What You're Missing

"Following up from this weekend's news of a robbery downtown, Captain Man and Kid Danger have released new information on the suspects involved. This past week, there have been several consecutive cases of robberies in Swellview, starting with the bakery downtown. It has since moved to the jewelry store, where last night the pair of thieves escaped with over $10,000 in stolen jewelry, leaving the glass window of the store shattered and injuring the night shift worker. Captain Man and Kid Danger have since tried to capture the burglars, with no luck. However, new information states they have been trying to figure out the robbers' plan and motives. The question now is, where will the thieves strike next?"

"Wow," Jasper spoke, hovering over Charlotte's shoulder. The dark-haired girl shook her head after watching the news report on her Pear phone before slipping it into the pocket of her floral romper.

"Another robbery?" Charlotte replied to Jasper as he retrieved books from his locker. "Swellview's gonna be broke if Captain Man and Kid Danger don't find them soon." The curly-haired blond chuckled.

"Yeah, they-" Jasper looked up to see Henry behind them. He nodded in his direction to Charlotte, raising his eyebrows. She turned around to see the blond at his locker wearing a maroon crewneck sweater with the sleeves rolled up, exposing his toned arms and-

No. Charlotte turned back around to her locker, shaking her head.

"You okay?" Jasper asked softly, a look of concern on his face. She let out a small smile before shutting her locker closed.

"Yeah," she sighed, crossing the opening of her beige knitted cardigan over and bringing her books to her chest. "I mean, it's kind of my fault, when you look at it."

"Don't blame this on yourself," Jasper said sternly.

"But I expected him to be some mysterious, crazy guy. I thought he was different," she went on. "And I was way over my head. He's probably just a regular guy struggling with an after school job." Jasper nodded.

"And there's nothing wrong with that," Charlotte continued. "I just became intrigued with someone else, and that's clearly not him."

"So," Jasper dragged. "You're not into him?" Charlotte sighed.

"It's just a silly crush," she admitted, and Jasper let out a breath he was holding. "It'll go away." He cleared his throat, stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

"Right," he concluded. "So you're okay?" Charlotte smiled.

"I'm okay."
"You sure?" She laughed.
"Yes, Jasper, I'm sure."
"Good, so now I can say I told you so." She rolled her eyes.

"Alright, I admit, you were-"
"Right?" She glared at him as he pretended to pop the nonexistent collar of his grey hoodie.
"Yes. You were right." Jasper folded his arms in front of his chest, an arrogant smirk spread across his face.

"I know." The two chuckled before a certain blond approached them.

"Hey, guys," Henry spoke nervously. Jasper leaned his back against the lockers, raising his eyebrows at the blond while Charlotte looked down to the ground, pretending to find an interest in her black flats. Henry audibly sighed.

"Look, I get you guys are probably mad at me," he started, scratching the back of his neck. "And I deserve it. I'm really sorry I didn't make it to fro-yo on Friday, I got stuck at work and-"