Chapter 24

**Charlotte's POV**

~

I'm in Dawn's room looking in her closet for something to wear to the game and honestly I was in her room more often than not, and we both always wondered why I didn't just have a spare bed for myself in her room like she had a sister to share her room with.

After all, at my house, she has a queen size bed reflecting mine in one of the guest rooms on the third floor.

"Omg, I'm still stoked Asher is actually going to the game tonight," Dawn said touching up her makeup at her vanity.

"I know right, and for you! If he goes to the game for you, he'd definitely go to the homecoming dance with you for sure," I mentioned to her looking through the racks.

"Ohmygosh I know, but I don't want to get my hopes up," Dawn said popping some highlight on her face. I taught her well. "We have to keep in mind Asher is a senior and an athlete star. Why would he go for a girl like me?" I quickly gave her an, 'are you serious face?' with small eyes.

"Ummm, cause you're Dawn Noel. The cutest varsity cheerleader on the team whose also co-captain," I told her. She rolled her eyes pretending to ignore me and as her best friend, I had to let the truth be told. "Honestly, who wouldn't like you?" She shrugged.

"I'm co captain, not full title," she reminded me. I had to let out a pathetic breath. "And hey, Jake doesn't like me," she added as well still highlighting her face. I looked at her.

"Ugh, why do you always bring him up?" I asked her throwing a possible shirt on her bed. She laughed thinking about it by how she didn't say anything. "Besides, Jake dates Celeste. A bitch, so he obviously likes bitches and trust me Dawn, if you were a bitch I'd tell you straight up," I told her disgustedly. She just started laughing at my joke cause she knew it was true. "And plus, I wouldn't say that totally," I told the truth trying on a long sleeved shirt with Cumberland High across the chest.

"What do you mean?" She asked looking at me through her vanity.

"Jakes kinda has been around you a lot lately," I told her not thinking about it much. She kind of paused, but continued to apply a little blush on her face.

"You think so?" I nodded.

"Yeah. He's even been beating me to my own classes too," I told her. "I saw him today and I was like, 'Is that Jake Lander actually going to class on time!' with a fake gasp and he just laughed shaking his head, and I added, 'Is he sick??' But it's what he said after that, that confused me."

"What he say?" Dawn really wanted to know. I turned to her after I figured out I was going to keep wearing her long sleeved shirt.

"Ask Dawn." She looked at me quickly and I held my gaze. "You know what he's talking about girl?" I wanted to know, but I didn't totally care. Dawn never kept secrets from me and I'd know if she did have a thing for Jake because I'd already be able to tell which I haven't noticed which means she doesn't and just for confirmation she'd tell me. Dawn was my best friend and we tell each other everything.

"Hahaha no," she finally laughed it off fixing her mascara. I smiled as I knew nothing was up, and since Dawn's shirt was a size too small from last year, I took the corner of the shirt and tied it on the side, showing my off belly button that was surprisingly in shape. "But, I did get him reading a book." I widen my eyes as I walked closer to Dawn's mirror, fixing little things on me.

"Whoa. You got Jake reading a book? He must be sick somewhere," I commented with an icky face. Dawn laughed for real, reapplying some powder.

"Yeah, sick in the brains," she replied with a smirk. "But it's cool. I'm glad he actually did it, but I can't help but admit something else." I looked at her.

"Like what girl friend?" I fixed the shirt and pulled up my light blue jean capris.

"I think....I think Jake might have a slight crush on me...?" I blinked once and turned around to Dawn as she was looking back at me and not through the mirror.

"Are you serious," I said more in a statement than a question. Dawn nodded and I sighed walking over to her. "Babe," I looked at her through the mirror grabbing her shoulders.

"You're a pretty girl, with a badass attitude but still held up in intelligence and humor. I'm not surprised Jake may have a thing for you. But you cannot fall for him," I had to tell her. "Cause first and for most, we all know you, also meaning me, wouldn't hear the last of it from Celeste and we can't stand her already," I told her. She nodded looking down at her thighs, her purple, gold, and white cheer uniform tight around her. "And two, you are better than him and you're way out his league," I reminded her. "You cannot fall for any of his tricks." She laughed as I played with her straight hair looking at the profile of her face.

"Hahaha I promise I won't Lotte," Dawn shrugged at me through the mirror. "Besides I got a senior on my mind." I nodded once at her and smiled and when I walked away to put on my Adidas, Dawn quickly added, "Whooooo just texted me he's on his way to the game!! Lotte, we gotta go! I have to see him before the game starts!!" She jumped and go grab her white shoes from her duffel bag. I rushed as well, grabbing my high-end purse checking my makeup. 

"Ohmygosh I forgot about him, there's going to be traffic on the road! We have to leave now if you want to see him!!" I laughed running out the door.

