It was supposed to be a simple, friendly game.
They all had a math test coming up, and Henry had invited Charlotte and Jasper over to help him study because he was terrible at math. Charlotte had counted exactly five minutes of productive studying before Henry threw his pencil on the table and groaned.
"I'm bored. Let's do something else." Jasper quickly agreed.
"Yeah, let's order some pizza and play a game." Charlotte just knew this would happen. She wasn't exactly sure how they were passing their classes because she swore that they never studied.
"The test is tomorrow. Shouldn't we at least spend twenty minutes studying? It's supposed to be pretty hard." Charlotte said, but she knew that no matter what she said, those two were done studying.
"The tests are always hard. We'll just take a quick break and come back to it." Henry said while he ordered the pizza on his pear phone. Charlotte was tempted to say that they were always hard because he didn't study, but she kept her mouth shut. Jasper pulled out some controllers and set up the car chasing game. They knew that she couldn't resist beating them at any car racing game. She quickly got up, took her favorite controller out of Jasper's outreached hand, and plopped on the couch.
"Just two rounds and we go back to studying." Charlotte said half-heartedly. Henry followed behind her, took another controller, and sat right next to Charlotte. Charlotte took a sharp breath as their knees and shoulders brushed. She tried in vain to calm her racing heart.
"You think you can beat me, Char? I'm the fastest driver here." Charlotte couldn't resist an obvious taunt. She snorted.
"Yeah, okay. You're totally going to eat my dust." Charlotte said with a smirk. Jasper just watched them amused. He sat on Henry's other side and started the game. After a few minutes, Charlotte and Henry were neck to neck in the lead while Jasper struggled to keep his car going.
"How did I hit another trash can?!" Jasper yelled. Henry and Charlotte chuckled.
"Jasp, just go straight until you see a curve." Charlotte said while trying to bump Henry's car out of the way.
"I am, but it's so hard! Can we play something else?" Henry, who was barely dodging Charlotte's car shook his head.
"I have to beat Char before we play anything else." Charlotte used a booster and sped away, and she chuckled prior to slightly obnoxious boasting.
"HA! Good luck with that!" Henry groaned. She was too close to the end for him to catch up without a boost … unless he distracted her. Henry smiled mischievously before he sat on her lap, effectively blocking her vision of the television. Charlotte's eyes practically fell out of her head as Henry sat on her, and he was shouting victory cries before she could even form a coherent thought.
"Ha-ha! I win! Who's the fastest now, Char?" Henry said getting off of her lap and doing his victory dance. He stuck out his tongue and moved his hips comically. Charlotte crossed her arms and frowned.
"It's still me because you cheated." She said getting up and moving closer to him. Henry looked down at her, and he couldn't help but to think that she looked so cute when she was mad. He smirked at her before leaning down and whispering in her ear.
"Just using all of my resources, sweetie." Charlotte blushed, and Jasper coughed awkwardly.
"Can we play something else now?" Jasper said. He didn't wait for a response before shutting off the television.
"Yeah, sure. What do you want to do now?" Henry said while he stepped away from Charlotte to sit back down on the couch. Charlotte followed him.
"How about Truth or Dare?" Jasper suggested. Charlotte and Henry shared a secret look before agreeing quickly. This should be fun. They both thought to themselves. They all moved to the living room floor and sat around the table. Charlotte and Henry sat on one side, and Jasper sat on another.
"Who wants to go first?" Charlotte asked, but she looked at Henry blatantly. Henry sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Fine, I'll go first. Jasper, truth or dare." Henry said smiling to himself. Henry wasn't exactly sure why they pretended this was truth or dare. It was basically dare or be shamed. They were all best friends, so there weren't really any secrets between them. Well, except for his crush on Charlotte. He wasn't ever going to tell her that he was in love with her. There was no way that she would feel the same. She was too smart, nice, and beautiful to want to be with him. Plus, it would ruin their friendship, and he couldn't live without her.
"Dare." Jasper said, predictably.
"I dare you to go upstairs and hug my sister." Henry said barely containing his chuckles. Charlotte covered her mouth to keep from laughing. Jasper groaned loudly before slowly going up the stairs.
"Come on, Jasper. I'm sure she won't freak out." Charlotte lied. Jasper glared at her before he walked the rest of the way.
