Chapter 9

As Annie walked away, Charlie found his gaze drifting to Chandler. Through that entire conversation she hadn't said a word. He knew that she was good at wearing masks and maybe she was acting quiet so that Gray would speak to her but something didn't feel right to Charlie. She continued to look down at her feet and as Charlie watched she curled her fingers into a fist.

He then turned to Gray who had turned a shade of red that Charlie never knew existed. Gray brought his hand to his chest in an attempt to calm himself down. He drew in slow breaths, not paying attention to anything around him. Then Charlie's eyes moved to Charles who stood quietly in awe, his mouth wide open. 

Finally Charlie looked to Bryce who seemed to be the only normal person present other than himself. "What happened to you guys?" Bryce finally asked as he looked at the other three.

Neither of them responded. But after looking at their states Charlie scratched the back of his head and turned to Gray, "we're done for today," he said before walking away.

It wasn't until he was a few yards from the second cafeteria that he heard pounding steps behind him. The louder they became the more he heard heavy breathing. When he felt that they were just behind him he turned to look back and saw Bryce slowing down until he reached Charlie's side.

"What happened there?" he asked.

Charlie resumed his walk, "What do you mean?"

Bryce quickly started following Charlie. He leaned forward and down to meet Charlie's eyes, "I mean did you see those three? I don't even know what to say."

"Then don't say anything," Charlie said coldly. Something felt off but he couldn't tell what it was and not knowing irked him.

Bryce grabbed Charlie's arm and yanked him back, "hey," he said loudly.

Charlie quickly broke out of Bryce's grip and squared his shoulders, "Gray's quiet cause he did something he's terrified of doing, Charles is quiet cause he just realized he finds Annie attractive as for Chandler," he stopped and let out a frustrated sigh before resuming his walk down the ramp.

Bryce calmed down. The anger from before subsided as he watched Charlie pick up his bag and walk back towards him.

"But don't you think that's weird, that Chandler was quiet," his tone had changed to like it was before: calmer, friendlier, lighter.

"She's usually nicer, and more bubbly," he continued.

Charlie walked past Bryce, "nicer, bubbly," Charlie murmured to himself as he looked down at the glossy tile floor. He looked at Bryce a final time, "I'm just here to help Gray find a girlfriend that works for him, all this other stuff isn't my business."

Then he walked away, leaving Bryce alone in the hall. He stared a hole into Charlie's back as he walked away. It wasn't until after Charlie had disappeared from his sight that he realized he had tensed his entire body. He grunted to himself before turning around to get his backpack.

  ***

As Bryce entered his second period class he scanned the room quickly. He found the table with four desks pushed against each other where Chandler normally sat and saw that her three friends were already here but she wasn't. He scanned the room once again and found her sitting alone at another table of four. He moved towards her.

"Can I sit here?" Bryce asked as he started taking his backpack off. 

"Yea, I don't mind," Chandler said sweetly, "but don't you usually sit with your football friends?"

Bryce shot a glance over to the table where three of his football friends sat at the far-end of the room. They winked and gave an okay sign before acting like nothing happened. Bryce shook his head as he reached into his backpack, pulling out his notebook for the second period math class.

"What about you, don't you want to sit by your cheerleader friends?" Bryce didn't look at her, he kept flipping through the pages of his notebook until he found a blank one.

"I want to be alone today, I've got a lot on my plate and need some space," there was a hardness in her voice.

"Because of what happened yesterday?" Bryce looked up at her.

Chandler froze. She knew from the moment that he had sat down across from her nothing good was going to happen, but she couldn't let Bryce know about her deal with Charlie. 

"Yea, because of what happened yesterday," she said softly.

Now Bryce leaned in, "so what happened yesterday?" he said softly.

Chandler ignored him and started writing down notes.

He leaned in further, "can you tell me what happened yesterday before we came?"

Still no response. 

He went to ask a third time when he heard the teacher shout his name from behind. He snapped his head towards him.

"If you're not going to pay attention, sit with your football buddies," the teacher said annoyingly, "stop distracting the students who want to learn."

With a nod Bryce slumped back into his chair. He thought for a moment how Charlie would handle something like this and tried to imitate him. He studied Chandler carefully, watching how she scribbled notes and brushed her hair out of the way. The longer he spent time looking at her the more of nothing he saw and wondered if Charlie just makes up everything he says and hopes for it to be true then shook the thought from his head.

"Can you please stop staring like that?" Chandler asked quietly.

Sheepishly, Bryce nodded and looked down at his notes. 

After a long fifty-five minutes the bell rang, marking the end of second period and the start of passing period to third period. Before Bryce could pack everything up, Chandler stood up and left. No matter what was happening Chandler had enough to worry about right now, the last thing she needed was Bryce prying into things he didn't need to.

She quickly moved through the hallway, the best thing for her to do was to go straight to her next class instead of the common area for a chat. As she entered the hallway where her next class would be she heard her name being shouted. She quickened her pace as the students around her started looking in her direction.

