SPLIT

Chapter 3

"It looks like it's healing nicely." I said , rubbing my index finger over the fresh scar on his lip.

"Vee ," he said taking my hand away "This is not my first fight and not my last scar. I'm good. Really." He said laughing while I turned back to the wall. "Here , I got you this in trading today. " He said handing me a little red box. 

"What is it ?" I said with a smile.

"Open it and find out." He urged while I laughed opening the box to reveal a cute hair clip with a rose on it.

"It's beautiful Charlie ! But , how did you afford this ? It must've been expensive. "

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing. But , I was hoping that when you wear it " he said sliding the clip into my hair "that you'll think of me and know I'll always protect you."

"Wow , uh , that's very sweet Char. Thanks." I said not really sure how to thank him without giving him the wrong idea. Charlie and I have been friends for a very long time and this wouldn't be the first time he's tried to 'win me over' as he once put it, but he was my bestfriend and I don't think it'll ever work out between us romantically. Atleast not now anyway. 

"Don't mention it." He said through a laugh "looks like something big must be going on next door." He said directing my attention back to the wall and the brief light shining into the nightlight.

"Must be..." I said awkwardly.

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like to live there ?"

"All the time." I said in thought feeling the cold wind nip at my bare arms while I watched the lights dance against the wall.

"How about we find out ?" He said taking me by surprise as I turned to him laughing. 

"What ?"

"Yeah. Think about it. No one has ever made it pass this wall . Not for the last 100 years. Wouldn't it be amazing if we were the first to do that ? To find out what was on the other side? " he said passionately taking me between his hands.

"I don't know Charlie..." I trailed off while I watched the hope swim around in his eyes, not a lot of people have that anymore. 

"Think about it as an adventure. A quest.  Just the two of us. "

"But what about my mom ? And our jobs ? " I said watching him think for a second. He must sure want out of this place badly enough if he was seriously considering this.

"I don't have that part figured out yet. But once we get a way to the other side , I will. I promise. But for now can't you just say yes to a little excitement in your life ?" He said with the biggest , most goofiest smile on his face . It was hard to say no to that.

"Oh , fine !" I said dramatically as he smiled a smile bigger than the moon before pulling me into a hug. I could tell this meant a lot to him. Sometimes all we need is an escape from our reality and if this was his -chasing some fantasy - I would stand by his side every step of the way even if it killed me. Literally.

We pulled back hearing the curfew bell sound as I stood up -dusting my dress down - while he pulled me back down.

"We have to go Char. If they catch out outside we're done for."

"I know. Just , 5 more minutes and we'll go. I promise. " he said while I sat back down against my will. But as  much as I hate to admit it , the night sure was pretty. You could see so many stars from up here as we both lied back on the rooftop. It was peaceful, and a part of me wished we never had to go home , back to our reality.

"You sure you're still on for our adventure ?" Charlie whispered - while we dodged all of the camera's on our way home - as he lightly shoved me.

"Aslong as this is something you really want , I'll support it." I replied , climbing unto the wooden box leading to my bedroom window.

"It is. Thank you Vera. Goodnight. " he said pulling my window shut from the outside.

"Goodnight. " I said waving him off as I watched him run into the night like some mysterious prince or something from all the books I've read. I turned back around sitting down on my bed with a sigh as I thought about everything we talked about tonight , and I had NO idea how we were even remotely going to pull this off. 

****
"So I was thinking , " I said -sharing my lunch with Charlie - "if we were going to do this , in the day would be inpossible because a) too many eyes and b) we both have to work to not cause any suspicion. "

"Wow, you really thought about this huh ?" He said laughing while taking a bite from his bread.

"Well I told you , if you were serious I was too. So what do you think?"

"I think you're more excited about this than you're letting on." He said teasingly while he took half of the apple from my bag. " But I also think after work or after curfew would be best. No one would be around."

"And the gaurds ? The camera's? Did you think about that?"

"Vera please, I've thought about everything. " he said cocky , pulling a piece of paper from his pocket.

"What's this ?"

"I've been keeping count of all the camera's around here and this ," he said pointing at a spot on the map "is the least gaureded place of the wall. Let's call it a weakness. "

"You've really done your research. " I said in amazement , taking the map from him and looking it over.

"I have. And I also know that even though we were out 10 minutes past curfew last night , that the gaurds only started patrolling an hour after curfew started . So that gives us an hour of leniency to find a way out during curfew. " he said sounding pretty proud of himself while he stuffed the map back into his pocket "I'll check over the course of the next few days just to make sure ."

"You better. I'm not risking my life for you just to get caught." I said laughing while we shared some milk his mother packed. He lived on a cow farm , or something like that so this was pretty much our lunch everyday of the week and I looked forward to it every single day. Even though we might be staring down certain doom, I liked our talks and plotting. It was nice to know we were still connected like this .

That's it ! Sorry if the beginning is a little rough around the edges , I'm still getting used to this genre and style of writing 🙈 thank you so much for reading. Remember to leave your thoughts in the comment section below. Until next time keep howling my wolves ❤🐺