HALLOWEEN CAME and went like most days.

Charlie found herself at home, staring at the white screen of thousands of Google articles and online quizzes. She bounced her leg up and down as she placed her acrylic black-painted thumbnail between her teeth as her eyes bounced back and forth.

She knew the difference between platonic and romantic, it was clear to her what the difference was. What wasn't clear was if what she and Marcus had was platonic or leading itself into a romantic... something or other.

She read article after article and took Buzzfeed quizzes that she would later forget about. She just wanted an answer on how she felt about him. They had been friends for a lifetime and something as simple as a high school crush could change absolutely everything and that's something she wasn't risking.

As she ran her fingers through her hair, her phone buzzed beside her. She picked it up and found a message from Marcus, letting her know that he, Ginny, and Max were outside.

She grabbed a hoodie off the floor and threw it over herself as she stepped out of her room and down the stairs.

She opened the front door to the three of them smiling at her. She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest, and pressed her shoulder against the doorframe.

"Aren't you gonna ask me if  Tamara's here?" Charlie asked.

"Funny." Marcus smiled. "Wanna go to Ginny's?"

Charlie, quite literally, had nothing better to do other than scrolling on her computer for another couple of hours to figure her shit out, but being over at Ginny's sounded way better than doing any of that shit she mentioned.

Charlie turned, seeing her mother sitting in the living room watching a show that Charlie had never seen.

"I'm going to Ginny's with Marcus and Max."

Lori turned in her spot, watching as Charlie slipped on her Crocs.

"Don't stay out too late!" Lori shouting.

Charlie nodded, waving goodbye to her mother as she gently shut the door behind her and followed Ginny to her house.

Charlie had never been inside, but when Ginny unlocked the door, it was as she suspected. Most of the homes in the little cul-de-sac all had similar structures and the insides, frankly, were all the same. What makes a home a home is what you put inside of it, that's the difference.

The Miller's lived in white. The cabinets, the couch, the walls, and the photo frames, all white. Not many colors splashed in the living area or kitchen but that's what made the Miller's home their home and Charlie wouldn't judge it so harshly.

But that thought soon passed her mind as they threw colorful throw pillows onto the floor and began playing The Floor Is Lava with Austin and his cousin, Caleb.

"Austin, Caleb," Marcus called once all three of them made their way over to the couch. "Now, if you could have a dog or a monkey, which one would you have?"

"A monkey." They both answer.

"But what if it was a girl monkey and a boy?"

"A dog."

"Right."

"Aw, look!" Max teased. "He's found his intellectual equals."

Suddenly the front door opened and Georgia, her sister Maddie, and Joe, the coffee shop owner, made their way into the house.

"Hi, Mom!" Austin greeted. "We were playing lava."

"Oh, how fun! That's great!"

"Okay." Joe sighed. "hey, I brought them home 'cause they got a little sauced."

"Harry Potter!" Maddie suddenly said and lept from Joe's arms and onto the floor where the book lay. "I remember this one. Voldemort tries to kill him, like, a bunch of times. And then this guy, Cedric? He gets demolished. Poor Cedric."

"What's wrong with Aunt Maddie?" Austin asked.

"She just needs to go to bed." Caleb answered. "She'll be okay."

Charlie cleared her throat, brushing her hair behind her ears as she scooted off the coffee table. "Who wants ice cream?"

Charlie, Max, Caleb, and Austin rushed off into the kitchen, Max helping Charlie scoop ice cream into cones they struggled to find when a heftier voice rang throughout the room.

She leaned back and found Mayor Randolph with his back facing her and when he turned, she ducked herself back into the kitchen.

She laughed to herself and scooped ice cream into bowls for the two boys.

Just minding her business... she wished she stuck to that.

— lucy has something to say !!

goergia slapped the SHIT out of ginny like damn

ginny being 12 when moana came out is crazy

anyways short chapter lets cry about it and clap because i didn't know how to end this

bye :))))