I walked down the halls and out towards the bleachers, it was my free period and I was meant to be meeting Steve. Not really for a specific reason but just because; with what was going on now, it felt like he was the only friend I could conveniently talk to.

With a big grin that took over his face, Steve waved at me. Charlie was also there and after catching onto what his friend was doing, he quickly glanced up from his phone and looked over at me. Pure excitement sparkled in both of their eyes prompted me to smile reciprocally.

"Hi." I approached, one hand sticking out for them to shake.

"Hey, Shorty!" Steve was the first to take my hand and we did the special handshake thingy which Charlie couldn't help but laugh at.

"Stop with the nicknames," I protested with a slap to Steve's shoulder after. A small groan left his lips as he scowled, tenderly rubbing where he was hit.

"You're short and angry. I think I'm gonna start calling you micro-aggression," he muttered but I decided to ignore it.

"Here, take a seat," Charlie offered and scooted sideways to give me extra room on the bleacher. I sat in between them and we locked eyes for a few seconds.

This close, I could see every fleck of green in Charlie's otherwise perfect blue eyes, noting each freckle that dotted his face. His lips looked soft as they lifted into a half-smile.

Realizing I was staring for too long, I shifted my gaze over to Steve who was flipping through some papers in his hands. "What are you guys doing?"

"Charlie's helping with my lines," he answered half-heartedly.

"Yeah, I'm kinda rethinking my offer," Charlie commented with a deep chuckle.

His laugh had me following suit. "Why is that?"

"The play is near and I barely even remember my lines," Steve said. A sigh left him as he rubbed a hand over his face.

Judging by the way he was acting, I could tell he was a little distraught; I mean, who wouldn't when their upcoming staging of The Little Mermaid was going to be the drama club's largest ever dramatic production.

I frowned in concern. "I thought it isn't going to happen until two months from now?"

"Our drama teacher has moved the date a month earlier than what was previously scheduled," Charlie said. An excited grin gracing his features as opposed to Steve's.

"Oh, great...?" I said this more like a question.

"Hell no!" Steve interrupted. "What lead you to think that this was great, Andrew?"

"I, um.."

"Speaking of lead, guess who's upgraded from understudy to take the lead as Prince Eric?" Charlie announced while his gaze went to Steve.

My mouth dropped open at the news. "Steve, that's amazing. I really can't wait to see you perform." My eyes darted between them, excitement bubbling within me. "Both of you will set the stage on fire."

Steve gave a lazy shake of his head. "Can't say I feel the same. I tend to self-sabotage lately like I'm always expecting the worst to happen like I can never be fully happy. Shit be seeming too good to be true."

"You do deserve good things," Charlie told him. "You just have to find the courage to win your heart and the confidence that you're in a good place although, to me, you're doing alright."

Steve didn't say anything as he continued to stare at his fellow actor. The corner of his lips subtly curving upwards.

"If I were you, I will agree with anything Charlie says. He's super kind and really good at giving advice," I added.

"Funny 'cause I've always thought of you the exact way," Charlie admitted to me.

I laughed. "Nah, I'm nothing like you."

"It's true. I think you're the nicest guy in school," he insisted.

"Stop it, Char! Everyone knows it's you." I could feel my face steaming with heat.

A smirk covering his face. "I'll stop when you admit that I'm right."

"I'm gonna go buy something from the vending machine," Steve said suddenly and got up to head to the cafeteria building.

A pregnant silence followed after his departure leaving an awkward air lingering around me and Charlie. I opened my mouth then slowly closed it again, not really knowing what to say.

"How is it going between you and your straight friend slash secret crush?" Charlie decided to speak up first.

I detested the topic he chose to talk about, but at least it was better than nothing.

"I, um, don't know. Uh, I mean, I don't know how to answer that." I struggled to speak my mind.

He blinked, surprised by my answer. "Oh, so it's still happening. I never took you as a trifling little troublemaker."

My earlier feelings of nervousness had quickly disappeared after hearing Charlie's impression. Insulted, I sent him a little scowl to which he chuckled lightly.

"Alright, calm down with the death glare. I've had my 'unrequited crush on a straight boy' phase too. I totally get you," he explained.

I turned my eyes to the ground, contemplating whether I should say more. "I like Ethan so much but it just feels hard to be with him."

My admission somehow seemed to crack him up. "The guy you like has a girlfriend who's also your bestie, of course, it's not gonna be like a walk in the park."

I let out a breath and looked back at him. "Not sure if you already got the memo, I'm not exactly the nicest guy in school."

"My thoughts remain the same," he said as he wiped the tears that came out of the edge of his eyes from laughing. "Can we agree that this is all Ethan's fault?"

I pinned him with a hardened stare. "What are you talking about? I acted on my own judgment."

