A/N: CHARLIE IS GOING TO SEEM EXTREMELY IDIOTIC AND DENSE. BUT THAT IS HER CHARACTER. I REPEAT. THAT IS HER CHARACTER. I KNOW SHE IS DENSE. I WROTE HER THAT WAY. So please stop telling me lmao.

ALSO. CrayonChomper made me not one, but two banners! The first one is to the right, isn't it pretty? You don't even know how starstruck I am right now, go read her stories if you haven't already, because she's brilliant.

Chapter 3: Sweet as a Pancake (Charlotte)

I watched Barry as he came to a stop in front of me, just as I was leaving my room for class. He was in my Composition class, but I'd never really spoken to him before.

He looked rather flustered, and so I narrowed my eyes in concern. "Alright, Barry?" I greeted politely, smiling at him.

"Hi Charlie," he mumbled, his face going bright red.

I cocked my head at his actions, my smile slipping slightly. Was he alright? "How are you?"

"I'm j-just fine," he stuttered, leading me to believe that he was not, in fact, 'just fine.'

"You sure?" I prodded, frowning at the way his hands twisted nervously together, like he was having a mini seizure.

"I just w-want to tell you something."

Now I was utterly nonplussed, because he was a good student - I doubted he needed my notes. Nor did I think he wanted to copy my homework. What else could he want to say? "Yes?" I prompted, encouraging him with a smile.

"I...eh, I l-like you," he shoved out, looking absolutely mortified.

I frowned again. Why did he look so embarrassed to tell me such a simple thing? I wasn't cruel, I did have a nice answer for him. Ginny, my roommate and best friend, had told me he might let me know something like that. "I like you too, Barry," I finally said.

The poor lad brightened up tenfold, making me grin at how he suddenly seemed so much better. "You do?" he almost squeaked.

My grin widened and I nodded my head enthusiastically. "Yeah, you're a good friend!" As soon as I said those words, Barry's face grew darker than a thundercloud and I almost gasped.

Why did this always happen? Whenever I made acquaintance with a boy and they said they liked me, this always happened! I wouldn't make friends with somebody I didn't like, so why did they insist on stating the obvious? And why didn't they like that I was happy being friends with them? I didn't think led them on. In fact, I always made sure to explain that I wasn't up for dating.

Boys think they deserve too much sometimes.

Just then, I heard a bark of amused laughter, and glanced over my shoulder to see the mysterious stranger - Ben, was it? - with his hands on his knees, almost choking on his spit as he laughed hard and loud.

My eyes lit up at the sight of him for reasons unknown to me. "Sorry, Barry, I have to go!" I exclaimed, deciding to explain the circumstances to him next time. As I scurried away, he stared after me, as though his eyes would somehow magically transport me back to him. Sorry Barry, but getting to see Ben was rare, so I had to take the chance while I could.

Soon, I reached Ben and grinned in triumph. He snorted loudly and said, "What was that?"

I frowned, wondering if he could help me understand the mind of the male gender. "I don't get it, Benny," I started, wringing my hands just like Barry had previously. "These boys keep saying that they like me, and I always say I like them too because they're all so nice. But then they get so disappointed when I say that they're good friends, even though I always say that we're just friends!"

As I finished speaking, he began chuckling again. I would've asked what was so funny if I didn't find his laugh to be so amusing. It was a cross between a smoker's laugh and a lion's roar, if that made any sense. "Exactly how many times has this happened to you?" he finally asked, once he got a hold of himself.

I thought about it for a minute. "There was Timmy and Harold last term," I mused. "Derrick, Andrew, and Finley in September...Terrence last month, and Barry today!"

Ben's mouth fell open as I spoke and he looked incredulous. "Did you seriously shove that many people in the friend-zone?" he demanded in his regular rude tone. But I didn't mind. I had the patience of a saint. "Oh hell, those poor guys."

"Friend-zone?" I repeated, still puzzled. For pete's sake, I didn't understand why boys couldn't understand when things were completely platonic.

"Did you not recognise those as confessions?" He made a noise in the back of his throat like he thought I was being unbelievably moronic and then raised his eyebrows.

My eyes suddenly widened in shock as I realised what I had done. "Cheese and crackers," I gasped, smacking my forehead with my hand. "I am such a headcase! Was I really leading them on?"

