Escaping Love (Rewrite) [Book #1]

|| CHARLOTTE ||

|| Monday, November 18th ||

I arrived at the school at an earlier time than usual. I probably could have slept in for another half-an-hour, but I think I did for most of yesterday after the hangover.

"Good morning, Charlotte," Jack, our school principal, said.

"Morning, Jack. How are you?"

"Fantastic, and yourself?" he asked.

"Great." I grabbed some papers out of my teacher's mailbox. "Have a good day," I said.

"You too."

I left the front office, making my way to the classroom. Once I opened the door, I placed all my items down and looked at the mail stack. I sighed as I had a couple of Carmen's papers in my pile.

"Every time," I sighed. Carmen's mailbox is underneath mine, so it's not surprising when some of her papers land in my slot.

I looked at the clock, and it was 7:20 AM. I decided to see if she's in her classroom. If she is, I'll hand them to her now. Simple.

I left my door open as I made my way down to Carmen's room. Her's was open, and she sat inside, organizing papers in her crate.

I knocked on her door, and she looked up, "Morning," she said.

"Hi, these are yours," I said, holding up the envelopes and letters in my hand.

"Ahh, I was wondering where those went."

I walked inside and set them down on her desk. Carmen walked over to the door and shut it momentarily. She leaned against it and looked at me. I realized what was coming next.

"Did you get a chance to think about it?" Carmen asked.

I sighed and looked down at the floor, "Yeah, but I don't feel the same way."

"Is there someone else?" Carmen asked, which took me by surprise.

"Yeah, my heart is with someone else. I'm sorry," I said.

"No, it's okay. I'm not completely bummed out," Carmen said, giving me a small chuckle. "How long?"

"For a while, but I've known them for half my life."

"Well, they better be worth it then," Carmen said, walking forward, "No hard feelings?" She asked, opening her arms for a hug.

"No hard feelings," I smiled, hugging her. "I'll see you around."

"Bye," she said, and I propped her door open again before heading back to my classroom.

That was harder than I could've imagined. I saw Jackie standing at my door.

"Hi, Ms. Evans," Jackie said.

"Hi, Jackie, come in."

She followed me inside and handed me a bag, "Breakfast," she smiled.

"Thank you," I said.

"Saw you left her room," Jackie stated, referring to Carmen.

"Yeah. I had to break it to her sometime. Besides, her mail keeps landing in my box, so I had to return them to her."

"Yeah. Well, I have to head to the gym. I'll see you in my sixth period."

"Bye, Jackie." She walked out the door, leaving me with empty desks until the five-minute bell rang.

~~~<>~~~<>~~~<>~~~

I let out a sigh as everyone made their way out of the classroom.