Imogen didn't have a book to burn. She had two pages printed off the internet. For once she was the last one at the park. Her printer had stuffed up causing a lot of cursing and Imogen running down the road determined not to be late. 

"What'cha got there?" Celia asked.

"The Raven," Imogen said. 

"I'm not happy about it but it's public domain," Richard said. 

"You're one of those 'Poe reflects the deep and dark parts of the mind that we prefer to remain locked up' aren't you?" Imogen said.

"Yeah," Richard said.

"You could argue the same for Shakespeare or Agatha Christie," Morrissey said.

"Aren't you a well read boy," Imogen said.

"Thank you. I need something else to do in my spare time."

Morrissey lay back down on the table. He picked his guitar up and started playing 'Ask' by the Smiths. He kept stumbling on certain chords and started from the beginning.

"Put the guitar down you're getting frustrated," Imogen said.

Morrissey sighed and placed it down on the table. "What do we hate about Poe?"

"I have a fear of going insane another fear is birds...well chickens but ravens scare the crap out of me too," Imogen said. 

"At what point does insanity begin and sanity end?" Richard said. 

"Don't play mind games with me!" Imogen said.

Thoughts like that made her anxious. It also triggered Celia as well but she'd never tell him that. She'd thought she was insane for years. The constant pain of thinking that something was wrong and the something would never get better. 

Morrissey was pretty sure he was half insane already.

Imogen shoved the paper into the barbecue trying to distract her from the thoughts. She was having a bad day. A comment like that wouldn't normally affect her so badly. She'd woken up anxious. She'd made a mistake. The opportunity to go on medication had been given by her counsellor and parents. She made the mistake of looking at the side effects of the anti anxiety pills. The side effects were enough to scare her. 

The stab in the gut feeling returned and everything blurred. She dropped down next to the barbecue. She propped her back up against the cool brick wall. She gathered her hair up, away from her neck. 

"Imogen are you alright?" Celia asked.

Why did that question make things worse? "I'm fine," she said. She hated how shaky her voice was. 

"No you're not," Morrissey said. 

"Shut up!" Imogen said. She put her hands over her ears and kept repeating 'shut up'. 

Morrissey climbed off his bench. He was going to help. It was a potentially triggering situation but Immy had done exactly the same thing for him.

Morrissey knelt down next to her. He put an arm on her shoulder. Her bare skin shuddered under his touch. 

"Immy look at me," he said, gently. She looked into his eyes before diverting them. "Immy you're safe. Just keep breathing.

"I'm going insane!"

"No you're not. It's okay to be anxious. I'm here. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Imogen started to cry. Morrissey took her hand. "It's alright."

Imgoen started to wipe her tears away. Richard came over and handed her a tissue.

"I'm sorry," Imogen said.

"Don't apologise," Morrissey said. "Come on I'll take you home." 

He'd hopefully get back before he need to clock in for work. Imogen grabbed her bag and started to walk.

For the first fifteen minutes they said nothing. Imogen was wringing her hands. Morrissey had to break the silence. "I have this music thing on Friday. I was wondering if you'd like to come," he said.

Imogen knew about the 'music thing'. Her brother had entered. He had also told her to stay away. All the more reason to go. 

"I'll come," she said, softly.

"I'll text you the details."

"Thanks."

She already knew the details but couldn't be bothered to speak. She wished she was having one of those days where she could just walk back into the situation after panicking but that wasn't happening. 

Morrissey was starting to think that it would have been better if Celia had walked her home. Immy was looking off. She was sighing a lot too. He didn't blame her, he was exactly the same. The only difference Immy wasn't an angsty person. 

"Hey Immy are you okay?" Morrissey asked.

"I will be," she said.

Not good enough. That meant she wasn't alright. What could he do? Touch seemed out of the question. Words had no effect. It must have been a time thing.

He left her at the door. Immy muttered a thank you and left him at the door. Morrisey wasn't sure what he was expecting but it certainly but a 'thanks' wasn't it.

Imogen had struggled with her anxiety all week. By Friday she was worn out but she had promised Morrissey that she would go. Her word was her bond, as old fashioned as it sounded.

Celia and Richard had promised to be there as well. They were planning to go out for pizza later. Imogen wasn't sure if she'd last that long. Celia had urged her not to push herself too much. Imogen was going to do what she wanted. 

Then there was the question of what to wear. She'd seen her brother's outfit and leather seemed to be the fabric of choice. Seeing as Imogen found leather uncomfortable and didn't want to match her brother she went with a black skirt and t-shirt with ankle boots. She wasn't aware that she was dressing up but she felt comfortable. Comfortable enough to sit in a plastic chair for three hours. 