"I agree with the headcase part," Ben stated flatly, before turning around to walk away.

"Hey!" I called, unsure as to why he would just leave like that without saying goodbye. "Where are you going?"

"Away from you, Shortcake," he threw in without a backwards glance. Shortcake?

"Not even a goodbye?"

"Not even a goodbye."

I stared at him until he disappeared from my line of sight and then shrugged. He was such a strange, strange man. I wasn't used to dealing with people like him, but there was just something about him...maybe it was the way he seemed to dislike me already, or maybe it was the fact that I'd never seen him smile, but I wanted to know more.

Hostility be damned, I'd become his friend even if it was to be the hardest thing in the world. And judging from his personality as I've come across him, it probably was going to be the hardest thing in the world.

"Charlie!" a feminine voice cried.

"Ginny!" I teased back as she raced to catch up with me. "Where did you disappear off to last night?"

Ginny smirked as she fixed her already perfect hair and clothes. "I decided to go pay Zachary a visit," she said slyly, throwing me a dirty wink.

I raised my eyebrows at her unabashed behaviour. Honestly, she was such a little hussy. I needed her to teach me, actually, how to differentiate between flirting and just being friends. "Where'd you get the new clothes to change in?"

"I came prepared!" she held up a black leather purse and winked. "Here - let me just chuck this in our room and we'll be off."

"Hurry up, we're already late!" I said as she scurried into our room.

"Jesus Christ, loosen up!" she called from inside. "Professor Pierce isn't gonna give a fuck even if we ditch and you know it!" She purposefully walked slower just to make me laugh at her. "Hey, Charlie, is that guy you were just talking to who I think he is?"

"You mean Barry, or Benny?" I asked absentmindedly as we headed to our class.

Ginny stifled a laugh as she sidled up to my side. "So Sir Bartholemue finally told you he fancied you?"

I swivelled to face her and swatted her arm lightly. "Virginia Richards!" I exclaimed sternly. "How come you told me that the poor lad liked me as friends, not that he actually fancied me?"

She snickered while I continued to frown. "You're so thick, Charlie, but I thought you'd figure it out!"

"Obviously I didn't."

"That's because you're stupid." Ginny rolled her eyes and pulled a breakfast bagel out of her backpack, along with a spoon and a carton of yoghurt.

I stared at her as she casually began eating her breakfast as though she didn't just pull it out of her schoolbag. "What are you doing?"

"What, you think I'm going to skip breakfast? Do you know how many calories you burn playing the horizontal tango?"

"Do you know how much I didn't want to know that?" I closed my eyes and shivered. I didn't mind that my sex monkey of a best friend was a little promiscuous, but I did mind when she described her encounters to me.

She spooned some yoghurt into her mouth and flung the spoon at me. "Hey, if you actually looked for a guy, you wouldn't be complaining about your lack of a romantic life."

"Where's your romantic life?" I challenged, throwing the spoon back. She expertly caught it in her mouth and wriggled her eyebrows conceitedly. "I thought last week, you went to visit Tyler at midnight."

"Sex is good enough for me. But since that's clearly not an option for you, you should find a man."

"Well, I'm not going to be able to do that if you keep chasing away all the guys who come to me," I told her.

"Good thing too, 'cause none of those tossers who confess are worth your time."

"Oh come on, Andrew was pretty nice," I defended.

"Nice, but stupid," she replied remorselessly.

"You called me stupid as well, you know?"

"But that's okay, because you're cute. He's not cute. At all."

I felt guilty for laughing, I really did, but I laughed anyway. "You're so horrible!"

"I know. But at least I get some action."

I shook my head. "Well, it's a good thing that Benny told me that they were confessions, otherwise I would've been completely clueless!"

Ginny choked on her laugh and almost tripped over her own feet. "So I wasn't mistaken - did you seriously just call Benjamin Fisher Benny?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, you just called this big, scary guy a cute nickname! He's probably digging your grave already!"

"Don't be dramatic," I clicked my tongue and swatted her again. "He's not scary."

"Trust me, Charlie. That boy will destroy you, and he will do it without a single regret."

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um that was a dramatic ending my bad lmao

I hope you like it, because I'm starting to like writing it. Charlie's so dopey. And Ben's an ass, but that's okay. All in due time.