I WANT TO BE WANTED | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐎𝐍

𝒐𝒏𝒆

Echoes of her footsteps surrounded the hallways of welton academy as blair cagney ran the fastest route she could to the church. "god, i'm so late!" the young girl muttered underneath her breath, eyes glancing down at her favorite wrist watch she couldn't go outside without.

suddenly the treacherous sound of mr. nolan's voice caught her attention, leading the girl directly to where the induction ceremony had been taking place. without a second thought, she burst through the double doors– the sound was wretched. every head in the room turned to face the blonde as her jaw hung open. a certain brunette in the crowd couldn't help the smile that fell on his face at the sight of her. he wanted to stand up and applaud her, say something triumphant and witty like : "you're a bit late, darling!" but he decided against it. it was the start of charlie's last year at welton, and he promised his parents that he'd at least try to be good this time around.

mr. nolan had been twitching up at the podium, the reality of his opening speech being interrupted– truly wrecked something inside of him as he glared daggers at the girl. "miss cagney. see me after" he muttered, nothing but hatred for the girl laced in his tone. blair swallowed hard, eyes quickly darting around for an open spot in one of the cherry wood pews. nothing. as mr. nolan returned to speaking, she decided to stand in the back. it was a lot less humiliating then searching around a seated room for a spot to sit, as if her entrance wasn't crippling enough.

once everyone had been released outside, blair went around to say hello to all the girls she missed during her summer out in the hamptons. she managed to escape the prison of the wooden chapel before mr. nolan realized he was supposed to scold her, she was sure she would be reprimanded later– but it didn't seem to phase her much. being close with charlie was enough to teach her not to take the staff at welton academy so seriously.

blair had been talking sweet to alison may's parents when a pair of hands wrapped around her face, covering her eyes. she yelped, immediately reaching to grab whoever it was. "guess who?" a familiar voice sounded from behind her. a sharp gasp left her lips, spinning around to be met with the face of her favorite person in the entire world. charlie dalton. "charlie!" she lept into the boy's arms, holding him tightly as everyone around them seemed to fade. he basked in her sweet scent of roses and citrus. "i missed you" she laughed.

"i missed you too! i've been dying to tell you all about my summer" the boy smiled wide, admiring her beauty as her hair suddenly became more ruffled looking. "come on" she grabbed his hand, pulling him off towards a heavily worn spot of the courtyard. it was one of their favorite places to talk. just the two of them.

she leaned against the brick wall, tracing his face with her eyes as they weren't visible to the crowd anymore. "nice entrance" he snickered, pulling a cigarette out of his suit pocket. "blame my mother! she was running late today... something with her job... i don't know" the blonde's eyes fell to the ground, her dress shoes beginning to kick around the gravel. "where is she anyway?" charlie asked softly. "had to run. said she's been through this three times already, she didn't need to come to another orientation" blair answered with a small smile. there was a warm kind of comfort that filled the girl whenever her mother wasn't around.

"she's sorta right" he grinned, puffing on his cigarette as she let out a laugh. charlie knew the situation with blair and her mother, same way that blair knew the situation with charlie and his parents. it was basically the same for everyone, though it was unfortunate. parents who could never be satisfied, their children running in endless circles trying to please them. there were way too many similar stories at the school, though the worst seemed to be neil perry.

the friend group officially formed in the second half of blair's freshman year. originally starting out as just blair, charlie and neil. eventually others joined in the mix, those of which included knox overstreet and steven meeks.