Taide let go of my hair and returned his attention to everything in front of him. He shook his head and muttered with a slight bite to his tone, “You call that keeping it light?” I slapped my hands down my thighs and let out a breath of frustration. “You just don’t want to play.” Taide shot me a s
CHARLOTTE To stay true to my promise to visit Da’ana more frequently, I was back at her care home a week later. Only… I had a plus one this time I strolled about the hospital hallways with Taide at my side. He’d decided to tag along when I told him where I was going, something about ‘meeting t
Taide let out a sound of protest, but I didn’t look at him. “I told you about him already, remember,” she signed, looking between Taide and me as if she could sense the turmoil between us. “He’s the nice guy who buys me toys and stuff.” I looked away from her, my jaw clenched in anger. When my eye
CHARLOTTE Taide had left me alone with Da’ana. To gather myself. To track down his brother, I didn’t know. He was just as shocked as I was when we got to the bottom of who the culprit was. The word ‘culprit’ left a bitter taste in my mouth though. Caeson hadn’t necessarily done anything to ha
CHARLOTTE I pulled away from Caeson, stumbling back in the tight space, my hands clutched against my chest. My heart was racing, and my mind spun as I stared at him, taking in every small detail. His hair was shorter now, buzzed down to the scalp, and the similarity to Taide was so striking that
CHARLOTTEEvery second I spent in the car alone with him left me feeling like there wasn’t enough oxygen.My jaw was locked tight in anger, in absolute dismay and hatred for my current situation. Inhaling brought all the memories back to the forefront of my mind, the smell of him in the small space
CHARLOTTE I watched as Caeson marched up to the house, his steps heavy with purpose. I stayed in the car, my fingers gripping the steering wheel a little too tight. I needed a minute, just a moment to process everything. My mind was spinning with what had happened earlier. What did Caeson mean
CHARLOTTE Betrayal stung. I would know. But I didn’t want to jump to that conclusion. Not with Mads. At Taide’s words, I spun around on my heel, turning to fix her with a look. She was in on this? Her gaze shifted from Taide’s accusing glare aimed at her, wide, shaky eyes then turning to me
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.