Heart and Soul - Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Carter and Melanie met after practice on Tuesday.
He waited for her in the corridor, after saying goodbye to Seth and Joey. She eventually came out of the locker room with Jenna Torres and two other cheerleaders. Jenna blew Carter a red-lipped kiss with a quick wink, while the other girls shot him small, alluring smiles before following her out.
Carter's last time setting foot in the library must have been in freshman year, he realized that as he stepped inside with Melanie by his side. She greeted Mrs Lewis politely as they passed her desk. Their librarian was a short, elderly lady, with her grey hair always tucked into a low bun and her glasses always perched on the tip of her long nose. Cater smiled at her, after she returned Melanie's pleasantries.
Mel guided him past the busiest tables between shelves of books, to the far end of the room, where smaller tables were set. This area was nearly empty, except for a pair of underclassmen and Johnny.
Carter's eyes found him immediately, at the farthest corner, with his earphones plugged in and his gaze set on his laptop screen. When Johnny glanced up to see Mel, he offered a polite head nod and a brief smile. He barely even looked at Carter before focusing back on his computer. Carter bit his lip, unable to comprehend the strange tightness around his stomach. Maybe Mel had been right. Maybe he really was used to people instantly seeking his approval. And, when they didn't, he found himself needing theirs.
"Would you like to start with something specific, or should we just start at the beginning and make our way to where we are now?" Mel asked in a low voice, pulling a chair two tables away from the pair of underclassmen.
Carter took the seat opposite her. "We can just start at the beginning," he muttered. Roy had sent him the materials he promised, but Carter hadn't really given them a good look yet.
Melanie took out her pink hardcover notebook and a slim green binder with review sheets and printed exercises. She opened the notebook on a perfectly organized page of pretty handwriting, highlighted in two different colors. Carter took out his black-cover notebook with all-blue scribbly notes and they got started.
The underclassmen eventually got up quietly to leave. Carter looked over his shoulder to see them quickly avert their eyes from him, like inadvertently staring. In front of him, Mel was deep in concentration with the equation on her hands.
Carter chanced a quick look at Johnny, across the room. The other boy was leaning comfortably into his chair, while he chewed on his thumb nail absently. Carter had never seen him do that. Could it be a nervous tick? Why would Johnny be nervous now?
"I think I got it. Check if it makes sense," Mel told him, sliding her notes over to him.
Carter's attention snapped back to her, looking down at the long equation she'd been trying to solve. He swept his eyes over the resolution, only half thinking it through before nodding in agreement. Mel smiled, pulling the notebook back to her and flipping the page to move on.
Carter glanced at Johnny, who was now typing something on his laptop, eyes still trained on the screen. The light from the window next to him cast a soft light on his dark brown hair, turning it a warm cinnamon color.
Twice or more, Carter thought Johnny was about to look up and their eyes with meet. The first time, his heart jumped with a strange sort of anxious feeling and he prepared to look away before getting caught staring. When he looked back, Johnny wasn't looking at him at all. The second time, Carter almost wanted Johnny to see him staring. He tried not to wonder why, though.
They left when Mrs Lewis came to tell them, in a low breathy voice, that the library was closing. Carter and Mel gathered their things. Johnny lifted his gaze only then, to return Mel's smile as she said 'goodbye'. He barely even deemed a second of his attention to Carter.
Mel's dad's car was parked out front, waiting for them.
In Mr Jones's car, Carter greeted him politely, sliding into the backseat. Mel's father looked between the two of them almost suspiciously, before he returned Carter's pleasantries and drove off.
They met again on Wednesday, in the same table, after football and cheer practice. This time, there was a trio of juniors and a small group of underclassmen there. And Johnny. In the same corner table, with the same laptop, and the same quick dismissive smile at the two of them before he went back to effortlessly ignoring everything around him.
Carter and Mel read through the classes with a little more difficulty this time, as the group of juniors next to them kept whispering and giggling while looking their way. When Carter finally gave them an inquisitive glance, one of the three girls got up, encouraged by her friends, and started walking up to them. The other two giggled fervently.
"Can I sit here?" She asked, pulling the chair to Carter's side.
"Of course," Mel said politely, after the girl had already sat down.
Her face was only vaguely familiar, but Carter couldn't remember her name. The girl bit her lip and flicked a blonde lock over her shoulder, leaning in.
"I'm Hillary," she said, noticing Carter's confused expression.
"Hi, Hillary," he returned slowly. Neutrally.
Hillary laughed nervously. "Have you heard anything from Seth lately?" She asked tentatively.
