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Sorry for the long wait! My motivation was running low, and I got caught up with English work. Bon appetit!
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Chapter 27
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Charlie happily sipped on his juice. Him and his father had gone out for a snack in the park after a good day at school. The sun was shining, the leaves were rustling, and everything was peaceful.
“So, son, you find any cute girls at your school yet?” his dad said.
“Daaaad!” He shoved him, half-laughing. “But yeah… there are a few people who are kind of nice.”
“Really? Like who?”
“No one special,” he mumbled, raising his juice packet to block his face. In reality, he’d been talking about the new transfer kid. She’d been getting picked on, but to Charlie, she was the nicest and most beautiful girl in middle school. Maybe he could protect her…
“Well, if you ever fall hopelessly in love, just call me up, alright?”
“... Alright.”
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He was hopelessly in love.
But he didn’t know who he actually LIKED.
He’d been obsessed with Brittany since day 1, constantly showering her with as much affection as he could manage, but recently, he’d started feeling pangs of affection towards Alph as well. And he had to admit, the small Koppaite was friendlier… and less judgemental… and seemed to care.
But he was a guy.
Was Charlie even allowed to like guys? His whole life, his father had only told him about man-woman relationships. But surely gender didn’t matter…
Grumbling, he stopped pacing and sat down, head in his hands. This was a lot for him to process.
“Captain!” Brittany snapped from somewhere else in the Drake. “Get over here! We found another signal.”
“Coming!”
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The trio sat and watched as their world map tilted to reveal another area, a leaf-strewn riverbank. “So, what do you guys think we’ll find?”
“Probably the cosmic-drive key,” Brittany said, shrugging.
“What do you mean? We have that, don’t we?” Alph asked.
“Nope. Already double-checked. We must have lost it in the crash. Didn’t you guys even think to look for it?”
A look of dread slowly crossed his face.
“It might have just slipped his mind, given everything that had just happened,” Charlie mumbled awkwardly.
She stepped back, appearing surprised, then shook herself. “Well, hopefully that’s what it is. It’s nice here, but I don’t think staying would be a very fun idea after a while.”
Pointing at the new area, she said, “Let’s get moving. Or at least do something.”
