The Hawthorne Effect (BoyXBoy)

Chapter 5: Kendrick Lamar and Milkshakes.

After a few seconds I groan and turn on my heels again. If this boy is actually here to beat me up, then I guess I should really get a few meters between us. I'm about to start to walk away when I feel his hand hold onto my wrist again - stopping me from going any further.

"I'm sorry." He says softly.

//

"You what...?" I say slowly, all anger suddenly dispersing when I turn around and look at him again. Charlie looks at me for a second, sighs and lets my wrist go.

"I'm sorry I was a dick... It's just..." He trails off, the quiet street suddenly becoming the only sound around us. It's as if the world ceases to exists at this moment. No cars, no buses, no people - no noise. Even the rustling of the tree's quietens down as if they want to listen closely to our conversation.

"It's fine..." I mumble after a few seconds of silence.

"Well it's not." Charlie begins again. He averts his gaze to the ground and I do the same. "I should've stuck up for you, firstly. The things my friends were saying were horrible... even if your responses were kinda funny. I should've helped you out... and, even more importantly, I shouldn't have joined in." He sighs. "Because, whether you admit it or not, I know what I said to you hurt you more than what the other guys said to you."

My cheeks go red as I realise he's reading me like a book. What else can he tell that I'm trying to hide from him? My blood goes cold at the thought.

"I should've apologised when I saw you after school that day, or I should've talked to you in school about it. It's just..." He pauses again. "... it's just not that easy. And when I saw you in the Café today, I..." He trails off.

"...You... what?" I question.

"It doesn't matter. The only thing I care about is if you'll forgive me."

I draw in a deep breath and release it slowly.

"Fine..." I say with a smile.

He seems genuinely pleased about this and my heart flutters as I watch his expression change from serious to happy once again. I know I should hate him, and, trust me, I want to. But yet, here I am, wrapped around his little finger. The girls are gonna fucking kill me when I tell them about this.

"Thank God." He says putting his hands in his pockets. "Also, is there a reason why you've been waiting at that bus stop for the past hour and a half?" He says, looking over at it.

"Because my bus is shite and never tur-- wait..." I tilt my head to one side. "How do you know I've been waiting here for an hou-- Have you been watching me?" I laugh and Charlie's eyes grow slightly.

"Um... no. I just... W-when I was walking around inside..." He somewhat panics. I let out a breathy laugh and smile.

"It's fine if you have been..." To be honest, I hope he was. "Just as long as you're not planning to kill me or something..." I say cool-ly. He just rubs the back of neck and smiles towards the ground.

"Anyway, since your bus doesn't seem to be coming anytime soon, need a lift home?" He offers.

Oh god.

Every cell in my body immediately starts screaming at me to get in that car, and believe me... it's tempting. But, fuck, that would be so awkward. I don't even know where he lives, what if it's nowhere near where I live? What if someone sees us? What if we just sit in silence all the way home?

"Uh... no it's fine you don't have to. I live like, 20 minutes away so..." I say doing some awkward hand gesture.

"Well, where do you live?" He responds.