As Cold As Ice // Charlie Gillespie

Chapter 8

I don't want to pressure Charlie into telling me more but I also want to know. If he didn't want to tell me why would he have brought it up? "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." For a moment it feels like I can almost see him considering whether or not to do it. The uncertain expression he had suddenly changes into a smile. "Not to sound like Troy Bolton but the boys..."

Seriously? I can't help but laugh a little. "Sorry but Troy Bolton? Really?" He just shrugs but I can see his smile growing a little wider. "He's a good reference." I poke him playfully. "Ok so your secret passion is music but your team would never accept that because you gotta getcha head in the game?" Charlie playfully nudges me back.

"Hey!" I laugh a little more. "You started with the High School Musical references!" Holding up his hands in defense he says "Ok fine." We start walking again and after a few steps Charlie says "It's not like that. The boys know I like music but they don't know how important it is to me."

Unfortunately we can't discuss this any further right now because we're almost back with the others. I can hear them laughing and I wouldn't want Charlie to feel as uncomfortable as I did before we left. Sarah spots us first, of course. "Oh there you are!" I let myself fall onto the grass next to her. Charlie returns to his previous spot a little further away.

"So how was your little detour?" Lukas asks Charlie. I can't hear his response because Sarah leans closer to me and whispers into my ear "Nothing going on, huh?" I roll my eyes but leave it uncommented. I don't want anyone around us to hear and I'm starting to get a little annoyed by her constant teasing about this too. Why can't she just let it go? We're getting along well and I guess you could say we're starting to become friends. What's the big deal about this?

"Alright folks, I think it's time to head back. We don't want our visitors to think we're staying out late on a school night, do we?" Sarah nods approvingly. I swear it's painful to watch how much she likes Lukas but just won't ask him out. Maybe she should focus more on figuring that out than on creating a story about me and Charlie that just isn't real. I look over to Charlie who smirks at me and I guess he must be thinking the exact same thing. How I made him ditch first period on his first day at our school. I really am the worst host ever.

We all walk down to Grand Central Terminal, taking a slightly different route than we did on the way here. It was, surprise, Lukas' idea to let our visitors, how he continuously calls them, see more of the city. Frankly, walking two blocks away from where we walked before wouldn't quite be my definition of that but for whatever reason he's taken on the leader roll and I won't do anything about that.

The train back is as packed as the one we took here. I swear don't people have anything better to do in the middle of the week? We made sure we could avoid rush hour but even now it still feels like we're in the middle of it. Luckily, we manage to grab four seats this time so Sarah won't have any option to interrogate me, which I know she intended to do.

Of course Charlie and Lukas are the ones sitting across from us. I can't help but start wondering if Lukas maybe has a thing for Sarah too, why else would he out of all people sit with us? It's not like he doesn't have any friends on this train. I don't know when he's decided to chaperone Charlie either. That guy is a mystery. I'll never fully understand what Sarah likes so much about him. The second they sit down I can almost feel Sarah stiffen a little. I know she's nervous. I'm not sure she's ever been almost alone with him. Usually there are a bunch of other people around.

We sit in awkward silence for a little but then Lukas says "So you're all coming to the party, are you?" Oh shoot the party! I completely forgot to ask Charlie about it! I look over at Charlie who looks a little lost. "Sorry, I completely forgot to tell you. There's this party on Saturday. It's happening every year when the exchange students are here. You don't have to go if you don't want to but you kinda do, you know?" I feel like I've only made it worse because I just babbled it out like that but after a few seconds Charlie says "Sure, sounds fun."

I take a mental note to properly tell him about the party later. "Nice. Sarah, you coming too?" For a moment I'm worried she might forget how to breath. I've never seen her react to Lukas that intensely, but then again they've never been almost alone either. Finally, she manages to smile slightly and say "Yeah, I'll be there." Lukas just nods before he looks at me. "Obviously" I say. He raises an eyebrow. "Don't act like I have choice Lukas" I say playfully.

It's true though. Even if I didn't want to go I would because it is what it is. I do want to go though. I've been looking forward to this for a while now. The party with the exchange students is supposed to be the event of the school year so I wouldn't miss it. "You know Carter, you can really be a pain sometimes." I flash Lukas a bright smile. "I know." He turns to Charlie. "Dude, good luck with that one." I reach across the table in-between us and softly punch Lukas for that comment.