SEVENTEEN
October was fanning herself with both hands, a pretty cerise hue spread on her cheekbones. Meeks and Pitts had dragged her into a wild dance on Wanda Jackson's Let's Have a Party notes and they were sprawled on the floor at the moment, laughing out loud. Neil, Todd, Cameron and Charlie were playing darts. Knox approached her with two plastic cups filled with punch, handing one to her.
"You're having a great time" he stated.
"You can say that again" she confirmed, accepting the drink and taking a long sip.
Knox smiled and sat next to her, crossing his legs.
"I know this has nothing to do with me, but I do want to thank you. The guys are having the time of their lives, I've never seen Todd so laid-back and Charlie is practically walking on sunshine. You've got kind of an invisible touch and everything seems better when you're around."
October beamed.
"You're flattering me, I did nothing. It's just a party, and believe me when I say this is absolutely nothing compared to what can be done on such occasions."
She bit her lower lip, but Knox didn't ask any question. She chose to change the subject.
"So, how is it going with Chris?"
Knox took a sip from his own cup and shook his head.
"It's not going. She's engaged, and I can't see how I could compete with Chet. And I guess I screwed it all up at the party."
October rubbed his shoulder.
"Aw, come on, Knox. It's just two teens dating, and I'm not lessening your age, I'm just saying it's not a marriage. They can break up. And I'm not saying teen relationships are easy to break up either, I'm just saying that Chet is a jerk, they'll break up even if you don't play a part in that. Plus, forgive my straightforwardness, but if Chris doesn't get to understand Chet is not the right boy for a healthy relationship, it means she's not mature enough, she doesn't love herself enough and she's definitely not the girl for you. So, you can give a boost to their split-up, but everything is in her hands. Looking at it from another perspective, if you are meant to be, she'll come around on her own. That doesn't mean you don't have to put a bug in her ear. And I don't think you messed anything up."
She hit his shoulder with hers, since the boy was staring off into nothingness with the usual miserable Chris-related expression on his face. He mulled her words over in his mind.
"What could I do?" he asked, disheartened.
"That's up to you. You're a gentleman, aren't you? I'm pretty sure you know how to charm a girl. Plus, I'm positive Mr. Keating has taught you a couple of tricks."
Knox looked at her and she winked.
"You mean… Chocolate? Flowers? A poem?"
"See? You're perfectly capable of finding the way forward. But take my advice: forget about the chocolate. She's a cheerleader, we don't want her to get upset over the fear of getting fat."
Knox smiled at the quip and October squeezed his shoulder in affection.
"I better go and check on the archers over there, before they punch a hole in the wall."
Knox laughed nodding and thanked her, watching as she stood up, brushed her skirt and headed towards his friends. Not for the first time, he thought she was extraordinary, and exactly what Charlie needed to spread his wings. It didn't dawn on him he had never told her that Chris was a cheerleader.
The four boys' backs were turned, since they were caught up in the game. October approached them with her fists on her hips and cleared her throat. They spun around on their heels to meet her gaze.
"Need a lesson, gentlemen?"
A collective and prolonged loud ooh raised from the group, who parted to let her in. Cameron snorted, earning an amused stare from her and a flared-up one from Charlie.
"How do you wanna do this? Two teams? One-on-one?" Neil asked.
"Nah" she answered. "I'll challenge all of you. Three throws per turn. If I lose a match, I'm out. If I win it, it's up to the next."
"What if you win them all?" Charlie asked with his smirk on his face. She cast a mischievous glance at him.
"You'll pay the forfeit" she established, poking his chest with her index finger.
They all laughed.
"Why only me?" Charlie inquired grinning. October leaned towards him.
"Because maybe the forfeit I'm thinking about is not something you'd like the others to do with me."
The uproar following that statement was much louder than the previous one. Charlie's eyes burnt with fire as his brain ordered his body to avoid any visible reaction. October gave a smug smirk before turning her back to him, slightly swaying her hips – something he didn't fail to notice. Neil gave her a high five, grinning.
"Richard, you were snorting. You're up."
Five minutes later, Cameron had spectacularly lost, with three out of three darts outside the outer wire. Saying he was indignant was an understatement. He leaned against the wall and followed the other matches with his arms crossed. Damn girl.
Neil did his best, but one of his darts bounced off. Both he and October playfully pouted, then hugged each other laughing.
Todd was surprisingly the best of them until then, so they had a rematch, but October eventually hit the outer bull. They shook their hands solemnly before cackling.
Finally Charlie came forward, tossing a dart and catching it back over and over. October smirked.
"Scared, Bailey?"
"You wish."
They slowly bowed, never leaving the other's eyes, a glint in their irides. They both grinned, sensing the electricity between them. Then they started. As in the previous match, they had to play twice, and then a third time.
