We Only Breathe For So Long.

Waking up the next day, Charlotte was quick to follow her usual routine. Today would be different, the promise she had kept was going to be kept—she didn’t need someone around like John O’Callaghan, he was a risk, she didn’t want to do that to him.

But of course, her first class of the day just had to be the one subject she shared with John; English Literature.

She walked in, on time, taking her seat at the back in the corner before getting out her portfolio—if there was one thing beside watching her stack of Disney movies, it was taking photos, it wasn’t something she did always, only when something captured her eye.

She had taken up photography along with her other subjects, but English Literature and photography seem to be the only subjects that held much interest for her. She had no idea of what she wanted to do in the near future—hell, she hadn’t thought of that at all.

The end of her time at school would be over before she knew it.



“So, how about we start off today by going around the class and seeing just how far we have gotten on this ’getting-to-know-you’ crap, starting with—O’Callaghan, nice of you to grace us with your presence.” Charlotte’s head snapped up at the sound of his name.

“Always a pleasure, Deborah.” The few girls in the class giggled at the sight of John taking an overdramatic bow to the class, a few guys scoffing at his antics.

“So, without further ado, O’Callaghan start us off.” Ms. Braise smirked at the confused boy.

“With what, m’lady?” John quirked an eyebrow.

“You have volunteered for starting off on how far you have succeeded in learning about the dear Ms Charlotte up the back.”

“Oh, very well then, m’lady,” John took another bow before beginning his explanation of the girl up back, hiding behind her curtain of hair, “so, for this assignment given to us by the lovely Deborah, I was chosen to learn about Ms Charlotte up back, who appears to be hiding behind her waves of hair.”

Charlotte sat up more straight, pushing the hair back behind her ears, her cheeks still flustered pink, “In the very few days we have had to—uh—learn about our chosen partner, I learn that Charlotte here is very quiet—if it weren’t already obvious, she’s one to hide behind the things that matter most to her and like many other people she has many skeletons hidden in her closet that she won’t reveal to anyone.” John intently watched her, their eyes locked on each other as he continued to list of facts about her.

“She—well, she has a strange taste in ice cream,” he chuckled, smirking at the smile she tried to hide, “mango with chocolate fudge, oh and you can’t forget the sprinkles, it’s a must. Overall, she’s someone you can easily get along with, but fails to notice that, uh—sometimes it isn’t your own fault, sometimes you aren’t the only one with the problem; but the other ones around you.” He paused, staring at her, it looked as if he was going over in his head of something else to say but shook his head.

“So—uh, that’s all I have so far.” John sheepishly finished, rubbing the back of his neck, looking over at Ms Braise for further instructions.

“Well…thank you, O’Callaghan that was more than enough.” Ms Braise concluded, John nodding his head making his way to the empty seat next to Charlotte, “Okay, now time for Ms Charlotte herself to give us a bit of an introduction on Mr O’Callaghan himself, up front and centre missy.”

Charlotte ducked her head, catching a glimpse of the smirk on John’s face as she begrudgingly made her way up to the front, “So, inform us all of what you learnt about Mr O’Callaghan that nobody else would know.”

Charlotte looked out to the small class of at least 15 students, already feeling the nerves hit an all-time high, “Uh—well, h-he, um, he sings in a band...” the class chuckled at the obvious fact.

“I’m well aware he is in a band Ms Charlotte, try again.” Ms. Braise encourage, nevertheless joking with Charlotte.

“W-Well, I got the impression h-he’s not one to give up on something once he has the goal set in mind, he-he’ll keep on pushing, but not in the way that it’s like he-he’s forcing it out of you…uhm,” she looked over at Ms Braise who was giving her the ’go on’ look, Charlotte sighed, turning back around eyes set on John, “John’s—he’s someone you can just…chill with a-and feel comfortable, he’s easy to get along with and even if you are the awkwardest person in existence, h-he can make you feel…like everything is alright, even if it is just for a little while…” Charlotte focused her eyes on the ground, to just about everyone else in the room, her final words gave off a content sort of a tone, whereas to herself, her final words set more of an disregarded sort of tone that no one caught onto, besides John himself.

