Sunshine: Chapter Two

“Well at least one of us is in a good mood this morning. How’d it go?” Zeph questioned. Charlotte shrugged, not knowing how to answer. She was conflicted, and didn’t know exactly what happened. “I guess it went well? He’s not as much of an asshole as I thought, but still a bit stuck up. Maybe a rollercoaster is the best way to put it. It was going fine and dandy, but he got all irritated so then I got irritated. Then it calmed down for a few seconds until he called me out again for doing something, I don’t even remember what I did!” she explained frantically, voice getting louder after every word.

“Scratch that, maybe he’s still an asshole.” Zeph was amused at her rant. After his encounter with Beckett the other day, it was nice to see both sides of the story.

“I know that this is the last thing you want to hear, but you’ve got a lot to say about this Harrington guy, even if it’s not the most positive things ever. And everyone’s noticed the tension between you two. Almost like you have a little crush on him, am I wrong?” He quirked, crossing his arms while studying her intently. Her face contorted into shock and confusion, ending with a chuckle. “You are incredibly wrong, sorry to hurt your ego there. We’re not even friends, more like acquaintances?”

“Acquaintances with benefits?” he nudged her shoulder. Her dark brown eyes could burn a hole through him, if looks could kill. It took all of his might to not let out a witty remark, but he managed to stay silent all the way to their class.

The following week, Beckett sat at a table towards the entrance of the library. With a handful of flashcards, he mentally listed the formulas for various potions. Once he finished two repetitions, he ran a hand through his hair and looked up to find the clock. However, he saw Shreya lounging on the couch in front of him. “Shreya? What are you doing here?” She wore a bored and unenthusiastic look in her face, “Doing my homework? It’s as if I have to do my work to graduate.” She let out an exasperated sigh. Beckett could never understand how some people could put little effort into their work. “Wait, you’re smart. Can you help me study?”

“Why on earth would I do that when I have my own work to do?”

“Because saying no to a Mistry is the equivalent of a death wish.” He bit his tongue before he could say anything else. He reluctantly obliged and helped her out.

The tables turned and Shreya was quizzing Beckett now. “Rethu?” she questioned.

“Rethina?” He snapped out of his concentration. “Is that really what it says?” she looked closer at the notecard, a term scribbled in pen. “Guess we finally found something you’re bad at. Your handwriting is tragic. It’s looks like a rotten yorba egg.” she pouted. “Spare me the dramatics, Mistry. What’s the next term?”

“How’d it go with Charlotte last week?” She looked up and Beckett tilted his head, “That’s not one of the terms.”

“Let me rephrase that. How did your detention go with our little sunshine? Does that ring a bell?” she squeaked. “It was one time, I’m surprised you’re still giggling about it.” He looked down at the ground and to his watch. “Looks like I should get going.” It seems as if he was a master of escaping at this point. He plucked the notecards out of her hands, stowed away into the pocket of his blazer and exited the library. “Wait wait wait!” He looked back to see her sprinting towards him, screeching to a halt before colliding. “Just listen this one time!”

“I have a feeling that you’re going to be very adamant about this.”

“Ding ding ding! We have a winner!” she cleared her throat and caught her breath, “Alright. Here’s some words of wisdom. There’s a super cool rave happening tonight in the forest and you should come along!”

His brows furrowed together, “You’re asking me to join you? Out of everyone here? We’re not even very close.”

“Hey, I wasn’t the one who suggested this. Did you forget about this?” She raised her arm and the bracelet slid down her wrist. “Never betray the Pend Pals pact. Besides, Charlotte’s going!” She winked as his face turned into a classic shade of pink. “I guess I’ll go, only because there’s bound to be some new nature discoveries there.”

“Okay, whatever helps you sleep at night.” She flounced away. What did you get yourself into this time, Harrington?

With the help of Tim, Charlotte drew out a dollop of resin. “Steady..” The door burst open, and nearly fell off the hinges. She yelped, and the resin turned into a puddle that Tim splashed around in. She looked back to see Shreya setting down two shopping bags, placing another at Charlotte’s feet. “Let’s go! We have fifteen minutes and then we need to leave!”
“Did I miss a text message or something?” Charlotte stood up, fixing her hair. “There’s this exclusive rave happening tonight and the whole gang is going!” Charlotte opened her mouth to retort, but was shushed by Shreya “Before you say no, just know that you have to go. I got Beckett to join us.”

“Seriously how did that happen?” She pulled out the dress from the bag and admired the deep blue fabric. “Um, let’s just say it took a bit of bribing.” Shreya pushed Charlotte into the bathroom, urging her to go get dressed.

After glancing at herself in a mirror for a split second, the sun-att stepped out the bathroom to reveal herself to Shreya. “Ahhh! You look amazing!” she sang. “Alright, let’s get this party started!”

The group scavenged the forest for ten minutes, getting nowhere. “If we’re going to spend the rest of the night here frolicking in the woods, just know that I could be studying.” Beckett spoke loud and clear. Zeph tapped his chin, “I don’t want to be rude but..what did you do as a kid?”

Shreya cleared her throat, “Beckett, we’re almost there. Charlotte’s working on it.” They all turned to look at the sun-att, eyes closed; deep in thought. “Well she’s not working fast enough.”

“I don’t like your tone, Harrington. I can still hear you.” She opened her eyes and pointed to the right, “Besides, the party is right here.”

After a few moments in the brightly colored lights and energetic crowds, Charlotte was confronted by an upperclassman. “Didn’t know that they let the tuneless in here,” she looked at her dress “Maybe that makes it a little bit better but still. Leave it to the freshman to ruin everything.” She scoffs and crosses her arms.

