Sell Your Soul

Cali's heart was racing. Charlie Scene had kissed her. Twice. And now he was half asleep on her chest. His hand rested on her knee, and he took a deep breath. She felt his breath run down the front of her lowcut shirt.

"Charlie?" she said. "I think you should go home now. Maria will be back at ten, and I'm sure the guys are worried."

"Mmm...don't wanna go home," he mumbled.

"I'll drive you home and have Maria pick me up again," Cali suggested.

"You can stay at my house," Charlie replied.

He half stood, half fell from the couch, and Cali helped him stand up straight. She grabbed her phone, took Charlie by the hand, and they both went to his car. He slid in next to Cali in the front seat, grinning from ear to ear. She smiled at him, then started the car. His music was playing at a steady volume. He sang along, a bit out of tune, making Cali giggle a little.

"How long will you stay?" asked Charlie.

"Probably around 10:15," said Cali. "I hope you don't mind."

"Nope," laughed Charlie.
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"Cali, what the hell?" shouted Maria. "I can't keep picking you up from there. If you hadn't had your car impounded, this wouldn't be a problem. You don't go to school anymore. I don't mind if you wanna date him, but you need to shape up."

"He came to our house, Maria," protested Cali. "What the fuck was I supposed to do? I couldn't just let him drive home."

"I'll be there soon," Maria huffed, and she hung up.

George put his arm around Cali's shoulder and said, "It's okay. We love you here."

"Why's your friend so pissed?" asked Matt.

"She hates that I'm not going to class," sighed Cali. "I think she wants me to get a better job than her. She's like a big sister."

"No offense, but she seems like a bitch," said Matt.

"Only to you because you dumped water on her face."

He laughed, remembering his deed from yesterday. Jay smacked the back of his head, attempting to quiet his friend. Cali let out a small laugh, and George took his arm from her. They looked down at Charlie who had passed out on the couch immediately when they got to the house. Dillon shook his head.

"He's been drinking for a while today, always talking about you," he said. "I'm surprised he could drive all the way to your apartment without crashing."

"Does he really like me?" asked Cali.

"After only two days of knowing you?" Dillon put his hand on his head. "Yeah."

"We've never seen him like this with any girl," added George. "Usually he's got one everyday- different one all the time. But the fact that he would want to see you again after not even having sex- that's not like Scene."

"What about Jordan?" Cali said.

"Same guy," said a confused Dillon. "What do you mean?"

"Is Charlie Scene different from Jordan? They might be the same person, but do they have the same personality?"

"Like is he bipolar?" asked George.

"No, like does his stage presence affect his real person?" corrected Matt, knowing where Cali was trying to go with the conversation.

"Oh..." The guys all looked around at each other and shrugged. Cali bit her lip and looked down at Charlie.

The doorbell rang, and Matt leapt into action.

"She's going to kill him," said Cali.

"I'll go save him," laughed Dillon. "We wouldn't want our curly-haired mistress getting killed by a blond bombshell."

Cali rolled her eyes, but soon she knew he was right. She heard Maria speaking harshly to Matt, even though he was trying to be civil. Maria huffed into the room, Matt and Dillon not too far behind her, and she glared at Cali.

"Let's go, Cali," she said.

"Wait!" Charlie sat up from the couch. "We should go to the bar!"

"Scene, you're drunk enough-" began Dillon.

"Like a date?" asked Cali.

"Ehhh...not really," replied Charlie. "I think Matt and Maria should go too!"

"No," said Maria, and at the same time, Matt said, "Sure."

They looked at each other. He smiled, and she rolled her eyes. Cali touched Maria's elbow and looked at her pleadingly.

"Just to make this clear, I'm only going because you're going," said Maria.

"And I'm only going because Jordan's going," said Matt, smiling foolishly.

"Alright!" shouted Charlie. "Let's go, bitches!"

Dillon, George, and Jay watched as they all climbed into Maria's car. Charlie kissed Cali's cheek, and Cali blushed. The group sped away, Matt giving directions to a less-than-happy Maria.

Cali poked Maria and whispered, "He likes you."

Maria reached back and smacked Cali on the leg.