“Well, thank you Ms Charlotte that was a very…intriguing and thorough perspective of Mr O’Callaghan you have.” Ms Braise concluded, waving her hand for Charlotte to leave back to her table.

Charlotte continued to ignore the glances John would surpass her way, trying to engross herself in the other student’s explanations of their class partners, but even then, her mind was elsewhere.



“Before you leave for break, try and learn more about your partner, most of you barely knew their name, “ Ms Braise said, eyeing one of the students up front who had forgotten their partners name momentarily, “and enjoy your weekend, m’dears.”

The class exited, the bell having already gone, signalling break, which for Charlotte, would be followed by Study Hall.

“Charlotte,” the familiar voice called out, but she continued to walk fast, pushing past all the people, not getting far because she suddenly felt a hand grab her arm, “Charlotte, no need to walk off so fast, it’s only me.” He chuckled.

“I’ve got to get to my locker John...” She mumbled to the taller male, ignoring the stares that people were giving them, having stopped in the middle of the hallway.

“Why the sudden rush Charlotte, its only break?” He quirked an eyebrow at Charlotte who avoided his stare.

“I’ve got to…be somewhere.” She made up.

“Like where, Char?” He chuckled, “C’mon, come sit with me or at least come see the guys, they’ve been itching to see you, y’know?” He smiled at her, pulling on her arm gently.

“John—“ She sighed.

“Just for a little while at le—”

“John.” She said more firmly, “I-I don’t think—what happened yesterday, i-it shouldn’t have happened..”

“I know, I’m ignoring Garrett as it is, don’t yo—“

“No, John, I-I mean the whole—us, hanging with each other a-and the ice cream and that…” She stumbled over her words, feeling nervous all of a sudden but knowing this had to be done, “we should only be working on the assignment together.” She avoided his eyes at all cost, not wanting to see the confusion and possibly hurt.

“W-What do you mean Char? Yesterday was good, y-you were…happy, you were fine, why the sudden change?” He couldn’t comprehend a single word the girl was telling him, was it something he had done or something he had said? Or was this all because of Garrett? “Is this because of the whole thing with Garrett?” He questioned, watching as she ducked her head, “Don’t worry about him at all Char, I’ve got it under control.”

“N-No John, it’s more than that, w-we just can’t hang out.” She tried to explain.

“Why? Was it something I did? If it was because I was pushing you yesterday, I apologized, I didn’t me—“

“No, no,” she shook her head, “i-it’s not that at all.”

“Then what?” He was becoming frustrated with the delay of answers.

“It’s me John, I-I just need to concentrate on studies a-and it’s best if we don’t hang out, unless if it’s for an assignment…” She trailed off, lying through every single word.

Of course she didn’t want to stop whatever friendship that was beginning to develop between her and John—but alas, things were never going her way and she had to do this.

“So you’re saying that you need to concentrate on your studies and that we—“ he pointed at himself and her, “can’t hang out because of it?” he recounted.

She silently nodded her head, “All I was doing was being there for you Char, fuck I was being a friend,” he paced back and forth, running a hand through his hair, “it’s not like I was asking for your—your fuckin’ hand in marriage, I mean, fuck Char, I was just being a friend, but clearly—being a friend isn’t what you want, so fuck it.” He snapped, not meaning to, but he was frustrated with what she was trying to say to him, before walking off, not looking at the guilty girl who should have felt relieved that she had kept her promise to herself, but felt much worse.



The rest of the day was uneventful, Charlotte sat through study hall by herself, going over her notes for her AP Psychology class—this particular class was the main class that had her working her butt off, learning about the brain and it’s different cortex’ and each role that they played, it was a lot to take in, but it was another class that held slight interest for her.

She passed through the afternoon, not once seeing John, it was either he avoiding her or she completely missed him.

By her last class, she couldn’t be happier to finish; the weekend was here and she would fill that with the studying of the stack of homework her teachers had given her today. She would have the weekend to herself—the usual Disney movies, a little bit of the Lion King, perhaps a bit Cinderella to top that and probably a nice walk around the place.

She had her weekend planned and set in stone.