“Back off, we didn’t need your commentary.” Shreya adds. Charlotte motions for her to stay silent as she smirks, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” At this moment Beckett buried his face in his hands, this was not going to end well. A glimmering vial was held up to the light and Charlotte passed it around for everyone to take a sip, leaving her for last. “Observe,” past the haziness, she effortlessly creates a beam of light from her palms and releases it throughout the sky. The potion wears off, leaving everyone in awe. “Our little miss sunshine made her own ray of sunshine! Brilliant!” Zeph clapped, looking towards Beckett.

The party raged on and Charlotte was in dire need of a break. Seeing as if the rest of her friends were busy, she had no choice but to approach Beckett who observed some sort of thing on the tree. “Cool party trick, Harrington. I must admit that moss is very fascinating, an unsung hero of our environment.”

“I didn’t need a sarcastic remark, Elthridge. At least I’m not picking a fight with the upperclassmen.” He sighed and walked towards a deserted pond, a few steps away. Charlotte hurried after him out of sheer curiosity. He glances over his shoulder and his eyes bulge out of his head. “Stop! Don’t even make another step!” She freezes in her tracks and he proceeds to get on one knee. “What the hell?! Are you proposing to me?”

He cups a delicate flower into his hands, “Of course I’m not.” Charlotte looks in awe at the illuminating flower.

“It’s beautiful! I know I gave you a hard time about it earlier, but I guess you were right.” He tilted his chin down, looking at her. “No surprise there, I’m always correct. You should know by now.”

With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she stared into his eyes. “Is that a challenge, Harrington?” He looked back at her, grinning at her confidence. “I guess it is. It won’t be difficult though since you already make everything difficult.” She backs away from him to lean against a tree, “I’ll make sure to wipe that smirk off your face. I’ll have you know that I always win.” Beckett crosses to get closer to her, attempting to intimidate her. “You might be right, but I never step away from a challenge.”

“Wait did you? Did I hear that correctly? The Beckett Harrington admitted that I was correct!” She broke out into a wide smile as he shook his head, “That didn’t count!”

“Did you say something? Could’ve sworn I heard a sore loser.” She laughed and he pouted, “I demand a rematch.”

“No can do, pal. It’s set in stone. Now, what’s my prize?” He chuckled and took one step closer, “Now you’re just rubbing it in my face, Charlotte.”

“Maybe I just like messing with you.” She puts a hand on his shoulder and he notices an unfamiliar glint in her eye. His eyes flicker to her dark brown eyes and to her lips. It was like there was a magnet pulling them closer. “Charlotte…” she looks at him through her lashes.

“CHARLOTTE-” someone screamed. They pulled away from each other, remembering where they were. Zeph stood, covering his mouth with his hand. Damn it! “Ahem, I hate to cut whatever this is,” he gestured with his hands towards the flustered duo “but Charlotte, Shreya has a code burgundy!” She gave Beckett a small smile and rushed out to aid Shreya. Beckett cleared his throat. “Smooth moves. Maybe just keep it somewhere private, alright?” Zeph winked and turned around.

“Alright, what’s up?” Charlotte stopped to meet Shreya and Griffin, who gathered around a table filled with snacks and drinks. “Oh nothing! We just needed a quick way to get you here.” She looked at the fellow fire-att with confusion. “She just wants to know why both you and Beckett disappeared at the exact same time.”

“Oh that’s all? He just wanted to show me something.” Charlotte replied nonchalantly. Griffin coughed on his drink and Shreya raised her eyebrows, “What did he show you?” Why were they being so weird about this? Oh.. She waved her hands and shook her head, “No no no! Not like that! Oh my god, no! Whatever Zeph saw, it was not that!”

“Zeph saw you two?” She winced and put her hands over her eyes in frustration, “No! But yes? It wasn’t anything like that!”

“Damn, you move quick, Elthridge.”

“Stop! We’re just friends, do I need to repeat it five times or even write it 100 times?” She loved her friends, but damn this conversation. Zeph popped up behind Griffin, “Okay, seems fake but I’ll let it slide.” He lowered his voice, “It’s not like you were pressed up against him or anything.”

“Charlotte Elthridge! What are you hiding from me?!”

“Wait wait wait, how about we just ask Beckett? Well, not all of us but we can question him. He’d know.” Griffin said crossing his arms, trying to calm Charlotte down. “Yeah right, he wouldn’t admit to anything. Wait where is he, anyways?” The four of them scoped the party, only seeing silhouettes of students. They found him, away from the majority. “I’Il get him and bring him here. Will that make you happy?”

She started to approach him, bumping into others along the way. She was only a few steps away from him, but he was no longer alone. In fact he looked rather occupied with another girl. Her golden hair cascaded around her shoulder and a devilish smile played onto her lips. She whispered something into his ear and his eyes went wide. The girl planted a kiss on his cheek and snaked her arms around his shoulder. Charlotte stopped in her tracks. She wasn’t sure as to why, but something in her wanted to yell.

Shreya, Zeph, and Griffin milled around the table. “Zeph, we were so close! Couldn’t you wait five more seconds?”

“Hey! In my defense you were the one that told me to get her, thank you very much!” Griffin ended their bickering, pointing in Beckett’s direction. They looked at him with the girl, absolutely shocked. Their eyes drifted to Charlotte. “This is bad. This is very bad.”

Her small frame body stiffened and her jaw clenched, crumpling the plastic cup in her hand. “Isn’t that the same upperclassman girl from earlier? Y’know the wood att girl that Char showed up?” Zeph nodded and finished the last of his drink in one cup, setting it down in defiance. He popped his knuckles, “Looks like I have to douse a forest fire.”