The Richardson List

Audrey had never been the most encouraging person that Carter had met, and was definitely not afraid to laugh in one’s face when they proposed a seemingly brilliant idea. It was almost as if she enjoyed crushing the dreams and self-esteems of others. Well, okay, that was a little harsh, but laughing at Carter was a little harsh too.

“It was just an idea,” Carter mumbled under her breath, crossing her arms over her chest with a pout jutting out her bottom lip. “I don’t recall you coming up with anything better.”

The blonde’s laughter failed to cease as she continued to giggle relentlessly, spilling from the fingers covering her lips in an attempt to stop it. At Carter’s words another round was instigated, hands now clutching at her sides as if at any moments the seems holding her together would rip. She was taking this too far.

“But… take him down?” she managed to sputter out once she had calmed down slightly, an insufferable grin still infecting her face.

“Like I said, do you have any better plans?” Carter’s eyes were set in a harsh glare, but that wasn’t very harsh at all, since she was never really an intimidating person.

“Maybe we should shoot him into outer space in our rocket ship!” It was clear Audrey found her joke to be the most hilarious thing ever said in the course of history as she began laughing, once again.

Carter, and most likely every other person on earth if they had the unfortunate luck of hearing it, thought otherwise.

“But Audrey, remember? I have the picture!” Carter tried to salvage any bit of hope for her plan, fishing the photo from her pocket and slamming it against the table.

The plan was genius, and she had spent all of History carefully crafting each specific detail and working around every outcome possible. Of course it first began from the boredom that History presented itself to believe, with Tiffany… not there, the class wasn’t exactly her favourite, and she needed something to do. And it had blossomed into something brilliant! Or well, Carter liked to believe it was.

“Carter, darling,” Audrey placed a hand over the picture, something akin to sympathy in her eyes. “Have you bumped your head again?”

Carter mumbled curses under her breath as she huffed, offended.

A chuckle flittered into the air. “Okay, okay, no more jokes. But seriously, you’re going to ‘destroy’ the list? While he’s just a dude, not some god or anything, how are you going to make him shred up the thing that make Skye so popular?” Audrey asked, her tone already implying how stupid she thought it was, and that there was no way that Carter could fulfill the fantasy spiriting through her mind.

“Exactly! He’s got a reputation to uphold!” Carter felt as if her point was already proven, but Audrey’s face portrayed otherwise.

“Do you even know what you’re trying to get into? Yeah, I don’t like the guy that much either, but still…” Audrey’s voice trailed off.

“Will you at least help me?”

A sigh was heard as Audrey rolled her eyes, a smile curving onto her lips. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t?”

“A very bad friend,” Carter concluded, also accenting with a smile of her own.

At this the both of them laughed, Carter grateful that her friend would at least help with the entire thing, even if she was a tad sceptic on it all. Though, she didn’t blame her, for Carter wasn’t exactly all as sure as made it seem. The doubts were clamouring loud and clear inside, because, well, it was a little far-fetched.

Cole appeared from behind Audrey with a brown paper bag, the grease bleeding through a clear giveaway that it was pizza. His eyebrows were knitted together in confusion as he took a seat beside Carter.

“I feel like I missed something.”

Carter dismissed his questions with a wave of her hand, the ghost of a smile still present on her lips. “Don’t worry about it. Where’d you get pizza?”

Audrey had also recovered and was staring down the now exposed slice of greasy goodness, eyes flickering with hunger. It seemed she never brought a lunch, however preferred to mooch of others as if everything tasted better when it wasn’t her own.

“Oh, I went with Zack ‘cause I knew you guys wouldn’t come,” he replied nonchalantly, sinking his teeth into the slice. Audrey stared envious across the table from him.

“Was that a stab at our weight?” Carter asked, cocking an eyebrow with threatening hint to her voice.

“Yes, yes it was.” He cracked a toothy grin, beaming.

Carter parted her lips, inhaling deeply to prepare for the snarky remark settled on the tip of her tongue. Though, she was seconds too late as Audrey’s voice piped up from the opposite side of them.

“Yes, yes, we’re so fat. Giant. Shamoo over here, most definitely. Throw me into the sea and watch me swim. And you should feed giant people because we’re fat and we need food, this is the circle of life. So, I think you should give this fat person a bite of your pizza.”

She grinned innocently while her hands groped for anything she could get her fingers on, more specifically the pizza.

“No,” Cole scolded, holding his pizza close to him defensively. “We don’t give them pizza so they can get un-fat, now go the gym!”

At this Audrey pouted, slumping her figure defeated. “Fine,” she sighed dejected, looking as if her dog just got hit by a car. “But if I kill myself, just remember that I’ll be on your guilty conscious,” she warned him, once again allowing an exaggerated sigh to leave her lips.

Carter instantly tensed at her words, feeling the familiar lump form in her throat. Neither of them seemed to notice though as she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, and swallowed.

“I guess I’ll just have to deal.” He shrugged while taking another bite of his pizza, as if he were rubbing it in her face. Her lips pursed bitterly as a result, a slight glare hidden in her eyes.

Audrey sighed and lifted to her feet, grabbing her bag and slinging it over a shoulder. “Fine, I’ll go ask my best friend Zack for some because he’s such a nice person and will give me some.”

