Alrighty...FF.Net did it again...Five reviews didn't go through, so if I don't
reply to you, that's why! I still love you all! Hopefully they'll fix it
like they did last time...*cough* Yeah. Keep dreaming...This is often quite the
fickle site. Anyway...I still want to know what you thought, so if you
wouldn't mind saying it again I'm curious for feedback. And I think it's
all a conspiracy...It seems I ALWAYS post a chapter RIGHT BEFORE FF.Net
spazzes...every time...it's annoying...but I'll stop ranting. I don't wanna make
myself too angsty at the moment. ^_^ I might do something to the characters
I'll regret. ^_~ *squeaks* Oh, and on a side note, I got the CUTEST AIM
buddy icon! *grins* It's got a picture of Josh Jackson in his 'Got Milk?'
ad and it says "Forget Milk; Got Josh?" I LOVE IT! Lol...Yeah. It made me
smile.
French Chipmunk- It's okay; I know what it's like to not be able to get to a computer. ^_^ And I'm glad the 'not getting better soon' didn't scare you away. Lol...Hmm...I haven't thought of anything yet, but I'll keep you posted on the hint. Lol...^_~
Sarah- Hehehe...^_^ Thanks bunches for the review, and Julie thanks you for the support. *Julie nods*
Rachel- Lol...yeah...Charlie a small tendency to make things difficult. ^_^ Yay! I inserted a word into your vocabulary! Lol...I seriously love the word 'coolness' too. I invent words. ^_^ Then my friends think I'm weird. But that's okay; at least they aren't fooling themselves. I'm glad you enjoy this and find me at least remotely funny. ^_~
DodgerMcClure.aka.Drama-Queen- Lol...Julie's in denial. Heck, they're ALL in denial. Lol. Hehehe...that's true. Who wouldn't want to stalk Charlie? Lol...I have, like, over 300 pictures of him saved in "My Documents"...can you say obsessive much? Anyway...thanks for reviewing! ^_~
Banksiesbabe99- Whoo. Stalkerish. I'll have to remember that. ^_^ Lol...a dislike Julie mood, you say? ^_^ That's a shame. Lol...I'm glad you liked the Julie and Adam argument...I think I'll have arguments down pat by the time I'm done with this...lol...which is kind of odd because I NEVER argue over ANYTHING in day-to-day life, yet I can argue with "myself"...lol...o.O...Okay, so it isn't TECHNICALLY arguing with myself...but yeah. I like writing arguments. Fun stuff. o.O...yeah...anyway...lol...moving on.
Joshrox116- Yuck. I don't like school. *pouts* I had TAKS...bleh...bah on TAKS! BAH ON STANDARDIZED TESTING! Yes...I miss Charlie and I'm the one in charge of the story! ^_~ Yes. I gotta give you guys a break every now and then.
Nebula- Yes, I forgive you for the delay. ^_~ Umm...uhh...*shifty eyes* Um...They wanted to stay for the summer! They...uhh...yeah! Um. Yeah. They're staying in the dorms because they...didn't wanna go home! Lol...and because Chelsea said so. But that's beside the point. Lol...true true, but who said stalking is necessarily a bad thing? Lol...^_~ Thanks for the review, and I hope you like the chapter!
Hotashell99- Lol...yeah...Adam isn't a happy camper. *grins* As for Charlie and Julie...*in a singsong voice* You'll just have to wait and find out! ^_~ Mwahaha! Lol...I'm glad you liked the Julie and Connie conversation and found it funny. ^_^ I hope you like the chapter, and thanks for reviewing! ^_~
Disclaimer- I still do not own The Mighty Ducks, because Disney does. Cry with me...
-Chapter 54-
Gordon unlocked the door to his house, and Charlie followed him in.
"How'd it go?" Gordon asked, going out on a limb.
Charlie shrugged and crossed his arms, causing Gordon Bombay to turn to look at him. "Boring, stupid, pointless, and not-at-all helpful."