"I have to say, Ethan makes you do things out of character, and your friendship with Elle will be on thin ice because of -"

"Enough, Charlie!" I cut him off harshly. "Don't talk about him like that."

The words, while untrue, had struck a bit of a nerve within me and I didn't like it.

"I understand why you are upset, but ask yourself, is this worth getting a headache over and wasting time while you could instead find someone who has already come out and is single?" he asked calmly.

"I just don't see myself with anyone else," I replied with a shrug. "Besides, he'd promised me that he would break up with Elle."

"That's what they all say," was all he said yet it was enough to rock the boat of my emotions. I seethed at the outrageous idea.

"I'm sorry your past affairs didn't work out but don't project that onto me and discourage me from mine. Ethan is different. He's a good person," I shot back.

Charlie tensed like I just insulted his dead grandmother -- assuming that she was dead of course, since I had no idea about that. "So good that he lets his teammates bully and belittle you?"

"Charlie," I warned him.

"Andrew, open your eyes a little." He said.

"In his defense, Ethan has no idea," I answered back.

"It's not that hard for him to figure out by himself. He's either too clueless or chooses to not acknowledge it," he replied shrewdly.

My mind went blank for a good thirty seconds. How do I even respond to that? Charlie realized that I didn't have anything else to say which urged him to continue.

"You're trying so hard to defend him when he's in the wrong. I'm sorry I mean this with every fiber of my being, Andrew. You're way too good for him."

Common sense had crept its way back into my mind as Charlie spoke with such surety, and even what sounded like sincerity. His statements made my gaze momentarily break away from his. What if he was right?

Just then, Steve came back from the cafeteria with two sandwiches in both hands. The way he was grinning at his food lovingly helped relieve the tension a bit.

"Hey guys, look at what I-" his words caught when he noticed the serious expression on our faces. "Why do you both look constipated?"

"Steve! Heads up!"

All three of our heads turned toward the voice of Ethan and Steve started to scream when a football came flying in the air straight at him.

Too shocked to even move while his hands were occupied to catch it, he simply closed his eyes and waited for the ball to hit him, but it never did.

It struck Charlie hard in the forehead instead resulting in him losing his balance and falling off the bleacher and onto the ground.

Steve and I look over at Ethan with wide eyes, our mouths agape in surprise. The QB stayed planted where he stood, shrugging, meanwhile Kaleb and Kaden who were coincidentally there rushed behind him to see what was going on.

My body was in full shock but my hands and feet were quick to check on Charlie. The guy laid flat on the ground with his eyes pinched shut. Nothing happened for a moment as we all circled him and waited for him to move and make a sound.

"Is he dead?" Kaden voiced out my inner thoughts, leaning down to see if Charlie was still breathing.

"Kade, have you lost your vision?" Kaleb answered. "I can see his chest moving up and down from here."

"Why isn't he waking up then?" Steve asked in a worried tone.

"To build up the suspense," he sarcastically replied. "I don't know, Steve. Shouldn't you know more about acting?"

Ethan crouched down next to me. "We should take him to the nurse's office."

I was on the verge of panicking when eventually Charlie stirred. His eyebrows furrowed, eyes slowly fluttered open as he winced in pain.

"You okay?" I quickly asked him.

"Mhm," he groaned, sitting up and holding his forehead before he leveled a glare at Ethan.

"Nice aim, quarterback," Charlie spat.

"Hey, watch it!" Kaleb charged towards him but thankfully Kaden was there to hold his arm back.

"I'm sorry, man. I suck at throwing," Ethan responded with an unapologetic smile.

Steve and I helped Charlie up to his feet, having him to hold on to our shoulders until he was able to balance himself properly. A bright red mark was prominent on his forehead from the impact.

"I'm gonna go," he announced while dusting off his shirt and pants.

"Can you walk? I can come with you if you want," I offered.

I figured the least I could do was to accompany him to the nurse's office and walk him to his next class.

Charlie's eyes snapped at me. "You want to ditch school together?"

Oh boy, I totally mistook what he meant.

"The day Andy skips school is the day hell freezes over," Ethan interrupted, throwing his arm over my shoulders.

As if his eyes were stung by the sun, Charlie shifted his gaze away from us to Steve.

"You should get yourself checked for a concussion," Steve suggested to him which he reacted with a nod.

And so, Charlie headed off towards the door where I came out, not sparing another look at me, neither did he mention as to where he was going specifically.

"I'm going to keep an eye on him, just in case, he collapses on his way," Steve informed us before he pursued Charlie.

While the rest of his friends watched Charlie and Steve walked farther away, Ethan took the chance to surreptitiously sneak a look at me. I knew that look on his face, one where he had control over things.

A satisfied smirk playing on his lips helped to solidify my suspicions and as crazy as it might sound, I believed the throw was meant for Charlie, to begin with, not Steve.