Chapter Text
I like to watch Charlie Walker. I watch him a lot. Im sure Jill, Kirby, and Olivia might disagree with me, but I think Charlie is the prettiest boy that's ever set foot into woodsboro high. I like to watch him. I watch his subtle movement, I see every time his hand gets caught in his hair, and I see how his eyes light up when he talks about something he's passionate about. I see his love for the horror movie that started in our hometown.
I've lived in Woodsboro all my life. The people I know now, I've known since we were in diapers. We grew up with the same horror stories, and since Jill is of close relation, we know it like the back of our hands. I remember Charlie's eyes lighting up when he found out who Jill was cousins with. Sidney Prescott was his real-life scream queen. Not only were the Stab movies infamous but they were also based on actual events. Those movies were always his favorite. The movies that were real. He liked the dark, twisted stories behind the movies.
We all really bonded over movies. The art of film and how it's made a generation, And after hearing about the town's personal final girl all our lives, We fell in love with horror.
Thus bringing us here. The cinema club. The walls are filled with our favorite movies, and the room is made of our greatest memories, along with my basement where we had endless movie nights. “How much beer did you get for the stabathon this year?” Robbie pointed a pencil at me.
Charlie and I sat at a desk, hunched over our planning notebook covered with cutesy Halloween stickers, courtesy of me.
“Just a keg,” I said, raising my hands defensively. “No!” throwing the pencil at me “This year is gonna be bigger than last, you know that!” Robbie pointed at me. I widened my eyes at both boys like they were crazy “Beer kegs are 70 dollars dude, give me money or get it yourself!” I stand up, annoyed. They always take this event so seriously, and it doesn't help that Im the only one with the fake ID that will help them.
Charlie grabs my wrist as I stand “Okay okay I have some money saved up for it, I can help too.” he says, looking up at me. I huff at their desperation. I wring my wrist from his hand and walk around the desk to sit on it “all im saying is you guys need fewer expectations for this thing. You do great at planning but only half of the people that you invite actually go.” I point out, crossing my legs over “This one is gonna be different” Robbie says raising his eyebrows at Charlie.
I look between them and I know im missing something. “The queen herself is gonna be in town again, And we're using that to our advantage,” Charlie smirks at me. My eyes widen as i realize, thats right, the book tour. Sydney Prescott is coming home for her book tour.
Of course, we bought it and read it immediately when it came out. I took in every page, so happy I was finally getting to know her story and not just the glamorized and fictionalized Gale Weathers version. I remember Jill being so tired of Sydney's story. the got drunk one night and she couldn't stop rolling her eyes and slurring her words about the victim complex on her cousin.
I know she couldn't mean what she was saying. It was just her not understanding the big picture. The poor woman was targeted for something she couldn't control. I remember trying to explain that to the very drunk Jill but it got heated very quickly. Note to self; Jill is an angry drunk.
I quickly exhale through my nose and let my head fall back. “Okay, so how exactly do you know that will get people to go” Charlie stands up behind me, resting his hands on the desk and coming face to face with me “It's the 15th anniversary and she's Here” he emphasizes his words, His big blue eyes stared into mine. His face inches away from me. “Do you really not know how big that is?” he cocks his head to the side.
I almost get lost in how he's looking at me. His lips parted, his eyes staring into me. That voice. That soft soothing voice of his. He puts me in a trance when he gets this close to me. I almost forgot about- “more planning less flirting please” Robbie brings me out of my own flurried mind. My head whips to face him. “Im sure I can scrap up some money for another keg but you guys seriously have to help me out here.” I jump off the desk and grab my bag off of the chair I was previously sitting on.
“Where are you going” Robbie furrows his eyebrows, I look back at Charlie and he looks as dazed as I felt. “To go suck up to my dad so I can get us the booze” I look back at Robbie “but I fully expect the money for it before the angel of death shows up, got it?”
“Got it,” the boys said in unison. I smiled at them, pleased, before throwing my bag over my shoulder and walking out of the cinema club classroom. I reach into my bag for my earbuds for my walk home but I can't even find my iPod. I usually walk home with music, but I suppose I can plan in my head instead.
I know I could probably milk thirty from my dad and if I bat my eyes enough at Kirby she’ll for sure give me something. If im being honest, I can't get Charlie and I’s small interaction out of my head. That's usually how it goes though, ever since my crush started, I think about small interactions and convince myself that they were something bigger than what they actually were. Maybe it's his eyes, or his lips, or those cheekbones you'd die for, but some days I swear he has me wrapped around his finger.
Every day that I spend in that damn film club, the more I talk to him, the more I find myself going crazy for him. I haven't had a crush like this since middle school.
