TONIGHT WAS the sophomore and Charlie was dreading it. She wasn't excited about the event in the first place and now... it wasn't on the forefront of her mind. She hadn't processed what's been going on in her life and hadn't dared to check her emails.

Lori had gone through Charlie's email and archived the emails between her and her father. For days Lori had debated bringing up what happened that night, but for now, she would wait for Charlie to speak on it. She didn't want to push Charlie into discussing something she wasn't ready for.

Regardless, Charlie seemed better than she was before. She sat at the kitchen table and spooned cereal into her mouth as she scrolled through Instagram.

She could hear footsteps coming downstairs and saw her mother. She turned her attention back towards her phone when a message from Marcus popped onto her screen. He asked if she was dreading the sleepover as much as she was. She gave a soft smile as she dropped her spoon into her bowl and began messaging him back.

Lori glanced back at her youngest as she began to brew her coffee to start her day. "Excited for the sleepover?"

Charlie chuckled, looking over at her mother. "No. Not something I'm looking forward to."

"Why not?" Lori asked. "Isn't the party of the century or something?"

"No." Charlie laughed and stood to her feet. She placed her empty bowl in the sink and pressed her back against the countertop. "The only reason I'm still going is because Marcus is." She explained, crossing her arms over her chest.

Lori turned, holding a coffee cup in her hands. She gave Charlie a soft smile as she pressed a kiss against the side of her head.

"I'm sure you and Marcus will have a great time."

More footsteps began marching down the stairs and Billie made her appearance known.

"Let's go!" She called before shutting the door behind her.

Charlie gave her mother a soft smile before leaving the house and to the hell she called school.

     SOON ENOUGH, nightfall came, and Charlie and Marcus trudged their way down the halls and saw the handful of sophomores in the gym as music blasted back and forth between the walls as people danced.

Charlie sighed, blowing air out as she scanned the brightly lit room. She gently bumped her shoulder into Marcus and pointed towards the photo booth.

Marcus let out a soft scoff and found himself being dragged towards the machine. Charlie pulled the curtain aside and she and Marcus sat down inside.

Before Charlie pushed the button, Marcus pulled out two joints from his pocket. Charlie smiled, grabbing one of the joints and placing it between her lips as she pushed the button so the countdown would start.

Marcus slung his arm around Charlie as the four flashes of light took their photos. As soon as that was done, Charlie waved her hand in the air to try and waft away the smoke before the next person stepped inside.

They stepped out of the booth and Charlie quickly grabbed the photo strip and by miracle, the machine dropped two of their photos, meaning they could both have a copy of the photos they had just taken.

"Lucky us." Charlie smiled and passed one of the photo strips to Marcus.

Charlie looked down at the photos with a small smile. As she looked up, she glanced around the gym. She didn't see anyone or anything that would bring her any form of entertainment and looked over at Marcus.

"Wanna get out of here?" He asked.

Charlie nodded and followed Marcus out of the gym and towards the locker rooms.

The two of them sat side by side. Marcus held the joint between his fingers as Charlie rested her head against his shoulder.

Something about this would always be better than being surrounded by people who didn't give a shit about you unless you provided them with something or you held some sort of popular status that made people like you.

Charlie sighed, crossing her leg over the other as she twiddled her joint between her fingers.

Marcus blew out smoke from his joint as he looked down at Charlie.

"You okay, Charles?" He asked.

She looked up at him and nodded. playing the joint between her lips and taking a puff before placing it between her fingers once more.

"It's just..." Marcus paused. He sighed, taking another drag of his joint.

"The other night?" She questioned.

Marcus looked down, nodding as Charlie lifted her head. She turned in her spot, now facing Marcus as she pulled her legs up to her chest and crossed her arms over her knees as she took a quick hit of her joint.

"I've been trying to get in contact with my dad."

Marcus nodded. He knew that Charlie had been trying to contact her father. It wasn't a secret to him. She told him months ago.