Carter's eyebrows pinched together. "Seth?"
"Yeah, you know... Has he said anything about me?"
The two girls on the table giggled again and Hillary shot them a flushed glare. Carter noticed Johnny had also looked up to watch them. The realization brought a whisper of heat to his own cheeks.
"My friends told me I should ask, I said it was stupid." Hillary let out another nervous laugh. "It's just—We met this year's first game Friday and we texted for a while, but I didn't hear from him this week. Just wondering if he said something."
Carter exchanged a look with Mel, before focusing back on the nervously hopeful girl.
The truth was Seth didn't discuss this sort of thing with Carter. It was well-known he talked with many girls and Carter knew his friend had his casual flings, but they didn't talk about it. And Carter generally didn't talk about his relationships with him either. They were best friends, but neither of them was really the talking type. They often didn't have to talk at all – about most things that truly mattered, anyway.
And, when it came to Seth's multiple hook-ups, Carter liked that it was that way.
He cleared his throat. "Sorry, no."
The girl's face fell for only just a second, before the smile was back. "It's fine." She looked over her shoulder at her friends. One of them widened her eyes and vehemently shook her head no. Hillary grinned, turning back to Carter. "Are you single? Because my friend Kelsie thinks you're really cute."
The brunette in question practically jumped in her seat. "Oh, my Gosh, Hillary! That's his ex," she shrieked.
The third girl bust into hysterical giggling. Carter looked at Mel for a glimpse of support, but found her barely containing her own fit of laughter.
"Shhhh," Mrs Lewis hushed from her desk. "This is a library, dears."
Carter smiled sheepishly. "I'm trying to study," he said to Hillary, with an apologetic tone.
She looked between Carter and Melanie, before taking the hint and leaving. Her friends were already packing their things. When they left, and the room was silent again, Carter tried to look at Johnny. His eyes were back on the laptop screen, like none of that had reached him.
"Need a ride again today?" Melanie asked, phone in hand.
"Uhm," Carter trailed off there.
Melanie tilted her head curiously.
"I can call my mom."
Melanie assessed him for a second. "Is this because of my dad? Was it awkward yesterday?"
"I have a feeling he thinks I dumped you or something," Carter confessed in a whisper. "He did look at me a little weird yesterday."
Mel sighed. "He's an idiot. And he's wrong. I already told him it's not your fault we broke up."
"I don't think he believed you," Carter mumbled.
Mel smiled. "It doesn't matter, though. My mom's picking me up today."
"Oh." Carter said. "Then, fine. Thanks."
Mel's mom was a much lighter ride. She had always adored Carter. She greeted him with an open grin and a cheerful tone, asking him about school, football and his own mom along the way. When they reached the Santoro neighborhood, Mrs Jones took a wrong turn to carry on toward Carter's old street. Mel called her out and she rectified her route.
Before Carter could leave the car, Mrs Jones—or Mary, as she insisted Carter called her—had him promise he would go over Mel's for dinner some day, since they 'missed him around the house', as she had put it.
On Thursday, Melanie told him at lunch period she had students' union and class president duties after practice, so they had to cancel their study session.
Friday was a game night, so they picked their study sessions back next week, on Tuesday. Johnny was there as well. He smiled at them both when they walked into the library and offered up an acknowledging head nod as they got up to leave at closing time.
Next day, Carter's practice ran late. Coach made them repeat the same plays over and over, and forced them to push fifty every time they missed. It was normal, during homecoming week, but when it was all over, Carter practically sprinted to the locker room. He showered at light speed rubbing until his skin was red. When he stepped out of the showers, most of his teammates were still getting in. Seth looked at him inquisitively, his muddy football gear still on, mussed up hair sticking out like he'd just ran his hands through it.
"Got somewhere to be?" He asked, when Carter shot him a questioning look.
"Study with Mel," he said, shoving his dirty equipment on his duffel bag.
Seth hummed. It sounded casual, but Carter knew him well enough to hear the thought gears underneath.
"What?"
"You two getting back together?" Seth asked quietly.
"No," Carter blurted. "We're just studying together. I needed help and she offered."
"Okay." Seth lifted his hands up in mock surrender. "No need to get all defensive." He smirked. Carter rolled his eyes. Seth started removing his pads. "Take it you won't be needing a ride then."
"No, Mel's mom can give me a ride afterwards," Carter said, hiking his bag over his shoulder. "Aren't you leaving now anyway?"
Seth shrugged. "Detention."
Carter's hand loosened around the strap of his bag and he shot his best friend a questioning look.
Seth rolled his eyes. "Fell asleep in English class."
