amilA/N: WHOO Chapter 9! Finally, I am done with exams. I think I passed all of them too. :D Yayayayayay! Anyway, enough of that, let's get to the story.
Chapter Nineeeee
There was a monotonous tone from the machines and the small clicking sounds Charlee's shoes made against the shiny red and yellow tiles on the floor. She caught a blonde boy in the corner of he eye and held her breath thinking it'd make him not see her. She straightened her back and quietly walked over to the second closest machine on the opposite side of Mello's.
The dresses were in the spotless steel and glass washing machine when Charlee's hard cough gave her away.
Mello turned his head around to her, "Goddamn, spread your disease, why don't chya?"
Charlee rolled her eyes, refused to face him, and just ignored his snippy comment. There were a few other kids in the room as well, mostly listening to their music players and reading some teenage magazines.
Mello, expecting a witty comment back, was not satisfied by her reaction. He walked up a step or two behind her and taunted back, "Whatchu washing, Granny panties?!"
Charlee's hand made a loud SMACK sound against his fair skinned cheek and yelled at the boy, "What's it to you?! Does it turn you on or something?!"
Mello instantly smirked a mocking grin as the cheek instantly grew red; he got the response he wanted.
The few kids looked up from whatever they were doing and stared at the two, sending a slight shiver of awkward down Charlee's back. She felt her posture slump a little and her back against the cold, metal washing machine as Mello had pinned her against the machine holding her chin towards him.
He spoke quietly and maliciously, "You sure do have a lot of guts, don't ya?" He paused, his eyes were almost that of a maniacs and she tried to squirm away, "You're as strong as a mouse." He laughed and let her go. Mello quickly picked up his basket of clothes and left with the amused expression still on his face.
The machine made a low buzzing sound and Charlee threw the dresses into the dryer slamming the circular, steel door. She jumped at the clang sound and shut it again more gently. The kids walking by gave her a raised-eyebrow-confused look as they walked in and out.
'I keep making a fool of myself.' She thought to herself as she sat down on a low wooden bench. 'I've been here for how long, and I've made such a ridiculous name for myself.' She calculated up the days in her head. 'Four days including today.' She coughed at the small number as if the thought was in her throat. She slowed down her breathing to prevent any possibility of coughing fits. The last thing she needed was another way to attract more attention to herself.
The dryer made a slightly higher pitched sound then the washing machine and Charlee quickly folded them in her basket and left. She glanced at a grandfather clock, one she never noticed before, as she headed back for her room. It was late noon and her stomach growled again. She figured it was worth a shot to see if they would serve her.
She was surprised to see the cafeteria full with kids. As she looked around, she didn't see a single familiar face. She felt even more awkward after she nabbed some food from the line and walked over to an empty table. It felt like a first day of a new school all over again.
She took a small bite from her grilled cheese lost in a daze of thought when a hand planted itself firmly on her left shoulder. Charlee nearly leapt out of her skin as she turned around to face who it was.
A man with a warm smile planted on his face stood right behind her and appeared to be the only culprit. He was one of those dark-tan-and-handsome guys, with smooth skin, perfect teeth, perfect hair, and pretty much perfect everything else. Perfect being, of course, what the magazines made it these days.
He resisted a laugh as he realized she jumped at his actions, "What are you doing over here, sitting all by yourself?" he asked
Charlee stared at him as she suddenly forgot how to speak, let alone open her mouth to talk. He quickly asked another question, to prevent an awkward silence. "So, are you new here?"
She blinked and managed to stutter out, "Y-yes, well, no, er s-sorta." She felt her face slightly blush. 'smoooth.' She thought to herself as she lightly bit her bottom lip.
He lightly laughed at her reaction, "I'm Samson." He stated finally and sat down next to her. "What's your name?"
"Charlee." She broke eye contact with him as she said her name, afraid of his reaction.
"Really?" Samson stated, "I think it suits you very well."
"Thank you." She said as she tried to carefully take a sip of her can of soda.
"Anyway, you never really answered my first question, why are you sitting all the way over here, all by yourself?"
"Oh, yes, well." She tried to find the right words, "I didn't exactly know anybody in here."
"Let me guess, you're assigned to the lunch period before this?" He asked with an amused look on his face. She nodded and he continued, "Well, no wonder then. This is the lunch for the 'older' kids."
She raised an eyebrow confused, "Older kids?"
"Yeah, how old are you; Fourteen, fifteen?" He asked.
She felt the butterflies flutter in her stomach and her age flashed as a mental image in her head, "Fourteen."
"So young, I expected you to be at least fifteen." He paused and continued, "This lunch is for the kids roughly sixteen to seventeen."
Charlee placed her elbow on the table and balanced her head on her hand, "So then, how old are you?" she asked as she tried to keep the butterflies at bay.
He grinned his pearly whites at her, "Seventeen." He said proudly and yet coolly.
"Wow, you're an oldie." She said smiling back at him as he laughed. 'Damnit, he's too old to be interested.' She thought to herself. She wasn't really looking for a relationship, but she figured one with this boy would be nice.
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A/N: OOOOoooOOoooOOOooOOOooOooOOo! Another boy! What will happen?! Tune in next time to find out! ;D Also, expect a short story soon from me. It'll be in the Death Note category and I think you'll like it. Hopefully anyway. Uhhh. Once again, sorry for the long wait. I've been kinda…distracted.