"Lets go! Come on!" Dee ran behind me laughing turning off her light and closing the door, her mom telling us not to speed to the game and be careful on the way back.

But of course, like the young teen drivers we were, we sped anyway, laughing our heads off on our way to the varsity game.

~

Arriving at the game at a decent time wasn't bad, as currently Dee and I are walking up the stairs to the bleaches, as everyone was finding seats and the students we were heading to the far end of the field by one of the field goals where the student section was located.

"Hey Charlotte!" Jessica Donny waved to me walking in the oppose direction.

"Hey girl," I said back with a smile.

"Lotte, are you going to make it to my sleepover party tomorrow?" Kylie Kendal asked touching my shoulder, handing me the invite. I gave an iffy face still walking but looking back at her.  

"I'll have to see KK, I might have plans."

"Charlotte! You're so cute!!"

"Love what you did with the shirt girl!"

"Cute purse!" Three girls walked passed me that were sophomores in the soccer class before me. I just laughed and smiled at them amiable.

"Hahaha! Thanks babies," I said back to them still walking. As I was trying to put the sleepover invite in my purse Dawn busted out laughing and I really didn't know from what. 

"Girl, what are you laughing at?" I finally asked her. She gasped.

"You of course! Hahaha Lotte you are so popular, why am I friends with you? Or better question yet, why are you friends with me?" I really laughed that time, trying to make room for the invite in my purse.

"Dee shut up, hahaha! We all know you're my best friend because you liked me way before you even knew "Charlotte Montgomery's family owns three different oil fields all around west Texas"," I quoted with rolled eyes and perked lips. "We have almost everything and anything in common," I reminded her. "Must I explain?" Dawn smiled at me as we got stuck in a line as an elder couple was trying to make their way up the stairs into the bleachers, causing a slow line behind them of people trying to get by.

"Hahaha I guess not, but what you should really explain is why you aren't going for homecoming royalty," Dee reminded me, hiding her lips in her mouth looking down.

"Dee, don't even start," I shook my head as we started walking again. "I already told you, I am not going to get into something I'm probably going to regret later. We already know Celeste, with her stuck up ass, is going for royalty as much as I want to, and Jake is probably her paired date even if he doesn't even want the prince's crown, but that's just how this cruel system works." As we were approaching the student section, Asher in sight, we both looked at him as he smiled at us. "Besides, the fake plastic crown will fit more on top of Celeste's blonde hair than mine," I had to add. Dawn looked at me.

"How come?" I shrugged not looking at her into a smirk.

"She's a skinny ass Barbie made of pure plastic," I said with a nod. "All fake. Unlike me? Organic." Dawn busted out laughing, which was perfect as Asher turned to us to see her laughing.

Exactly what I wanted.

"Hahahaha, hey Asher!" Dawn greeted going up to him.

"Hey Dee," he met her half way, hugging her. I just smiled coolly at them, happy for my friend.

"Hey Charlotte," he turned to me still holding onto Dawn under her ribs, Dawn right arm hidden behind his back.

"Smart of you to call me by my actual name scrub. You pay attention," I nodded with my head held high.

"Hahaha! Course I do, but only to what matters most to my friends," he blinked at me slowly with a raised eyebrow. I shifted my weight into my right hip, crossing my arms.

"Ew," was the first thing I said. "Just because you have a crush on my best friend does not automatically make us "friends"," I used quotations with it. "You have to earn that title, just like you do Lotte." Asher just laughed with his head back and Dawn shook her head with playful rolling eyes, knowing she wanted me to secretly stop embarrassing her in some way. I mean, I may seem mean to some people, but I know what I was doing. Letting people in or being nice to people first hand, even to Asher, will cause me to befriend people who might just backstab me in the long run and I'll be back in what I got caught up in freshmen year...

Let's just say, once upon time, "Celeste Hollister and Charlotte Montgomery" use to be BFF's.

That was damn mistake.

"Hahaha okay, okay, I understand. But Charlotte, one day you have to let your guard down. Not everyone you know wants to drop you like some other might have because of what you have and not who you are," he told me.

I froze.

'How could he know that??' I thought to myself staring at him. Suddenly, Dawn knowing that him speaking the truth fazed me, changed the topic and got him to engage in the pregame show and her, I looked to the side thinking about it.

'Asher barely knows me, but how would he know that's what I was doing?' I bit my bottom lip looking at them talking. 'Well Asher is a senior...he knows more than me...'

Suddenly, over the intercom, they were about to announce who made it to homecoming court from the nominees this past week. I did not want to hear any of that, and like right on cue Dawn suggested,

"Lotte! We should see who made homecoming court!"

"For what?" I asked her, popping some bubblegum in my mouth.

"Ummm..." she looked at Asher. I narrowed my eyes at them.

"Uhhh, just for...just for laughs," Asher nodded at me. Dawn smiled at me nodding her head violently.

