C H A P T E R 8: Roller Skate "Date" {Carrie's POV}

S O N G: Havana By Camila Cabello

Q U O T E:"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. If music be the food of love, play on." - Plato

"Hey, Care Bear." Timmy said, hooking his arm around my shoulders. It was the end of the day and the last stop I had to make was going to my locker, then I could make my home and go to sleep, it's been a pretty exhausting day.

I smiled tiredly towards my best friend. "Hey, Timmy. Where's Simon? You two are basically attached at the hip." I teased. 

Timmy scoffed and rolled his eyes. "We are not. He had piano practice. He told me that his mother would, 'stab him, run over his body with her mini van and throw him off the highest cliff she could find,' if he didn't go." 

"That's painfully specific." I commented. "Well, I plan to sleep when I get home, it is the weekend after all."

"Actually..." Timmy started.

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What? What is it, Timmy?" 

Timmy smiled at me with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Simon and I were going to go roller skating tonight and we happen to have two more passes, so we thought, 'why not bring our other only two friends?'" He asked hopefully. 

"You want me," I pointed at myself, "and Beau, to go roller skating with you two?" 

"Yeah!" He answered excitedly. "It could be like a double date!" 

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "A double date? What are you implying?" I asked suspiciously, narrowing my eyes at my best friend as we approached my locker. 

Timmy put on his 'innocent face', at least that's what I call it. It's just him with puppy dog eyes, tilting his head and smiling sweetly, you'd be surprised how many things he gets away with when using that face. "I don't know what your talking about."

"Don't pull that face with me, Fredrickson, it doesn't work anymore." I shook my head and started putting in the combination to my lock. A small click was heard as it popped open and allowed me to open my locker.

He shrugged, that cheeky smile still attached. I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Carrie! It'll be fun. Please, please, please! Do it for me, your best friend who would also do anything for you as well?" Timmy pleaded, moving closer to me so he could engulf me in a big hug.

I sighed, knowing it was hopeless to decline. "Fine." I dragged out as I struggled to get out of his arms. He released me once I agreed. "I'll go. But, only if I can convince Beau to come with me."

"Come with you where?" A familiar voice inquired from beside me. I looked over at Beau and smile.

Even though I was facing Beau, I could hear the smirk in Timmy's voice as he spoke. "I'll just take my leave, bye Carrie. Bye Beau." I looked over my shoulder slightly just in time to see Timmy wave and not-so-discretely wink at me. 

"Bye." Beau concluded as he waved a little. I rolled my eyes at Timmy's back before facing Beau, who was already facing me. "So where did you want me to go with you?"

"Oh, well, Timmy and Simon wanted to go roller skating tonight and Timmy told me that they have two extra passes to get in so they invited us." I explained, constantly glancing between Beau and the inside of my locker. 

Beau nodded in understanding. "Oh..." He trailed off.

I shrugged. "I'm only going if you're going."

"How come?" He questioned, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

I chuckled a little at his question. "I've third wheeled with Timmy and Simon before; and let me tell you, it ain't fun. It made me feel extremely lonely and they basically ignored me the entire time. It was like, I was that awkward tag-along friend that just stands in the background and gets forgotten about, only to be acknowledged when need be." I ranted.

Beau looked at me. "Hmm...okay."

"So...you'll go?" I asked hopefully.

"Eh, why not? I have nothing better to do." Beau shrugged, moving the majority of his attention back to his unopened locker.

I nodded and shut my locker, locking the lock back to where it originally was. "Great! I'll text Timmy and get more details and then I'll text you about it...I don't have your phone number..." I nodded to myself.

"Give me your phone." He stated (more like demanded) while holding out his hand. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and placed it on his open palm. He clicked a couple buttons and started typing quickly, handing it back only after a minute of him using it. 

"Uh, okay." I looked over the contact, it was simple...not that I really expected more from it.

Beau Taylor
(949) -***-****

"Just text me and say that it's you, I'll just save it under your name." He added nonchalantly. 

