CHARLIE MADE her way home. Once again the lights were off in the house and she assumed that everyone had either been asleep or not home at the time.

Charlie unlocked the door and pressed her back against it with a soft sigh.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Charlie jumped at the sound and turned her head towards the living room and saw Billie staring back at her as The Looney Tunes Shows played on the TV. Which meant that Billie was drunk, sad, or had absolutely nothing else to do.

"CJ?" Billie called. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Charlie sighed as she grabbed the collar of her shirt. "I didn't know you were home. Where's your car?"

"In the garage?" Billie furrowed her brows. "Mom said we have to start using it because she now fears that our cars are gonna get stolen because some crazy ass person stole one of her coworker's cars— I don't have to explain myself to you." Billie argued. "That's not the shirt you left in."

Charlie sighed, she'd been holding the collar of the shirt still, but it was Marcus's gray shirt he'd been wearing when she had gotten there. The same shirt he'd discarded before they had sex.

Billie stood from the couch and stood in front of Charlie. All she did was look at her sister. Billie was a mere one inch taller than Charlie so it made the situation more awkward when Charlie had nowhere to look. She could only make direct eye contact with her sister as she stared back at her.

Billie leaned forward. "Is that Marcus's shirt?" She asked quietly before gasping. "Did you have sex with Marcus!?"

Charlie jumped forward, placed her hand over Billie's mouth, and rushed them upstairs and into her bedroom.

Charlie used her foot to kick her door shut and Billie unraveled herself from her sister's touch. The eldest began to laugh as she sat down on Charlie's bed.

"Oh my fucking, God." Billie laughed. "You and Marcus had sex." She paused. "Does Mom know?"

"No." Charlie sighed. "She does not and you weren't supposed to know either."

Billie scoffed. "Why not? We're sisters."

"And? My sex life shouldn't be a part of that."

Billie smiled. "CJ, it's fine. People have sex... was it good for you?"

Charlie heavily sighed, letting out an exasperated noise as she joined Billie on her bed, flopping backward as her hands rested over her face.

"You're actually the worst." Charlie murmured.

The youngest sat upright, grabbed one of her pillows, and hit her sister in the back of her head with it.

Billie gasped and turned. "Bitch." She smiled and grabbed another pillow from Charlie's bed and hit her in the face.

They were sisters. They would play, fight, and have each other's backs, no matter what.

     CHARLIE CLOSED her locker and on the other side stood Ginny.

It wasn't much of a shock anymore when Charlie found herself staring at someone who stood behind her locker, maybe if it was someone like Norah, she'd be a little spooked.

"Do you know what's wrong with Abby, Norah, and Max?" Ginny asked.

"What's not wrong with them?" Charlie smiled. "But seriously I haven't talked to them all day."

"I thought it was a joke, but they've ignored me all day."

Charlie sighed. "I don't know, Ginny. I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's Max, whatever it is, she'll get over it by the end of the day."

She wouldn't. No one would. Things would only get worse from here.

"Do you need a ride to her show tonight?" Charlie asked. "My sister's was going to drop me off if you wanna tag along?"

Ginny should've said no. Ginny should've told Charlie the truth. Ginny should've stayed home.

Ginny smiled. "Yeah, thanks."

It was a mistake.

It was all a mistake.

But, as planned, Billie dropped Charlie and Ginny off for Max's play. The two girls held a bouquet as they tried to find seats.

Charlie had been absentmindedly following behind Ginny and had missed the Bakers, more importantly, Marcus as she did so.

It had only been a day. A day of them not talking was unusual, but it didn't feel off, and it would only start to settle in.

Ginny gave Hunter an awkward wave, which Charlie noticed, and held furrowed brows as she followed Ginny backstage to give Max the flowers that they had brought.

"Can you talk to her first?" Ginny asked.

Charlie looked over, only an inch taller than Ginny as she nodded and brushed past more of the cast and crew.

Max spotted her and gave her a genuine smile. She hadn't noticed Ginny yet.

"These are for you." Charlie smiled.

Even though it was evident which of the Baker twins had Charlie's attention the most, she was still supportive of Max. She knew that Max had been working hard for this audition to go her way and even harder after she landed the part. It was the one thing Max had that Marcus didn't. It made her feel special.

"Thank you." Max smiled.

Charlie held her arm out and Max gladly stepped forward to embrace the girl, but just as she didn't and with Charlie's chin resting carefully on her shoulder; Max spotted Ginny and sighed.

