A year after losing her older sister in a tragic accident, Charlie's Mom marries the father of the most popular boys in school. Still grieving, Charlie struggles to accept her new family and gets involved with her stepbrothers worst enemy, the capta...
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Billy's eyes landed on me as he stopped in his tracks. Confusion spread across their faces when they took in the scene in front of them. This wasn't planned; they were just as surprised to see us as we were.
Billy's brown eyes softened as they took me in before they moved quickly from me to the person I was sitting next to—Sebastian. His jaw clenched, and his eyes brimmed with rage.
I glanced to Sebastian, forcing my eyes away from Billy. Sebastian was focused on the three newcomers like they were a political problem. Unlike Billy, he was able to look at them passively. I stayed silent as I observed him take them in with a calculating gaze. Sebastian only turned to face me when he felt my eyes on him.
Panic rose in my chest. I couldn't afford any of this getting back to my parents. I was already in enough trouble. I didn't need or want any more.
"You're okay," Sebastian said. "You're not going to get in trouble. We didn't know they'd show up."
I looked at him with wide eyes, trying to swallow down my fear. I chose to keep my focus on him; Billy was the last person I wanted to see and the last person I could be seen with. He'd hurt me like nobody else had before. I didn't want to know him anymore.
Sebastian stood up and walked over to them. Large footprints pressed into the damp sand, coming to a stop in front of Billy and his friends. My crystal eyes detected movement to my left; Harry was moving through the darkness. He went straight to Sebastian's side, his whole body tensing.
"Charlie, you good?" I heard someone say, distracting me.
Suddenly, Joe and Taylor were sitting on either side of me. I could feel their body heat against my skin as I was sandwiched between my friends.
"Fine," I replied, looking down at the sand.
"Char, you wanna get out of here?" Joe suggested. "You don't have to deal with this."
I felt Taylor nodding besides me, saying something to agree with Joe, but I stopped listening. My focus drifted, and I realized Tommy, Freya, Jack, and Molly were nowhere to be seen.
Fuck, Molly.
Heat rose to my cheeks as I found my attention focusing on Milo. He was standing by Billy's side. The tension they'd caused by showing up here was barely even about me. It was so much worse for someone else.
"Let's get out of here," I told my friends, training my eyes on my stepbrothers and Billy. "I can't watch this. It's so fucked."
My friends gave me a small smile of understanding. The three of us stood up and headed in the direction that would lead us away. However, my discreet getaway wasn't missed. A hand snaked around my arm, forcing us to stop.
I turned around to see Tommy pulling me back, preventing me from leaving. I eyed him with confusion, wondering where Freya, Jack, and Molly were.
"Where are you going?" Tommy asked me. He glanced over his shoulder at his brothers, worry washing over his features.
