Someone Like You (Chenry)

Chapter Fourteen

It seemed like the entire student body was seated in the gym in Swellview High School, crammed together in the bleachers and fold-down seats as all their teachers milled about in the center of everyone else, keeping an eye on the students. Voices rang out loudly around Charlotte as she sat in the center of the bleachers, trying not to be shoved by the current of people talking and having fun together while they missed classes for this assembly. She was a lonely island surrounded by happy teenagers, which was the usual. It was more common to see her classmates not doing their homework rather than actually doing it. Most of her classmates were excited to get out of classes for rest of the day that they didn't care how they were trapped in the same room as all their teachers, who were probably going to talk to them about their grades or something terrible like that. That meant that Charlotte didn't have to listen to whatever they had to say since she had near perfect grades.

Unfortunately, Charlotte was squished into Henry's shoulder as the people next to her jostled the bleachers. She flinched uncomfortably as she tried to avoid touching Henry, but tehy were too close together. Somehow, the school managed to squish all the students like sardines in the gym, which meant that she had to be next to Henry. Everything between Charlotte and Henry had been way too awkward after the photoshoot, especially after their time in the Man Cave with Schwoz trying to talk about everything that had happened with his smoochie music and how he somehow knew about that even though they hadn't told a single soul about it. It was probably because they kissed each other as just themselves, not as Kid Danger and Charlotte. There was no need for them to kiss in the backseat of the limo because no one was watching them. 

The kiss probably happened because they were exhausted and tired and caught up in the heat of everything at the end of the day. The thing was it didn't feel like that at all, and that made her heart jump in her chest. She had made the choice to kiss him as Henry, and he had made the choice to tell her that it wasn't Kid Danger kissing her under the guise of their fake relationship. They both made the choice to kiss each other, alone and not in front of any cameras. And that choice seemed to shatter everything in Charlotte's heart and mind. The shards of her heart and mind swirled through her body, and she was confused on how she was feeling about her job, being in this fake relationship with Henry, even her life. 

Everything was becoming more and more real to her now. He may have been her best friend for almost her entire life, but he was very quickly becoming something more than that to her. Even though she was surrounded by rowdy teenagers, all the noises faded into the background as she thought about her relationship with Henry. She was afraid of what that meant, but for some reason, she was very slowly growing excited about the possibility of a romantic relationship with Henry Hart. She wanted to explore these new emotions as long as he wanted too as well. But she kept that part of her thoughts away from her heart for the time being because it was absolutely crazy for her to even think something like that. Crazy. She was crazy.

Glancing at him from the corner of her eye, she saw him dressed in his Kid Danger gear, laughing and joking with Jasper, who was on his other side, about something only they knew. There was an easy grin decorating Kid Danger's face, like he didn't have a single care in the world, and it made Charlotte smile slightly. She couldn't help herself from smiling because of how happy he truly looked when he smiled. It was like the yawn affect. Every time he smiled, she had to smile, just like if he was yawning. There was nothing she could do to stop it, either no matter how much she wanted it to stop.

While he was wearing his Kid Danger uniform, Charlotte could definitely see her Henry underneath the makeup and mask. She could see how his eyes creased when he smiled, just like how Henry's eyes would crease. She could see how he made sure to take care of those around him, just like Henry would do. She could see how he always tried to act tougher than he was, just like Henry. She wasn't sure how people couldn't figure out who Kid Danger was, but she was glad because she knew that if his secret got out, things would be bad. If he didn't really like his life as Kid Danger right now, what would it be like if all of Swellview knew that Henry Hart was their beloved sidekick? She was sure he would run away or do something dangerous, and she couldn't bear the thought of losing him. Just the thought sent shivers down her spine, her skin prickling uncomfortably. If something happened to him, she didn't know what she would do.