Bombay quirked an eyebrow; however, instead of questioning the boy further, he allowed him to shrug the question off for now. He decided to wait a few more sessions...
Sitting on the living room couch, Gordon watched Charlie scale the stairs and disappear into his room.
The light-haired man let out a deep sigh and melted into the couch, trying to relax for a moment before carrying out his life as usual.
About an hour later, there was a knock on the door, and Gordon had still yet to move from his spot.
Groaning slightly to himself, Bombay slowly got up and trudged the distance to the large, wooden front door.
He unlocked it and twisted the doorknob, pulling it open to reveal Julie standing on the doorstep.
"Hey Coach. Is Charlie back?" she asked.
Gordon nodded and opened the door farther so she could enter. "Yeah, he's up in his room."
"Thanks," she said with a smile, walking past her former coach to find Charlie.
Skipping steps as she went, Julie climbed the stairs and walked down the hall to Charlie's room. Knocking softly, Julie rocked back and forth on her heels as she waited for Charlie to answer.
Julie heard a muffled "What?" in reply.
"It's Julie! Can I come in?" she asked, trying to yell over whatever CD Charlie had chosen to blare that afternoon.
She almost instantly heard the music tone down a notch, and the door opened. As the girl entered the room, she saw Charlie walk back to his bed.
Julie timidly sat in a chair a few feet from his bed and pulled her knees to her chest. She hadn't exactly planned what to say, so now she wasn't so sure.
The teenage girl watched as Charlie lay out on the bed, folded his arms under his head, and began softly kicking the bedpost as the music murmured in the background.
"How bad was it?" Julie asked suddenly, referring to his first 'therapy' session.
Without looking at her, he replied flatly. "It was a stupid, retarded waste of time and energy. The dude's a freakin' psycho...He's the one who needs therapy..." Charlie said in a deadpan voice.
Julie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean? What happened?"
Charlie let out a sigh and removed his arms from under his head in order to rub his arms as he frowned. "He's just a weirdo...He just sat there and wrote down every little movement, twitch, facial expression, and word I spoke the whole time...He won't even let me see the freakin' paper!" Charlie ranted as he folded his arms under his head again.
"Well that...isn't cool," she said, raising her eyebrows.
Charlie grabbed a hacky-sack from his bedside table and began tossing it carelessly into the air and catching it again. "No, it isn't. It's really quite freaky. And he was doing the whole shrink thing with the 'how does that make you feel' and 'would you like to talk about that'...Very, very not fun."
Julie nodded. "That bites...So it wasn't productive at all?"
"Nope. Not in the least. I'm hoping Coach won't make me go again...It isn't going to help, so I don't see why we should bother."
Julie watched as Charlie threw the hacky-sack into the air steadily, staring at the ceiling almost blankly. She wasn't that surprised that Charlie wasn't overly enthusiastic about counseling.
"Aren't you bored?" Julie asked, watching the almost machine-like motion of Charlie tossing the small, palm-sized hacky-sack.
"What do you mean?" he asked, concentrating on his task as the music carried on without him.
The girl shrugged at him. "Well you've been doing nothing the whole summer. I know I'M getting bored, so I was wondering if I could abduct you and force you out of the house for an afternoon," she said simply, looking around his room.
"We've been out for, what, seven days and you're bored?" he asked without prying his attention from the colorful, knitted sack of beads...or...whatever it is that they put in hacky-sacks...
Julie shrugged again and let go of her legs, pushing them out from against her chest before resting her feet on the carpeted floor; she stood up and walked over to Charlie.
"That's it, Spaz. You're getting out of this house if it's the last that I do," she said solidly, crossing her arms firmly across her chest.
The hacky-sack landed in Charlie's hand with a plop before he sent it back into the air. "It very well may be, because I don't really feel like moving...Laziness is a huge factor, and often overrules many things."
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Is that so?"
He nodded and watched as the hacky-sack came back down, just as it always did. "Yep. That would most definitely be so."