"Yeah! For laughs! Come on," Dawn wanted me to walk down to the fence with her. I shook my head.

"Nope. I'm going to the concessions and the bathroom. Asher," I turned my direction to him with crossed arms.

"Save me spot in the stands and do you want something while I'm up there?" Asher and Dee looked at each other surprised and turned back to me and I rolled my eyes dropping my arms and placing them back. "That's a yes or a no question." Asher chuckled walking over to me.

"I could go for some skittles," he requested. I held out my hand and Dee busted out laughing.

"You really thought it was that easy?" She asked him behind pathetic laughs. I grinned evilly as he pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

"I kinda did, but Skittles please. Get something with the change." I smiled and nodded once, glancing at the field and back at him.

"I was gonna do that anyway babe, I'm Charlotte Montgomery. I run the game," I reminded him as if he didn't know walking up the steps. "I'll see you at half time Dee!" I waved to her.

"Kayyyy!" She replied.

As I quickly made my way up the stairs and into the bathroom first as I heard the male nominees for homecoming court, I checked myself in the mirror.

My dark blonde locks that laid just at my jawline looked perfect, the cool air instead of humidity from the this morning keeping it in place, my cheeks looking rosey as dad would say, my ocean like blue eyes seeming bigger than usual. I always hated the black mole on my left check, but after all the guys I dated, which is only two since freshmen year, Kevin making it three if he'd ask me to the homecoming dance already, said they thought it was cute and used it as a kissing target.

I don't mind it.

I fixed the tied shirt that showed off my belly button and it was then I wish I had my belly button piercing I got on my 17th birthday back in August just to show it off, but my mind trailed off when I heard laughter coming into the bathroom and I turned to Celeste and her so-called best friend Nikki, that replaced me years ago.

"Ooooooh Charlotte Montgomery," Celeste clasped her hands together in her cheer uniform, her giant white bow in her hair. I rolled my and kept checking myself in the mirror.

I was not afraid of her, and she knew that, but the bad thing was that she didn't give a damn that I wasn't afraid.

"Nice to see you in here," she greeted with an over exaggerated smile. Nikki chuckled. I sighed with nonchalant eyes.

"Baby, don't even waste your "precious" breath on me, cause I don't give one single fuck to listen," I told her. Through the reflection, Celeste expression changed from her fake smile to narrow eyes but she shook it off and smiled again. This one more real and mischief.

"Well I just wanted to say I'm proud of you," she nodded at me. I paused but I soon just went in my purse and took out my red lip stick to reapply as my response, and when she got the idea she got on the mirror beside me, making Nikki grab a paper towel for her and she wiped the glass before looking through it. "I'm proud of you that you stick with your dreams even if they seem impossible." I shook my head as I finally had to say something.

"Celeste, I have no idea in hell what you're talking about, and I really couldn't care less what it is." She shrugged, adding more blush to her face, fixing her cheer bow on her abnormally high ponytail.

"Well I was just saying, but okay. If you don't care I guess I don't have to worry about it either," she admitted smirking in the mirror. "Less of a hassle for me." I nodded smiling and I finally turned my whole body to her. She turned to me with perked lips and easy eyes as if she knew something I didn't. But as I said, I did not care.

"Don't talk to me," I told her bluntly as I left out the bathroom with a face of disgust.

I went in line to get the concessions for Asher and I with his money and as I was standing in line, on my phone replying to people's messages and social media notifications, someone pops up behind me, grabbing my shoulders pulling me into them and I screamed, and looked at them as they laughed to see it was just Kevin, his face by mine.

"Omg! Kevin!" I screeched pushing him off me playfully. "You scared the crap out of me!" I said as people were looking at me annoyed. I didn't crave attention and never asked for it, therefore I was highly embarrassed. Kevin just kept laughing with open arms, his cute smile wanting to kill me.

"I'm sorry I had to!" He still laughed his arms open. I crossed my arms and huffed my breath, pretending not to care to see him.

"Whatever," I replied turning to the face the line to the concessions.

"How about an old hug as an apology?" Kevin asked me. "Just for you." I turned around, perking my lips to the side, something I knew Kevin personally liked, and I asked,

"Just for me?"

He nodded once licking his lips, biting the bottom of them also and I sighed hating to fall for it.

"Fine."

"Haha! I knew you would Lotte," he hugged me tight like he hadn't just seen me at school just a few hours ago.

I laughed when we did as Kevin always made me laugh, and when we departed I just smiled at his unique light hazel brown eyes, that honestly, next year in senior year book he'd have to get voted on "Prettiest Eyes," for sure and he took off his band hat missing with his nice clean shaved head. He didn't have a lot of hair but it was still cute as it suit him well with his caramel skin tone that was a shade darker than Dawn's brown sugar.