But on the other hand she couldn’t ignore the mention of the party John had told her of and it of course didn’t help with the constant chatters of it around the school.

But after the relationship of whatever sort, if you could even call it that, had grown between her and John, she had to distance herself before it became too late.

However, she never noticed that even though she never saw him, he always saw her.



Hours later, school had finished for the week and Charlotte sat at home in her room going over notes for her AP Psychology class, she had a minor test next week, but she wished to ace it—so of course, studying was what led her to the present events.

She was getting down to finally getting the auditory cortex down in her head when there was a soft knock on the door.

“Come in.” She mumbled back, writing down some more.

“Sweetie, I don’t mean to interrupt you, but—uh, it seems you have visitors.” And for the first time it wasn’t only Charlotte with the quirked eyebrow.

“Uhm, I-I wasn’t expecting any visitors…?” Charlotte looked up at her mother, crinkling her nose.

“Well, it seems like you do, Daisy.” Charlotte stood up from her bed, heading downstairs to where she could hear the chatters.

“Charlotte! Long-time no talk! I missed you…well, we all did.” She looked over at the three boys in her door way in shock, making her way over to them.

“No hugs? Okay, we’re not in the ’friend’ stage yet, clearly.” Pat exclaimed, emphasising the word friend.

“W-What are you guys doing here?” Charlotte still shocked at the sight of Pat, Jared and Kennedy all with warm smiles on their faces.

“Well, we heard about the uh…dispute you and John had in the hallway today and just wanted to check up on you and shit..” Kennedy answered, but Charlotte caught the clipped tone in his voice at the mention of John.

“Well…I’m fine guys, you didn’t come all this way just to come as me that—I mean, I-I barely know you guys…” She ducked her head, the heat rising up to her cheeks.

“A-Are you saying we aren’t friends Charlotte? I’m appalled!” Pat pouted which Charlotte couldn’t help but let out a slight laugh at.

“Charlotte, from the past few days—and it has been only days—John seems to find you more interesting than his own friends—hell, his own girlfriend, but you see, my dear, dear Charlotte,” Jared reasoned, “after your slight dispute with him, it seems his mind is off in the clouds.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” She questioned, quite aware of what it did have to do with her, but wishing it didn’t.

“Quite a lot actually, he can’t even fucking concentrate, right now that…thing!” Kennedy explained, clearly referring to Alyssa, “is even all over him and he hasn’t once acknowledged that her boobs,” Charlotte cringed at his choice of words, “are sitting right in front of his face or that her va—“

“Okay Kennedy I get the point.” She crinkled her nose, not wanting to picture just what those two were doing, “but what do you want me to do about it? I mean, h-he made it pretty clear he didn’t want anything to do with me. He’ll get over it.” She mumbled.

“Look—Charlotte , ” Jared started, running a hand through his hair, “if you were anyone else, we wouldn’t bother with trying to even contact you, but you’re different a-and John sees something in you we don’t, he’s been moping around all day—well, been off in the clouds,” Jared explained, “but anyways, none of us could get through to him today and we just need someone to tell him that y’know…well, we just want you to clear things up with him.”

“I did today Jared.” She counteracted.

“No, no, you’re not getting what he is saying Char,” Charlotte cringed at the nickname Kennedy used, “John i-is beating himself up over this, he thinks it’s his fault with what happened today.” Kennedy reasoned.

And of course it wasn’t exactly the truth, it was a white lie, all the guys knew it but Charlotte looked at them trying to read their expressions but got nothing.

“Can’t you just tell him it isn’t his fault..” They could tell they were getting through to her by her eyes drifting to the floor.

“Like he would believe us, he’s John O’Callaghan.” Pat scoffed.

“Can’t you just come with us Charlotte and explain to him it isn’t? It won’t take that long, promise.” Jared pleaded, “Please, Charlotte?”

All the guys nodded along, their eyes begging her.

She thought it over, “…I-I’ll ask my mom real quick…” she trailed off, walking away from their—no doubt—big grins on their faces.

“Mom?” She walked into the living room, seeing her mother with a book in hand.

“So they want you to go with them to see this John fellow?” Her mother sternly asked, Charlotte bit her lip.