Julie quirked an eyebrow. "So you are telling me that you would rather be lazy and antisocial by staying here in your room than come with ME?" she asked him with mock-hurt.
"Yep, that's pretty much what I'm saying," he said, a hint of a grin threatening to appear, but he tried to keep a straight face.
Julie grabbed an abandoned pillow off the floor and chucked it at him. "Get your butt off that bed, Charlie Conway!"
He frowned when it whipped him in the face, throwing off his concentration. "What'd you do that for? You made me drop it!" he complained, looking at the hacky-sack lying on the floor, just out of reach.
"Then I guess there's nothing stopping you now," she said with a cheeky grin.
His face took on a look of mock-horror. "It's all a conspiracy..."
"Yes, yes it is. Now up!" she said, wrapping her grip around his ankle and dragging him unrepentantly off the bed without warning.
"Hey-!" he started before being dropped on the floor with a thud.
"Or down...That works too," she said with a shrug.
"Very funny, Jules. Real cute," Charlie said as he stood up and stretched.
She crossed her arms and smiled. "I know. Now come on; we shall embark on a great journey!" she said jokingly.
"Oh yay..." he said with sarcasm. "I'm so excited..."
"As you should be!" Julie said as Charlie followed her nonchalantly out the bedroom door.
The two teens walked down the stairs, and Charlie walked out the front door while Julie waved goodbye. "Bye Coach!"
Without waiting for a response from the man, Julie walked out the door and began trotting along with Charlie. She could hardly believe he had actually agreed to come.
"So...where to, oh fearless leader?" Charlie asked sarcastically.
"Hush, you! I haven't decided yet..." she said, hitting him lightly in the shoulder and looking around. "What do you want to do?"
"I dunno...What do you want to do?" Charlie countered.
"I dunno...What do YOU want to do?" Julie asked back.
"I asked you first!" he said, pointing at her.
"Actually, I asked YOU first, technically," she said with a smug grin.
"Shush! You and all your silly technicalities. You're my abductor, so I think you should choose," Charlie said, folding his arms.
"Well, you're my abductee, so I think YOU should choose!" she retorted, a smile in her voice.
"It was your idea," Charlie pointed out.
"Must you contradict me?" she asked, shoving him jokingly.
"I think it is YOU, in fact, who is contradicting ME," Charlie said simply, raising his eyebrows and folding his arms with finality.
"Nah, that can't be it; but since YOU won't choose, I guess we'll just have to go wherever *I* say," she said, grinning to herself.
Charlie raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything else as he followed her down the sidewalk.
~~~*~~~
Charlie Conway stood planted on the sidewalk as he stared out in front of himself with confusion.
"Umm...Jules? Why exactly are we here?" he asked skeptically.
Julie stopped and looked forward with him. "Well, I decided it would be fun. It's a good chance to release your inner-child. You know you want to," she joked, turning to grin at the boy who was still staring in shock at the playground.
After a few minutes, Charlie shifted his confused gaze to Julie when she made no effort to leave. "You aren't serious, are you?"
"Dead serious," she said with a smile, lunging forward and patting his arm before running off. "TAG! YOU'RE IT!"
It took a few seconds for it to register before he blinked and looked around for Julie. "Julie?" he said, turning around in circles looking for her.
When he saw her hiding behind the jungle gym, he had the strangest urge to go ahead and play along. It couldn't hurt. Well, it might damage his ego a bit, but what the heck. Dignity had been lost ages ago.
He shrugged and ran after her, causing the girl to bolt past a few little kids playing in the sand. Charlie nearly tripped over a kid playing with a toy truck in the rocks, and apologized as he tripped over the wooden perimeter of the sandbox, thus landing face first in the grainy substance. Julie burst into laughter as Charlie propped himself up and wiped the sand off his face.
"Alright, you are so going down..." he said before standing up and running after Julie.
She instantly began running away and climbed up the little stairs leading her up onto the fort-like structure. Closely followed by the slightly- taller Charlie, who hit his head climbing up, she ran across the bridge connecting it to the other part of the fort-like structure.
