Becoming Better

Chapter 13 - The Aftermath

Most of Saturday passed in a haze for Charlie. She woke up and had another panic attack, so her mom had to give her another pill. All she could see every time she closed her eyes was that horrible kiss. Her insides felt hollow.

Cassius had a girlfriend. The girlfriend wasn't her. How could that be? She had been waiting for him to come to his senses and come back to her. If he just needed a break, that was ok with Charlie. She was just trying to distract herself as much as possible in the meantime. She had done a pretty good job. There had been times since she had broken up with Cassius that Charlie felt almost... happy. She was out having fun with friends. She didn't have to check in with someone every day about how many boys talked to her. There were no more daily arguments.

But she would trade all that if they could just get back together. If given the choice between the freedom to have fun times with friends, and being Cassius' girlfriend again, there was no contest. But she didn't have that choice anymore.

It was like an atomic bomb had been dropped on her life, and she was left to just sit in its aftermath.

She sat in the bleachers at the Homecoming game with Rachel. Rachel's boyfriend Michael was Captain of the team, so she was cheering him on. She didn't notice that Charlie was in a bit of a daze. The bright lights and loud cheers were so sharp to her eyes and her ears that she had to tune out to deal with them. Mara came and met them in the stands. She was bubbling with excitement because Shawn was coming to meet her at the game. Her mood did not match Charlie's, to say the least, but she didn't seem to care. She snapped a selfie of herself, Charlie and Rachel, and posted it to her Instagram story. If she had any energy left to be upset, Charlie would have been really annoyed at Mara. Did she not see her face? A picture was the last thing Charlie wanted to be in right now. She was relieved when Mara's phone rang and she jumped up, running off to go find Shawn.

Charlie found the energy to applaud when the Homecoming Court came out at halftime. Alex and Jessica looked beautiful, and Taylor and Ben were a great looking couple. They all smiled and waved at everyone from their float as the crowd cheered.

She hadn't told any of her friends about Cassius' new girlfriend yet. If she didn't say it out loud, maybe then it wouldn't be real.

When the game was over, she hung out in the parking lot waiting for her friends to come meet her. She leaned against a car, shivering slightly in the cool autumn air. Suddenly she heard yelling and screaming. She looked up, searching for the source of the noise.

It was Mara and Shawn. She was screaming at him at the top of her lungs, calling him every name in the book. He wasn't yelling back. He was too busy defending himself from her as she smacked him. He backed up slightly to get away from her, and she threw her entire purse at him. Charlie looked around, wondering if anyone else was witnessing this horrific display. They were too far away for anyone else to notice. Charlie didn't know what to do. Shawn didn't look hurt at all, but violence was never ok, from either gender. She was shocked that Mara was acting this way.

Before she could walk over there and possibly break it up, her phone buzzed. She looked down and saw she had an Instagram direct message from a girl she didn't know. She clicked it open.

Are you friends with Mara Jacoby?

She looked up again, but Mara and Shawn were gone. She hoped things had calmed down between them. She decided to respond to the message.

Yes, who are you? Charlie wrote.

Three dots popped up. She used to go to school with me at Bridgeport High. You should be careful around her.

Charlie got the chills. Why do you say that?

The girl typed again. Because, if you're not, she might smack you in the face with a brick.

The message was accompanied by a picture. It was of a girl who might have been pretty, but she had serious bruising on her cheek, a black eye and a fat bloody lip.

I thought someone from Bridgeport High beat Mara up? Charlie asked, confused.

The girl replied. You've got that backwards. She was kicked out because of what she did to my face.

Charlie might not have believed this stranger on the internet if she hadn't just seen Mara attempting to beat the crap out of her boyfriend. But now she had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Still, she couldn't know for sure if this girl from Bridgeport High was lying or not. She must have found her on Instagram when Mara tagged Charlie in a story earlier that night. If Mara had been the one to beat her up, why was she still following Mara and looking at her stories? Charlie would have blocked her and made sure she never had to see her again.

She weighed the possibilities. This girl could be lying, trying to bully Mara and ruin her reputation at her new school. People had done way worse things on the internet before. Instead of jumping to conclusions, she would just ask Mara about it next time she saw her. 

***What do you think about Mara now? Is the girl from Bridgeport High telling the truth?