Saving the Reject | Michael Clifford | Editing

f i v e ;

| s y d e n y |

"Something happened today," spoke Evie, a sheepish grin brightening her features.

"Is that so?" Charli responded, sounding as if she were the mother of a young, imaginative child who was bound to make an extravagant story out of a simple encounter. It wasn't like this had been the first time Evie had gotten excited about something and portrayed it to be the most interesting thing in the world, when it normally turned out to be about a T.V. show from Netflix (her latest fascination being DC's Arrow), or a book, or a post she'd read on Tumblr, or, occasionally, new treatment that worked better than the last (this was always the favorite among them).

But Charli was sufficiently surprised at the news.

"I met someone," she announced with a gleam in her eye.

Charli had not been shocked because she did not believe Evie to be desirable (in fact, she strongly believed that Evie was the most suitable for a relationship), but because she did not fully understand how she had been given the opportunity. Of course, it could have been another patient, but she didn't tend to socialize much with them; maybe it had been a medical student from the local college shadowing Evie's doctor; it could also be someone she met online, but that, too, was unlikely. The only other option, really, is if she had met someone in the park next to the SC3 that she enjoyed escaping to during the day - the only problem was, she was the only one to ever escape to that park. Yet Charli was proven wrong again. "Wait, there was someone else at that sad, little park?" Scarlett questioned as soon as Evie had begun her explanation.

"Yeah," Evie laughed, "it kinda freaked me out, too. I didn't notice him at first, he just sat down next to me and asked me what I was doing like we knew each other. We just hit it off from there," she responded, desperately attempting (and failing) to hide her bright smile. "We're meeting at the park again tomorrow."

"Alright, that is the cutest thing ever," Scarlett commented. "That's like, every girl's dream!"

Though Charli knew that statement wasn't true at all, she could see where the both of them had a point. To be completely honest with herself, Charli had only thought about herself in a relationship once or twice before this moment, but now that it was in her mind, she couldn't seem to shake it. How would her relationship even start? Would it be coincidental but sweet like Evie's might be, or would it be something completely different entirely? She didn't, and wouldn't know, but she did know this: at that moment, she had never wanted a currently unknown face to love her fully and unconditionally more than she had wanted it then. What for so long was considered a fear of hers, became a longing.

"So what's his name?" Charli finally questioned.

"Ashton."

-

Sunset was probably Charlie's favorite time of the day; not the bright, blinding orange of the just-before, but the soft pinks, and the beautiful details of the clouds, and the stars just beginning to peak out of the just-after. The soft pastels of the beautiful sky made her want to be a painter, though she's never held a paintbrush in her hand before, not even once. Charlie smiled comfortably as she connected the constellations, the soft, distant beat of a garage band she's never met making her feel as if she were in a movie.

As she ventured closer to the music, she was able to recognize the song as Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag", causing the smile across her face to grow, ever so slightly. This had been her brother's favorite song when they were little. At the time, Charli had hated it, everything about it (she didn't get the lyrics, and had thought the singer's voice was whiny), but it had reminded her of a time before everything had gotten so complicated; back before they had more serious things to fight about. She could just picture it now, the three of them, laughing, joking, and dancing in the middle of the living room (despite the fact that Charli just couldn't stand the song).