"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE!" she yelled as she looked back at him. When she turned back around to continuing running, she slammed her head into the bar above the slide.
Charlie tried to hold in laughter, considering she had done a great deal of laughing when HE had hit HIS head...and he was taller than her! Ah, what the heck.
"HA!" he said, 'pointing and laughing.'
She whipped around and stuck out her tongue. "Shuttup! It isn't funny!" she said, though she was laughing too.
As soon as they recovered, Julie jumped on the slide and slid down to the gravel. Charlie slid down another and ran around to try and get to her.
"Come back! I won't hurt you!" Charlie said in a singsong voice as several parents watched the two teens skeptically.
"Bah!" she yelled jokingly before climbing up the monkey bars and sitting there.
"Hey...get down! Don't make me come up there!" he said, folding his arms and looking up, squinting at the clouded sun in his eyes.
She swung her legs back and forth in front of his face and shook his head. "Nope. I'm too scared," she said with a grin.
"You leave me no choice!" he said, jumping up and grabbing on to a bar, trying to climb up, yet with very little success. He struggled as he tried to figure out how she got up in the first place...
As soon as Charlie was halfway up, Julie grinned and jumped off, leaving Charlie trying to get back down. "Hey! That's CHEATING! No fair!" he said, trying to get down without causing any permanent damage...
"I did NOT force you to go up there, so it's your own fault!" she said, shrugging and smiling.
He mock-glared at her before unlooping his leg from the bar and nearly falling off. Luckily for him, he grabbed on, thus saving him from landing hard on the ground. As soon as he was oriented again, he resumed running after Julie.
They jumped over a few random kids and ran through the swings.
"Gosh, Jules! Watch it! You nearly trampled that poor kid!" Charlie said jokingly as they dodged another child throwing sand in the air.
"Hey, so did you!" she said, nearly slipping on a toy truck placed inconveniently in the middle of the playground.
The two teens froze when the heard a roll of thunder. It was then that they noticed the sky was slowly darkening.
They could hear mothers rounding their children into cars and swiftly leaving the park in a hurry.
Within a few moments, a light rain started falling.
Charlie blinked as the drops patted on his head, and he looked at Julie through squinted eyes. They shrugged and continued running around in the rain, relieved to have the park to themselves. None of those pesky kids to trip over...
Eventually, they stopped and sat on the swings, allowing the water to soak into their clothes and drip down their faces.
Charlie looked over at Julie and smiled, causing her to smile in return.
"I'm wet," he said simply.
"Really? You're wet?" she asked with a laugh.
"Yep. Quite wet, actually," he replied with a nod and raised eyebrows.
She grinned. "Imagine that."
"I know, that's what I thought too," he said before they both laughed.
Charlie moved the swing slightly with his feet gently kicking at the gravel. The swing swayed as he looked up into the dark, rainy sky. It was probably only around three, but the cloudy weather darkened the sky a considerable amount.
Without warning, Julie got up and started spinning around in the rain and kicking at puddles, grinning.
Charlie raised his eyebrows. He wasn't sure if he had seen Julie act this young in...well...ever.
She turned to him. "Aren't you gonna play?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
Letting out a sigh, he stood up. "Might as well."
She grinned and splashed him with a puddle on the ground.
He jumped back. "Hey! What was that for?" he asked.
"Oh come ON! You're already wet!" Julie said with a grin.
"So?" he asked before walking back over to the slides and climbing up. "...I always did like slides," he said with a grin as they continued acting their shoe size instead of their age.
It wasn't long before they were both sitting in the middle of the graveled playground, back to back.
Charlie leaned his head back against Julie's and sighed. "I'm hungry."
She turned around to look at him with confusion, the moment ruined. "Why?"
"I haven't eaten since yesterday," Charlie said with a shrug.
Julie turned around to look at him. "Why not?"
"I slept through breakfast and was a little busy attempting to weasel my way out of counseling for lunch. It kinda ruined my appetite a little," he said simply, swiveling around to face her as he pulled his knees to his chest.
She nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. So do you want to go eat?" she asked.
Charlie shrugged. "Sure."
The boy stood up and extended his hand for her. Though she was tempted to decline and claim she didn't need the help, she instead took his hand and allowed him to assist her. She smiled and could've sworn he looked happy.
When she realized her hand was still in his, she pulled away. She gave him a slightly forced smile and coughed to break the silence. He did the same.
"So...where to now?"
French Chipmunk- It's okay; I know what it's like to not be able to get to a computer. ^_^ And I'm glad the 'not getting better soon' didn't scare you away. Lol...Hmm...I haven't thought of anything yet, but I'll keep you posted on the hint. Lol...^_~
Sarah- Hehehe...^_^ Thanks bunches for the review, and Julie thanks you for the support. *Julie nods*
Rachel- Lol...yeah...Charlie a small tendency to make things difficult. ^_^ Yay! I inserted a word into your vocabulary! Lol...I seriously love the word 'coolness' too. I invent words. ^_^ Then my friends think I'm weird. But that's okay; at least they aren't fooling themselves. I'm glad you enjoy this and find me at least remotely funny. ^_~
DodgerMcClure.aka.Drama-Queen- Lol...Julie's in denial. Heck, they're ALL in denial. Lol. Hehehe...that's true. Who wouldn't want to stalk Charlie? Lol...I have, like, over 300 pictures of him saved in "My Documents"...can you say obsessive much? Anyway...thanks for reviewing! ^_~
Banksiesbabe99- Whoo. Stalkerish. I'll have to remember that. ^_^ Lol...a dislike Julie mood, you say? ^_^ That's a shame. Lol...I'm glad you liked the Julie and Adam argument...I think I'll have arguments down pat by the time I'm done with this...lol...which is kind of odd because I NEVER argue over ANYTHING in day-to-day life, yet I can argue with "myself"...lol...o.O...Okay, so it isn't TECHNICALLY arguing with myself...but yeah. I like writing arguments. Fun stuff. o.O...yeah...anyway...lol...moving on.
Joshrox116- Yuck. I don't like school. *pouts* I had TAKS...bleh...bah on TAKS! BAH ON STANDARDIZED TESTING! Yes...I miss Charlie and I'm the one in charge of the story! ^_~ Yes. I gotta give you guys a break every now and then.
Nebula- Yes, I forgive you for the delay. ^_~ Umm...uhh...*shifty eyes* Um...They wanted to stay for the summer! They...uhh...yeah! Um. Yeah. They're staying in the dorms because they...didn't wanna go home! Lol...and because Chelsea said so. But that's beside the point. Lol...true true, but who said stalking is necessarily a bad thing? Lol...^_~ Thanks for the review, and I hope you like the chapter!
Hotashell99- Lol...yeah...Adam isn't a happy camper. *grins* As for Charlie and Julie...*in a singsong voice* You'll just have to wait and find out! ^_~ Mwahaha! Lol...I'm glad you liked the Julie and Connie conversation and found it funny. ^_^ I hope you like the chapter, and thanks for reviewing! ^_~
Disclaimer- I still do not own The Mighty Ducks, because Disney does. Cry with me...
-Chapter 54-
Gordon unlocked the door to his house, and Charlie followed him in.
"How'd it go?" Gordon asked, going out on a limb.
Charlie shrugged and crossed his arms, causing Gordon Bombay to turn to look at him. "Boring, stupid, pointless, and not-at-all helpful."
Bombay quirked an eyebrow; however, instead of questioning the boy further, he allowed him to shrug the question off for now. He decided to wait a few more sessions...
Sitting on the living room couch, Gordon watched Charlie scale the stairs and disappear into his room.
The light-haired man let out a deep sigh and melted into the couch, trying to relax for a moment before carrying out his life as usual.
About an hour later, there was a knock on the door, and Gordon had still yet to move from his spot.
Groaning slightly to himself, Bombay slowly got up and trudged the distance to the large, wooden front door.
