I'm Home

Chapter 12

Sure enough, the next day Erica and Jaz texted me saying that Phase 2 had gone perfectly. They had each met Charlie separately and made him think that they were now also interested in him. He had told both of them that he was now taken, but was flattered and would get in touch with them if/when the two of us get into a fight. Instead of hanging out with Maya, I had ended up spending the whole day either doing homework or texting Lucas.

By the time Monday came around, everything was in place. We had everything set up in history. Erica and Jaz said that they just had health class first period, so they could easily miss it. Sadly, I couldn't go to school with anyone except Maya, since I had to make Charlie think that the rest of the group was still mad at me. I had told Dad that morning to not plan any lesson for the day, but instead to make sure there was either an advocate or a school resource officer on standby. When I sat down at my desk, I saw a note on my desk.

Glad you finally came to your senses. He will severely pay for what he did.

-C

I forced myself to look back and give him a small smile. When I turned back to my desk, I saw yet another note.

Don't worry. I gave this to Maya, who put it here. Don't forget how brave and amazing you are.

No sooner had the bell rung, than I stood up in front of the whole class. Charlie came up with me, but I told him to stand against the chalkboard next to the window.

"Okay, so pretty much all of you know that ever since my family came back, everything's been a little crazy. I haven't been quite like myself the past couple of days. That's because of what exactly one person did to me." On cue, Erica and Jaz walked into the room. I saw the confusion on Charlie's face as they came to stand next to me. "And to her, and her. That person, everyone, is no other than Charlie Gardner. You see, on Thursday, I was upset with Maya and Lucas. He said that I could talk to him about it. So I went to the library to talk to him. At first, it was perfectly normal and innocent. Then before I know it, he's grabbing me by the arm, forcing me to stay with him, and aggressively kissing me without any form of consent. The even worse part about this is, I'm not the only girl he's done this to. He did it to both of them." I first looked at my classmates. Their faces were all filled with shock, horror, and hate. I looked down at my friends, who all looked at me with awe, as if I had just done the impossible. Lucas looked the proudest of all. I don't think I will ever forget the look on my dad's face. I could tell he was torn between coming over and hugging me with all his might, or using every ounce of strength to beat up Charlie for hurting his little girl. I went over to him and just placed my hand on his arm, letting him know that I know what I'm doing.

I turned back and saw a security officer standing by the door. The look on Charlie's face made everything worthwhile. All color had drained from his face. His jaw was hanging open. His eyes were wide open. He shook himself off a little before coming over to me, the anger slowly showing on his face.

"Look, I'm not the one who kept one guy on a string while they went off with another!"

"Charlie, after New Year's, I thought I had made it very clear that we were not a good match."

"Well, still. I would've never done any of this if you had just picked me over cowboy!"

"Are you even hearing yourself right now? You're trying to pin all the times you have abused girls on my decision? Charlie, you can't keep blaming others for your problems. I gave you a shot, it didn't work out, and now I'm in a perfectly happy relationship with the guy I love. Any normal person would have gotten over it by now and would be happy for me. I don't know what else happened to you, but what I do know is that you will never be able to do what you did to me, Erica, and Jaz to any other girls. Good-bye, Charlie. Hope you learned something."