What You're Missing

Chapter 9

"So," Henry started as she shut her locker closed. "Where are we going?" Charlotte gulped.

"Um, I was actually gonna meet up with Jasper," she answered truthfully. "We haven't hung out in a while." What she planned on doing wasn't necessarily relevant to the question.

Henry nodded as the two walked towards the doors of the school to exit. "That's cool. I actually should be-" Then, Henry's watch began beeping. He quickly shut it off after.

"There's my cue," he joked. "Gotta get to work. The shop's surprisingly busy on Fridays."

"Oh, really?" Charlotte questioned as they walked out the door. "When do you guys close?"

"Uh," Henry pondered for a moment. "I think we close at midnight today." Charlotte nodded to herself, taking a mental note.

As they reached off of school grounds, Charlotte spotted Jasper sitting on a nearby bench, waiting for her.

"Well, I guess I should get going, too," she said awkwardly. The usual ease that came in their conversations was not present with her as she desperately tried to suppress the bad feeling in her stomach. She pressed her lips together in a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. Henry turned to look at her with a grin.

"You're the best, you know that?" he stated suddenly. Charlotte felt her smile fade, feeling a pang of guilt in her chest.

"Why so sappy all of a sudden?"

"Because I'm talking about you." Charlotte shook her head, trying to keep from looking flustered in front of him. Just then, Henry's watch started beeping again. The blond groaned as he switched it off.

"I really should go. I'll text you later, okay?" he said before cupping her face to kiss her forehead. Charlotte simply hummed in content as she felt his warm lips press against her skin for a split second before he ran off. She sighed as she watched his retreating figure, her heart feeling out of place. You're doing the right thing, she reassured herself for the umpteenth time that day. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea if she had to keep telling herself that.

Charlotte turned to see Jasper still sitting on the bench, waving his arm high when he met her gaze.

Well, here goes nothing.

She hurried over to her best friend as the curly-haired blond stood up to greet her.

"Ready?" he asked her when she was a few feet away from him. She nodded simply in reply, leading the two to start walking down the sidewalk.

"So what's the plan?" he asked.

"Oh, hey Charlotte, how was your day, Charlotte, nice to see you, Charlotte," she mocked. Jasper rolled his eyes, nudging her shoulder.

"C'mon, it's not like this is the first time I've seen you today," he pointed.

"Yeah, but you barely said a word to me when you did," she retorted, referring to earlier. "Were you okay? Were you in a bad mood or something?" Jasper scratched the back of his neck, remembering how he was feeling after his best friend and kinda-sorta-maybe-crush had texted him earlier letting him know she was blowing him off to walk with Henry.