Imogen arrived at the school hall with a few minutes to spare. She lined up with the friends and families of the competitors. Celia and Richard were running late as per usual. Imogen saved them a seat and found herself seated next to a girl her own age.

"Who are you here for?" she asked.

"Morrissey, a friend. You?" Imogen said.

"Yeah some mates. They're a band. Shakespeare's Sons."

"My friend hired them for a party. Moz and my brother are stuffed."  

"They don't do very well in competitions. The lead singer's a diva and it puts everyone else off," she said. "Good luck to your friend."

"And good luck to yours."

Celia and Richard arrived just before the first act started.

Throughout the first act the audience was forced to endure:

        -Two awful renditions of Taylor Swift.

        -A butchering of Iggy Azalea

        -A blasphemy against the name of Meg Mac (something that particularly annoyed Celia).

That was before something relatively good came out. Even that was mediocre.

Shakespeare's Sons came on. They seemed to have a few fans in the crowd. The drummer was a female. That seemed to make the sons part redundant. Although her name was Narissa which made the situation somewhat better. They were pretty good but the lead singer looked like he had something up his but. 

"Cassian's going to kill him," the girl said.

The bass guitarist was encouraging the others to play harder and better. Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' had never been so interesting. Everyone clapped when it ended.

The next act included:

        -A badly done version of Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire' made everyone's skin crawl

        -An alright cover of Taylor Swift.

        -A pretty good cover of the Cranberries 'Zombie'

It was Morrissey's turn. Seeing as the name had already been taken he had to come up with an original stage name. What did he pick? Char.

Imogen, Celia and Richard couldn't work out the reason for it but Char suited him.

He stood on stage awkwardly connecting his acoustic guitar to the amplifier. He straightened up and waited for the judges to nod. 

He gave a slight smile before launching (body and soul) into the song. He was playing 'Ask' by the Smiths. Imogen's favourite Smiths song.

He definitely had skills. He had the competition in the bag. His voice was practically flawless. His didn't stumble on chords like he had in the park. Morrissey looked like he was having the time of his life. Imogen was slightly aroused by this. As was the girl next to her.

Imogen blushed at the thoughts running through her mind. Celia winked at her. Imogen hit her in response. She knew he was good but not that good.   

Morrissey finished and the crowd applauded. He looked so happy, so at ease. 

Marlon Ditcher was the last to perform. He chose the old classic. One that had been beaten to death by singers both past and present. Good ol' Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. Marlon had the stage presence and the looks. His voice only added to the package. He was loud and sang like Kurt Cobain. Just like Morrissey had said. Whilst Marlon was fantastic Morrissey had the sincerity. Sincerity always loses out. 

Imogen's heart sank when she sneaked a glance at the judges. It was clear who would win. 

The night was wrapped up by the announcements of the placings. Shakespeare's Sons came third, followed by Morrissey at second and Marlon coming in at first. Imogen let out a sigh worthy of Morrissey. Marlon needed to be knocked down a peg or two. Morrissey looked happy enough. It seemed to be Imogen who was more upset. 

After that everyone was milling around. Morrissey was pleasantly surprised by Immy running at him. He steadied her in his arms.

"I'm so proud of you!" Imogen cried.

"Thanks Immy," he said.

"You should have won."

"There's always next time."

He seemed so happy, so positive, so unlike himself. Was he like that before all his problems started? He didn't have his headphones in but he seemed confident without them. 

Shakespeare's Sons came out. The keyboard player whacked the lead singer upside the head. "What was that. We should have won!" he said.

A brawl was brewing. 

"These two get a little fiery after losing to anyone. All the same good job tonight. You'll be getting a call from us if Cassian destroys our lead singer," the bass guitarist said. He made his way through the crowd. "That's enough. Break it up you two."

The drummer was left to play damage control. "Gawd Adrian's really stuffed it up this time. Well Char you're a worthy opponent and hopefully one day we'll have the opportunity to whip Marlon's ass."

Imogen received a text. "Celia's getting impatient."

"They're here?" he said.

He was unaware how big his fan base was. "We're going out for food if you want to come."

"I've just gotta check in with my mother but I'll meet you outside."

Morrissey's mother had been talking to Imogen during the interval. A friend of his was there too. Imogen was pretty sure she saw Blondie hanging around. Most of the music store staff seemed to be there. 

