Two Introverts ✔

10 | Numbers

The next day came around. Charles woke up even before his phone could start singing its annoying alarms, even before the sun even rose, with a new-found determination. He was determined to talk to Sam. Even though what he spoke the previous day was very vague and Charles wasn't really a hundred percent sure why Sam was so down, he knew that Sam needed help. With June not around and his other friends being quite annoying even to Charles, he was determined to sit with Sam during lunch and talk to him and maybe get his number. We're getting too ahead of ourselves, buddy, he thought, laughing softly at himself, running a hand through his disheveled hair. But that didn't change the fact that he wanted to stop being the way he was and start doing something. Things won't just happen on their own, he reminded himself. He wanted to make Sam believe that he was someone who he could trust, someone who Sam could come to for any help. 

With that in mind, Charles got off his bed and got ready to go to school. After showering, he went into his living room, where he saw his mom packing lunch. 

"Someone's in a really good mood today," she noticed.

"It's a good day, isn't it? The sun shining bright, the birds chirping, the cool breeze...."

"Wh-" His mom had an incredulous look on her face. "Did you watch some cheesy movie or something yesterday? What's gotten into you?"

Charles laughed out loud. What, can he not be in a good mood and appreciate mother earth once in a while? What's so cheesy about that?

"Why do I have to have watched a cheesy movie in order to appreciate the good little things of the beautiful morning that we're able to experience now, huh?"

He looked at his mom as she visibly, dramatically gulped.

"I hope nothing possessed you, Charlie," she said, snorting. He was happy that he could put her in a good mood, too.

"Why does something have to possess me, can I not acknowledge the beauty of-"

"Okay, time to shut up. Go eat your breakfast now, or you're gonna be late for school."

Laughing yet again, Charles agreed with his mother that he had to stop and eat. He muttered, "Hm, yeah, maybe I should," and started gulping down his breakfast. Times like this he wished he could be the same way around people he didn't know. Speak with such ease, without the nervousness and anxiety of someone mistaking him as a mental patient, speak to make people's days better. He knew that he had people whose days he did make better and nothing compared to the feeling of that, but he didn't have the same comfort around people who he didn't know or even with the people he knew a little. Sighing for the first time that day, he slurped the last bit of milk in his bowl and went to his room to pack his bag.

Once he was done, he remembered that he'd be receiving his physics exam paper on that day. That brought back the smile on his face as he was eagerly waiting for it since the day of the exam (which was way before, before the holidays that indicated the end of semester one). Quickly slipping all the books he'd need for the day into his bag, he stepped out of his house and jogged his way through the narrow streets to meet up with Simon and Madeline. Midway, though, he heard someone call out to him (screech out to him, actually) and he could do nothing but facepalm when the heard what the person had to say. That person being none other than his mother.

"Charlie!! You forgot your lunch box!"

I definitely didn't learn anything from the other day.

"Sorry, I'm coming, mom!" he yelled back. At this point, he was red in the face because of how the people on the street were staring at him, but for once, he chose to ignore them. Under normal circumstances, he would've covered his face with his big hands and would've walked slowly towards his mom due to embarrassment, but he was a changed man.