I nodded and smiled at him. "Alright, see you later than." Beau glanced at me with a small smile  before looking back into his locker with his usual non-smiling face. 

"Later it is." He stated as I turned around and started towards the exit.

***

After a couple hours of finishing up assignments, I finally texted Timmy, who gave me the address and what time were meeting. I texted Beau once I was done talking to Timmy.

Me: Hey, it's Carrie.

Beau: Hey.

Me: So we're meeting at the South Downtown Plaza at 7:30. Do you know where that is?

Beau: Yeah. You want to ride with me there?

Me: Definitely! Thanks.

Beau: No problem, I'll be there by 7:15.

Me: Okay, see you there :)

Beau: See you there.

And that was it, so, I decided to get up and get ready. 

I wore a simple black T-shirt with black-fitted jeans and a beige cardigan, completing the outfit with a tan, three-inch heeled boot. Even though, I don't usually wear it, I decided to spice up the outfit a little by applying a small amount of mascara, eyeliner and chap stick. 

I usually don't dress this girly, but today I thought, hey, why not try it out for tonight?

I looked at myself through the body-length mirror and nodded my head in approval to myself. I checked the time and it was 6:33, meaning I had a little bit more time to myself before Beau came so I wrote a small note to my Abuela since she wasn't going to be home till after I left.

Once I was done, I sat down and occupied myself by playing a couple games and going on Pinterest. 

When the clock struck 7:13, I got up and walked down stairs, making sure I had everything before walking out the front door and locking it up behind me. Sitting on the steps of my front porch, not even a couple minutes later, Beau stopped in the front of my house. 

I smiled as I got in, buckling my seat belt and looking over at Beau. "Hi."

"Hey." He replied with a small smile of his own.

I looked at his body up and down; he wasn't wearing anything fancy, but he did wear something nice that accentuated his body quite nicely. His head was disheveled, almost like he'd run his hands through it multiple times. 

Beau began driving in the direction of the Plaza. "Like what you see?" I looked up in time to see him glancing at me with a smirk. 

Dang it, he caught me. I thought to myself as I blushed, the blood rushing to the tips of my ears and to my cheeks.

I heard him chuckle lowly. "I'm just teasing." I played off my embarrassment by laughing with him, glad that his attention was focused on the road and not my red face. 

"Um, uh," I cleared my throat, "you look nice."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glance at me up and down for a second. "Thanks. You look nice as well."

I smiled at his profile and turned my attention back to my lap, enjoying the comfortable silence that we shared as we made our way to the roller rink. 

It was approximately 7:25 by the time we arrived and got out, Timmy and Simon already standing at the entrance and waiting for us.

"Hey, guys." I said as we got closer to them. 

They looked at us and smiled. "Hey, guys! Glad you could make it!" Timmy said, waving at us.

Beau gave them a small smile. "Thanks for inviting me."

"No problem, man, " Simon replied, smiling back, "it wouldn't be right if we left you out."

I smiled at the three boys. It seems that Simon and Timmy were really taking a liking to Beau and I was happy about that; maybe it'd help Beau open up a little bit more.

We walked inside and gave our passes to the guy up front. From there on we got our roller skates, after telling Heather -the lady handing out roller skates- our shoe sizes, we put them on and we're ready to go onto the hard wood floor. 

Timmy and Simon got on with no problem and began skating around the circular rink, leaving Beau and I behind. Beau stepped on with just as much ease as the previous two, whereas, I used the wall to assist me in stepping down. I held on, for fear that if I let go, everything would go south and I'd fall.

Beau looked at me. "Um, do you need some help?"

"Uh," I looked back at him, "yeah, I actually do."

"Do you know how to roller skate?"

"Well, yeah, I do, but it's been years and back then I still wasn't good at it." I confessed, gripping the wall tighter as my skate encased feet started slipped out from under me.

Beau skated up next to me and held out his hand which I gladly took while using the other one to keep a steady hold on the wall.

