Becoming Somebody

Chapter 20 - What Boyfriends Do

The following Monday at school was madness. She and Cassius walked to the snack bar together holding hands during the break between 1st and 2nd period, and by the next break, it seemed like the entire school knew they were dating. Saint Peters was a school of only about 1000 students, so news traveled at lightspeed.

-Dude are you dating Cassius?

-I heard you were holding hands with Cassius outside, wtf happened this weekend?

-Are you dating that senior?

Her DM's were absolutely flooded with questions from her classmates. Taylor, Alex and Rachel obviously already knew, after she called them all on Sunday freaking out with excitement. They were fielding questions about her new relationship all day.

Girl I swear to god if ONE more person texts me about you and Cash I'm gonna lose it, Taylor texted her.

Charlie responded, Lol, just tell them to DM me!

She clicked over to her conversation with Rachel who just texted as well. You are literally all anyone wants to talk about to today.

Charlie sent back the hiding-face emoji followed by several hearts so Rachel knew appreciated her. She looked up and saw Alex walking up to her, her eyes wide.

"Let me guess, is everyone asking you about me and Cassius?" Charlie raised her eyebrows.

"No, did something happen with you and Cassius?" Alex feigned confusion, making Charlie crack up. "Of course they are asking me about it. If we had a school newspaper it would be the front page."

Caitlyn, the psycho Junior girl, passed by and gave Charlie a death stare. She was glad Alex was with her so she could just ignore it. They walked to third period Biology together. Charlie could barely concentrate in the class because she knew lunch coming next. How was she supposed to act? Was she going to sit with Cassius and his friends? She literally broke into a sweat at the idea. She hadn't even met his friends yet.

After class was over, she headed out to the quad. She didn't bother to bring her food because she was too nervous to eat. She looked around for Cassius. She saw him exit the East Wing and walk over to his usual area. She decided to throw caution to the wind. Instead of waiting for him to come find her, she walked over to him.

"Hi!" Cassius greeted her with a hug. "Everyone come meet Charlie," he said to his friends.

They all nodded at her and said a few hellos, and she waved back. Cassius took her hand and walked over to the bench, and she sat down.

She looked around. Just like that, here she was, sitting with the Seniors. Nearly every single person who walked by was staring at her. Her head spun slightly. She tried to calm down enough to listen to Cassius' conversation with his friends, relieved that they all started chatting casually, as if she sat with them all the time.

By the end of lunch, she had relaxed. Cassius' friends were really funny, just like him. She enjoyed sitting with them. His friend Steve in particular had tried to make sure she felt part of the conversation, which she appreciated, since not only was she the only Sophomore, she was also the only girl there. His other friend, named Ari, was also really nice to her.

It was getting cold and Charlie was regretting not wearing her sweater. She didn't like the Saint Peters uniform sweaters because, well, they were hideous. She was trying to look cute today, not frumpy.

Cassius noticed that she was cold because her arms were covered in goosebumps. He was wearing his soccer team sweatshirt, which was only 'uniform approved' because it was from one of the school's sports teams. He pulled it over his head and handed it to her.

"Here, you're cold," he said, concerned.

She took it. "Are you sure? You shouldn't have to suffer cause of my decision not to wear a sweater."

"It's what boyfriends do," he said, smiling.

She melted. Instead of responding she just pulled the sweatshirt over her head. It smelled like him, and she wanted to live in it, forever.