𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 | 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚡

Carla was ecstatic and annoyed when I told her the news. "You went without me?!" Was her first thought, but that quickly changed to: "Gerard Pitts! Oh my god! Thank you!"

I didn't know how to respond to her constantly changing emotions, so I didn't really at all. Instead, I told her what to expect. "The meetings aren't like the ones we went to before. You know, with Charlie acting like an ass and all." I begin, and I saw a smile creep on her face as I mentioned Charlie. "You have to bring poetry whether that be one you wrote or one you happened to like."

"Okay?" Carla clearly wasn't interested in the meeting. "I'll bring some stupid poetry." She shrugged. She was far more excited for the sleepover. "But whose bed are you gonna sleep in?"

"What do you mean?" I questioned, not really thinking ahead about the whole sleeping situation.

Carla began to laugh, then stopped when I was still confused. "What? What do you mean? Isn't this the whole point?"

"They're friends!" I replied. "It's not an orgy!"

This made Carla laugh even more. "Ok, ok, they're friends." Her laughter slowed down, but her smile didn't go away. "Well? Dalton's bed?"

"No!" My face went red. "Hell no!" Carla was surprised by the sudden outburst. "I'm gonna sleep on the ground. I'll bring a sleeping bag. Besides, aren't their beds only twins."

"You can fit two people on a twin, trust me." I took her word for that, not wanting to know any more.

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Soon, Friday night came, and Carla and I were sitting outside of Welton Academy, full of nerves. I looked over at her to catch her looking over at me. "Got your poetry?" I asked her. She responded with a nod.

"Got your sleeping bag?" She teased, and I smiled. It was nice to have some sort of humor when you felt like your whole body could explode at any moment. "Let's get this show on the road!" She got up fast, leaving me to jog to catch up to her. Carpe diem and all.

When we got to the cave, the boys were already there. I watched as Gerard Pitts' face turned red upon seeing Carla. It was pretty cute. I heard the boys laugh at him, and honestly, I had to a little too. Carla made her way over and sat right next to him. He shifted in his seat a bit, looked to her, smiled, then quickly looked away. His smile was gone and replaced with pure panic.

"Sit by me?" Charlie offered to me, but I looked over to Meeks. "Oh, rude."

"Charlie, I love you and all, but -"

"Oh, that was fast." Dalton teased, winking at me. "Are we about to get married now?"

"You wish." I quietly sat by Meeks, giving Charlie a sly smile. He seemed to appreciate my snarkiness. I glanced over to Meeks, who put his hand out for a shake, to acknowledge me without saying a word, but I misinterpreted and gave him a high five instead.

"Carla." Charlie nodded in her direction. Since he wasn't able to go after me, because of our truce, he seemed to change paths. Pitts didn't seem to be pleased.

"Dalton." She nodded back. I could see her flirtatious nature dripping off of her. She wanted to get back at him so badly, but her focus was on Pitts tonight. So she could be loyal? Strange.

We began the meeting, and nothing of interest really happened. Well, besides, Charlie was back to his usual ways. This time, he was hitting on Carla. It sort of made my blood boil, and I didn't know why. For one mere second, I had wished I never made the damn truce. His poems were so basic, so over read, so flowery, but damn it... why was I so envious? He didn't even mean it.

Pitts didn't appreciate it either. When it was his turn, he cleared his throat and looked to Carla with starlit eyes. "I..." He got caught up already, having to clear his throat again. "I uh..." He looked down to the paper in his hand, going to read the poem he chose, then looked back to Carla as if he was trying to memorize it. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"Aww.." I said quietly. It was cute. He was so nervous, and he clearly liked Carla. I saw Charlie look over to me, raising an eyebrow.

Pitts then looked back down and began reading his poem. It was another love poem. Unlike Charlie's, it was basic. It wasn't filled with cliché filler words. No. This felt more real.

Meeks was trying to hold back his laughter next to me, and I slapped his shoulder, trying to get him to shut up. This only made him laugh more, which caused the others to give in. When Pitts was done, he looked around at everyone, a bit disappointed with their reactions.

I, on the other hand, looked to Pitts with a smile. "Beautiful."

Carla nodded, leaning her head on his shoulder. Now, he did not expect that! All the boys looked at her, confused. He royally fucked that up and she was into it? What? I wasn't surprised, but the boys were.