As he looked up at the concessions, I was admiring the way his band uniform fit his toned body. Kevin didn't have a lot of muscle, but he was toned with a four pack that I saw a few months ago in the summer when I decided to throw a private pool party.

When I finally took my eyes off him, he instantly turned his focused to me as if he waited for me to not look at him anymore.

"What ya gettin'?" Kevin asked me. I shrugged, looking at my options, but not the prices.

"Well I don't know. I was going to get popcorn, but I don't want all that butter over my fingers," I shook my hands as if I could feel it already. Kevin chuckled at me. "I was going to get a Hershey bar, but if we're going out tomorrow for cupcakes I need make a smart choice, so maybe I'll just get a pickle." By the way Kevin didn't say anything, I looked back at him and he was giving the look of shame.

"Are you serious right now Lotte?" He asked me with that straight face.

"Whaaat?" I asked him. "I need to watch my calories."

"For what? You look amazing!" He told me. Kevin always compliments me, but never has he said these things out loud. I somewhat blushed, but I played it like I didn't care.

"Umm for the homecoming dance that's in less than a month," I informed him seriously. "Since I'm not going for princess, I might as well find some bomb ass dress that fits me perfect to make up for it," I admitted to him. Kevin paused at first and smiled shaking his head, cutting forward in me in line and I said, "Hey!" But he went on not minding me.

"Can I have a two Hershey bars and a bottle of water please?" He asked the boy from the student council behind the counter.

"Sure thing Kev. Hey Charlotte," the boy waved me. I waved shyly as the boy walked away and Kevin got out his wallet from his back pocket.

"Kevin what are doing? And why did you get two Hershey bars. I'm not eating both of those." Kevin just kept smiling, giving the man the money and getting his water and the two candy bars.

"They both aren't for you," he told me handing me one. I took it and looked at him and when he tugged me away from the line, he looked at me as I held the bar in front of me.

"Look Lotte, I don't care what you say about yourself. But you're perfect, and I'm not just talking about your body okay? You're beautiful in every which a way a girl can, and treating yourself with ONE Hershey bar will not hurt you, and if it did!" He was getting louder wanting to embarrass me and I had to laugh. "Then so be it! I'll still be your friend REGARDLESS! And hey, imma eat a Hershey too and if we both magically GET FAT we can roll around together! It'd be fun!" I just kept laughing, almost having tears as I hung onto his arm still laughing and he chuckled at me, and when I finally calmed down he told me,

"But seriously Lotte, treat yourself. You deserve it no matter if we get cupcakes tomorrow or a salad," he placed his hand on my shoulder looking right at me. I giggled and took his hand, rubbing the back of it looking at the ground then up at me swinging my body around shyly and he then commented taking my hand yelling, "Charlotte Montgomery can eat whatever she wants because she's a beaut! You heard it hear folks! A true beaut! Some would even say princess worthy!!" I quickly took my hand from him and laughed as other people were looking at us and laughing, and some even clapped and I shook my head.

"Oh my gosh Kevin, you are so embarrassing!" I covered my mouth laughing really hard.

"It's just a friendly way of me showing you off to the world," he took my hand with a grin, his hat under his opposite arm bit. Suddenly we heard horns being blown from the band and he laughed looking back, still holding my hand.

"Well I guess that's my cue to go Shawty, I'll try to find you after the game alright?" I giggled shrugging at him.

"Hehehe, you better find me," I scold him playfully. "I didn't come to this game just for Dawn and you know that." He brighten at that reply, and he then just suddenly, kissed my cheek, placed his hat on his head and was about to take off.

"And I prayed you didn't." He was about to run off back down stairs to the field but I stopped him.

"Hey Kevin wait!" He stopped and came back.

"What's the matter?"

There's was nothing the matter, in fact, I had absolutely nothing to say to him, but I couldn't just leave that tease of a kiss on my cheek. I told him to come here and he came closer and I looked at his hazel eyes then his band hand, and I getting on my tip toes to fix it,

"That would've bothered me all night..." and right when I finished fixing his hat, I kissed him on the lips. Fast but soft and I bit my bottom lip looking at him, as he stared me, kind of astonished. That comment could've gone either way, but I think Kevin honestly took the literal side of it and I had to laugh as he looked mesmerized, processing it all.

Bluntly, I tapped his shoulder and he blinked at me surprised as if he just came back from another world and I whispered as the band was beginning to play,

"You better get out there BB, their playin without ya." Suddenly Kevin jumped out of it and he took off down the stairs saying,

"A beaut I tell ya! A true beaut!!" And I couldn't stop laughing looking at the Hershey bar he got me and I blushed just thinking about what just happened and if things keep going the way they were, we definitely will be going to homecoming together and with a date like Kevin? He'd make me feel like royalty....

Even without the crown on my head.

~