Sidelines ✔️

07 • Why She Disappeared• 07

I walked through the front door of the house probably looking like a mess. My clothes felt damp, and my hair was wet. The only thing she that wasn't damp was the grey jumper that I was wearing.

I entered the kitchen to find my stepbrothers sat eating breakfast. When they saw me, their eyes widened slightly as they scanned my appearance. Then the three of them looked to each other as if they were having a conversation with their eyes. I didn't even bother to try and figure out what they were thinking, I was way too tired for that.

"Look what at what the cat dragged in." Harry smirked at me.

I looked up at them and made my way to the kitchen. I rolled my eyes at Harry's comment and quickly made myself a cup of coffee and a piece of toast whilst the three of them stared at me. I was starving and dying for a cup of coffee.

Tommy cocked an eyebrow at me. "You not going to say anything?"

I sipped on my coffee and turned around to look at them. I didn't want to do this right now. I was so cold that I was shivering, but I was so hungry that I didn't want to go upstairs and get warm.

"Where's my Mom?" I asked as I nibbled on the toast.

"Out. She's looking for you with our Dad." Harry told her.

I sighed frustratedly and took a bite out of my toast. The three of them continued to stare at me. I averted my gaze and my eyes landed on a note on the kitchen counter.

Boys,

We've gone to find Charlotte.

Hopefully, we won't be long.

- Dad and Daisy.

I took in a deep breathe before huffing. My Mom had probably made it out to Peter and the boys that I didn't come home last night to cause problems. She probably gave them a whole explanation of my intentions and informed them that this was just me doing another disappearing act.

"I don't know why you're annoyed. You're getting attention. Isn't that what you wanted?" Sebastian said, gritting his teeth.

"No." I said and ran my hands through my hair.

  They definitely thought I had orchestrated the whole thing and it was probably thanks to my Mom. However, I was very much aware I didn't owe them an explanation. Especially if they're just going to jump to conclusions like they seem to be pretty good at doing.

"Were you at Joe's?" Tommy asked me. From the way the corners of his lips were twitching upwards, I could see that he was resisting the urge to smirk.

"No." I snapped.

"Were you with Billy Montgomery?" Tommy asked.

I felt my eyebrows furrow together. My stepbrothers' eyes got darker at the mention of his name. It seemed they were even more bothered by seeing me talk to him than I first thought.

"No!" I exclaimed. "Look, I don't owe you three an explanation."

Part of me was angry about what they were insinuating. I had just met Billy properly for the first time after the football game. Again, this morning I had only seen him when we stopped by Joe's work.

"Aren't we the ones that had to listen to our parents whining about your whereabouts?" Harry responded, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry - but it wasn't my fault." I protested.

"It kind of was." Sebastian argued. "You probably didn't come home last night to get them back for making you go to the game."

"You don't know what you're talking about. You weren't there."

"Well, I know that you're a lying little bitch. I think that's enough, don't you?" Sebastian growled.

"What's your problem with me?" I asked, feeling irritated.

Was it necessary to call me a bitch like that? They don't even know what happened.

"Are you seriously going to pretend you don't have a problem with us? None of us are innocent here, Charlotte." Harry told me.

"For the last time, my name is Charlie!"

Harry shook his head. "Nah, I think it's Charlotte."

"Dick." I retorted.

Harry glared at me. "Dork."

God, this again?

"Parasite." I growled.

"Attention seeker."

"Asshole."

Harry took a step towards me, clearly me insulting him was just the tip of the iceberg for him. His hazel eyes raged with anger as he looked down at me.

"Do you want me to hurt you?" Harry said, taking a step towards me.

I laughed coldly and stepped towards him. There was less than a metre between us. "Bite me." I spat.

"Why you little bitch." Harry spat in my face.

Harry got too close to me for my liking. I could smell the coffee on his breathe, but I wasn't going to let him scare me.  I didn't back down. I looked up at Harry, trying to be amused by his anger whilst I pretended to cover up how I was wondering whether he would hit me.

"What's wrong, Harold? Scared to hit a girl?"

Harry shook his head furiously at me and inhaled harshly. I could tell he was tempted, but he shook his head and backed away from me. I smiled, feeling like I achieved something.

"That's what I thought, wuss."

Harry turned sharp on his heel and met her amused glaze. "You're a psycho. Do you want me to hit you?"

I rolled my eyes in attempt to hide any fear that might be poking through my I-don't-give-a-damn attitude. It seemed I was quite successful at masking how they low key scared me.

"Harry calm down." Tommy said to him, probably knowing this wouldn't do any of us any good.

Harry ran his hand through his hair and paced to the other end of the kitchen as if that would help him handle me. It seemed to work.

"Now that you've calmed down from your little temper tantrum, I ask you kindly to start calling me Charlie." I stated, crossing my arms over my chest, and looking Harry directly in the eye. It is rude to call someone by a name they don't themselves like.

"As far as I'm concerned it might as well be bitch." Sebastian told me, flatly.

My eyes darted away from Harry and over to Sebastian." Very mature, Sebastian."

I sighed and decided there was nothing left in this conversation for me. They were experts at jumping to conclusions and make assumptions about me. I wasn't going to waste my breath on them anymore. I was exhausted and this was the last thing I felt like dealing with right now. So, I headed upstairs without another word to them.

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