Charlie sighed. "I just wanna talk to him, you know? I... want him to know who I am." She explained. "I think I've realized that he just doesn't care."

Marcus quipped his lips to the side and watched as Charlie placed the joint between her lips. She rested her head against her knees and took the joint out of her mouth, the smoke surrounding her as she held the joint between her fingers.

Charlie groaned, laughing as she covered her face with her hands. She was frustrated, Marcus could tell.

"I just feel so stupid for caring as I do."

"That's just who you are Charlie," Marcus said. "There's nothing wrong with caring. You're dad's an asshole who's missing out on one of the greatest people that I know."

Charlie kept her hands over her face as she peaked through her fingers. She slowly moved her hands down and gave Marcus a small smile. She slid her way over to him, wrapping him into a hug and careful not to get the joint anywhere near his hair as she rested herself in the crook of his neck.

Marcus sighed, holding the girl close as his hand rested on her lower back.

"Thank you." Charlie muttered against his neck.

"Anytime, Charlotte."

Charlie scoffed, pushing herself off of Marcus and placed the joint between her lips as she made her way back to his side, once again resting her head against his shoulder.

He seemed to know what to say to her to make her feel like herself. That's the reason they were best friends. They could rely on each other in more way than one.

And they would never forget that.

     LATER THAT night, Charlie grabbed one of the sleeping bags. Boys and girls had to be separated and if anyone was caught with the opposite gender, it was a suspension that could last for days.

Charlie gave Georgia a small smile as the older woman handed her the bag.

Charlie turned with a sigh. To be honest, she did not have many friends, not as many as her sister anyway. All Charlie had was Marcus. Of course, Max wanted everything and more to be the one who was best friends with Charlie, but alas, she failed.

And though putting her sleeping bag next to Max wouldn't kill her, she found Ginny nearby and decided to sleep next to her instead.

"Hey, Ginny." Charlie called. "Anyone laying here?"

Ginny looked up at Charlie. "Uh, no, no. It's all yours."

Charlie gave her a quick smile and placed her sleeping bag on the floor. She quickly wrapped herself in the uncomfortable mesh and turned her body to face Ginny.

"Had a good time so far?" She asked.

"It's all right." Ginny answered. "I'm a part of MANG so I've been I've been with them all night."

Charlie nodded. "I don't doubt it. I'm sure Max dragged you to the photo booth. How many photos did you take?"

"Too many to count." Ginny laughed. "I took some with Hunter too."

"Hunter Chen?" Charlie asked. "You two seem pretty close. At least that's what Max has been telling me."

Ginny rolled over in her sleeping bag, now facing Charlie with a soft smile pulling at her lips.

"He kissed me."

Charlie returned the small smile. "Good for you, Miller."

Ginny held her small smile as she watched Charlie's dark brown, almost jet-black hair fall from her shoulder as she shifted. She wondered if Marcus told her what happened between the two of them. She knew that they were close from how they walked down the halls, it was almost couple-y, but Ginny marked it up to friends who had no boundaries, which was true.

"Was he your first kiss?" Charlie asked.

Ginny chuckled. It was evident that Marcus hadn't told Charlie shit and Ginny couldn't come up with a reason why he hadn't.

"Uh, no," Ginny answered. "No, he wasn't, but it's... the best kiss I've had."

"Damn," Charlie smiled. "good shit."

"Have you ever... kissed anyone?" Ginny asked.

Charlie sighed. "Yeah, like years ago though. Do those even count?"

"Yeah, they count." Ginny laughed.

"It was middle school and spin the bottle." Charlie said, brushing her hair behind her ear. "Never doing shit like that again." She laughed.

Ginny soon joined in before the two were being hushed by staffer nearby.

The two of them shared a glanced before laughing once more.

It seemed like the beginning of a blossoming friendship.

— lucy has something to say !!

you would NEVER catch me sitting on the locker room/bathroom floor of a PUBLIC school what the hell

anyway

ginny and charlie blossoming friendship or the end of an era YOU tell ME

bye :))))