I've Been Waiting All Along (Book 2 - Rock Canyon Series)

Chapter 16 - Charlie (They/Them/Theirs)

Chapter 16 – Charlie (They/Them/Theirs)

I stood at Maddie's locker watching her pick up one book, only to slam it down and pick up another, huff, then slam that one down, only to start over again.

"He's only gone for the next two days. He'll be back Saturday," I said during a quiet pause in her tantrum.

In the microsecond it took me to blink her fire blue eyes were burning into me. "I know," she snapped, then let her backpack sag to the floor. "I'm sorry. I'm used to him being next to me. Ever since he's been next to me no one has picked on me. Did he really need to go visit his aunt? Couldn't his mom have went by herself?" Her bottom lip came forward almost imperceptibly, but I recognized my sister's "this is for real" pout face–she only did it when she was truly upset.

My heart burst open, the love already leaking out and grabbing Maddie into a hug. "Aww I get that. It's going to be okay though. Everyone seems to have moved past it but if anyone gets on you, me and Ty are available to hand out swirlies."

She looked at me sideways. "First of all, I was more sad about the stuff I'm going to miss after school. And second... do I even want to know what a swirlie is?"

I chuckled. "Probably not. But the bell is gonna ring soon, you got the book you need? You know I gotta get going. My class is on the other side of the school."

She rifled through her locker and I rolled my eyes when she easily found the book she needed. Guess she just needed to throw some things around and get settled into a Kellan-less school day. I could get behind that.

"So what time is Ty coming tomorrow night? Your Kickstarter game launches in North America before we get out of school right?"

"The game launch is noon eastern, so yeah definitely before we get out of school. Pretty much like an hour after we get here tomorrow. As far as what time Ty is coming I wish I could tell you but I haven't asked him yet," I said, then darted down the hall. Maddie nipped at my heels.

"What do you mean you haven't asked him yet?" She said, her mocassins slapping hard behind me. "That's tomorrow night, Char! What if he makes other plans? What if he goes to the library and there is a beautiful girl reading a book and he can't take his eyes off of her and he fights and struggles but his courage wins out and he asks her on a date and then they go and it's amazing?"

She inhaled deeply after her moment of melodrama. I furrowed. "Are you talking about Nate and Kiyana right now?"

Maddie laughed. "Yeah, it's so cute isn't it? Sometimes I think about them randomly. It's just the best love story ever. But, seriously, you gonna ask him today?"

I fired off a noncommittal shrug before realizing I was treating her like I would dad. But that was because they both always wanted to travel the shortest distance between points A and B, be damn the context. Their questioning often felt like a battering ram against my personal space. It was hard to hide in front of them.

Pursing my lips, I quickly counted the amount of ducts in the hallway twice, trying to still my thoughts the best way I knew how. We were standing at the convergence of the school's two main hallways. Her class was down one, and mine the other. Knowledge of lateness had already blared at me like an incessant screaming voice, but my sister would have followed me all the way to the door of my class to get her answer. Then she would have gotten in trouble, and she didn't need any more attention at this school. So I answered.

"Alright, fine. I'll ask him later, when he walks me to theatre. Are you happy? Can we be late to class now?"

Maddie grinned. "You know the fact that he walks you to theatre every day is kinda cute. Like, who does that if they're not into somebody?"