Carter bit down on his bottom lip. "Long night?"
"Something like that."
Seth didn't say anything else and Carter didn't ask.
"See you tomorrow," Carter spoke softly.
Seth nodded wordlessly, just before Carter left the locker room.
Mel was leaning against the wall in hallway, waiting for him. When she saw him, she pulled her phone out and showed him the time on the block screen. He was late. There was a playful smile on her face, though.
"Hard practice?" She asked, as they walked together to the library.
"Homecoming week," was all Carter answered.
She laughed. "Out school does love the homecoming game."
"Almost as much as the homecoming dance," Carter mused.
"I know, right? The girls in the cheer squad have been talking about it for the past two weeks. It's practically all they talk about. Dresses, dates and rides," Mel told him.
"The guys on the team are the same actually. Minus the dresses," he said.
"Are you going?" Mel asked, before she pushed the library door open.
They greeted Mrs Lewis before making their way to their usual table. Carter quietly dropped his school and football bags on the floor, looking at Johnny's corner of the library. His stuff were all there. The laptop with the earphones abandoned over the keyboard, his books and his bag. But Johnny himself was nowhere in sight.
Carter pulled a chair carefully, looking back at Mel. She had one eyebrow arched.
"What?" He asked dumbly.
Melanie laughed quietly. "I asked you if you're going to the dance."
"Oh. I don't know," he whispered back. "Seth isn't." But he never did. "Joey says he's got a date, so I don't know. I didn't really ask anyone."
Mel smiled knowingly. Carter looked at her with silent inquiry.
"Joey is going with Jenna," she revealed.
"Jenna Torres?"
Mel hummed in confirmation.
Carter's eyebrows drew in. "I thought..." he let his voice trail off, confused.
"What?" Mel prompted.
"I thought she was a lesbian," Carter whispered.
"She is," Mel whispered back. "But Joey seems to think he still has a shot and Jenna likes toying with him."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
Movement in Carter's peripheral vision made him turn his head to the side to see Johnny return to his seat, with a heavy book in his hands. He didn't seem to notice Carter or Melanie. No matter how long Carter's eyes lingered there.
"Are you going?" Carter asked, trying to re-direct his mind to his actual company.
Mel shrugged. "I was going with a few girls from the cheer squad. Like a group thing. But then Jenna got a date, so they all did. Sienna is going with Chaz."
"Is Sienna the one with the bleach blonde hair?"
Mel hummed.
"Doesn't she have a crush on Chaz since, like, freshmen year?"
Mel smiled. "She does. But he only started giving her the time of day after she lost thirteen pounds over the summer."
"She looks exactly the same," Carter murmured blankly.
"Not in her uniform crop top," Mel disagreed, with a suggestive lilt to her voice.
Carter didn't really answer that. The truth is he never really noticed how the girls looked in their cheer uniforms. Most of them didn't use them unless it was a game Friday and he was always focused on his job, those days. He used to notice Mel, back when they were dating, and he knew it was a short tight-fitting attire, but he never paid any of the other girls much attention. It would have probably been inconsiderate too, seen as he was dating someone for most of last year.
"Do you want to go together?" Mel eventually asked, in a low murmur.
Carter could swear he saw Johnny's eyes twitch in their direction for a fraction of a second then.
He looked at Melanie. "You and me?"
"As friends." She shrugged. "It's a big school tradition, it would be a shame to miss it because we didn't make plans with other people. All our friends are going. Even if they have dates, we always end up hanging out all together for most of the night anyway."
Carter thought on it for a while. "I guess."
Mel smiled happily. "Cool."
Carter grinned. "Only if you promise this isn't some ploy to get me drunk and try to hook up, though," he whispered teasingly.
She laughed, slapping a hand over her mouth when she realized how loud it was. Mrs Lewis and Johnny both lifted their heads from their affairs to look at them. They were the only four people in the library.
"Damn it," Mel whispered, witch mock frustration. "Guess I'm just going to have to settle for your platonic company now."
"You should be honored," Carter shot back.
"Hopelessly so." She nodded seriously, before fading into quiet laughter.
"My dears," Mrs Lewis spoke standing by their table.
"We know, we'll keep it down," Carter said.
"No, I meant to say it's closing time."
They both watched the old woman shuffle away, feet dragging ever-so-slightly over the floor. Across the room, Johnny's eyes lingered on them for a couple more seconds in which Carter managed to establish brief eye contact before the other boy turned back to his laptop.
"Well." Carter stretched his stiff arms over his head, looking at the notebooks they hadn't even opened yet. "This was productive."