who can't stand up for themselves. I know what it's like to be bullied, so I try to stop that as much as I can. I believe being kind is really important."

Ms. Anderson raised an eyebrow at her. "Would you consider calling your teacher a certain curse word being 'kind'?"

Charlie's stomach knotted up. She knew this was coming the second she saw Ms. Anderson at the table, but she still wasn't quite ready for it.

"N-no, absolutely not," Charlie shook her head. "I also believe in apologizing and making amends. If there's anything I can do to make it right, let me know."

Ms. Anderson didn't respond. The interview ended pretty shortly after that. Charlie had a sinking feeling in her stomach that she wasn't going to win a spot on the Court. Aside from fact that she was probably the only candidate to have a disciplinary 'mark' on her transcript, she also wasn't a stellar student. She knew it was her fault, she couldn't exactly blame the faculty for not choosing her.

She wrote her essay and turned it in like everyone else, but when the announcement came a couple days later, she wasn't surprised at the results. Still, it was disappointing as hell. Taylor, Alex and Jessica made it, as well as Renee from Theater. On the boy's side, Taylor's boyfriend Ben also won a spot. Taylor was ecstatic, of course.

Charlie texted Wyatt. I didn't make it onto the Court.

He responded almost immediately. Who do I need to kill?

She laughed when she read that. He always knew what to say. No one, lol. But will you be my date to the dance? I don't want to be a loser and fly solo.

He typed, I thought you'd never ask.

Thursday of the following week was the Homecoming Pep Rally. Charlie sat with Rachel and Mara in the bleachers, watching the whole spectacle go down. While she sat there, she realized she didn't feel nearly as envious as she thought she would. In fact, she was happy to see all her friends up there. She cheered extra loud when Alex was crowned Homecoming Queen.

"Are you bummed you didn't win?" Charlie asked Mara. Just because she made peace with it, that didn't mean Mara had.

"Honestly, it was cool that anyone voted for me at all," Mara said. "I didn't expect to win a spot."

"That's true," Charlie agreed. It was nice their classmates had put their names down, after all.

"What are you doing after school tomorrow?" Mara asked her.

That Friday was a half day at Saint Peters, as was Homecoming tradition. The teachers had a lot of preparation to do for the weekend football game and the dance. Unfortunately, being part of Homecoming Court meant you had to help out with the prep, so Taylor, Alex and Jessica wouldn't be able to hang out.

"Nothing," Charlie answered. "What about you?"

"I'm going to go visit Shawn at Beachside High, do you want to come with me?" Mara asked.

Charlie shrugged. "Sure." Rachel was busy with Michael, as always. She couldn't hang out with Wyatt after school either, because he didn't have a half day at Saint Marks. They had a Homecoming dance at their school as well, but no Court, so it wasn't as big of a deal.

The next day Charlie took her mom's car to school. Her mom only worked part time, so she didn't need the car during the second half of the week. She offered to drive herself and Mara to Beachside High, because Mara didn't have her license. She just took Ubers everywhere.

When the bell rang signaling the early end of the day, Charlie and Mara rushed to her car. Mara said if they hurried, they could make it to Beachside High in time for Lunch. After putting the address in her GPS, Charlie decided to take surface streets to avoid the lunchtime traffic on the freeway. She got them there in less than twenty minutes. Charlie had never been to this part of town, but as she looked around, she realized it wasn't exactly the safest neighborhood.

When they exited her car and approached Beachside High, Charlie became acutely aware of the fact that they were still wearing their uniforms. She forgot that public high schools didn't have uniforms, or else she would have thought to bring a change of clothes.

"Oh my god, Mara, we're in our uniforms still," Charlie said.

"Ugh, do you always trip out this much over everything?" Mara scoffed, running up the stairs.

Charlie frowned. She was slightly taken aback by what Mara said. She knew sometimes friends gave each other a hard time playfully, but she and Mara weren't really close enough for her to do that.

When they set foot in Beachside's quad, nearly everyone's heads turned. At least, everyone that they walked by. Charlie felt more awkward by the second. Their uniforms made them stick out like sore thumbs. Beachside had WAY more students than Saint Peters. It was sort of overwhelming to her.

"Shawn!" Mara squealed, and took off running in the direction of a dark-haired boy.

Charlie's eyes weren't great from a distance, but when he came into focus, she thought, 'Damn.' He was so handsome. His dark hair was cut short on the sides, long on the top. It was messy in that perfect way that some boys seemed to have mastered. He had piercing green eyes, and his ears had those gauge earrings in them. From what Charlie could see, he also had several tattoos. He was leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette.

He looked Charlie up and down when she approached. "Who's this, Mara?" he asked.

"I'm Charlie," she answered for herself, her heart pounding hard. "It's nice to meet you."

Charlie wasn't entirely sure if nice was the right word. 

***Here comes trouble!