He unlocked it and twisted the doorknob, pulling it open to reveal Julie standing on the doorstep.
"Hey Coach. Is Charlie back?" she asked.
Gordon nodded and opened the door farther so she could enter. "Yeah, he's up in his room."
"Thanks," she said with a smile, walking past her former coach to find Charlie.
Skipping steps as she went, Julie climbed the stairs and walked down the hall to Charlie's room. Knocking softly, Julie rocked back and forth on her heels as she waited for Charlie to answer.
Julie heard a muffled "What?" in reply.
"It's Julie! Can I come in?" she asked, trying to yell over whatever CD Charlie had chosen to blare that afternoon.
She almost instantly heard the music tone down a notch, and the door opened. As the girl entered the room, she saw Charlie walk back to his bed.
Julie timidly sat in a chair a few feet from his bed and pulled her knees to her chest. She hadn't exactly planned what to say, so now she wasn't so sure.
The teenage girl watched as Charlie lay out on the bed, folded his arms under his head, and began softly kicking the bedpost as the music murmured in the background.
"How bad was it?" Julie asked suddenly, referring to his first 'therapy' session.
Without looking at her, he replied flatly. "It was a stupid, retarded waste of time and energy. The dude's a freakin' psycho...He's the one who needs therapy..." Charlie said in a deadpan voice.
Julie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean? What happened?"
Charlie let out a sigh and removed his arms from under his head in order to rub his arms as he frowned. "He's just a weirdo...He just sat there and wrote down every little movement, twitch, facial expression, and word I spoke the whole time...He won't even let me see the freakin' paper!" Charlie ranted as he folded his arms under his head again.
"Well that...isn't cool," she said, raising her eyebrows.
Charlie grabbed a hacky-sack from his bedside table and began tossing it carelessly into the air and catching it again. "No, it isn't. It's really quite freaky. And he was doing the whole shrink thing with the 'how does that make you feel' and 'would you like to talk about that'...Very, very not fun."
Julie nodded. "That bites...So it wasn't productive at all?"
"Nope. Not in the least. I'm hoping Coach won't make me go again...It isn't going to help, so I don't see why we should bother."
Julie watched as Charlie threw the hacky-sack into the air steadily, staring at the ceiling almost blankly. She wasn't that surprised that Charlie wasn't overly enthusiastic about counseling.
"Aren't you bored?" Julie asked, watching the almost machine-like motion of Charlie tossing the small, palm-sized hacky-sack.
"What do you mean?" he asked, concentrating on his task as the music carried on without him.
The girl shrugged at him. "Well you've been doing nothing the whole summer. I know I'M getting bored, so I was wondering if I could abduct you and force you out of the house for an afternoon," she said simply, looking around his room.
"We've been out for, what, seven days and you're bored?" he asked without prying his attention from the colorful, knitted sack of beads...or...whatever it is that they put in hacky-sacks...
Julie shrugged again and let go of her legs, pushing them out from against her chest before resting her feet on the carpeted floor; she stood up and walked over to Charlie.
"That's it, Spaz. You're getting out of this house if it's the last that I do," she said solidly, crossing her arms firmly across her chest.
The hacky-sack landed in Charlie's hand with a plop before he sent it back into the air. "It very well may be, because I don't really feel like moving...Laziness is a huge factor, and often overrules many things."
She raised her eyebrows at him. "Is that so?"
He nodded and watched as the hacky-sack came back down, just as it always did. "Yep. That would most definitely be so."
Julie quirked an eyebrow. "So you are telling me that you would rather be lazy and antisocial by staying here in your room than come with ME?" she asked him with mock-hurt.
"Yep, that's pretty much what I'm saying," he said, a hint of a grin threatening to appear, but he tried to keep a straight face.
Julie grabbed an abandoned pillow off the floor and chucked it at him. "Get your butt off that bed, Charlie Conway!"
He frowned when it whipped him in the face, throwing off his concentration. "What'd you do that for? You made me drop it!" he complained, looking at the hacky-sack lying on the floor, just out of reach.
