Love, War, and Marching Band

Chapter 2

Okay... so unfortunately there had been a little problem with Charlotte's amazing and flawless plan. She had forgotten that she had a bestfriend who was currently going through a boy craze. And she had also forgotten the fact that Oliver was at least somewhat attractive. Okay. Maybe he was very attractive. Whatever.

She realized that this would be a problem when they were like ten minutes into the tour that the school counselor asked them for and instead of intervening or adding anything at all, Liza had just been staring at Oliver as if he was a piece of meat.

Then by lunch, the three of them had been sitting in the cafeteria while Oliver and Liza ate their pre packed lunches and Charlotte ate some chips she bought in a vending machine. She had forgotten to ask the chef to pack her lunch, and she was no longer eating school lunch, so she had no other option.

"Hey... Char? I'm going to the bathroom, okay?" Asks Liza, Charlotte's best friend.

"Yeah. That's fine." Then it sinks in. "Oh." Charlotte looks back at Oliver and smiles apologetically before she speaks again. "I have to go. You know how it is." He doesn't know how it is, but he still goes along with it.

"Of course," he says and both Charlotte and Liza leave to the bathroom.

"Oh. My. God. You guys would be so cute together. I can already imagine those beautiful babies. Don't even get me started on how cute your kids will be. I call dibs on your oldest as the future partner for my own." Charlotte was not expecting that. She was expecting Liza to say something more along the lines of "he's so cute," or "I call dibs." Not for her to suggest their possible future romantic involvement.

"Please no. You know I'm not looking for anything like that at the moment. I'm not even considering romance. I'm too busy. There's drum major auditions next month and I have to be on my A game if I want that spot. A boyfriend would complicate that too much." Liza decides to ignore everything she's just said.

"Char, you can't plan romance! Its unexpected, like an arrow to the heart. It's unplanned and it hits you all at once. It's crazy, but you can't stop it. Besides as your best friend I think this would be great for you. Maybe don't date him, but be open to the idea of dating someone. I'm not asking you to start throwing yourself at guys just cause I said so, but at least consider offers next time they're made. If Oliver asks you to go on a date don't shoot him down just because you can't date. I want to know that you'll open yourself up to those experiences. Maybe don't jump into a relationship but don't reject them purely out of fear either. At least consider them."

Once again, Charlotte wasn't expecting her friend to tell her to get into a relationship with whom she'd have assumed Liza liked. Guess she misjudged.

"Nobody is talking about romance." Liza laughs.

"Fine, maybe not, but promise me you'll be open to the idea of one if the offer is made." Charlotte grunts but then relents.

"Only if you solemnly swear to not meddle with this." Liza laughs.

"Deal."

They stayed in the bathroom a few minutes as to not look suspicious, and then headed out to the cafeteria to see that the line had died down, and they found Oliver again.

"Hello there," said  Oliver as Charlotte sat across from him again and Liza sat next to her.

"General Kenobi," murmurs Charlotte.