After that meeting in the principals office, I had never felt as low as I had in my entire life. Even though they no longer thought I was the one sending those notes, I was still going to be banned from the next show, to discourage whoever it was who had written them.

It was fortunate then that as soon as I had left school, there was none other than Forrest standing there waiting for me.

"Your carriage awaits, Mademoiselle." He said, a joking lilt to his voice.

"Merci Monsieur." I replied, smiling. I had grown up in a bilingual household speaking both French and English, so now I took French classes as an easy A as I already knew how to speak it. Myself along with another drama club member, Alec Piangi, who was in a similar situation as me would just hang out in the back of the class and shoot the shit in French. Of course, it didn't take long for Madame Giry to figure out what we were doing and instead have us work as tutors for the rest of the class as well as making us read classics of French Literature. For example, I had been asked to write a 5 page paper analyzing the themes of "La Comtesse de Monte-Cristo" last semester.

That night, Forrest had taken me out to one of the nicest dinners I've ever had. After so many cast parties at Fugly Bob's it was easy to forget that it wasn't the only restaurant in Brockton Bay.

Sitting across from him at the bistro, I took a sip of my Gazpacho before I started speaking.

"I guess it's just..." I said, hesitantly. "I feel like I don't know myself when I sing."

"You mean," Forrest said in a whisper. "You think your angel is mastering you?"

"I don't know..." I said. "but I don't think that's exactly right. I still feel like myself when I sing, but I keep thinking that it's not really me they're hearing but rather the angel instead."

"I mean, don't take this the wrong way." Forrest said. "That's not an unreasonable fear, from the way you described their powers, it seems plausible."

I couldn't keep the wince off of my face. "You don't think I should sing?" I asked.

"I could never say no to hearing you sing." He said. "But if you need to take a break from it to prove that you can sing without your angel's help, that's your decision."

—

That was how it started. Forrest had gone to Arcadia High, which let for the day out earlier than Winslow, so every day he's wait outside and take me out. Sometimes we'd go out to the park on Captain's Hill and sit on the grass and just spend the afternoon relaxing

Other times we would stay up and read horror stories to try and scare each other, just like we used to as kids.

And even though I wasn't singing on the stage, I would still practice every day, honing my craft. Dad had always encouraged me to sing, and he would even use his violin to accompany me with music sometimes.

Spending my afternoons with Forrest had quickly become my new routine. With my ban from the Drama club, I didn't feel like sticking around after school, so I spent my time with Forrest instead. It was nice, if I'm being honest. It wasn't wild passion but just a comfortable routine, which is exactly what I needed right then.

—

It was just after sundown on Saturday when Forrest rang my doorbell. After getting back from Shabbat, I had spent the afternoon going through my wardrobe trying to find something to wear. I had almost been tempted to go down to the market and buy a new dress, even if it meant having to risk a lecture from zaydee about working on the sabbath. In the end, I had found a nice dress that I had bought to celebrate after Hannibal had opened.

Running down and opening the door, I smiled at seeing Forrest there in a nice button up shirt and slacks with his beard trimmed neatly. However, what had surprised me were the two people with him. Next to him was another boy, one slightly older and also dressed up nicely, but it was the girl next to him that truly surprised me. It was Laura Sorelli.

"Laura? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Oh well my boyfriend Phillip here was telling me about how his younger brother was going to go on a date with the newest star of Winslow Drama," Laura said. "I thought we could make it a double date, given that we're such good friends and all." Her smile at this last sentence could cut glass, but since I didn't want to make a bad impression on Forrest's family, I was stuck.

"Shall we mademoiselle?" He said, holding his arm out for me to grab onto.

"We shall monsieur." I replied, smiling at his joke.

"Ooooh pet names already! You're moving quick!" Snarked Phillip. I held a strained smile at Phillip's peanut gallery comments.

"We've been dating for two months Phil." Said Forrest, his voice strained.

"So where do you wanna go? Fugly Bob's?" Phillip asked.

