rebellion ; charlie puth

five ; lexi

It should have been done. I have the tape, everything I needed to end him, but I'm hesitating. Charlie's words from yesterday keep ringing in my ears.

Give him a chance.

Easy for him to say.

I sat on Remy's bed in her home in Times Square and waited for her to return with snacks. As if the universe read my mind, Remy entered the room with a ceramic party bowl with what I could safely assume was marshmallows. She gave a sympathetic smile and plopped on the bed next to me.

I instantly dug in, removing the biggest marshmallow I could see and eating it. My eyes welled with tears for a second, but I blinked them away, not understanding the sudden burst of emotion. With my mouth full, I said, "Remy I hope you know that I really love you and I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Have you been drinking?" Remy asked jokingly, but as she looked at me, she got a little more serious. "So... you made the video."

"Yeah," I said, "yeah I did." Charlie flashed in my mind for a second but I shook the thought away.

"How was it?" She asked eagerly, sitting up and waiting for all the juicy details like me making a sex tape with Charlie Puth was the latest high school gossip. "I mean, like Charlie, you barely know the guy, and- and, like the 'performance'—"

"Jesus Christ, calm down Remy, I'll tell you." I chuckled, but my chest felt hollow and empty. Remy's eyes met mine and I knew that she saw the weakness in them.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly. "I mean honestly Lex. Like I know you. You're my best friend. Hell, my only friend. I know you like the back of my hand." She studied me a little longer. Her body suddenly spoke defensively. "Did something happen with Charlie?"

"I..." I thought about that. Did something happen with Charlie? I was about to dismiss it, but I had to stop lying to myself. It wasn't getting me anywhere, especially with this situation. I needed to just get it out, to say it to somebody, or it felt like it, and me, would just disappear.

"Truthfully, Charlie gave me the best night of my fucking life. With all of this shit going on with my dad... I just... enjoyed it, him, a little too much, you know? And," I sighed, thinking about Charlie again, this time in depth. His soft lips; the smiles that form on them. His smooth hands; the way they touched me. His sculpted body; him. My feelings just spilled right out and onto Remy. "He just let me do whatever I wanted to him and that control—oh my god."

"That good huh?" It sounded like Remy was miserable, but it was probably my jade colored glasses.

I nodded helplessly. "Even though we did way more than we should've that night, I still want to do it again and again, but I know I can't."

"Why can't you? If you plan to leak the tape, there's no point of censoring yourself anymore." She said, but my silence prompted her to speak again. "Or... you're not leaking it anymore?"

"Charlie convinced me not to." I admitted reluctantly.

"Why would he do that?" Remy had some suspicion in her voice, her deep brown eyes squinting at me.

"He told me to try and give Angelo another chance."

"How is that any of his business? He stepped out of his place." Remy stopped, twisting the emerald ring that I gave her some years ago on her middle finger. "But if that's what you want, then so be it I guess."

*

I pulled into the driveway of the house I shared with Angelo. My instincts were instantly brought to the flower pot, knowing that my encrypted key was there. I used my fingerprint to make sure he didn't change it.