𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗜𝗰𝗲 || Charlie Conway

twenty one || charlie's pov

Charlie's POV:
Oh my god we won!! Charlie thought happily, as the buzzer went off. Everyone cheered and Josh announced, "Ducks win!" Charlie watched Amber's face light up with joy as the team all skated over. They all hugged and celebrated. Charlie then skated over to Coach Orion, hugging him.
"Hell of a pass, Captain."
"Thanks, Coach."
Charlie then skated away towards the edge of the ice. He was greeted by his mom and hugged her.
"I'm proud of you, Charlie." She said smiling.
Charlie smiled back, "I love you, mom."
"Go have fun."
Charlie looked up in the stands to see Bombay and smiled as he saw the duck sign fall and cover the original Eden Hall sign. The crowd and team cheered. Then, Charlie looked around for the girl he wanted to see more than anyone. But before he could find her, a different girl showed up by his side. He had tried to be friends with her in the beginning of the year but then realized she might like him in a different way. He thought Linda was cool but he didn't have feeling for her like he had for someone else.
"Charlie, thank you!" Linda said smiling.
Charlie just smiled back, not wanting to have a long conversation so he could go look for Amber. She stared into his eyes and before he knew it, she kissed him. He immediately pushed her away.
"Linda, listen, you're nice and all but... I don't like you like that."
"What? Why?"
"I- I like someone else."
"It's Amber, isn't it?"
Charlie nodded, "Yeah. I'm sorry, Linda."
"No, it's alright. I guess I was right about that whole jock thing, wasn't I?" Linda said, walking away angrily and sadly.
Charlie sighed, clearly upset but not too upset. Sure, he liked having Linda as a friend and sure, in the beginning of the year he was slightly interested in her but now, he could never think of a future with her. He had became friends with both Linda and Amber this year but he had gotten way closer with Amber. He didn't think of Linda as anything more than a friend besides the first week of school. With Amber, it was different than any other girls he had even spoke to. He felt happier, more like himself, and had butterflies in his stomach around her. She was the nicest, prettiest, smartest girl he'd ever seen. He couldn't understand why he liked her so much but she did. He felt sorry for Linda but he wanted to be with Amber. So, he turned around to see if he could find her. And he did. He saw her sadly skating away to the locker rooms. He tried to follow after her but once he got there, she had already left.
"The bracelet." He said to himself sadly as he noticed the bracelet he had given Amber on the floor. He sighed and picked up the bracelet.
Jeez, I really screwed this one up, didn't I? Charlie thought sadly.
Just then, the door to the locker room opened. "Hey, Charlie, what are you doing? Don't you wanna come celebrate? I think we're gonna go grab some food." Adam said, walking in with Guy behind him.
Charlie stayed silent for a second before saying "Linda kissed me. I pushed her away but I guess Amber didn't see that part. I found this, I gave it to her before the game." Charlie said holding the bracelet up. "I'm such an idiot."
"Charlie, you just need to explain what happened. She'll get it." Guy said.
"I don't know, Guy. She seemed really upset, I saw her skating away." Charlie said.
"Maybe I could ask Connie to talk to her." Guy suggested.
"No, no. I wanna do it myself. I don't want her to hear the explanation from someone else."
"Yeah I get it." Guy said.
"Charlie, just give her an explanation and give this all time. She'll come around. We can all tell she likes you and we can all tell you like her." Adam said.
"I know, you've explained to me countless times how obvious I am." Charlie tried to joke, not earning any laughs. The mood right then was not for jokes.
"Charlie, it'll be fine." Guy tried to assure him, not even sure of himself or if he was telling the truth.
The whole team soon arrived in the locker rooms and the three boys decided not to mention anything about what had happened, but everyone could tell there was something off about Charlie. He was normally way happier when they won games and this had been a big game, an important one. The team had been smart enough to figure out they shouldn't bother him about it. They noticed Amber's absence and most of them figured out that Charlie's bad mood probably had to do with Amber. They just didn't know exactly why or what had happened with the girl, except for Guy and Adam of course.