Truth be told, I was kinda tired of Fugly Bob's. Both because of its association with Winslow's cast parties and also because Fugly Bob's wasn't a restaurant that you 'go to' so much as 'end up at' when nobody can agree on where to go out to eat.

"No thanks, I've had them a ton this week and I'd prefer something else." I said.

"What about that Chinese place, Canton Star?" Forrest suggested.

"Not really in the mood for Chinese." Laura said. "Sorry."

"What about that pizza place on 5th, Slice of Life?" I suggested.

"Had pizza for lunch." Phillip said, shooting that idea down.

"How about Italian?" Laura suggested. "I know a place just off Lord's Street that has the best Lasagna."

"That's kind of a heavy meal." I said.

So in the end, we ended up at Fugly Bob's, as none of us could agree on where to go out to eat.

The drive over to Fugly Bob's was one of the most awkward car rides I had ever taken in my life. Phillip was a cape geek that put Greg Veder to shame, and that was saying something; and he could not shut up about how he was totally some super important person on PHO.

"...Then Bagrat PM's me back and says 'hey my sources at the docks say there's this big fight between the Empire and the Undersiders.' Now I wasn't about to risk myself just for that, but I was already pretty close by anyway, so I might as well check it out. I get there and there's just nobody there, so I pull out my smartphone and..." Oh my god how was Phillip still talking about some stupid PHO crap.

"...So I reported Void's post for speculating on cape identities and Alathea PM's me not even a second later saying that she's not really sure if that counts because Void wasn't talking about a specific cape..." Kill me now please.

"...Like, yeah Locust killed Jack Slash and all but I mean come on, all she can do in control bugs, that's not THAT great of a power..." How was he still talking?

I had never been so glad to be at Fugly Bob's than I was after that car ride.

"What are you thinking about getting?" Forrest asked me.

"Cheeseburger, no Mayo." I said. "You?"

"ABC Burger sounds pretty good right now." Forrest replied, eyeing up the picture of the Avocado Bacon Cheeseburger in the menu.

"So Charlotte," Phillip asked me. "I heard you had the lead role in Hannibal last month?"

"I did." I replied. "I was originally the understudy for the role but then Emma sprained her ankle during rehearsal and I took over the role."

"Convenient." Laura sniped.

"What was that Laura?" I asked.

"Just that it's convenient that a week before we opened, Emma just happened to sprain her ankle and have you take over the role." said Laura

"And I didn't have anything to do with that." I said, defending myself.

"Uh huh." Said Laura, her voice dripping with skepticism. "So it's the ghost that's doing it then? Causing little accidents here and there that just happen to benefit you?"

"That's enough." Said Forrest, his voice firm.

Laura looked over at Phillip as if for support.

"Look, I'm not taking any sides in this argument." He said. "But I think that Laura raises some valid question here."

I didn't want to hear anymore, the blood was pounding in my ears. I had to get out of here. Every one of Laura's barbs had picked at the scabs of my insecurities over this whole thing.

"Thank you all, it's been a lovely evening, but I think it's time for me to go." I said, getting up from our booth.

"Here let me give you a ride." Phillip said.

"No thank you, I think you've done enough." I said, cooly. "I'll take the bus home."

Walking out of that diner, I just wanted to be anywhere but here. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes and I didn't want them to see how much those words stung.

"Charlotte!" Forrest yelled from behind me. I couldn't face him. Not right now. I ignored his yell.

"Charlotte! Wait!" He yelled again. I ignored him and kept walking.

"Angel. Please." I said to myself in the darkness. "I need to see you. I need to know you're real."

"Charlotte..." I heard that voice say. "Come to me my angel..."

"Angel?" I asked into the darkness.

"I'm here..." The voice wasn't omnipresent anymore but coming from one of the side streets.

"Charlotte!" I heard Forrest saying from behind me in the distance. But I was too focused to pay him any mind right now. My angel of music was here and was almost within my reach.

"Come to me..." The voice called out again from a side street.

I followed.