Charlie knitted her brows and pulled back as Max quickly grabbed the flowers and brushed past Charlie and Ginny.

"I need to get into character."

Charlie sighed and watched as Ginny practically chased after Max, begging the girl to give her an answer on why she had been avoiding her.

Max wanted to scream, she really did, but Charlie stood further back and she didn't know what she knew. Did she know that Ginny had been seeing Marcus? Did she know about the text messages? Did she know about the kiss they shared on Ginny's first day in Wellsbury? Did she know that Marcus had fingered Ginny?

She didn't, but she would.

Ginny stood in awestruck. Max had given her a blunt answer to her question and Max had no time to ask if Charlie knew anything as she saluted her way onto the stage.

Charlie stepped forward and gave Ginny a small smile as she pulled her away from the stage.

Charlie looked over at Ginny. The girl looked like she could be drawn to tears as she watched Max act on stage.

"I'm gonna get us some water." Charlie whispered.

It was like someone or something didn't want Charlie to find out why Max was so angry with Ginny.

Charlie held the two water bottles in her hand as she muttered a tune under her breath as she made her way back down the halls.

She could hear shouts coming from the hall

"We know about you and Ginny." Max said.

"Who and Ginny?" Charlie asked, a small smile painted on her face.

She had no clue and Max now knew that.

And Max didn't want to hurt Charlie, but the girl was pissed. If she could she would've put her hands around Ginny's neck until she could breathe.

"Ginny and Marcus-"

The boy looked over at his sister, his expression worrisome alongside Ginny's. The two of them had lied to everyone, but Marcus had never lied to Charlie, not until now. This would change everything between the two of them. Marcus knew that. Max knew that.

"Max." Marcus called.

He was begging. They all knew he was. Ginny, Max, Norah, Abby, Hunter, and Charlie. The late arrival didn't know what was going to be said, but she knew, just by the tone of Marcus's voice, he was begging. Begging Max to let him tell her in private, to not embarrass Charlie in a way no one but the two of them knew.

"Have we all made up?" Charlie asked. "No more-"

"Ginny and Marcus had sex." Max smirked, tears burning her eyes. "Did you know that?"

Charlie sucked in a breath as she dropped her arms to her side, the water bottles still in hand as she stood there.

She felt so fucking stupid and she knew that Marcus and Ginny knew that. Charlie not only opened herself up to Ginny, but to Marcus as well... in more ways than one.

She asked them. She fucking asked them if they had been seeing each other and they both said no. She trusted Ginny. She trusted Marcus.

Charlie knew they were all looking at her. She was embarrassed.

She swallowed back tears as she broke eye contact with Max and looked over at Marcus.

Never in his life had he seen her cry because of him and yet, here she was. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at him.

No one knew why or how Charlie had been feeling until she opened her mouth and her voice broke with the first word that fell from her lips.

"I didn't."

"Well," Max chuckled. "what the ever-loving frick-fest? I mean, seriously? You're just having sex now? That's a thing now? Are you dating? Is he your boyfriend? Are you guys in love?"

"Do you love her?" Charlie asked.

All eyes were back on her. Her cheeks red as she tried to fight tears from falling. It all felt dramatic and part of it was, but Charlie had been her most vulnerable with Marcus and it felt like he had set her up to look like a fool, like she was just another girl to him.

Marcus stepped forward, coming closer to the girl, but she only took a step back.

She asked again. "Do you love her?"

"Charlie- I, no." Marcus said. "I don't. It was a mistake."

Charlie nodded, chuckling as she finally let her tears fall. "Do you think that makes her feel good? To let all of this, whatever it was, to be a mistake?"

Marcus didn't have time to answer as Hunter's voice had boomed around them.

In this case, he would understand what Charlie had been going through if he knew her full story. Not only did he tell Ginny that he loved her, but he let her meet his parents. All of that just for him to get cheated on and have the same pictures of Ginny that Marcus allegedly had as well.

"I need to get out of here." He said.

Ginny called his name, begging for him to let her explain.

"No, I'm better than this." He said. "I was great to you. You didn't deserve it. You're throwing all that away for this. This guy."

Marcus furrowed his brows. His mind wasn't on anyone else but Charlie until he heard Hunter's comment.

"Cool." Hunter muttered. "Good luck with that. That's on you."

Hunter turned to leave but stopped in his tracks to turn back to the group. He marched up to Marcus and punched his square in the face.