“I-It’ll only be to fix things up, I promise a-and then I’ll come straight home.” She nervously replied, fumbling with her hands.

“I don’t really know if I like the sound of all of this, Daisy..”

“It’ll be for at least thirty minutes or so tops, I-I’ll take my phone with me and the guys are trustworthy.” She bit back her tongue at the temptation of adding in somewhat a the end of her sentence, “I-I just need to make amends with John..”

“How can I trust these boys, Daisy? You only just met them.” Charlotte was beginning to get frustrated at the situation at hand.

“Mom, please, I-I usually don’t ask for much, but…I need to do this, please.” Charlotte begged.

Her mother stared at her, mauling over the decision in her head, “Thirty minutes, tops?”

“And only thirty.” Charlotte beamed back.

“Okay, be safe, take your phone.” Her mother continued.

“Yes mom.” Charlotte sprinted off before she could say anything else.

She sighed to herself, returning to her book.

“Teenagers these days…” She mumbled to herself.



Charlotte stared up at the house, the music was blaring through the speakers inside the house, people were scattered all around the lawn, the front already half covered. She didn’t even want to think of what the inside would look like.

“C’mon Charlotte, this way.” She trailed behind the three guys like a lost puppy—and she basically was, she had never experienced a party before, well, not like this.

She followed the guys to a side fence and trailed along to the back looking at the pool which happened to be full with topless guys and girls in bikinis.

Charlotte looked away, blushing at the sight—it wasn’t that she thought it was disturbing, she just felt…odd in such a place like this, it was definitely her scene.

“He’s over there, Char.” She didn’t even acknowledge the use of the nickname, simply looking over to where Kennedy was point to, only to see John sitting alone with a beer in hand who looked completely exhausted, they were all away from the crowd of people.

“Go over to him Charlotte.” Jared encouraged.

Charlotte looked over at him flabbergasted, “W-what? Now? He looks…busy.” She excused, the guys laughed at her attempt.

“Gooooo Charlotte.” Pat drawled out the ‘go’, lightly pushing her over the lonely figure.

“But guys, I-I’m not read—“

“JOHN!” Pat called out, the three guys scattering.

Charlotte glared over at them, walking away giving her the thumbs up and beaming at her.

“W-what are you doing here?” The sound of his raspy voice was enough to make her look up at him.

She hadn’t talked to him at all today, so to finally be confronting with him was…strange, nonetheless she couldn’t help but feel a bit intimidated.

“I-I, well you see the thing is…I-I, uhm, and the guys, well they wanted…I mean to say that…I just…this isn’t making any sense is it?” She looked up at him sheepishly.

He was still in shock she turned up there, “Uh, not really.” He lightly chuckled.

“I-I wanted to apologize, I d-didn’t mean to uhm…say what I di—“

“No,” he shook his head, she frowned, thinking she had said something wrong.

She tried again, “I didn’t mean to say what—“

“No Char, i-it wasn’t your fault, it was mine, I didn’t mean to…snap like I did. I’m sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair, sighing at the same time.

“W-Why are you apologizing John? I-It’s not your fault at all...it’s mine if anything…”

“That’s just it Char! It’s not; did you not hear what I said today? It’s not always your fault, you don’t have to blame yourself, and there are always other people to blame or other aspects.” He argued back.

“B-but it is John…the guys told me you were beating yourself up over it, s-so I came here to—“

“They said that?” He raised an eyebrow at her statement, to which she silently nodded, “well I’m not—“

She scoffed, surprising not only him, but herself to, “Then why aren’t you enjoying the party?”

“I—uh, well…shit.” He chuckled, “you caught me.”

“C-can you just accept the apology John? Cause I really am sorry.” She muttered, fumbling with her hands.

“There is no need for an apology, but I’ll accept your ’apology’.” He emphasised on the ‘apology’ with finger quotations.

“Okay good, s-so, you’re all good now?” She said, he nodded in reply, a small smile playing at his lips, “well I’ll see you on Monday then John.” She finished, turning around to walk away, only to freeze.

“Wait, why are you le—“

“Why is that here?”

Thirty minutes tops, she had told her mom—but she suddenly felt it was going to be much longer.