"Come on, let go of the wall, I won't let you fall." I stared at him for a bit. "I promise, I'll catch you." Reluctantly, I, slowly, let go of the wall and proceeded to use that one arm to help me stay in balance.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, what comes next?" I asked him. Beau began moving at a slow pace, pulling me along with him as he did so. 

He looked at me. "See? You're already getting it." He assured me.

I nodded and smiled. "Yeah..." I focused on the floor ahead of me. 

Beau did a couple more laps with me before saying, "I think you're ready to do it alone."

"Really?" I questioned, a little afraid that I might fall.

He nodded with a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I'm gonna let go now. Don't worry, if you start to fall, I'll be right there to catch you." I nodded and let go of his hand, starting to skate on my own.

It was working and I began smiling as I pushed my legs to go faster. "Look, I'm doing it!" I shouted in excitement over the boisterous music that they started to play.

"Yeah!" Beau shouted back. I glanced behind me, flashing my smile at Beau. He smiled back at me before I turned my head back around.

As I continued to skate on my own with Beau behind me in case I fell, I skated around a couple people, however, one person decide to come too close and I ended up second guessing my self as I tried to skate inward, causing me to start loosing my balance and wobble back and forth. Right as my feet were about to slip out from under me, Beau caught me in his arms and pulled me up, my back hugged to his chest.

I looked back at him the best I could. "Thanks."

He nodded. "No problem. I said I'd catch you." 

After we skated around the rink for fifteen more minutes, an girl with bright pink hair pulled in pig tails announced that it was couples skate. The music became a slow song and the lights dimmed as all the non-couples skated off to the side.

Beau helped me get onto the carpeted area and we sat down on one of the open benches. I saw Timmy and Simon skating together for the couples skate, making me smile at them. 

I turned to Beau. "So, are you having fun?" I asked. 

Beau nodded and smiled a little. "Yeah, I am. Gotta say, though, it is kinda funny watching you struggle."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Does that mean all those times I was really close to falling on the floor, you were just watching me struggled to keep my balance?" 

"Yep." He smirked at me. 

My mouth dropped open in surprise as I scoffed in disbelief and punched his shoulder lightly. "How dare you be amused by my struggle."

He laughed loudly and smiled widely. "It was funny, you have to admit."

"No it's not funny letting me almost fall face first into the floor." I fake glared at him, trying to tame the smile that wanted to take over my lips.

Beau looked up and bit his lip like he was thinking. He nodded then look back at me with the smile still intact. "Yeah, you're right it's not funny." He paused. "It's hilarious."

I gazed down at my lap, the smile finally breaking through as I shook my head, peering back up at Beau through my eyelashes. "You, my friend, are evil."

"Nobody said I was good, sweetheart." He responded teasingly.

I laughed and analyzed the roller rink, spotting a snack bar near the entrance of the small lockers. I nudged Beau who looked around as well. "Hey, wanna go get something to drink?"

"Yeah." He replied as he got up, reaching his hand out which I took graciously. 

We made our way over there and I leaned against the counter. The man standing there looked at us. "What can I get you two?"

"Can I get a lemonade?" Beau questioned. The man nodded and pressed some buttons on the cash register.

"I'll just have a water." I told him. The man nodded again, repeating the same process. 

"Will that be all for today?" He asked, looking between the two of us.

I looked at Beau who looked at me and he shook his head. "No." I responded. 

 "Will that be cash, debit, or credit?" 

I reached for my wallet and was about to pull it out when Beau spoke first. "Credit." He handed the man his credit card.

The man handed back Beau's card and then gave us our drinks. We sat down at one of the tables, Beau sitting across from me. 

"You didn't have to do that." I took a sip of the cool water.

"Do you mean buying your drink?" He asked as he took a sip of his lemonade. I nodded in reply. He shrugged. "It's not that big a deal."

"Oh, okay." I took a couple big gulps, my throat coating itself in the coldness of the drink.

***

After we gave our skates back to Heather, we bid Timmy and Simon a fare well and left in Beau's car. The silence was comfortable and the only thing that made a sound was the low hum of music coming from the car speakers.

