Expelled

05 || You Need to Calm Down

"You need to calm down, you're being too loud..."

Charlene turned and ducked behind Madison as soon as she spotted her mother. Her palms started to sweat. What was her mother doing at the mall? Had she seen Charlene yet? What would Charlene do if she had? And why in the world had Charlene thought that skipping class to go to the mall of all places with two girls she barely knew would be a good idea?

Taylor and Madison were still arguing, and they were starting to attract attention from some of the nearby shoppers. No doubt Charlene's mother would see them soon, too. Charlene debated what to do as she did her best to blend in between Madison and a tree growing out of the floor of the mall. Should she pull Taylor and Madison away and try not to disturb anyone else? Should she block their view of the pop-up shop and point them in the other direction? Or should she get in line and just hope that her mother wouldn't notice her?

"Charlene, back me up here," Taylor snapped before Charlene could decide what to do.

"W-what?" Charlene asked, refocusing on the argument going on beside her.

"She has absolutely no idea where we're going, and she's about to ruin this whole thing for all of us." Taylor glared at Madison. "Get a map and show her where the store really is."

"Oh, um...why don't we just go shopping instead?" Charlene asked nervously, risking a glance at the line over Taylor's shoulder, then quickly averted her gaze.

"Shopping?" Madison rolled her eyes. "No way. Get a map and show her how close we are to the shop." She glared back at Taylor.

Charlene sighed and looked over at her mother again. This time, though, her mother turned her head, as if she knew someone was watching her. Charlene's mother met her eyes.

Charlene held her mother's gaze for a split second, then turned back to her friends,, inhaling sharply.

"The store's over there." She pointed in the opposite direction. "I-I-I'll be right back," she added quickly, turning on her heel and running before the words were even fully out of her mouth. Hoping against all hope that her mother hadn't recognized her—but knowing that she had—she tore through the mall, ignoring the strange looks she got.

Charlene flew into the bathroom and crashed into a stall, locking the door firmly behind her before collapsing against it, panting. What was wrong with her? She'd never have done anything like this in her old town. In her previous life. Who was she turning into?

Charlene's pants slowly turned into muffled sobs as she wondered this, and she couldn't help but let a few tears fall down her face. Who was she?

"Charlene? Charlene? Charlene?"

Suddenly, the sound of angry feet on the tiled floor appeared in Charlene's ears. Between the footsteps and the shouting, it didn't take Charlene long to figure out who was stomping around, yelling her name for half the world to hear.

"Shh. I in here." Charlene unlocked her stall door, stepping out to face an annoyed Madison and a slightly worried Taylor.

"Charlene!" Taylor came to a stop. "Why did you run off like that?" she demanded.

"Lower your voice," Charlene hissed. She paused, then admitted, "I saw my mother."

"You what?" Taylor shrieked, then made an attempt at being quieter. "Where?"

"We were just next to the shop. She was standing in line. We made eye contact."

Madison sucked in a breath. Taylor turned on her heel and started towards the door.

"Okay, well, let's go back to school and we can deal with this later," she said. Charlene nodded numbly and followed, hoping she hadn't just ruined everything for her new friends.

X X X

"Wait until the bell rings. Then we'll sneak in with the rest of the crowd in the hallways," Taylor said as Madison pulled into the parking spot she'd left from. Taylor checked her watch, then added, "We have about ten more minutes."

"Great. Now can we talk about the 'incident'?" Charlene asked impatiently.

"Fine." Taylor looked over at Charlene. "What do you want to talk about?"

"What are we going to say if they call us out?" Charlene pressed.

"Well, I will deny it. What you do is up to you. After all, your mom never saw Madison or I, did she?"

"No...I don't think so," Charlene replied, "but what do I say?"

"The truth?" Madison looked into her polished rearview mirror and met Charlene's eyes. "But only as long as you don't bring us down with you."

Charlene's mouth opened and closed like a fish's, but no words came out. Finally, she sputtered, "Y-you're not going to...help me?"

Madison and Taylor looked at Charlene as if she had three heads. Charlene stared back at them in confusion.

"No," Taylor finally said.

"We're not the ones getting in trouble," Madison agreed. Charlene gritted her teeth. She'd seriously gone to the mall with these two girls? She's seriously wanted to become friends with these two girls?
"Fine," Charlene snapped, unbuckling her seatbelt and reaching for the door. Taylor saw what she was doing and reached out to stop Charlene before she opened her door.

"You need to calm down," Taylor said unconvincingly. "It's just how the world works. Everyone for themselves, Charlene."

"Shut up." Charlene pushed open her door, stepping out into the chilly air. She didn't want to start a fight, but she wasn't going to put up with Taylor and Madison anymore. "Good luck explaining why you were arguing over a pop-up shop while you should've been in second period," she added angrily, then slammed the door shut and made her way into the building.