Senior Year

Chapter twelve: weird to weirder

Harry just told me he knew who I was dating. I didn’t know what to do. I stared at him with wide eyes.

          “What do you mean you know?” I asked playing dumb.

“Charlotte, did he make you do this? I can turn him in.” He explained.

“Wait, what actually are you talking about?” I was really confused this time.

          “Did Mr. Benzoli make you have an affair with him to raise your grades?” he asked furiously. I was scared to answer.

“Harry, I uh- it was my choice. He didn’t force me. And we aren’t in this to raise my grades.” I said without taking my eyes off of him. He stared at me with a blank expression. He finally snapped out of it. He put his hands over his face. I didn’t know exactly what to do. I put my hand on his shoulder.

          “Harry… look, you don’t have to worry.” I tried to calm him down.

“No, I do have to! This is wrong and he made you this upset?! Look where you’re are! ... Do your parents know?” he asked. I shook my head.

          “Please don’t tell them! I’ll tell them later. Just don’t anything, please.” I begged. He stayed silent for a while.

“I gotta go.” He mumbled and walked out the door before I could say anything. I was so scared of what he might do. He could tell my parents, confront Joe, or even tell the principal. I started to panic but I couldn’t do anything at the time. I tried to be rational and think of what to do. I was staring at the wall thinking. I can’t believe Harry would do something like this. I thought he would at lease understand. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the door open. I was my parents.

          “You’ve been discharged!” my dad exclaimed. I nodded. I walked in the bathroom, which was in my hospital room, to change. I put on grey sweatpants and a pink tank top my mom had brought from home. I threw on my Ugg boots. I examined myself in the mirror. I haven’t washed in a month so I knew I smelt horrible. My hair wasn’t even curly anymore. It was more knotty.

          I strolled out of the bathroom. My parents had everything packed for me in their hands. We walked out of my hospital room that I have been in for a while. No way was I going to miss this place. We took the elevator down to the parking garage and got in our Black Mercedes Benz. We arrived home about a half an hour later. I walked into my house and immediately walked to my room. I’ve missed it so much. I ran on my bed. I saw stained tear marks on my pillow and it reminded me of the reason I was in the whole mess. I shook the thought from my head. I heard someone the stairs creaking, assuming someone was coming up them. I tried with all of my will power to try not to cry. My bedroom door swung open. Both my mom and dad walked in. They strolled closer to me. My mom hesitantly sat on the bed while my dad stood next to her.

          “Charlotte, we need to talk to you.” my dad started.

“Harry talked to us about your boyfriend.” My mom said looking pretty pissed. My eyes went wide. I didn’t respond because I had no clue what to say or where this conversation was going.

          “W- what exactly did he say?” I stuttered.

“He told us he didn’t know who he was, but he did say that he hurt you a lot. Charlotte, he was worried sick and so are we.” She explained.

          “I’m fine though. No need to worry.” Just as I said that, my phone vibrated. We all looked at it and I realized it was from Joe.

Joe: Meet me at the café at 4.

          I quickly picked up my phone. Both of my parents looked at me confused.

“I have to go.” I started to walk out of my room until I was stopped by my dad’s voice.

          “Was that him?” I stared at him for a second without responding.

“Yeah, I just need to sort things out.” And with that, I left. I walked of my room leaving my parents there speechless.

          The café was within walking distance from my house so I decided to walk. I needed some fresh air. I arrived at the café. I strolled inside and the strong smell of coffee smacked me in the face. I scanned the petite café and spotted Joe sitting at a small table drinking coffee. I slowly approached the table. I pulled out a chair and that’s when Joe looked up at me with a shock expression plastered on his face.

          “Hi… please sit.” He gestured toward the chair across from him. I slowly sat down.

“Do you want a coffee?” he asked nervously.

          I shook my head. “No thanks. So what did you want to talk about?” I asked bluntly.

“I wanted to talk to you about us. Look, I’m sorry that I-” I cut him off before he could say anything else.

          “No, Joe. It’s fine. I got over it. Look, I don’t even know why were in a public place like this. I should go.” I stood up from my chair. Joe stood up immediately after me staring intently into my eyes.

          “Charlie, I’m sorry. I really am.” He pleaded.

“Me too, but we shouldn’t be together. We knew from the beginning this was wrong. And I am your student after all. You were right. This was a mistake and it never should have happened.” And with that I left. I didn’t want to look back. I was really upset but I didn’t cry. I wanted to though after I saw the tears in his eyes. 

          I ran home quickly. I ran to the bathroom and stripped off all of my clothes. I turned on the hot water and stepped in. I felt the drops of water hit my skin. It burnt really badly but it didn’t hurt as much as my heart did right now. I stood in the shower for a while thinking about my life, and what I just did. I wanted to get out of the shower though because it was really starting to hurt, but once I got out, I knew I had to face the world and what it had in store for me.

          I pulled myself together and exited my small bathroom after twenty minutes of sobbing in the shower. I dried myself off and put on polka dot pajama shorts and a pink tank shirt. I decided to let my hair air dry and fall into its natural curls. I walked downstairs and saw my parents in the living room talking, obviously about me. I ignored them and quickly walked past them and out of the front door. I sat down on the wooden steps on my front porch. I sat there to think; to just get away from everyone for a little bit. I was playing with the ends of my hair when I heard my name being called. I looked up and saw Collin standing in front of me.

          “Charlotte, how are ya?” he asked nervously.

“Horrible. I was just in a damn coma, Harry’s mad at me and my boyfriend, yeah he’s gone.” I complained. Collin sat next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

          “It’s okay. I’m here for you, okay?” He assured me. I nodded slightly. Collin then, attempted to kiss my check but instead pecked very close to my lips even touching them slightly. I jumped back startled a little. He looked at me confused.

          “Sorry, I had a little chill.” I lied as I flashed him a weak smile. I went inside after a while. I went to bed because tomorrow, I would have to face my daily routine again; school.