Charlie
894 Words
"Everybody wake up! We're going to be late!" Maia called out to us, "Come on! Noah and the guys are already at the beach and you haven't even gotten up yet! You better hurry up! Being late is not as fashionable as you all think!"
Mornings had never been my favourite time of day. This morning was no exception. I grumbled loudly as I rolled out of bed and onto the floor. I peeled myself off the floor and lazily got myself dressed in the best bathing suit I had. I met the other girls downstairs and we made our way to the beach, thankfully for exactly eight o’clock.
“Rudy and Charlie, you two stand here while I go tell everyone else what to do,” the director instructed as we arrived.
He and I stood awkwardly beside each other, far away from anyone else. The anger I had felt before had boiled down to hurt. How could he have said such a thing? Did he really mean it? Did he really want to be with Noah? What had changed in his mind from him wanting to be with me? It wasn’t that I was hurt that he didn’t want to be with me, I was hurt that someone I thought I trusted turned out to be so different than I expected.
"You're really not pregnant?" Rudy asked immediately.
"Shush, no one knows except for Noah and Blaire," I whispered.
"Well are you or not?" he replied, matching my whisper.
"I'm not pregnant. The doctor said it was a false positive.”
"Good," he replied.
“What about what you said? About Noah?”
"Alright you two," the director started, causing our conversation to stop, "What you have to do is the most important in the video. You two are madly in love at the beginning. However, Charlie, you realize what a jerk Rudy is, then break up with him and have a good time with your friends.
“First, we have to start with surfing lessons. Girls, you go first while I teach the guys choreography. Then we’ll switch,” the director turned to everyone.
I followed the director to where there were surfboards in the sand with the others close behind. We each took a board and looked at the director, waiting for instruction. The director looked at all of us, then his eyes stopped on Blaire.
"Hold on. Are those scars?" he asked.
Blaire nodded slowly.
"You can't be in the video. It'll ruin it," he said.
"Excuse me, you can't do that," I piped in.
"Yes I can," he retorted.
"Listen, if you kick her out, I'm quitting.”
"Me too," Jordan added.
"Same here," Maia agreed
"I'll leave too,” Amber said.
"Me too," Noah mumbled, almost as an afterthought.
"Fine, fine, fine. Stay in the video," the director relented.
With that, the instructor taught us how to surf. Afterwards, we learned choreography while the guys learned how to surf. It was a challenging morning, yet productive. By the time we finished our lunch break, we were ready to start filming. We filmed all the way into the late evening, making sure every shot we took was perfect, no matter how many times it took. We we were all exhausted by the end of the day.
Noah and I cuddled together before falling asleep. We had a comfortable silence between us. I had a feeling she had a lot on her mind, but I had no idea what it was about. I was too tired to ask her about it. I hoped she would tell me soon.
I awoke the next morning with no one in the bed with me. I looked around to see the room being completely empty. Confused by this, I decided to go downstairs. Hakim and Erys greeted me cheerfully at the bottom of the staircase, causing my confusion to grow.
"Filming starts at eleven so we're all hanging out here," Erys informed me before I even asked.
Groggily, I made my way to the couch, where I sat in Jordan’s lap and observed the room around me. I noticed Noah at the kitchen table, on her phone. I let her stay in her bubble. Amber and Maia were taking pictures of themselves beside us. Gavyn was sitting in the armchair beside us with Melody in his lap. Hakim, Erys, and Quinn were standing around, talking about nothing in particular. Rudy backed out of the room slowly. I noticed Noah disappear moments later.
“Charlie, I have to go get something, come with me?” Jordan asked.
“Sure,” I got up and followed her to the fancy dining room we never used.
I couldn’t believe what I saw when we entered. Rudy and Noah were leaning against the wall, making out. The moment they saw us, they stopped. Before they could say anything, I ran out of the room, tears already falling. I ran to the bathroom, where I found Blaire’s wallet that I had taken from her days prior. I didn’t even have to open it to know there were blades in there. Not knowing what else to do, I took one out of her wallet and placed it to the skin on my wrist.
- Writer