"Then I guess there's nothing stopping you now," she said with a cheeky grin.
His face took on a look of mock-horror. "It's all a conspiracy..."
"Yes, yes it is. Now up!" she said, wrapping her grip around his ankle and dragging him unrepentantly off the bed without warning.
"Hey-!" he started before being dropped on the floor with a thud.
"Or down...That works too," she said with a shrug.
"Very funny, Jules. Real cute," Charlie said as he stood up and stretched.
She crossed her arms and smiled. "I know. Now come on; we shall embark on a great journey!" she said jokingly.
"Oh yay..." he said with sarcasm. "I'm so excited..."
"As you should be!" Julie said as Charlie followed her nonchalantly out the bedroom door.
The two teens walked down the stairs, and Charlie walked out the front door while Julie waved goodbye. "Bye Coach!"
Without waiting for a response from the man, Julie walked out the door and began trotting along with Charlie. She could hardly believe he had actually agreed to come.
"So...where to, oh fearless leader?" Charlie asked sarcastically.
"Hush, you! I haven't decided yet..." she said, hitting him lightly in the shoulder and looking around. "What do you want to do?"
"I dunno...What do you want to do?" Charlie countered.
"I dunno...What do YOU want to do?" Julie asked back.
"I asked you first!" he said, pointing at her.
"Actually, I asked YOU first, technically," she said with a smug grin.
"Shush! You and all your silly technicalities. You're my abductor, so I think you should choose," Charlie said, folding his arms.
"Well, you're my abductee, so I think YOU should choose!" she retorted, a smile in her voice.
"It was your idea," Charlie pointed out.
"Must you contradict me?" she asked, shoving him jokingly.
"I think it is YOU, in fact, who is contradicting ME," Charlie said simply, raising his eyebrows and folding his arms with finality.
"Nah, that can't be it; but since YOU won't choose, I guess we'll just have to go wherever *I* say," she said, grinning to herself.
Charlie raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything else as he followed her down the sidewalk.
~~~*~~~
Charlie Conway stood planted on the sidewalk as he stared out in front of himself with confusion.
"Umm...Jules? Why exactly are we here?" he asked skeptically.
Julie stopped and looked forward with him. "Well, I decided it would be fun. It's a good chance to release your inner-child. You know you want to," she joked, turning to grin at the boy who was still staring in shock at the playground.
After a few minutes, Charlie shifted his confused gaze to Julie when she made no effort to leave. "You aren't serious, are you?"
"Dead serious," she said with a smile, lunging forward and patting his arm before running off. "TAG! YOU'RE IT!"
It took a few seconds for it to register before he blinked and looked around for Julie. "Julie?" he said, turning around in circles looking for her.
When he saw her hiding behind the jungle gym, he had the strangest urge to go ahead and play along. It couldn't hurt. Well, it might damage his ego a bit, but what the heck. Dignity had been lost ages ago.
He shrugged and ran after her, causing the girl to bolt past a few little kids playing in the sand. Charlie nearly tripped over a kid playing with a toy truck in the rocks, and apologized as he tripped over the wooden perimeter of the sandbox, thus landing face first in the grainy substance. Julie burst into laughter as Charlie propped himself up and wiped the sand off his face.
"Alright, you are so going down..." he said before standing up and running after Julie.
She instantly began running away and climbed up the little stairs leading her up onto the fort-like structure. Closely followed by the slightly- taller Charlie, who hit his head climbing up, she ran across the bridge connecting it to the other part of the fort-like structure.
"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE!" she yelled as she looked back at him. When she turned back around to continuing running, she slammed her head into the bar above the slide.
Charlie tried to hold in laughter, considering she had done a great deal of laughing when HE had hit HIS head...and he was taller than her! Ah, what the heck.
"HA!" he said, 'pointing and laughing.'
She whipped around and stuck out her tongue. "Shuttup! It isn't funny!" she said, though she was laughing too.
