INTERCAMBIO DE TIEMPO (Written in English)

You were lucky.

Charles stood by the entrance of the door. His face was filled with bruises and cuts and he look extremely tired. " Can I come in?" He asked with a faint smile while watching Emily stand there, doing nothing.

" Yes, yes, come in," Emily replied and moved out of the way. As soon as he got in, she looked outside the house for any sign of danger and quickly shut the door.

" How did you get these bruises? Who did this to you?" Emily asked as she delicately touched his face to observe. Her eyes welled up a little and she noticed that Charles was still staring at her." What is it?" she asked him with furrowed brows.

" You care?" Charles asked her. He was smiling and his eyes observed her for any signs, to prove she had feelings for him.

" Yeah of course I care Charles. You are my best friend." She added and rolled her eyes." Alright, quit smiling." She said and walked upstairs.

Charles followed right behind her." I'm not smiling." He denied, with one of his hands tucked into his pocket.

" Then quit laughing," Emily said as she turned to look at him.

" Well, I'm not laughing either." He replied with a smirk on his face. His fingers tapped the railings.

" Damn it, Charles! Quit whatever you are doing then." Emily cried out and grabbed him by his hand, into her room." Sit here and don't move." She ordered, with a stern look.

Charles said nothing, as he watched her take out a first aid kit from her wardrobe." You keep a first aid kit in your wardrobe?"  He asked while still staring at her face.

" Yeah. Is there a problem Charles?" she asked him but he just laughed it off. Emily opened the kit and applied ointments and bandages, where necessary." All done." She announced and dropped the box on the ground. " Charles, what happened?" she asked him.

" what do you mean by that? Your boyfriend happened." Charles replied and lay on her bed.

Emily looked confused and her mouth hung open." My…My…My…Huh?" she stuttered. She was confused and annoyed at the same time by Charles's outburst.

" Yea, your boyfriend," Charles replied with his lips parted into a faint smile. His legs were tapping on the ground and his head hurt even more.

" Damn it, Charles!" Emily cursed as she snapped out of her daze. She sat on a chair, close to the bed. " Charles you know I don't have a … ahhhh! Forget it. Now tell me what happened." She requested.

" Well, ok." He said, shrugging his shoulder and propping himself up. " But you better not do something silly." He warned sternly.

" I'll try," Emily replied as she sat close to him. He sighed and turned toward her. " Ok, so this is how it happened…"

Earlier that day at school, Charles walked into the principal's office. He looked quite composed and didn't even bat an eye at the girls, trying to flirt with him in the hallway.

He was still upset about what Emily did. How she allowed Gerald to sit with them? But he also regretted acting recklessly. He felt he needed to apologize to Gerald.

" Come in." He heard as he knocked on the door. He walked in and sitting in there, were the principal and two students.

One was a male, who looked like a nerd. He wore a spectacle and was holding a history textbook. The female, on the other hand, seemed to be uninterested in whatever was going on. She was looking at her fingers and was silently chewing gum.

" You may leave." The mean-looking, bald principal addressed the two students. He took out a pen and began to write something down in a book.

The students stood up and walked toward the door. The female bumped into Charles and " Be careful pretty boy, or he'll chew you up like a nugget." She whispered and popped a bubble. " Take care." She said and walked out of the office.

" Come sit." The principal said to Charles, as the two students left the office. His hand was extending toward an empty seat. " What's this about a fight I heard?" The principal asked as he closed the book on his desk.

" Mr. Howard..."

" Call me Sir." The principal interrupted with a stern look. His hands were on the table, lightly tapping on it.

" Sir." Charles corrected. " I can't say what happened out there. It's unlike me. Please don't send me to detention." He begged.

The principal nodded his head and took out his spectacles. " You know what you will be getting?" The principal asked as he wore it on, after cleaning the glasses.

" A detention," They both said in unison with Charles nodding his head, and the principal glaring hard at him.

" You guessed it, boy." The principal said and leaned back on his chair. " Two days for three weeks detention." He adds.

" Mr. Howard… sorry, Sir." He corrected and took in a deep breath. "I can't go on detention," Charles complained, as his brows furrowed.

" And why is that?" The principal asked, leaning toward him. He lowered his spectacle as he gazed into Charles's eyes.

" Well, I can't say…" Charles stuttered as he tapped his feet. He was annoyed with himself.

" Ok, you convinced me." The principal said as he gave a nonchalant shrug and began to type on a laptop.

Charles looked at him, surprised. His lips parted into a smile. " I did?"  He asked. He couldn't believe the principal just said that.

" Yes," The principal said again. " Three days for four weeks detention… Now leave my office." The principal said and Charles's face darkened.

" Yes sir," Charles said and balled his fist by his side. He quickly unclenched it and walked out of the office.

Walking through the hallway, the students kept looking at him. Students were going back home, as the school had dismissed. Some group of boys stared at him with jealousy and disgust while the girls gossiped and blushed whenever he looked at them.

He caught sight of Christina piling up some books into her locker. " Christina." He called walking towards her.

" I don't know where Emily is ." She told him, not batting an eye at him. She slammed her locker shut and sighed audibly. " Damn it." She cursed and began to massage her temples.

" Do you know where I can find her?"  He asked but she gave him a nonchalant look instead." I need to find her please." He said.

" I told you … I don't know where she is." she reminded him." Now if you could excuse me… Blondie." She said and walked away with a group of girls. They were her rich high-class friends.

They walked together and called themselves the "  Rich Royals". To become her friend or join their group, one must fulfill their requirement. Be extremely high-class and famous amongst the students.

" Right!" He said and clicked his finger. He slowly began to walk away from her. Emily never goes home without me. Is she still upset with me? He wondered as his mind drifted to the incident earlier.

He headed toward the class, and his eyes scanned around for any signs of her. He walked to the class, but she wasn't there.

" I guess she left without me huh?" He reasoned with himself and walked toward the exit.

" Hey, Charles." A boy called out. " Are you looking for Emily?" He asked as he walked toward him and wrapped his hand around his neck. " Come, I'll show you where she is." The boy said.

" So you are saying she hasn't left yet?" He asked the boy, with a questioning look.

" Of course. I assure you that I can bring you to her." The boy swore and gave a faint smile.

Charles was reluctant to follow him at first but Emily was his priority, so he obliged. The boy led Charles outside the school and toward an alleyway.

Charlie's gut screamed at him to turn back, but he just clenched his fists tightly and kept walking as his eyes were observing his environment.

His heart was racing involuntarily and his eyes darted at almost everything that moves. Cats, rats, raccoons, and bags. He could feel chills run down his spine and his hair was on standstill.

He could hear it. The sounds of breaking sticks and footsteps behind him. Someone or some people were following them. His fist clenched harder and he increased his pace.

The sound was getting closer and closer and closer. " Well, well, well. Look what we have here." Someone said behind them and Alarm bells were ringing in his head, to dodge.

He swerved to the right and watched in horror as a bottle, whizzed past his face and shattered on the ground. His heart accelerated faster, as he quickly turned to face his attackers.

" You were lucky." A familiar voice said as someone walked out of the group of boys.

The sunlight revealed the stern-looking face. " You?" Charles said with his fists clenched even harder.