A knock on her door woke Charlie up from her light after-supper catnap. "Come in!" she shouted, her voice muffled by her pillow. Her body ached and forced her to stay still.
"Hey," Jerome said, "Are we still on for tonight?"
Charlie groaned loudly into her pillow and replied something that Jerome could only assumed meant yes. She didn't move off the bed but instead lifted her arms in the air.
"Carry me, peasant," She ordered, her eyes still closed.
"No way, I'd pull a muscle trying to carry your fat body."
"Fine, you can fail the test, not my problem." Charlie heard sigh, followed by a shuffle.
"Hop on," She heard Jerome painfully mumble. Charlie opened an eye and saw Jerome positioned to carry her on his back piggyback style. She climbed on with a smile.
"Don't forget my notebook."
"Don't forget my notebook," He imitated horribly in an annoying high pitched voice, but still picked up Charlie's supplies and walked to his dorm room, receiving a few odd looks from those in the hallway. Once in the room, Jerome set Charlie down gently and went to pick up his laptop. Charlie walked over to his bed and flopped down on her stomach.
"Move over," Jerome said, pushing her. Charlie groaned and sat on the opposite end of the bed.
"Okay, where do you want to start?" Charlie asked, flipping through Jerome's chemistry textbook.
"I've been having trouble with ions," Jerome stated. Charlie nodded her head, flipped through her notes in her notebook, and began explaining the lesson to him once more. It wasn't until they heard Victor's voice echoing in the hallway that they realized how much time had passed.
"It is ten o'clock!" He shouted, his loud voice almost shaking the room.
"I've got to go." Charlie hopped off the bed and stretched her back. "We'll continue tomorrow night, yeah?"
"Yeah, 'night Charlie," said Jerome, waving her off.
"Goodnight Jerome," Charlie smiled. She opened the door and found Alfie right in front of her.
"Oh, Charlie," he said surprised, "you better hurry. Victor's on a warpath," He warned.
Charlie nodded. "Great," She mumbled, before walking to the door. "Goodnight boys!" she waved before walking out the door.
"Night!" The boys waved simultaneously.
Charlie closed the door and walked to the stairwell where Victor stood, glaring at her.
"You know the rules, Mason," He scorned.
"Yes, Victor, but technically, I still have four minutes left."
"Three," He corrected viscously, "and don't let me see you down here past curfew again."
"Yes Victor," She mumbled, walking up the stairs. Charlie made her way to the bathroom, but found it blockaded by Patricia, Mara, and Amber.
"What's going on?" She asked. Mara opened her mouth to explain, but was cut off by Victor.
"Why are you girls not in your rooms?" Victor's booming voice asked them. "You know the rules."
"I don't want to share with her," Patricia said, pointing at Nina.
"You know what," said Nina, "I'll move. Half of my stuff is in a pile on the floor anyway. Or I can just sleep on the couch." Nina suggested but Victor shook his head.
"Nobody is moving anywhere. Now get to your rooms immediately," He ordered and the group of girls dispersed, going to their respective rooms. Charlie could already tell that tomorrow would be an interesting day. With a heavy sigh, she tucked herself into bed and closed her eyes, welcoming sleep with open arms.
—
"Where were you last night?" Amber asked when Charlie returned from her post workout shower the next morning. "You disappeared after supper," She said, combing her hair at her vanity.
"Oh, I was with Jerome," Charlie replied nonchalantly, changing into her uniform.
Amber turned around and gave Charlie a look. "Oh, really?"
Charlie rolled her eyes. "Not like that."
Amber hummed suspiciously. "For two people who aren't a couple, you guys sure do act like one."
"Ambs-"
"I'm just saying you two would be so cute together," Amber said quietly, turning back to her mirror to finish her makeup.
Charlie let her head fall back and groaned. "Amber, we've been over this."
"But you and Jerome are literally perfect for each other. Just imagine, us going on double dates together!" Amber squealed, looking at Charlie, "Wouldn't it be amazing?"
Charlie chuckled and turned to Amber, buttoning up her white blouse, "Amber, do you really want to go on a double date with Jerome? We would probably end the night covered in dirt and running away from the police."
Amber tilted her head and gave the idea more thought. A wide smile suddenly appeared on her lips. "Like Bonnie and Clyde! How cute!"
Charlie laughed lightly. "It would be if we actually fancied one another."
"Oh please, that boy is like in love with you. You should see the way he looks at you."
Charlie shook her head.
"Well, he can look all he wants, I got my eyes on someone else."
Amber's mouth dropped open. "You fancy someone and didn't tell me? How dare you! Who is it?"
"If I told you, you'd never leave me alone."
"But I can start making you a couple scrapbook!"
"That's the last thing I want. I don't want him to know, it would make things way too weird between us."
"If I buy you those really cute shoes we saw a few weeks ago, will you tell me?"
Charlie paused for a moment. "Tempting, but I'll have to pass."
"Please, Charlie? I need to know!"
"How about this: if anything happens between us or I find myself clueless with this boy, you'll be the only person I turn to."
Amber pouted. "It's not ideal but fine." She stood up and grabbed her bag. Charlie held out her arm for her.
"Shall we?"
—
"Joy definitely would've called by now. I'm telling you, something's happened to her," Patricia said as she walked around the table.
"Patricia, give it a break," Jerome said as he took the plate of toast from Patricia's hand. "You're driving me crazy." He passed the plate to Charlie. She gave him a disapproving look before taking the plate from his hand, grabbing a piece for her, and passed it to Mara.