"I have a concussion, asshole." Marcus muttered as he squatted towards the ground.

Hunter would soon leave and Max mentioned something about being in the next act. Max was done with Abby. She found out through Ginny that Abby had known more than she let on.

Abby turned towards Ginny. "You're a bitch."

With that, Abby left.

Ginny and Marcus looked over at Charlie.

The girl sighed as she licked her lips. "I asked you both. I asked you if you were seeing each other and you both said no."

"Charlie-"

She turned towards Marcus. Now she was angry and Marcus knew that but the tone of her voice, by the way she stood, by the way she approached him.

"I would have never had sex with you if I knew." She spat. "I would have never-" Her voice broke as she looked at him, tears falling down her face as she spoke. "You of all people lied to me. You are my only friend, Marcus and I- You said you loved me."

"I did." He said. He spoke softly, almost too afraid to talk normally. "I do, Charlie. I do love you."

"I'm supposed to believe that?" She cried. "You were my only friend."

With that, Charlie left. She held the two water bottles in her hands as she turned her back and made her way out of the school building with Marcus calling out to her.

Charlie didn't bother to look back because if she did she would hate herself for it. She would hate that she didn't give herself time to think about what she could and possibly would do if she looked back.

She pushed open the doors of the school and made her way down the stairs. It was a colder night in Wellsbury and she definitely wasn't dressed for the occasion as she tugged on her skirt as if it would magically grow and give her warmth.

Charlie sighed as tears ran down her face. She didn't want to call her mother and Billie was most likely out and about until she had to pick her up from the play.

But she wouldn't be doing that because Charlie was currently walking home.

Charlie still held the water bottles in her hands and angrily chucked one of them as she cried, a grunt leaving her as she felt the bottle leave her grasp.

She began crying and it would be confusing to a bystander if she was crying or laughing. She was just tired. She just wanted to feel something and she had that with Marcus until this very moment.

But that's when she felt like she couldn't breathe. Everything around her was getting smaller and smaller as she stumbled to the ground and held her hand over her chest.

She knew what it was, she'd had one before, but she didn't think a panic attack was needed at the very moment.

But she was hurt. She was hurt by people who she believed were her friends. She was hurt by Marcus. She was hurt by her father.

Throughout everything, Charlie had put herself out there. She welcomed Ginny with open arms just for her to be lied to by a simple fucking question.

Charlie was hurt.

And she was panicking alone.

"CHARLOTTE FUCKING Carpenter!" Lori shouted. "How dare you not call anyone and let them know you left the fucking school!? Billie said she called you twelve fucking times! It never went to voicemail she said! Do you know how many kids go missing-"

Lori opened Charlie's bedroom door and found her youngest lying in her bed.

She was still crying, Lori could hear that.

She'd lay in bed with a hoodie and a pair of shorts as she cuddled up with a blanket, her cries drowning out the movie that played on the TV.

"Charlie?"

Lori stepped further into Charlie's room, seeing her daughter lying in bed with tears rolling down her face.

"Charlie?" Lori called again as she sat down on her bed. "What happened?"

All Lori could focus on was the sound of Charlie crying and the clicking of the pen she held in her hands.

Click. Click. Click.

Lori knew that Charlie was going through something, she could see it and she didn't want to see her daughter struggling like this. It hurt her in ways she couldn't put into words. She hadn't seen Charlie like this ever and she struggled to find ways to help her. She already had a therapist for her, but what else could a mother do to help her child who was silently crying out for help?

It was clear that Charlie wasn't ready to talk about what had happened that led her to be in the position she was in currently, but she wanted to shout. Charlie wanted to scream, punch a wall, pull out her hair, maybe do something crazy like dyeing it just to feel something other than this.

Lori sighed and slumped down in Charlie's bed, pulling her youngest into her arms as she gently pressed her cheek into the top of Charlie's head.

She could feel Charlie's tears hitting her chest as she cried and the sound of the pen that Charlie continued to click in her hands.

Click. Click. Click.

— lucy has something to say !!

a lot of my fics have "completed until" and it's actually so deranged 😭 but they just started production on school spirits and i might shit myself

anyway ginny blaming georgia for cheating is crazy because yes geogia cheated but ginny is her own person like ???? play stupid games win stupid prizes dumbass

anyway this is the official end to season one let's all cry and clap

not gonna lie this chapter took me weeks to write

bye :))))