"I bet you five dollars that she screams." Henry said to Charlotte as they waited.
"I don't make deals with cheaters." Charlotte said in response. After a few minutes, Charlotte and Henry heard a blood curling scream, and they saw a flash of blonde hair as Piper sprinted down the stairs.
"Henry! Your idiot friend just touched me! I am not okay!" Piper shuddered and screeched at the top of her lungs. Laughter erupted from Charlotte and Henry, and they leaned on each other for support. They were barely breathing as Jasper came down red faced.
"We'll see who's laughing soon enough." Jasper said as he sat back in his spot. They went through several hilarious rounds. In one round, Henry had to wear one of Piper's dresses and greet the neighbors, and Charlotte had to lick Jasper's foot. Needless to say, the threesome was in a constant round of giggles until Jasper gave one last dare.
"Charlotte, truth or dare." Jasper said with a smirk.
"Dare." Charlotte said with a smile. Henry smirked at Jasper. Henry knew Jasper, and he looked like he was going to give Charlotte something good.
"I dare you to kiss Henry." Jasper said with a smirk. Henry felt his heart stop beating. What was Jasper thinking?! Henry turned to look at Charlotte who was slightly leaning on him. A blush had covered her whole face.
"You don't have to do it, Charlotte." Henry said, putting a hand on her arm to reassure her. Charlotte shook her head.
"No, I do. Those are the rules. You can't skip a dare." Charlotte said looking at Jasper who just nodded in agreement. Henry could have killed Jasper. He didn't want Charlotte to think of their first kiss as some forced interaction. She was probably disgusted at the thought of kissing him.
Charlotte's heart was beating so fast that she was worried that everyone in the room could hear it. She was suddenly glad that she had to lick Jasper's foot because she immediately brushed her teeth after. She had imagined kissing Henry hundreds of times, but she never thought that she would ever do it. She slowly leaned closer to the point where there faces were inches apart. Charlotte moved her hand up to rest on Henry's cheek. They stared at each other intensely. Charlotte searched his eyes which were almost black instead of brown, for some inkling of disgust or regret, but she didn't find it.
Henry wasn't sure that he was breathing. Charlotte was so close that he could smell her, and she smelt so enticing with a combined scent of strawberries, roses, vanilla, and something just unique to Charlotte. He knew that she was supposed to be kissing him, but he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her to him. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and Charlotte sat in his lap. Their lips were centimeters a part, and their heads were filled with nothing but thoughts of the other. Charlotte and Henry weren't sure who kissed who first, but when their lips crashed together, they felt their worlds break apart and come back together again.
Henry couldn't accurately describe the feeling of having Charlotte in his arms and kissing her. It felt like a part of him was waiting for something his entire life, and he had finally found it. Even that didn't really cover how he felt. The way her soft lips felt on his was something that he would never be able to forget. If he wasn't in love with her before, then he definitely was now. They kissed for several minutes completely forgetting where they were or what they were doing before.
"Geez, I asked you to kiss Henry not make out with Henry." Jasper said laughing slightly. Charlotte and Henry's lips moved apart with an audible smack. Charlotte and Henry both blushed as they heard what Jasper said. Charlotte tried to move off of Henry's lap, but Henry kept her close to him.
"Don't you have a podcast or something to do, Jasper?" Henry said glaring at him. Jasper shook his head.
"No, I did my podcast yesterday." Jasper said not getting the hint.
"Yeah, great. We'll see you tomorrow." Henry said staring at Charlotte again.
"I didn't even get any pizza!" Jasper grumbled while he grabbed his stuff.
"Bye, Jasper. Make sure you study for your test." Charlotte said smiling at Henry. Even though Jasper complained, he was secretly happy for them. They may think that he was silly sometimes, but Jasper knew his best friends. Jasper smiled to himself as he closed the front door behind him.
Author's Note: I actually updated on time?! (*gasps*) This is literally the most consistent I've ever been in my life.
Happy Christmas Eve! I hope you like it! Sorry that it's so short, but after I started writing it, I've had the urge to play Mario Kart, so that's a thing. (You know what I'll be doing for the next hour!) I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope that you guys love reading it!
-Lizlen