TWO

Charlie was laying down on the turf with an arm under his head, his left knee bent and supporting his right ankle, lazily drumming his fingers on the abandoned bongos at his side and enjoying the last warm rays of the season. He took a side glimpse of Knox, who was sitting next to him, elbows resting on his kneecaps, gazing at the lake in a state of deep despair. Charlie smirked affectionately, plucked out a handful of grass and threw it at the most romantic of his best friends.

"C'mon, Knoxious, stop thinking, you'll give yourself a nosebleed."

Knox sighed.

"I can't, Charlie. You know I can't."

"And you know I can't fly, so suck it up or do something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, pal, what were you thinking about ten seconds ago?"

Knox ran his fingers through his hair, pulling it backward in a frustrated gesture.

"Nothing. I'd just like to… Dunno, see her."

"See her. Okay. Where is she now?"

"How am I supposed to know? It's Saturday afternoon, I guess Ridgeway High is busy with the football tournament."

"Hmm."

Charlie calmly stood up, brushing his trousers and starting to head towards the campus. Knox furrowed his brow. The other boy spun around on his heels, opening his arms.

"Well? You comin'?"

Knox stood up in confusion.

"Where?"

"To see Chris."

Knox goggled as he couldn't help lighting up.

"What do you mean to see Chris?"

"I mean to use your eyes to behold the conglomerate of molecules composing that feminine silhouette who responds to the name of Chris, whizkid."

Knox grunted.

"I didn't mean literally, Dalton" he pointed out, but Charlie was already laughing.

"I know, Knoxious, now shut up and follow your daddy."

"What are you up to?"

"We are going to pick two of the school bikes and go wherever the queen of your daydreams is. Just lemme take these back to my cell."

Darting towards the imposing building and leaving a rather dumbfounded Knox behind him, Charlie spotted Cameron in the hall, plopped the bongos into his arms and instructed "Cameron, these, my desk" before turning back, ignoring his roommate yelling at him.

"We are not allowed to leave the school without permission, Char" Knox pointed out when he caught up with him outside.

"Yeah, whatever. Get a move on."

The two friends nonchalantly rode their bikes in circles near the campus entrance. Seeing no teachers nearby, they raced through the open gates, occasionally looking over their shoulders.

"C'mon, Knoxious, faster!" Charlie incited, and they sped up down the road. They pedaled until they reached the top of a hill and then went downhill across the grass, both shouting as they sent an immense flock of geese flying into the air, followed by some sprays of water as they passed over a wet deck hanging on a creek. That was freedom, Charlie thought. Tasty, fresh, rumbling freedom flowing on his skin as he joyfully laughed seeing how euphoric his mate seemed to be in that very moment. They would probably fail in meeting Chris, they didn't even know where exactly she was, but the mere thought of trying was sending Knox over the moon. As for him, making his friends happy was enough. Breaking one of the academy rules was just the cherry on top. He didn't have a single problem to worry about, or at least not a single one to care about at the moment. There was plenty of time to deal with his parents, his future, his place in the fucking system. Why rush bad things when they would come about anyway? Life was made of tiny beautiful moments, and he wanted to enjoy all of them. To see Knox date Chris, Neil act, Meeks and Pitts succeed in their experiments with the radio; or, who knew, maybe to see Todd come out of his shell, perhaps to prank Nolan, possibly to punch Cameron, why not? And maybe to have a chance and tell his father to fuck off and jam his fucking plan to make a banker out of his son into his ass. What he had always wanted was to suck out all the marrow of life. It had just never occurred to him that he could describe that purpose with those words. And it had never occurred to him that he could actually do it, despite what the world wanted from him. Thanks, Mr. K.

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't realized they had reached a parking lot filled with vehicles and cheerful students dressed in red and white. Some of them were randomly blowing in their brass instruments. Knox and Charlie slowed their bikes down and watched the crowd of students gather around a bus: on its roof, a football player in a horned helmet was dancing. The noise was enriched by a band properly performing, while a group of cheerleaders was practicing in step with the rhythm. Knox took his sunglasses off, gawking.

"Charlie… Charlie, there she is."

Charlie followed his friend's stare and spotted the girls.

"Hmm, juicy. Which one is she?"

"The most beaut…"

"Knox."

"The blonde one with the red band in her hair."

"They're almost all blondes with red stuff in their hair, pal. Care to… Oh."

Charlie fell silent as he distastefully recognized Chet Danburry coming along and taking hold of one of the girls' hand. Knox seemed to deflate like a blue balloon. Charlie looked at him with regret, then his eyes moved back to the main scene in time to witness Chris jump into Chet's arms. Knox gloomily turned his bike around and started to leave.

"Knox! Knox, come on!" Charlie called, catching up with him and grabbing his elbow to stop him. The two looked at each other in silence for a while, then Charlie spoke.

"It's just a battle, you can win the war, can't you?"

Knox smiled sadly.

"Plus, he's a jerk and you're not. I would be glad even just for that."

Knox's smile widened.

"And don't forget that you…"

But Knox never knew what he wasn't supposed to forget. Because it was then Charlie's turn to take his sunglasses off, agape.

"Holy shit."

A/N: I had no idea the interactions between Charlie and Knox were so darn fun to write :D

Oh, since we're on the subject, I hope the two friends and the other well-known characters (you'll find them farther ahead) are not too OOC in this story. I tried to stick with their personalities as much as possible. Let me know what you think if you feel like it ^^