𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗜𝗰𝗲 || Charlie Conway

twenty four || a day of school ignoring him

Normally, Amber was just fine waking herself up in the morning but today was different. Cassandra had to go into her sister's room and drag her out of bed. Amber really didn't want to go to school. Actually, correction, she really didn't want to see Charlie.
"Remember what I said on Saturday? Don't let life stop for him, Am. Come on, get up!" Cassandra said, pulling the blankets away from her sister.
"Ugh, Cass, I really hate you sometimes." Amber said, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.
"I'm just trying to help you, get ready, Am." Cassandra said and left the room. Amber debated lying right back down but she knew her siblings would both be very annoyed and mad with her if she did. Plus, what Cassandra had told her made sense. She just didn't want it to. She wanted to just lie there.
Amber got dressed before she sat at her desk. She was doing her makeup when she heard a knock at her door. "Come in." She said, tiredly. The door opened and Amber saw Bradley standing there. Amber was confused, "Bradley? What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to make sure you're okay and you're coming to school. You never told me and Ross everything that happened. Do you wanna talk about it?" Bradley asked. Amber knew that out of her friends, Grace was the fun one, Ross was the nice one, and Bradley was the helpful one. Grace would make her forget about a hard time by having so much fun, like at the carnival. Ross was always nice to everyone and if she was sad he'd be the comforting one. Bradley would listen to her rant and then give her advice and help. Amber loved her friends, so she decided to tell him, knowing he might be able to help. She explained the story she felt like she had already explained millions of times: they were at the game, he kissed Linda, Amber got sad.
"Amber, just don't talk to him at school. Completely ignore him and try to sit far away from him. If he tries to talk to you, just don't give in. Remember what he did, it'll help you want to avoid him."
"Okay. Thanks, Bradley." Amber said, not sounding very genuine or happy.
"I'm just gonna drive with you guys today, do you want me to wait downstairs or-"
"No, I'm just doing my makeup right now so if you want, you can just wait here."
"Okay," Bradley said, sitting. "So are you sitting with us at lunch today?"
"Yeah, definitely. I'm probably gonna start sitting there everyday now."
"Good, it's nice having you sit with us." Bradley said, causing Amber to smile.
The two continued to talk until Amber was done getting ready and then went downstairs.
The car ride was mostly silent until they approached the school and Henry turned to Amber. "Am, you'll be alright." He said.
Then, Amber walked into the school. She went to her biology class. The class had to partner up for an assignment and Amber chose to work with Adam since he's the only person she knew in the class. Luckily, he didn't bring up anything about Charlie. But Amber was worried about her next class. She walked into math class and took a seat in the front, far from her normal seat in the back. Charlie walked in a little after her. He looked at her sadly, knowing why she moved seats: because of him. He just wished she knew the full story. History was easy to sit through to because the only Duck in that class was Luis.
Amber was expecting spanish class to be the easiest of all her classes, but she had forgotten Linda was in that class. Linda stared at her the whole class until Amber said something. "What the hell are you staring at, Linda?"
Linda looked shocked and angry, "Why? How? Out of everyone..." She questioned, seeming as she was talking to herself, out loud.
"Hello? Finley?" Amber said, calling the girl's last name in an attempt to get her attention.
"My gosh, Amber, you are so lucky." Linda said.
"What?"
"Charlie." Linda said, shutting her book and walking to the teacher's desk. She left Amber confused, trying to figure out what Linda was meant. How could Amber be the lucky one when Linda was the one Charlie liked? Amber tried to stop thinking about it and continued her spanish work until the end of the period.
Once Amber arrived at study hall, she realized that Connie and Julie didn't know about what happened at the game.
"Hey!" Julie said smiling while Connie waved.
"Hey." Amber said sounding a little upset.
"Why'd you leave the game so early, Am?" Julie asked.
"Charlie kissed her. Charlie kissed Linda." Amber said. 
"Oh my god." Julie said, shocked. She realized Connie hadn't said anything.
"Con?" Amber questioned, pulling Connie out of her zone-out.
"Huh?" Connie said.
"Uh.. did you hear her?" Julie asked.
"Oh... yeah. But, Am, I already knew. Guy told me. And he told me how he knows you don't wanna hear this but you really need to talk to Charlie." Connie said.
Amber just rolled her eyes and looked down. She did NOT want to talk to Charlie. The three girls were mostly silent the rest of the period. At lunch, they walked to separate tables and everything went fine, except for the same sad stare Charlie gave Amber through out lunch. Amber ended up explaining what had happened to Ross during lunch. By now, she felt like she had said it a million times. She was getting a little tired of it, but it hurt less every time she said it. Saying it constantly, she was getting used to the reality of the whole thing.
What Amber wasn't sure she could get used to was her feeling of worry when seeing him during classes. She walked into english and sat at her normal seat because she knew her teacher didn't allow seat switching. Amber stared down at her hands, anxiously picking at her nail polish.
"Hey." She heard a soft, sad voice say. Amber looked up, knowing who she'd see. But she wanted to see his face, his emotions, if there was even a bit of guilt there. Did he even care or feel sorry? She stared at him for a moment before looking away, towards the front of the classroom. "Am?"
"Don't call me that." She said angrily. "My friends call me Am."
"And I'm not your friend anymore?" Charlie asked. Amber doesn't think she's ever heard him that upset. Amber was just silent. "Amber, I'm sorry but you don't know the whole story. Can you please give me a chance to explain."
"Not right now, Charlie. We have class." Amber said, pulling her notebook out and ignoring the boy and his stares for the rest of the class.