"Chandler please." Bryce said loudly as he struggled to move quickly through the hallway.

He watched as she rounded a corner. He did his best to move quickly through the hall crowded with students but by the time he made it to the corner she had disappeared. He grunted before walking in the direction of his next class.

  ***

BEEEEP! The loud bell signaling the end of fourth period and the start of lunch rang. After what had happened earlier in the morning, Chandler had expected Bryce to find her in between classes but she hadn't run into him since. She had finally started to relax as she made her way to the cafeteria and found a spot in the food line. 

Her mind started wandering and like she had in the morning started thinking about Annie. It was hard for her to think of Annie as just a friend to Charlie when she was being so aggressive in finding out what Charlie was doing. It didn't sit right with Chandler. Through her years pursuing guys she could tell it wasn't jealousy but something more.

"Chandler," she heard her name said loudly next to her, shaking her out of her thoughts. When she turned her head she saw Bryce and a slight panic ran through her. She brought her hand to the small area between her collarbone and started pinching the skin there.

She didn't respond.

Bryce took a quick look around the cafeteria before leaning in towards her, "look, I really want to know what happened yesterday."

There was a worry in his eyes that Chandler could see, but it wasn't for her.

"Why?" She let her curiosity guide her.

Bryce was looking at Chandler but he was seeing something else. It wasn't a hard answer for him, "Charlie is close to Annie and if Annie is doing something wrong I want to protect Charlie."

Chandler shifted uncomfortably. She hated situations like these and she hated people like Bryce the most.

"Fine, when are you free?" she asked.

Bryce brightened up and couldn't help but let out a small laugh, "After practice today, I should be free for a little bit."

Chandler groaned a little and Bryce chuckled in response.

"What?" it wasn't a question she asked.

"Nothing," he smiled to himself, "I'll see you after then."

He ran off leaving Chandler wondering if she'd made the right choice.

  ***

After practice had ended Bryce quickly left the locker room. He jogged across the school, stopping and walking when someone looked at him strangely. As he climbed a flight of stairs to enter the science wing he wondered why Chandler had chosen such an odd location.

Once in the hallway he saw that the window at the end of it was open and that a person was standing outside. When he walked closer he saw that it was Chandler and went to climb through the window.

"And now we have one more," he heard a grumpy voice to his right.

When he looked over he saw a teacher looking at him with disapproving eyes. Unsure of what he should do he started turning around.

"I'm not saying you can't go out there, just be careful, she's hurt one already," the teacher advised.

Bryce furrowed his brow for a second before nodding.

"What happened yesterday?" he asked as he approached Chandler.

"I'm not telling you for free," she said as she continued to look over the fence.

Bryce chuckled once again and this time Chandler snapped, "what's so funny?"

"You've never felt real but seeing you like this makes it feel like you're a person," he said after he stopped.

Chandler went to speak but couldn't think of a response.

"So, what's the price?" Bryce asked.

Chandler quickly composed herself again, "the price is," she stopped and thought for a moment.

"How about I give you Charlie's number in exchange?" 

Chandler turned around and faced him.

Bryce raised his hands defenselessly, "I don't know what's happening but it feels like there's something going on between you two-"

"No there isn't," she shot him down quickly.

"-so I want to help you out, that's it." He finished.

"That sounds like a good trade, so get me his number then I'll tell you what happened," she did her best to keep composed.

Without saying another word, Bryce pulled his phone out and began typing. Five minutes later he showed Chandler his phone. It was a message log with Gray. The newest message was a number.

"This isn't some random number right?" she asked.

Bryce pulled the phone back and called it before putting it on speaker. After a few beeps Charlie picked up.

"Why'd you need my number?" he asked.

"Since we're friends I thought we should at least have each other's numbers right?" Bryce said happily.

"How long until you come here?" Charlie asked.

"A few more minutes? Why did you need something?" Bryce asked.

"I'll tell you when you get here," Charlie said before hanging up.

"Not a random number," Bryce showed her the number again and she quickly added it to her contacts. After she had put her phone away she leaned against the fence.

"Are you two really friends?"

Bryce nodded, "what happened yesterday?"

Chandler pressed her lips together wondering how much she should say but decided to be honest. She explained the conversation between her and Annie.

"So Charlie's helping Gray right now but he's only doing that because he's helping you try to get with him," Bryce said after Chandler was done.

Chandler froze, she went to say something but her throat had dried up. A cold chill ran through her body and she remembered something she didn't want to.

Suddenly Bryce lost all feeling in his legs and crumpled to the ground. He brought his hands to his forehead and pressed them against it. He felt lighter as he sat there, like a weight had been lifted off him and sniffled.

Chandler watched confusingly. She was worried about what he might say next but more than that she wondered why he had fallen to the ground.

"I'm glad," Bryce finally said, wiping something away from his eyes. He nodded towards Chandler.

She was more confused now than before. She wondered what Bryce's relationship to Charlie was but before she could think for too long he got up and offered her a hand.

"Will you help me protect Charlie?" he asked.

Without thinking Chandler shook his hand.