"I'm impressed" she jested. "I thought you were going to lose on purpose for the forfeit."
"Nuwanda has his dignity, my dear" he countered. "And even defeat has to be earned."
"Such a philosopher" she teased him, pleased.
They kept on playing, until Charlie hit the inner bull. He looked at her raising his right eyebrow twice.
"You have one last shot, Sibyl. Can you do better?"
The other boys cheered her on loudly, whistling and stomping their feet. Meeks, Pitts and Knox had joined them, too.
"Move over, Robin" she demanded. Charlie shifted gallantly and she took her position in front of the wall. She then focused on her target, took aim narrowing her eyes and threw her dart. It dutifully whooshed towards the dartboard, sticking into it slightly above Charlie's, which fell off the board. The Poets went nuts.
October beamed spinning around on her heels to face Charlie, who slowly clapped his hands approaching her, a proud smile on his face.
"Seems someone hit the jackpot."
She crossed her arms behind his neck, as the boys walked away discreetly.
"I already did, Mr. Jack Pot" she joked. Charlie grinned and pecked her lips, then looked at her in a thoughtful fashion.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Actually, there's something I don't want the others to do with you that I could do right now" he said.
She tilted her head, furrowing her brow and waiting for him to give his intention away.
"Dance with me" Charlie invited. A sweet smile blossomed on her lips as he took her hand and led her to the center of the room. He was clearly talking about a slow dance, since she had already danced with the others. Look at you, she mentally mocked herself, so emancipated and tough and stuff, and your stomach is somersaulting. Why does the slow dance have to be so damn romantic?!
Someone had turned the main chandelier off, so that only the smallest lights in the corners were left to cast a soft glow on them. Charlie went to the jukebox and chose a song before going back to October. They looked at each other, smiling, and he brushed his lips on her knuckles. He then slid a hand on her waist, while she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He took her free hand and rested it on his chest, keeping his own hand on hers, then they began swaying slowly to the notes.
When no one else can understand me
When everything I do is wrong
You give me love and consolation
You give me hope to carry on
And you try to show your love for me
In everything you do
That's the wonder
The wonder of you
October felt as if her heart had gone up her throat, pounding crazily and making it difficult for her to swallow. Not for the first time, the world around had faded until the only thing left to matter was Charlie rocking her, staring at her, mouthing the lyrics to her. She beamed and lowered her head in a pleasant embarrassment, trying to contain the bursting emotion.
And when you smile the world is brighter
You touch my hand and I'm a king
Your kiss to me is worth a fortune
Your love for me is everything
And you're always there to lend a hand
In all I try to do
That's the wonder
The wonder of you
When she focused back on him, Charlie lost himself in her glowing eyes. She was so ethereal, so out of the world, he couldn't believe his luck. He internally thanked whatever gods had made him decide to go with Knox and chase after Chris that day. Looking at her pale skin and her blushing cheeks, he found himself thinking she was too beautiful to be true. Too much to be true. And just as the song was singing, everything he did was indeed wrong, but she was always there to understand him, to help him, to give him hope, making him feel like he was the king of the whole world.
He gently pushed her away from his body, making her spin around, then pulled her back towards him and wrapped her in his arms, watching her giggling and casting a clearly proud glance at him. And he suddenly knew she was proud of his whole being, regardless of all his flaws.
I guess I'll never know the reason why
You love me as you do
That's the wonder
The wonder of you
He sang the last verses to her, cherishing the teardrop running on her cheek and halting at the corner of her smiling lips. He collected that drop with his own mouth, and then kissed her, trying to pour into that gesture all of his immeasurable and overwhelming adoration.
A/N: So, we have a (sort of) musical chapter here!
The song at the beginning is, of course, the same Meeks and Pitts manage to get by their Radio (Free America :D) in the movie. I love that song!
I only played darts once just for fun (and out of a couple of beers that were having a great time in my system :D), having no idea how to. Of course, I won ("of course" because the beers made me win, guys. I'm also able to speak a never-studied French when I'm tipsy. And I'm inexplicably richer than usual. Does this happen to you, too? Homer would be proud of me.) Anyway, I did some research about the rules in order to have a decent description of the game in the chapter, so I hope any professional player reading it will forgive any inaccuracy.
The song for Charlie and October's slow dance is the original The wonder of you, first sang in 1959 by Ray Peterson. I prefer this version over the more famous one by Elvis Presley (1970), but it's just my opinion :) I highly recommend that you listen to it while reading, it adds a lot to the scene ^^
(I absolutely did not get emotional while listening and writing and editing: it was just a combination of tachycardia and epiphora. I'll see a doctor when I stop sighing.)
P.S.: I don't really know if posting the lyrics in full (even if in between the story sequences) means an infringement of copyright. I'll remove it immediately, if so; just let me know, thanks :)