Let's Fix This

Chapter 3

"Charlotte, I contacted your parents and both of them agreed that you should choose who you want to live with. Your mother also suggested you go live with your sister if you don't want to live with either of them." Markov says. I shake my head no fervently. 

"Is there any way I can stay here?" I ask in a hoarse voice. Ugh, I've cried way too much. Those comforting arms unwrap from around me and start rubbing my back. Although I'm still in distress, my body starts getting a little too comfy with that hand. It's relaxing and tempting at the same time.

"There is. That's why Henry is here. His parents have recently disowned him. They want him out in a week. He will be moving into an apartment that I found for him. He'll pay rent and all but it will be in my name until he is 18. You can live with him but there is only 1 bedroom, an office room but there are 2 bathrooms and everything-" Markov goes on trying to sell me the idea but I cut him off. I'm not stupid.

"I'll do it." I say blandly, if it means I'm staying then hell yeah I'm going to do it. The principal looks at me shocked.  The soothing back rub stops. Aww poo, I was enjoying that. 

"Really?" Henry inquires from beside me. I nod my head. I wipe my eyes and turn my head to see he has the gummy worms and soda. I point to the soda and he hands it to me. I take a drink, it really soothes my dry throat. 

"Yeah I don't see any harm. I have nothing else right? I don't want to live alone, I don't want to be in that house and I don't want to move so yes, I'll do it." I say, reasoning aloud for them to hear my thinking. Markov is really stunned. His mouth is partially open and his eyebrows are both raised. He opens then closes his mouth, takes a look at Henry then darts his eyes back to me.

"Thanks for giving me this offer." I say feeling sheepish for having just cried in front of 2 people who really don't know me at all. 

"Uh the only thing is, we'll have to stay at my parent's home for a while until the apartment gets painted and furniture gets moved in." Henry says and I nod. That's fine.

"They're okay with this?" I ask him. 

"Uh sorta. I'm only allowed to come home for a shower and sleep. So we won't go home until we need to do any of those things. But we'll be pretty busy choosing furniture and stuff for the apartment so it's not a total bummer." Henry says while rubbing the back of his neck. This must be a pretty sensitive topic for him to talk about. I nod. Dammit, why aren't I talking?

"Can I go home and pack?" I ask. Henry nods.

"Markov, thanks so much for doing this for Char and I, we really appreciate it and we'll show it to you with our grades." I nod in agreement with Henry's statement and promise. Markov smiles.

"No problem, you two kids are smart. I can't let what's going on now damage your future, I can tell it's gonna be big for you two. Now go back to class, get to know each other." Principal Markov says dismissing us. I stand, grabbing my back pack and Henry does the same. We both exit and start walking to class.

"So.. Char?" I question Henry. 

"It just came out, I'm sorry if you don't like it!" Henry rushes out while rubbing his neck. 

"No no it's fine Hen, I like it." I say.

"Hen?" He questions, mocking me in a snobby girly voice. I cough, let's hope my voice comes out a bit deeper.

"It just came out. I'm sorry if you don't like it!" I say mocking him. He laughs and I smile. Oh boy, it's contagious. 

"No no it's fine. Feels goood." He says replacing his smile with a smirk and swinging a hip. He has a nice little bootay. I laugh and he does too.

"So what does the great Charlotte like to do?" He asks while rubbing his chin.

"Read, write, dance, sing majorly off-key, listen to music, take pics and paint." I say summing up everything.

"Oh how grand!" He exclaims and I roll my eyes.

"My dear Lord, what dost thou enjoy?" I ask him.

"M'lady I love eating, sleeping, exercising, photography, guitar, drums, listening to music, singing and dancing. Why oh yes, this handsome fellow knows how to jig and wig!", he exclaims winking causing me to giggle," gaming of the videos, and my job is pretty fun. Can I have some of your so-dah?" He says, stressing each syllable of soda. I finish giggling and hand him my soda as we near the auditorium. He takes it, opens it and places his mouth on it. Eww, I wanted to finish that. I watch him drink and it doesn't look like he's stopping. I move to snatch it but he turns and downs more than half of it. 

"Wow, thanks. Thirsty aye?" I spit while he smirks and gives me my nearly empty soda bottle. I roll my eyes and just finish it off. 

"That's the closest we'll get to kissing." I comment, taking the smirk off his face. He raises his eyebrow. He steps close to me and I freeze. Let's clarify, it's not that I was abused it's just that close proximity with strangers makes me uncomfortable. 

" I won't try anything now but give it time and we'll be baby-making in our apartment." He whispers in my ear and I feel something warm and wet on it. Holy shit! Did he just lick my ear? I'm too in shock to move. I feel my face get hot and I turn even though he won't even see my blush. A shy smile breaks out on my face and I turn so he won't see me. 

"Hey if you're embarrassed I want to see what that looks like. Not to be mean or degrading but I'm kinda curious, I want to see a darker skinned girl blush." He says shyly. Henry didn't strike me as the shy type, he's probably rubbing his neck. I cover my face with my hands. I feel strong yet gentle hands on my wrists. I try to gain control of my smile. My hands are pulled off my face and I put my head down. 

"Well from here I just see hair and was that a smile I saw?" Henry says. He moves a hand from holding my wrist and ends up holding both of my wrists with one hand, his grasp is just as secure as it was with one hand on each wrist. I feel a finger touch my chin, very gently might I add. It lifts my head and before we can make eye contact for longer than a second a banshee screams causing me to lose my shit. I grab my ears and all embarrassment fades from my face. I look up to see a bitch, red in the face, fuming and stomping down the hall to Hen and I. I look at Hen to see he looks annoyed. 

"Fuck me, why now?" He grumbles and I look at him, patiently waiting for an explanation. As the girl gets closer I see that she is wearing a black mini MINI skirt, a blue tank top and black flats. I also notice that she starts grumbling. 

"Henry! What is going on? You can't skip class with me but you can skip with this bitch? Who is she? Why is she with you? Is she more important than me? I will break up with you! Are you going to leave me for her? How could you do this to me? I hate you! Please don't leave me!" The girl rushes out going from anger to hurt to sadness to regret. This is just sad. I would usually have a problem with girls like this but honestly this is extreme. I look at Henry and he looks stuck. I sigh and walk away to 1) give him time with his girlfriend I presume and 2) throw away my empty sprite bottle. Once I return from my short trip to the garbage, I find that the girl is walking away with a smile and Henry looks drained. What the hell happened in the 2 minutes I was gone?

"That was Bianca, my girlfriend. Been together for 2 months and it's felt like forever and not in a good way. She's not the person I thought she was but she really likes me and I always put other's happiness in front of mine." Henry says, yawning at the end. He runs his hand through his hair and opens the door to the auditorium. He holds it open for me.

"Coming cupcake?" He asks me with a tired half-smile. I roll my eyes. I'll talk with him later about his girlfriend. Making someone else happy is supposed to benefit the both of you, happiness is mutual. He needs fixing, I don't know what is all wrong but I do know he's got 99 problems and Bianca is one.