A/N: XxXCocoaPuffXxX, I'm glad you like my story. It's going to get better, I swear. More drama soon. I can't wait for it!

Chapter 6

Chuckie got up at eight the next morning to get ready for work. He gathered his clothes and headed to the bathroom for a shower. While he was in the shower, he couldn't get his mind off of Marina. He could see her beautiful face with her eyeliner and dark eye shadow, the dark shade of pink lip gloss, and thee soft foundation she wore. He could also see her wavy hair pulled up in the back and loose in the front. Her scent filled his mind, and Chuckie found himself having to take a deep breath in.

'God, she smelled so amazing last night,' he thought as his mind took him back to the previous night when he arrived home to find Marina waiting in the driveway. 'And the taste of her lips was more than I could expect.'

Chuckie turned the shower off, and the hot water dripped from his long, shaggy hair. He ran his hand through his natural red hair, causing it to stay slicked back. Chuckie reached over and grabbed a towel from the hooks on the shower door. He quickly dried off and preceded into dressing.

Kimi woke up to the sound of Chuckie's truck starting up, and she leaned up in bed. Drowsy from sleep, Kimi hesitated for a long time before finally getting up out of her bed. She sauntered over to the window and looked out, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. She saw Chuckie's truck heading down the street. 'Damn,' she thought. 'I didn't get a chance to confront him about Marina.'

Kimi sighed. 'All well, I'll do that later. Now, I need sleep.' So, Kimi padded back to her bed and laid back down.

Chuckie rubbed his eyes and wondered why he took so many hours at work when he knew that he was suffering from sleep deprivation. But, he'd been doing the same thing for two years and was accustomed to it. So, Chuckie saw little reason to change.

The day looked very cheery in the bright, cloudless morning. Chuckie sighed. "It'd be a great day just to be outside," he told himself. "But, you have to go in to work."

It was a slow day at work, and Chuckie was one of the few high-school-age workers in work that day. Not that Chuckie didn't know that would happen at the sight of the day; even he wanted to be outside with them. But, he had priorities, and work was one on the list. So, he did not call in sick just to enjoy the day because he knew that the manager would have to hunt down some workers who were not scheduled to work. Chuckie didn't have the heart to make someone come in on what was suppose to be their day off. But, no one had to since there were enough workers to handle the slow morning crowd.

Chuckie seemed to watch the clock for hours until the time grew close to noon, his break time. He stacked new books on the shelf, straightened the old ones, and collected all the books kids and teenagers had stuck in the chairs. Sometimes, Chuckie didn't understand why the store had chairs and tables when people were so insensitive to others and stuck books wherever. Then, the workers had to pick up after them; it wasn't the workers' job to pick up after those people like maids, and they weren't paid enough to put up with the stress. More stress came from the inconsiderate people who ordered coffees from the in-store Starbucks. Empty or half-empty cups were left lying around; there were some on book cases, where they really didn't need to be because of a threat of harming the books, and some were hidden under the furniture. Chuckie really hated finding old coffee cups stuck in various locations because a few people didn't feel like walking back to the trashcan before they left. He and the other workers at Barnes and Noble had rap sessions periodically to discuss the problems, and that often helped relieve the foul moods brought about by the incidents.

At the boring moment Chuckie was having, he wished for those people to hide their coffee cups just so he'd have something to keep him busy. He'd resorted to going into the children's section and helping the girl there organize the disarray of books and toys. Within thirty minutes, the two of them had that mess clean and ready to be destroyed later in the day.

Chuckie even worked on one of the stores computers and updated the inventory as well as the website's inventory. But within an hour, he'd accomplished both and was left without something to do. So, he headed to the journal section to see if they needed help organizing the misplaced items. But, they didn't. So, Chuckie occupied himself with organizing the bargain book aisles. That took up the rest of the time until his break, and Chuckie was glad to be past the most boring three hours of his life.

After Chuckie had prepared to leave on break, Marina walked in like she'd said. He saw her and couldn't help but smile at her, which she smiled back. "Hey," she said when she neared him.

"Hi, you're right on time." Chuckie informed her.

"I know, and I'm glad because it seems that you would have left here if I had been any later." Marina replied eyeing Chuckie's outfit and noting that the name tag was gone.

Chuckie shrugged. "There's just nothing here to do today," he admitted.

"Want to go to lunch?" Marina asked.

Chuckie was caught by surprise; of course, he was headed for a lunch break, but he had not expected Marina to join him. "Sure."

"Great. Have you been to the new Chinese place that they set up in the mall in the food court?" Marina asked pointing toward the mall within walking distance of the Barnes and Noble.

"No, I can't say I have." Chuckie told her.

Marina's eyes widened. "Oh, we have to go there. They have great fried rice and orange chicken."

"Okay." Chuckie replied following Marina outside.

Chuckie and Marina sat in the food court and watched people pass as they ate. Chuckie noticed that Marina sat cross-legged in the seat while she ate, and he found that new and interesting. She'd been right about the fried rice; it was really good.

"So you're friends with Angelica?" Marina asked.

Chuckie took a sip of his Coca-Cola. "I guess you could say that. I'm best friends with her cousin Tommy. She used to terrorize us as kids."

Marina listened intently. "She was awesome last year as a senior, though. She really appreciated the decorations we had for prom and everything. She sent the whole class a Thank You card. It was so sweet. She's so pretty, too."

"She's using that to be a model while going to college. Her parents are working hard to get her into the movies. Charlotte especially. But, she's good-hearted now, and I wouldn't even know the difference if I hadn't been picked on by her as a kid."

Marina smiled at him. "I think prom this year will be great," she said.

Chuckie looked over at her, and she smiled. "We'll get to go together," she said.

Chuckie blushed, and Marina grinned at him. She reached over and touched his face. "You're so sweet, Chuckie. Why didn't I see you before now?"

"I'm not so sure that prom will be so wonderful; now with Tommy's little brother in the mix. He likes chaos." Chuckie said interrupting the sentimental moment.

Marina laughed. "I think prom will be fine." She put her fork down and was finished with her meal. "Would you like to come to a party I'm throwing tonight?"

"Me?" Chuckie asked as if he had misunderstood what she'd said.

"Yea, you. I'm having a big party at my house because my parents are never home because they travel with business and are too rich to care for their own daughter. Usually, once a month, I throw a huge party at my house. Tonight, I want you to come and hang out with me since I rarely have fun at the parties."

"You don't have fun but continue to hold the parties." Chuckie stated.

Marina shrugged. "People have come to expect it, I guess."

"I'll be there." Chuckie told her.

Marina smiled, and her smile warmed Chuckie's body temperature up. "Great, be there tonight at eight."

"You bet."

"I guess you have to get back to work." Marina stated.

"Yea, you want to walk out together?"

Marina gave a half-smile. "I would, but I'm going to stick around the mall and head over to Hottopic. It's time I spend some of the money my parents sent me to buy school clothes."

"All right, I'll see you tonight then." Chuckie told Marina as they walked towards the trashcan together.

"I'll be waiting." Marina told him as he began to walk away.