Playing The Player (Discontinued)

Chapter Fourteen

[ Charlie ]

I stood in front of the closed door that led into Asher's bedroom. His mom was nice enough to send me up here for us to do the project.

Gripping my bookbag tightly, I wondered if I should call my dad, who had dropped me off, to come and get me. He's probably already at home by now, so he wouldnt like that.

I took one more deep breath and raised my fist to knock on the door. But before I could, Asher opened it.

The sight of him made butterflies fill my stomach. I swallowed and plastered on a smile.

"Hey," I said as calmly as possible.

"Hey," he replied.

Oh my God, his voice.

Oh, right. He hates me.

He led me in and we went to the sofa in his room.

Great, this guy gets a sofa. The closest thing I have to a sofa in my room is a worn out beanbag chair.

It isnt my first time being in his room, though. That night when I got punched in the face by Mexico at the carnival landed me in Asher's bed. Of course, I was alone. And I still had his shirt that I had woke up in.

It was a bit corny for me to still have it since he just about hates me. But I dont want to give it back to him. Ever.

"So, uh..." I started as we sat on the floor, our backs on the sofa. "That idea you had for the project. We should start on it now."

"When's this thing do anyway?" he asked in a bored, blank tone.

"After Christmas break," I told him.

I cant wait for Christmas break. Of course, that's going to be after Thanksgiving break. But I've already got my plans set out.

I'm not leaving my bed for anything other than breakfast and dinner.

I took out my notepad, awkwardly, and read back his idea. But all that did was bring back memories of him at my house with me and Miracle, having a good time together.

I miss that.

And, believe it or not, I miss Miracle taunting me about being Asher's 'girlfriend'. And Asher's smile. And his laugh.

I groaned. There's no way I'll (A) Get back on Asher's good side. And (B) Win this bet. I should just give up on both of them.

 I read Asher's idea for the project out loud.

"Set two cups outside. One filled with water and one filled with soda. And check to see which evaporates the quickest."

"So first we need a hypothesis," I mumbled.

"A what?" he asked, confused.

A smile broke on my face, but I quickly wiped it away. "Hypothesis."

"What the hell is that?"

"Which one do you think will evaporate first?" I translated. "I say water."

"Me too."

"Alright then," I said and wrote down our hypothesis. "Now, we need two cups."

He got up and I followed him downstairs to his kitchen. He took out two red plastic cups and set them on the counter.

"Now, we need some water and soda," I continued.

He opened the fridge and poured identical amounts of water and soda in a cup.

"This might be a bit hard since it's November, so the sun wont be out a lot," he informed me.