Silas and Charlie

d a y - t w e l v e

THE :

END OF

SIDESTEPPING

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"He fell hard and fast - ripping breath out of my lungs." - Silas Blue

Charlie's phone vibrates in his pocket, and instantly startled his spine straightens, fumbling around he retrieves it out of depths of his pocket, brows furrowing in confusion because it's from an unknown number. He looks at it again, this time holding it out at arm's length and squinting, the message didn't change, and neither did the foreign numbers on the back-lit screen.

Meet me at the trail that leads up to Bay's point

He rolls his eyes, huffing, and sends a text back.

Wrong number.

Another message, he groans, whoever this person is, they really can't get the point.

Charlie, it's me, Silas, hurry and wear something nice.

He stares at the device in surprise, fingers blazing across the keys as he issues a reply. He certainly wasn't expecting to hear from her today, especially since she had missed school this afternoon again, something that he would have guessed was unusual for her, but it was becoming more and more common as the year dragged on.

How did you get my number?

While he waits for her response, he walks over to his closet, and looks in despair at the pile of rumpled clothes lying at the bottom. He hadn't done his laundry in God knows how long, and how he was supposed to find something nice in this mess was turning out to be a complete mystery. Then there was the question of why she wanted him to dress up when they were going hiking - it must be some sort of weird photography thing, he reasoned. Bending down he plunged his hands into the fray, bringing up miscellaneous items, and deciding they wouldn't do, to which he threw them haphazardly behind him, knowing that he would have to clean it up sooner or later, but not caring at the moment.

His phone screen lights up, and he glances down at it.

Theo gave me it.

He coughs, not quite believing what his eyes are seeing, Theo would never give Silas his number, because Theo hated her. He had once said that he felt Silas could see through anybody, and oddly enough Charlie agreed with that, she had this way of looking at you, like she was stripping away all of the layers and false pretenses. No - Silas must've gotten his number some other way.

How?

He stands up, biting the inside of his cheek, finding nothing to wear so far, and then he sees them. The only two items hanging up in his closet, the tuxedo from his Aunt's wedding last year, and the dress pants and white shirt that he wore on one occasion every April; Easter Sunday. A smile spreads across his face, and he pulls it down, setting it on his bed, and begins taking off his tee-shirt.

I told Theo if he didn't give it to me I'd tell everyone about his bird obsession.

Charlie freezes, and his stomach drops, the words blurring from staring at them too long without blinking. His chest falls up and down, sitting perfectly still with his shirt clenched in his hands, wondering how she knew. How could she possibly know? Charlie was the only one that Theo had ever told, plus he was extremely he was good at hiding it. He shakes it off, and changes into the rest of the ensemble with a blank mind.

He jogs down the stairs, twirling the key ring around his fingers - when he reaches the landing his Mother happens to catch him on the way out as she was putting a pot of soup on the stove. "Charlie," she calls from inside the kitchen, shucking off her oven mitts and setting them on the counter. "Where do you think you're going just before dinner?"