She turned on her heel in a pretentious fashion and stalked off, causing for both Cole and Carter to erupt into laughter, the girl finding herself falling at ease once again.

They both talked about silly things as Cole finished his pizza, laughing at how much of a mooch Audrey was but how they loved her anyways. Carter felt a soothing sensation overwhelm her, limbs relaxed and an effortless smile twisted on her lips. She felt at ease knowing neither Skye nor Lily could come and interrupt their conversation. No one could steal Cole away from her, or at least, she felt like it.

As Carter was explaining how from Art class her shirt had been splattered with blotches of green and blue, Cole slipped his hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone, eyes connecting with the lit-up screen. As the girl continued she noticed his brows furrow, bringing the cell onto the table.

“What’s up?” she interrupted her story, eyeing his phone with curiosity.

“Eh, nothing. Lily just usually texts me around now.” His tone was a clear forced casualness, Carter knew Cole almost better than herself and she knew when something was troubling him, the disturbed expression on his face betraying his words.

Carter raised an eyebrow. “Are you that clingy?” she asked with a hint of mocking in her tone.

He cast her a playful glare, his lips suggesting a smile. “Nah, it’s just that lately she’s been so distant, you know?”

Carter bit back all the words that were pleading to be released, compelling a tight smile on her face. “Well, she’s stupid if she doesn’t realize what a catch you are.”

Silence flooded between them as Carter met his gaze, sapphire eyes boring into her own. At his sudden quiet she felt a blush spill across her cheeks, keeping her eyes locked with his.

Then he grinned.

“What? Have I heard wrong? Did Carter say something nice to me?” he teased, balling up the paper bag and tossing it into the garbage can only a few feet away.

“…I hate you,” she mumbled, embarrassment still heating up her cheeks.

“Come on, I have to go to my locker.” He laughed

They both grabbed their bags and began their pursuit for his locker. Cole proposed they go the shorter way behind the school, saving them time. Carter agreed without a thought.

As they continued ambling across the field, they had finally came across the back of the school. Many unpleasant memories crashed upon her delicate mind, causing for her to wince slightly. This went unnoticed by Cole.

They both turned the corner; Cole laughing about some Carter hadn’t quite caught. Carter gave him a smile nonetheless.

Abruptly, Cole had stopped, silence severing his laughter. Astonished, Carter looked at him, confused. She followed his gaze.

“Lily?” Cole’s voice cracked, eyes the size of dung beetles. In his tone was a blend of astonishment and hurt.

“Shit!”

At the sight of her boyfriend, Lily instantly jumped from Skye’s lap, trying to gain as much space as she could between the two. Her face mirrored the time when Carter had found them, but it had been multiplied by a tenfold.

“Cole?” Her voice was barely over a whisper, but was clearly heard over the tense hush surrounding them all.

“You’re… you’re… cheating on me?” his voice trailed off as his volume began to decrease with each word, disbelief written upon his face as he eyed the offenders.

Skye remained impervious to the recent toll of events and like Carter, darted his eyes upon the scene unravelling before them.

Carter who remained completely still was left conflicted on what she should do.

“I… well… I’m sorry!” Tears welded up in Lily’s eyes as a genuine plea left her lips, taking a step closer to which Cole took a step back.

“You’re sorry? Really? That’s fucking original.”

All the shock that had mingled in his voice had evaporated and left a bitter fury in its place. He narrowed his eyes, lips pressed tightly together in a thin line.

Out of all the times she had seen Cole mad, this was definitely one of the most severe.

As his attitude changed so did Lily’s as she swallowed harshly, composing herself for the worst.

“Well, Carter knew too!” she burst out, scrambling to hurl the blame on anyone but herself.

By the way Cole paused and slowly turned to his friend, it seemed that her plan had worked.

“What?”

His voice was barely over a whisper, hurt painted across his face. Carter averted her gaze onto the ground, shame welding up in her being.

The one thing that she prayed to any listening god to not happened, had happened. And nothing could prepare her to face the pain that was so clear in Cole’s eyes, the disappointment on his face, all because of her.

“I- I was going to tell you… but, I well, just…” she stumbled over her words, trying so hard to put her emotions into a logical explanation; all she needed was for him to understand, if she could only make him understand.

“Seriously Carter? Just save it. You knew and you didn’t even tell me? That’s seriously pathetic. You were supposed to be my friend, you know that? My best friend and you’re just… pathetic.”

He glared, and unlike the many other glares she had received from the blonde boy, this wasn’t teasing or playful or just a joke, there was so much hate behind it she cringed. He was genuinely angry with her, he’d never been that angry ever in his life at her, nothing could have compared. And by the way that he stalked off, without another word, she was left to assume this wasn’t some dumb fight that they’d laugh about the next morning.

The three left abandoned were still, each registering what had just happened. Lily was the first to make any movement, giving both Skye and Carter a once over before striding in the opposite direction of Cole.

“That was… weird,” Skye finally spoke, chuckling slightly while lifting to his feet.

Carter didn’t have the strength for any snappy comebacks, instead heaved a deep sigh and scurried off in the direction in which her and Cole had come from, searching for the sight of Audrey.

And her day just got a lot worse. She really was pathetic.