As soon as they recovered, Julie jumped on the slide and slid down to the gravel. Charlie slid down another and ran around to try and get to her.
"Come back! I won't hurt you!" Charlie said in a singsong voice as several parents watched the two teens skeptically.
"Bah!" she yelled jokingly before climbing up the monkey bars and sitting there.
"Hey...get down! Don't make me come up there!" he said, folding his arms and looking up, squinting at the clouded sun in his eyes.
She swung her legs back and forth in front of his face and shook his head. "Nope. I'm too scared," she said with a grin.
"You leave me no choice!" he said, jumping up and grabbing on to a bar, trying to climb up, yet with very little success. He struggled as he tried to figure out how she got up in the first place...
As soon as Charlie was halfway up, Julie grinned and jumped off, leaving Charlie trying to get back down. "Hey! That's CHEATING! No fair!" he said, trying to get down without causing any permanent damage...
"I did NOT force you to go up there, so it's your own fault!" she said, shrugging and smiling.
He mock-glared at her before unlooping his leg from the bar and nearly falling off. Luckily for him, he grabbed on, thus saving him from landing hard on the ground. As soon as he was oriented again, he resumed running after Julie.
They jumped over a few random kids and ran through the swings.
"Gosh, Jules! Watch it! You nearly trampled that poor kid!" Charlie said jokingly as they dodged another child throwing sand in the air.
"Hey, so did you!" she said, nearly slipping on a toy truck placed inconveniently in the middle of the playground.
The two teens froze when the heard a roll of thunder. It was then that they noticed the sky was slowly darkening.
They could hear mothers rounding their children into cars and swiftly leaving the park in a hurry.
Within a few moments, a light rain started falling.
Charlie blinked as the drops patted on his head, and he looked at Julie through squinted eyes. They shrugged and continued running around in the rain, relieved to have the park to themselves. None of those pesky kids to trip over...
Eventually, they stopped and sat on the swings, allowing the water to soak into their clothes and drip down their faces.
Charlie looked over at Julie and smiled, causing her to smile in return.
"I'm wet," he said simply.
"Really? You're wet?" she asked with a laugh.
"Yep. Quite wet, actually," he replied with a nod and raised eyebrows.
She grinned. "Imagine that."
"I know, that's what I thought too," he said before they both laughed.
Charlie moved the swing slightly with his feet gently kicking at the gravel. The swing swayed as he looked up into the dark, rainy sky. It was probably only around three, but the cloudy weather darkened the sky a considerable amount.
Without warning, Julie got up and started spinning around in the rain and kicking at puddles, grinning.
Charlie raised his eyebrows. He wasn't sure if he had seen Julie act this young in...well...ever.
She turned to him. "Aren't you gonna play?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
Letting out a sigh, he stood up. "Might as well."
She grinned and splashed him with a puddle on the ground.
He jumped back. "Hey! What was that for?" he asked.
"Oh come ON! You're already wet!" Julie said with a grin.
"So?" he asked before walking back over to the slides and climbing up. "...I always did like slides," he said with a grin as they continued acting their shoe size instead of their age.
It wasn't long before they were both sitting in the middle of the graveled playground, back to back.
Charlie leaned his head back against Julie's and sighed. "I'm hungry."
She turned around to look at him with confusion, the moment ruined. "Why?"
"I haven't eaten since yesterday," Charlie said with a shrug.
Julie turned around to look at him. "Why not?"
"I slept through breakfast and was a little busy attempting to weasel my way out of counseling for lunch. It kinda ruined my appetite a little," he said simply, swiveling around to face her as he pulled his knees to his chest.
She nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. So do you want to go eat?" she asked.
Charlie shrugged. "Sure."
The boy stood up and extended his hand for her. Though she was tempted to decline and claim she didn't need the help, she instead took his hand and allowed him to assist her. She smiled and could've sworn he looked happy.
When she realized her hand was still in his, she pulled away. She gave him a slightly forced smile and coughed to break the silence. He did the same.
"So...where to now?"
