His Deepest Secret

Tomorrow came. The sun began rising. Fog had settled in the low banks of the city.

It was finally the weekend, the glorious two days in which teenagers could stay up all night and not lose sleep.

Charlotte had stayed up all night talking to Alissa about the horrid project she was given and whom her partner was. Anderson had stayed up all night throwing footballs down the length of the football field, trying to keep his arm as strong as he could.

Both were letting out their frustrations, knowing the next day would be another bad one. Mrs. Heinagan made sure every partner got the other's number, Facebook, e-mail, and whatever else the other had. The English teacher didn't let her students manage their time of when they would turn everything in. She simply told them the due dates of every part of the project. And on Thursday, the scene explanations would be due. Both partners had to write the exact same explanations on their own pieces of paper so Mrs. Heinagan would know one partner did not do all of the work.

Today, Charlotte made plans to meet Anderson at the local Starbucks down the street from the school. Anderson made plans to get the hell out of there as fast as he could.

Charlotte had woken up and padded downstairs, where her parents were already sitting, drinking coffee and listening to the news on the television. Her family wasn't rich, but they were not poor, either. Her father worked as an electrician and her mother developed a huge business through Avon and was extremely successful in it.

"Morning sweetie," her mother said, smiling at her from the table in the dining room. "There are scrambled eggs in the pan."

"Mmm..." Charlotte grumbled as she walked over to the cabinets. She got a plate and put a scoop full of eggs on it. As she sat down beside her father, her brain turned on and thoughts came rushing in.

She had to complete a project with him. Out of all the students in the classroom, she couldn't even be partners with the kid who picks his nose? Because to her, that was far better than being partnered up with Anderson. In an hour and a half, she was supposed to meet him at the Starbucks near her school. In an hour and a half, she would be hating life. In an hour an a half, she would be working with the biggest jerk she has ever met her life.

She finished up her eggs and went upstairs to shower and get ready. Today she wanted her hair curly, and as soft as her hair was, she could mess it up and make it as crazy as possible, and it would dry and be wavy without any tangles. As the hour passed, she realized it was time to go.

Grabbing all of her things and a copy of "Julius Caesar," she left her house and began walking towards Starbucks. Some creep yelled out his window at her as she walked down Winston Street, a street that was always busy.

"LOSER!" A black convertible passed her by. Charlotte knew exactly who drove that car, Brianna, the head cheerleader at her school.

Charlotte shrugged it off as she walked the last twenty feet to the entrance to the best smelling place in the world. As she pulled open the door, she was greeted with wonderful aromas of different coffee blends. She couldn't help herself, she needed her coffee.

"Hello Charlotte," Trent said. He was a nineteen year old barista that knew Charlotte well. Charlotte always went to Starbucks; everyone knew her. "Caramel frappacino, venti?"

Charlotte nodded and handed over a five dollar bill.

"Nice gauges," she commented. They looked like clocks, but they had immense detail in them that made them stand out.

"Thank you." He flashed her a smile. "You look cute today."

She blushed and received her change from Trent. She scanned the coffee shop to see if Anderson had arrived yet, and did not see one trace of jock.

Charlotte walked over to where her name would be called out and her coffee would be ready.

"Charlotte!" one barista called, leaving her coffee on the counter for her to get. She picked it up and walked to a table in the far corner, smiling happily as she took her first sip of her caramel frappacino. When she sat down, she looked up to see Anderson walk through the door and the shape of her lips immediately transformed into a frown.

Anderson's face was just as displeased as hers as he caught sight of the girl he hated most. He slung his back pack off of his shoulder and sat down directly in front of Charlotte, who let out an awkward cough. He stared intensely at Charlotte, who shied away from his glare by sipping her coffee.

"Well?" Anderson was impatient.

"Well what?" she asked.

"Are we going to start on this anytime soon?"

Charlotte looked into his green eyes. His face looked a little paler today. Odd. . . His face was always tan. Today, he didn't appear so.

"Yeah, whatever jockstrap," she murmured.

"What was that, loner?" His face started turning a little red.

They both retrieved their books from their backpack.

"Listen, I do half. You do the other half. Then we trade and copy."

"Yep," she replied. She immediately began reading and writing down an explanation after she read each line. He simply stared at his book, not really even looking at it, but staring into empty space as thoughts ran through his head.

She worked hard to get her work down and over with quickly. His mind wouldn't let him concentrate on anything other than the dark thoughts it allowed him to. She wrote in cursive. He thought darkly.

After half an hour, Charlotte was curious as to how much Anderson had done. She sneaked a peek at his paper to find that there was nothing written on the piece of paper in front of him.

"What, are you stupid or something? You can't write the daily journals in class, now you can't even write down some bullshit for our project?" Anger flared up inside of her. Here she was, trying to get what needed to be done finished. Here he was, with not even one line explained.

He looked up at her. An odd look took over his face.

"Is that it? I'm stupid?" he asked. His face was the most serious she has ever seen it.

"It's been thirty minutes, and you literally have done nothing. I have two pages, what do you have? None."

"With how little meaning you see things, I'm sure your explanations are incredibly intelligent," he murmured. He was tired of fighting with this judgemental girl; he was tired of listening to people's petty problems.

"What the hell are you-"

"Just shut up." He got up, put his things in his back pack quietly, and left Starbucks.

His voice was quiet when he had said that. It had cracked with sadness, puzzling Charlotte, but only for a moment.

Charlotte stood up, furious with him. She shoved her things into her bag, grabbed her coffee, and stormed outside after him. Looking to her left, she saw Anderson getting into his truck.

"What is wrong with you?! You can't even work on this project for half an hour?" she yelled after him.

He simply sat down in his truck and looked at her.

"You just expect me to do the entire project, right? Guess what? I'M NOT GOING TO!"

Anderson put his key into the ignition, turned on the truck, and backed out. His expression was complex. Hers?It was clear and understood.

He drove away. She walked down to the light.

Thoughts filled his head during his fifteen minute drive.

Anger built more and more as she walked home.

Charlotte hated Anderson. Anderson despised Charlotte.
Plain and simple.