I know the girls know already, given how much time I spend with him, but I can't find myself admitting to this crush I have on him. I know that they'll tease me, they already do, but that's not the reason I can't admit it. Im not embarrassed, Charlie is cute and super smart. Honestly, I don't know why I hadn't liked him earlier, we have a handful of things in common and we can talk for hours on end. We have talked for hours before.
One of the first nights I came to terms with liking him was a movie night in my basement. There were moments before when he would push back his hair and I found myself admiring as he did so, but I quickly brushed it off. I kept thinking it couldn't mean anything, he just had nice hair and I liked it. I couldn't like him, he's just, Charlie.
The night in the basement was different. Last December we made a list of every Christmas-themed horror film we could think of, and soon we made it our mission to watch every single one of them. The nights would start off strong, our friends and some members of the cinema club would cuddle up in front of my old tv with popcorn and a warm drink.
As the days went on, more people bailed.
Charlie and I had just finished Black Christmas and the last person still sticking around was Kirby, but not to our surprise, she has fallen asleep with most of the blanket that we were sharing tangled around her. I turned to Charlie and shrugged “Guess Kirbs didn't care for Olivia Hussey after all”, Charlie chuckled and rested his head on the seat of the couch, I decided to join him on the floor since Kirby was nearly sprawled out on it anyway, barely leaving any room for me.
I mirrored how he was sitting, legs crisscrossed right next to him, his tired eyes followed my every move. “We aren't watching the shitty remake tomorrow, right?” I ask, looking at him and laying my head down like his, he turned his body to face me, and I did the same. “Hmm,” he smirked “Yeah, If you like torture” his voice was gravelly, and I could tell he was as sleepy as he looked.
His sunken eyes and tired voice must have possessed me to say what I said next “I wouldn't mind you torturing me”, I bit my lip and lowered my eyes, jokingly. His body immediately straightened out at my words, his sluggishness leaving him by the second. His quick reaction made me burst out laughing, if he didn't put his hand over my mouth so quickly, I would have woken up Kirby with my cackles.
I was giggling into his hand, my hands covering his own. He kept shushing me, trying to hold in his own laughter at the same time. His smile was so big, his eyes crinkled at the corners. I'd never seen him smile that big before. He was so quiet and reserved, and he was laughing with me like this. I swear id never felt butterflies in my life before this very moment.
I put my hands on his chest and pushed lightly, he dropped his hands from my face and shook his head “You really had me for a second, you know that?” he said through a smile. I nod, still smiling just as big “I could have you anytime I want” I flashed my eyes at him, and this time instead of laughing, he puts his head in his hands and exhales, which makes me nervous “Sorry, too much?”
Charlie looks at me, a faint smile still on his lips, and he shakes his head. He cocked it to the side and stared at me for a second, I could see the sleepiness seeping back into his face. “I just like being alone with you, I get a different side of you like this”
My breath catches in my throat. I suppose we’d only been alone a handful of times, and he's right, I do act differently when it's just us. I can let loose without worrying the girls will notice my lingering eyes or words that I had yet to know had underlining meanings. “It's not a bad thing, y/n” he snapped me out of my thoughts.
I let out a shaky breath “Will you stay with me and Kirby tonight?” I ask, biting the inside of my cheek. I've suddenly grown nervous and im very sure he saw my face bundled with those nerves. “You scared someone’s in the attic?” he teases, referencing what we had just watched. His playfulness calmed my running mind. “You know I was always terrified of this movie”
“Really?” Charlie furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity, “that first kill was the worst!” I hugged my knees as I explained “There was something so horrible about how Billy was presented to us. We never saw his face, yet he was never masked. He was so human and inhuman at the same time.”
Kirby shuffled behind us, making me jump at the sound. I put my hand over my heart and looked back at Charlie. “I know you'll disagree but I think Black Chrismas is one of the best slasher films. It's from the seventies but the suspense and horror still hold up. That's why it's one of my favorites. I think it's one of those movies that will be timeless”
Charlie smiled at me softly, “I knew I made you join the Cinema club for a reason”. My mouth fell open slowly at his words. I exhaled and pushed against his arm playfully “You asshole, you just called me a dork!”
Charlie chuckled and pushed me back “You are a dork!”
We were playful like that until we fell asleep, and in the morning it was back to normal like our wandering hands and lingering eyes the night before were just a dream.
That night solidified my feelings for me. I really liked Charlie Walker. I tried to fight it, but the more the two of us hung out, the harder it was. All me and Charlie have ever been, is friends. Close friends. Movie buddies. Horror buffs.
Sometimes I think that's all we’ll ever be. He's never given me more than what we are now. I try not to think too hard about it because if I do I’ll just hurt my own feelings, but as I enter my room I feel the sadness creep in. I think I would do just about anything for him if he asked me to. No one can ever know that though.