I was a little sweaty and pretty exhausted. Who knew roller skating could take so much out of you? I thought to myself as I rested my head against the slightly chilled window.

"I actually had a really good time." Beau broke the silence. 

I smiled. "That's good. I enjoyed it too." He nodded as if to say 'I agree'.

"We're going to be sore as hell tomorrow." He chuckled.

I laughed along with him. "No kidding, I can already feel the soreness in my legs." 

Beau shook his head as he made a left turn. I look over at him to see a small smile stuck on his lips.

"You know," I started, "I've never seen you smile this much." 

"I don't, normally." He confessed. He paused for a little bit. "Is this what its like to have friends? To laugh a lot, to smile most of the time, to feel included?" 

I nodded. "Yeah, it is." This time it was me who paused as I looked for the right wording to my question. "Have...have you ever had friends? Have you always been lonely?"

"Yeah..." he answered quietly. "Well, except for when I was six or seven, I had a friend next door but she moved away after a couple months. I was also home-schooled by my parents up until seventh grade....and I don't know why I'm telling you all of this." He laughed at himself quietly.

"No, no, keep going. What happened after?" I asked with peaked interest. 

Beau stopped at the light and leaned back, running a hand through his hair. "Well, I made no friends. No one tried to be my friends. I mean, I tried to be friends with..."  He clenched his jaw as he stared straight ahead. "I tried to be friends with Liam, and we hung out for a little while, until a couple guys started making fun of me. Apparently, Liam didn't want to be seen as 'unpopular' or 'hanging with the new kid' so he beat the shit out of me. " 

"Liam...Liam Heyde? He did that to you?" I furrowed my eyebrows as the light turned green and Beau drove down the street. 

"Yeah, so, over the next two summers, I spent my time getting in shape and getting stronger. In freshman year, I beat the shit out of him just like he did to me. Sure, I got in trouble but it was worth it to me. " A sadistic smirk crawled onto his lips as he was most likely remembering the day.

"I-I heard about that. In freshman year, I joined halfway through the first semester. When I met Timmy, he told me about it one time and said it was still being talked about even months later." I stopped to think back to that time. After a little pause of silence, I spoke again. "That's why you were so reluctant to be my friend? Because your used to them betraying or leaving you?"

Beau nodded again, glancing at me with unknown emotion swirling in his eyes. "Yeah. All my life, if it wasn't a friend, then it was my parents. My parents would come and go when I was younger, but when I got older they didn't come as often and it seemed like they didn't care anymore, like they choose to ignore me, choose to forget me. The only other person that has ever been there for me is Anna, and she's really all I have."

He parked in front of my place. I looked at his limp hand that rested on his lap. I reached over and grabbed it, feeling him tense. He looked at me. "Well, I swear, I won't leave you. You can trust me. I won't betray you like Liam, I will be a good friend to you. So now you have two people with you." I gave him a small, yet genuine smile.

Little sparks and electricity shot through my fingers when Beau's hand held mine. He gave me a smile, the same small and genuine one I was giving him. "Thanks, Carrie."

"No problem." I held his hand for a little longer before reluctantly slipping it out of his hold. I blushed a little and smiled down at my lap. "Um, I should probably go now. I'll see you later, Beau."

He nodded and waved. "See you later."

I got out and waved back, walking up to my front door. Opening it with my keys, I turned back mid-step and watched as Beau drove out of my drive way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WOW! This was a long chapter! 3389 words - the authors note. I hope you like it! 

So guys, I apparently have a life now? Woah. I know. My friends actually invite me places and aren't a b***h to me like the fake ones I used to have. 

Anyways, today's question is: 

How is everything in your life going? And if it ain't going so well, just know that I'm free to talk.

Also guys, when I'm at my dad's house, I don't get to write really so I'm sorry for when I miss my updating times. I'm trying my hardest and I still have to finish homework and then I have to write another chapter after this.

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-Marisa :)