Charlie Whitmen loves sports, junk food, video games, cars and basically anything-if not everything-your average teenaged boy would find interesting. But wait a second, Charlie isn't even a boy! Oh no, she's actually a girl!
Bet you didn't see that...
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Playing a Game of Chance
Today, Charlie is scheduled to work at the cage. It's a brisk Saturday afternoon and the crowd inside is small. A majority of their customers is composed of high school and university students. Therefore, the chances of them still being curled up in their nice and cozy beds are pretty high. Although she is physically present, mentally speaking, Charlie isn't entirely there. She doesn't understand why, but Hayden and his tantrum episode from the other day keep barging into her mind without her consent.
Usually, she doesn't dwell too long on matters that do not concern her. However, this—thing with Hayden is proving to be a different case.
His aggravated expression.
His reckless actions.
His callous words.
His impertinent tone.
On that particular autumn afternoon, in the shabby parking lot just outside of Highland High School, Charlie had encountered the unimaginable. She had witnessed a completely new and disparate side of Hayden Knight. A side she has never seen before in the seventeen years she's been alive. For as long as she's known the guy, Charlie (and everyone else in the South Burlington area) has always viewed him as a ball of energy (a trait he most definitely received from his mother).
There's never been a day where he isn't smiling. Remember when she had accidentally listened in on his private and very intimate conversation with Cecilia? Charlie sure does. Yet, despite the heavy and gloomy atmosphere around them, Hayden still managed to pull off a smile.
Her curiosity has unconsciously gotten the best of her. Dazed and immersed in the various possibilities, which could offer up a plausible explanation, Charlie does not notice her cousin entering the building, with a deep frown etched into his face. The older male is clad in a dark gray business suit while his hair is combed back, revealing his ruggedly handsome features.
Jack tugs on his navy blue tie, loosening it so that he could breathe properly. His mother had arranged a blind date for him earlier, and being the filial son he is, Jack couldn't refuse. After he met the girl, he had wished he had been less compliant. It was, in three simple words, a fucking catastrophe! He doesn't even want to think about it anymore. He would only get angry.
Truthfully, Jack can't fully comprehend why the woman is persistently insistent about him finding a romantic partner at the prime of his youth. It's not like he's some forty year old virgin, who doesn't have a clue about the female anatomy. He's young. He's got plenty of time to worry about marriage and all of that other jazz later on.
His mood is quickly lifted once he spots his best friend at the counter. A wide grin slithers onto his face as he shrugs his coat off and creeps up behind her. On the count of three, Jack cloaks Charlie with the article of clothing, ultimately obstructing her vision. The sudden darkness brings Charlie back to reality as she yanks whatever is covering her head off. She spins around and bares her teeth at the boy. "What'd you do that for?"