"Jerome!" said Mara as she took the bread plate from Charlie, "Some of us are worried about Joy, even if you're not," Mara took the bread plate and passed it on to Amber. She and Mara had switched spots for the day, an unusual occurrence. But it was worth giving up on breakfast for her plans for Charlie.
"Did you get any response from that email you sent her last night?" Amber asked, taking a roll from the basket.
Patricia shook her head solemnly, "No."
"It's difficult to know what else we could do," said Fabian as he took the plate from Amber.
"Question the newbie, that's what."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Charlie carefully asked, "Maybe she just had really bad timing."
"What about last night? That business with the mirror," argued Patricia. Jerome laughed quietly next to Charlie and she rolled her eyes.
"What?" asked Patricia, looking curiously between the pair, "You don't believe I saws anything, do you?"
"No, we do. It's just that last night, I ran into Alfie as I was walking up to my room," Charlie said, giving Jerome a look. Jerome gave her a sly smile and continued to eat his muffin.
"Not even Alfie would have the nerve to sneak into the bathroom and do something like that."
"Are we talking about the same Alfie?" asked Jerome. Patricia looked down, realizing that it very much could've been Alfie who wrote the message, given the evidence. But she refused to believe it.
"So, who do you think did write it?" asked Fabian. "Joy?"
"I don't know," said Patricia. "Maybe-maybe Nina wrote it to drive me crazy."
Jerome chuckled and Charlie could practically read his mind. He probably wanted so badly to say "Too late for that" or some other stupid comment. She gave him a hard stare, and he quieted down.
"Where is she anyway?" asked Patricia, eyeing the empty chair.
"Gone to school earlier," answered Fabian quickly.
"Aw, so she's a geek as well as everything else, is she?" Patricia taunted.
"I think it's probably more about getting away from us. I mean, we've hardly been very welcoming," Fabian said, looking around the table.
"I know, I was thinking that too," Mara added quietly. Jerome rolled his eyes and sighed loudly at Mara's goodness. "I feel a bit mean."
Patricia rolled her eyes and stood up from the table. "Honestly, you guys make me sick," She said, walking out of the room.
Everyone else at the table shared a look and went back to their breakfast. Charlie left the table as soon as she was done, and walked back up to her room. She gathered her school books into her brown leather crossbody bag and grabbed her red blazer. She walked down the stairs and made her way out the house, putting a pair of headphones in. Amber was walking with Mick this morning and rather than be a third wheel, Charlie took the opportunity to walk on her own. It was nice to take some time to herself. She mapped out her schedule for the day in her mind. She would have two hours to spare after her afternoon rehearsal time before supper. She could take a nap…but she missed morning tea at the home on Saturday. Charlie decided to push her wants aside and make a visit to the home today, maybe bring some sheet music with her. She still felt bad about letting the old dears down. By the time the song ended, Charlie found herself at the front of the school.
Charlie walked through the hallways and came across Mara, Patricia, and Amber, huddled around the school photo they took a while back.
"What's going on?" She asked as she pushed her way into the circle.
"Look," said Patricia, pointing at an empty spot next to her in the photo, "Joy's not in the photo."
Amber, obviously not interested in what Patricia was saying, left the group, letting Charlie take her spot.
"Wasn't she away that day?" Mara asked, "With tonsillitis or something?"
"No," Patricia said confidently, turning to Mara, "she was standing right here next to me when that was taken." Patricia pointed to the vacant spot next to her in the photograph.
"But how can you be so sure?" Mara questioned, "It was nearly eighteen months ago, Patricia." Mara said, a little annoyed at Patricia's paranoia. Mara walked away, leaving Charlie and Patricia behind.
"But she was there that day," Patricia mumbled, "I know she was." Patricia turned quickly to Charlie and asked if she believed her.
"You know," Charlie pondered, staring at the photo intently, "I think you're right. She was there. I remember that I gave her that white hair clip with the flower to wear that day and she liked it so much, she asked to keep it."
"So, I'm not going crazy," Patricia sighed in relief.
"Crazy? No," Charlie agreed, "Paranoid? Yes."
"What should we do?" Patricia questioned, "This is evidence that something weird is going on."
"Listen, for all we know, the picture has always been like this and you're just noticing it now because of everything with Joy," Charlie reasoned.
Patricia sighed and stared at the picture, not muttering a word.
"If it's really bothering you, talk to Sweetie about it," Charlie continued, "I'm sure he'll have an answer for you."
"Yeah, alright," Patricia grumbled. Charlie walked away, leaving Patricia behind with the photo.
She passed by the maths classroom and peered in. She saw Alfie and Jerome sitting in the back corner, throwing crumpled pieces of paper. Charlie pursed her lips and whistled, getting the boys' attentions. She gave them a tongue in tooth smile and wiggled her fingers.
"Have fun, boys," She teased and they shot dirty glares at her. She let out a breathy laugh and sent a wink their way before stepping out of the doorframe.
She continued on her stroll through the school hallways, greeting students in the other houses that she was friendly with until she reached her final destination. The music classroom.
Charlie dug into her brown bag and pulled out the spare keys Sweetie had given her the other day. She opened the door and flicked the lights on, illuminating the small classroom. She waltzed over to the grand piano that sat in the corner of the room and took a seat on the bench. Charlie threw off her red blazer and rolled the sleeves of her white button down up to her elbows. She stretched out her hands, letting energy enter into her fingertips. Her hands fluttered on the ivory keys, playing a few chords as a warm up. Her fingers sped up until they effortlessly danced across the keys.
