semi final update of the month. :(
CHARLOTTESean’s dad… turned out to be a hard ass.We couldn’t go to the beach house. Not yet at least.Apparently, the enforcer had meetings… in a beach house? I had no idea why. So he told an infuriated Sean that he couldn’t have his weekend getaway till much later than we planned.That was a week
CHARLOTTEI pawned Caeson’s car two days ago.And now I was swimming in more money than I knew what to do with.The first thing I did with my sudden wealth was to move Da’ana into a new care home, the kind of place I’d stared longingly at in the magazine when I was picking a home for her in the firs
CHARLOTTE I was sixteen again. The cover of the threadbare comforter barely kept out the cold as I held the blanket up to my neck. I was shivering. But it wasn’t because of the weather. It wasn’t the chill in the air that rattled me to my bones. It was the sound of his footsteps. Tap. Tap. Tap.
CHARLOTTETap. Tap. Tap. I sat up with a gasp that bordered on a scream.My hand flew over to my mouth as short gasps burst out of me unrhythmically. My heart was racing, my vision was filled with splotches of darkness and every part of me trembled with fear.I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think an
Like he sensed my presence, he turned when I walked in and to my surprise, he shot me a small smile that made me give him one too. Our gazes held for a moment and I quickly crossed the expanse of the kitchen to hand him my plate.“Done?” He mouthed.We stood close to each other, a once uncomfortable
CHARLOTTE The ranch was a couple of hours away, so we had to leave a lot earlier than I expected. There was a buzz in the air as the triplets and their friends settled into the cars they’d be riding to the ranch. I avoided everyone as best as I could and navigated through the crowd in search of M
He tilted his head to the side with a smirk and gestured for me to get in. I smiled and muttered a word of thanks before slipping into the car. On my way in, my eyes locked with Taide over the roof of the car as he came up by the driver’s side. It was only for a brief moment before I chose to look
CHARLOTTEI shuffled about to avoid getting elbowed by excited partygoers.Half of these faces, I’d never seen before. And I was sure a good percentage of the people here didn’t attend Lupin prep.The music was turned on at the loudest possible volume, but I could somehow still hear the shouts and c
CHARLOTTE I pulled my curls into a bun as I walked down the stairs, my feet moving slowly against the wooden steps. The house was quiet, too quiet, but that was normal these days. My thoughts were scattered until a flicker of movement caught my eye. A flash of black streaked across the foyer. I st
CHARLOTTE Taide was growing out his hair. I sat on the edge of my bed, watching him lean over the mirror on my dresser. His hands combed through his dark hair, smoothing it back and letting it fall forward again. It was longer than I’d ever seen it, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it yet. S
A childish part of me felt like defending that Emma had started it, but why did it matter? It shouldn’t matter and I tried to make myself believe that. Taide’s attention shifted away from the menu to me, and I cleared my throat before turning my gaze from Caeson and down to the menu like I had
CHARLOTTE After a short drive, Taide pulled up in the parking lot of the small restaurant that was a hotspot amongst students in the area. The main area was rowdy and full of students eating and talking loudly, but Taide led me past there and into a quieter, more ambient area. It was still c
CHARLOTTE Taide held the door open and shot me a knowing look. But I didn’t move, I remained in one spot, crossed my arms and pouted. “But Taide—” “I don’t want to hear it,” he cut me off, his expression deep and serious. My lips snapped shut, I sensed that there was no point in arguing. So, wi
I pulled them both back into the house and then to the kitchen. With a small exhale, I let go of their hands, immediately missing the comfort and warmth their touches gave me. “I need to find Madeline,” I told them. “Do you know if she’s back?” Just like Taide, she’d been gone almost all day. Rei
CHARLOTTE Caeson walked further outside, his hands buried deep in his pockets as he eyed the three of us with distaste. He drew closer and said with a slight bite to his tone, “Don’t let my interruption stop you,” then lowered himself onto the bench and met my eyes. “But then, you didn’t seem to
CHARLOTTE I thought about how a whole day had passed since the big sibling swap, and I still hadn’t fully processed it. As I sat in the living room, lost in thought when I heard a noise coming from the backyard. Curious to see if it was who I’d been waiting for all day, I got up and walked thro
CHARLOTTE My life… might have been in danger. It echoed in my head, but like a muted siren. Maybe it was because I’d been overloaded with more information than I knew what to do with. Maybe I was just having the world’s slowest reaction to the scariest possible news a person could ever hear.