With One Kiss

Two: Charlie

I was not prepared to see Nick in front of my house, normally we meet each other at the bus stop. My eyebrows furrowed as I turned around the lock on the front door. "Everything okay Nick?" I asked, "No, everything is not okay," he said. Before I could ask what was wrong, Dorcas appeared right next to him. "Hi guys, are we ready?" She asked, she was wearing a lovely light green dress that brought out her eyes. "Ready," Nick said quietly, like there was something stuck in his throat.

I hated dresses, for some reason I could wear skirts but when it came to dresses I detested them. I admired Dorcas for her style, she knew how to glow. Or maybe she didn't need to try because of how naturally pretty she was.

Suddenly I thought, did I need to dress like her to get a boyfriend? I thought about Pru, she wore dresses too. Was a dress the way to get a boyfriend, I couldn't help but wonder as we walked to the bus stop. I was wearing my usual black pants, with my plain dark blue T-shirt.

"Hey Dorcas," I started, she looked at me, waiting for me to finish. "Can you possibly help me with my style?" I asked, she gleamed. "Of course, but why do you need help? I love your style, it's what makes you, you." She admitted, I wanted to hug her. She was too kind.

"I'm not sure if Nick told you, but this year I'd like to have a boyfriend." I sheepishly admitted, while looking down. She smiled, "He did not tell me, that's so exciting though. Do you have someone in mind?" She asked, I shook my head. "Not yet, but maybe I'll meet him today," I admitted, and she smiled again. "I hope you do!" She said excitedly, then turned to look at Nick and grabbed his hand. Nick was looking down at the ground, "We've got to help her," Dorcas said, her voice more soft. "Please do," I said, Dorcas nodded her head while Nick stayed quiet. "Are you okay?" Dorcas asked, Nick forced a small smile.

Oh no, something is wrong. With all the years I've been friends with Nick, I can differentiate which smiles are real and fake. "I'm fantastic," he said. She just nodded her head, I haven't known Dorcas for that long but she was an open book. Anyone could see that she was upset, she was like a little puppy. The thing is, she obviously did nothing wrong.

When we got onto the bus, the ride to school was surprisingly quiet. Nick and Dorcas sat next to each other but were not talking, I wanted to punch him in the arm. I was in the seat across from them, looking over every so often. Why was he acting cold with her? Dorcas had her ear buds in her ear, and looked out the window.

I texted Nick saying, WE NEED TO TALK.
Nick texted back, Yes we do.

After our first stop, I was surprised to find that someone sat down next to me. He looked familiar but I didn't know his name. He was cute, with green eyes, and his light brown hair was parted in the middle. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Hey," he said, with a small smile. "Hi, uh, can I help you?" I asked, Why did I ask that? Oh my god, he's not going to want to talk to me anymore. I just started and I've already failed. "Sorry, I should've asked if it was okay if I could sit next to you. I just got distracted," he said, "By what?" I questioned, while looking around. "With how pretty you are." he said, my jaw dropped. "Me?" I asked, he nodded his head. "My name is Charlie by the way," he said, "I'm Sabrina," I replied. Charlie and I talked, and talked.

Eventually Dor and Nick joined our conversation, "I'm Dorcas," she introduced herself, "And I'm Nick," he said. "Are you new here?" Nick asked, Charlie shook his head. "This is actually going to be my fourth year here in Greendale," he admitted, "I'm a Senior," he added. Suddenly we all understood, he was two grades up from us.

Before we got off the bus, Charlie asked for my phone number. I quickly jotted down my number on a piece of notebook paper and handed it to him, then excitedly walked away and followed after Nick.

"Where's Dorcas?" I asked, Nick shrugged. "I hope we have the same lunch later," I said. Nick was still quiet. Him and Dorcas obviously had some type of disagreement, there was no point in trying to ask about it since he clearly did not want to talk about it. "Guess who asked for my number?" I asked giddily, "Who?" he asked, dryly. Okay, something was definitely wrong.

The joy I had for meeting Charlie had to simmer down for the moment, so I could figure out what was going on with my best friend. I grabbed his hand and pulled him into a secret area, away from the quad. It was an area that has a bunch of lockers that no one uses anymore, but there were still a couple of concrete benches. 

I forced him to sit down on the bench, and sat down next to him. "Spill. What is going on with you and Dorcas?" I asked, he still wasn't looking at me. I sighed, and we sat there quietly for what felt like an eternity. When Nick was upset, he was good about not talking about it. I learned that if you gave him time though, he would fess up. I thought maybe he just needed time to be alone, so I stood up.

"I'll just see you later then," I said, as I started to walk away. He grabbed my wrist, then gently held on. I looked at him, confused. "Okay, I'll tell you," he gulped, I sat back down next to him.

"I-I," he started, he glanced at me. "Like I said, it's okay if you're not ready to talk about it," I said, about to get up. "Okay, okay." he gave in, "I'm not sure if I want to be with Dorcas anymore?" he admitted. "Nick, you've got to be kidding me. I thought you were love struck?!" I exclaimed quietly. I was scared that Dorcas would find us and hear our conversation.

"Why aren't you sure?" I whispered, he looked at me with a blank stare. I already knew what that look meant and what he was going to say. "I don't know," he said, I sighed. I rubbed Nick's shoulder, "Hey, it's okay." "Is it though? I thought I had these feelings for her, but now I'm confused," he admitted. "What are you confused about?" I asked, again he looked at me. It was like he was scared to say it, I was about to ask him again when the bell rang.

"Let's talk about this later, okay?" I suggested, he nodded his head. "After school?" he confirmed, I pursed my lips and quickly nodded my head. Nick and I parted ways, we both had different classes until the middle of the day. We only had two classes together, while I had one class each with Pru and Amb. I was on my way into class, when someone bumped into me in the hallway.

I almost fell over, but caught myself. Initially, I was irritated but when I looked up and saw who it was, I relaxed a bit. It was Harvey, he was a jock who I probably talked to a handful of times. We've gone to the same schools since elementary school but were never that close. Mainly because of school work, like whether or not we had homework or when he needed to borrow my notes. "Sorry Sabrina," he said, with his charming smile. "It's all good Harvey," I said, then went on my way to class.

As soon as I got into class, I quickly found a seat to the side near the window. From the corner of my eye, I spotted them. There was Nick and Dorcas, they both embraced and soon enough their lips found each other. I smiled, relieved that they had figured things out.

The bell rang again, they were still kissing for a little. Nick never cared too much about being late to class, he was always a little rebellious. When they finally pulled away, I watched as Nick slowly walked to his class. It reminded me of a memory, when we were both twelve years old. It was around the time that I had an annoying crush on him.

For weeks, I hated myself for liking my best friend. You're not supposed to like your best friend. Those feelings went away, when a group of girls had the guts to ask us if we were a couple. Nick laughed and said, "I don't even consider her as a girl. She's just my friend."