The shopping centre staff all seemed really supportive of each other. Imogen had been roped into going to one of Wilde's spoken word competitions with Wordsworth and Alcott. It was nice that Morrissey's workplace supported him. 

Morrissey came back. He looked a little on edge. "I've managed to lose my phone. I'm going to check round the back can you stay here," he said.

Imogen made her way back to Celia and Richard to alert them to the missing phone. Imogen had an idea of where it was. She stopped on the way to them. Her brother was holding a phone in his hand. A phone that wasn't his. Imogen pushed through the crowd surrounding him. She stood eye to eye with her brother (the boots helped with that). 

Imogen grabbed his wrist. "Give me the phone or I tell your friends about the bear."

"You wouldn't dare," Marlon hissed.

"I would," she hissed back. "Up until the age of sixteen Marlon-"

"-Take the phone and go," Marlon said, shoving it into her outstretched palm.

"I'm Marlon's sister! Until the age of sixteen Marlon slept with a stuffed bear!" Imogen yelled. She ran out of the hall before her brother could run after her.

As she burst out of the double doors and turned the corner she felt a tugging on her wrist. She stumbled and fell into Morrissey's arms. Her face was in his neck and he was laughing. Not the small little chuckle he normally did. It was big booming laughter.

He had his head in her neck and his arms around her. She too was giggling like an idiot. "Did you just kiss my neck?" she asked.

"No," Morrissey said.

Liar. He had. He probably would have done it again if she hadn't caught him. Imogen was too high on laughter to care.

"Sorry are we interupting anything?" Celia asked.

The two of them broke apart. Imogen handed him his phone back. The both of them were blushing.

"We're getting pizza so you guys take your time," Richard said. He wrapped his arm around Celia's waist and they walked off.  

"I want food," Imogen said. She put an arm around his shoulder. "Can I call you Char?"

"Why?"

"I think it's sexy."

"Come on hunger must make you delusional."

"Don't eat too much food you won't be able to fit into your leather pants."

"You like them don't you Immy."

"You're delusional when you're hungry. Come on before you start to think I'm your wife."

They arrived at the pizza joint before Richard and Celia. The two lovebirds had stopped on the way to play tonsil tennis. Imogen and Morrissey walked past them rather quickly. They must have had added hormones in their chicken. 

They were waiting for a good ten minutes. When they did turn up they looked flustered as if they'd been running.

"Sorry we were-" Richard said.

"We saw," Morrissey said. 

Celia and Richard sat down in silence. It was their turn to blush. 

"I'll go and pay but someone else can do drinks," Imogen said. "The usual?"

They nodded. She ordered and came back within a matter of seconds. Celia went up to order drinks. 

"Hey Moz are you a vegetarian because the real Morrissey is or because you want to be?" Imogen said. 

"My vegan aunt showed me a video on chicken and cow meet when I was twelve . This was way before I discovered the Smiths. Purely coincidence," he said.

"Well at least you can sing meat is murder without being a hypocrite," Imogen said.

The group disbanded. Morrissey insisted on taking Imogen home, even at the risk of running into her brother. They reached her house in the matter of minutes. 

"You should have won," Imogen said, once they reached her block.

"It's alright."

"I can steal my brother's trophy. He won't notice."

"It's really okay."

"I just like it when you're happy."

"You're wonderful Imogen." It was the first time that Imogen didn't seem strange coming out of his mouth. "I'm serious though, thanks."

"Goodnight Char."

"Good night Imogen."

Morrissey was torn between spilling everything. He'd have to eventually, considering what he had in mind. Really the only thing he had left to share was his real name. Immy wore her heart on her sleeve. He covered everything with angst. He was tempted to tell her just as he said goodnight.

Instead he took her hand and pecked her cheek before walked off.

That boy confused Imogen. 

A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter. As you can see I'm still a little obsessed with This Charming Charlie. Ask has to be one of my all time favourite Smiths songs. It's on the playlist which I've linked on my profile.

I have an announcement to make. After the completion of this story I will be leaving Wattpad. I don't know when I'll be writing again but I'll probably be around reading. I've got my seniors years coming up and the added pressure I put on myself to get stuff up I don't think I'd be able to deal with.

I'm also struggling with Wattpad itself. Honestly it's giving me the shits. I'm struggling on the website and I know I should just write for the passion which I will continue to do offline. I really wanted to write Marc and Christie's story up here but I just don't think I will. I might post it if I want to but at the moment I'm not too inclined to.

Thanks for reading 

Euphoria :)