𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 | 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

Our classes started today. I looked around everywhere for my friends, but they were nowhere to be seen. I wondered what had happened to them. I was starting to suspect they chose a different school to attend. It was odd, though, because Meeks and Pitts were dead set on Yale.

The building was cold, though its shell was inviting. The stones lined up to create a line directed straight into the room I needed to be in. I was almost late to my beginning English class. That's when I saw a familiar head in the crowd of students. Todd?

I sat down next to him since he was surrounded by empty seats. He kept his eyes straight to the front, not looking at me. He still had that social anxiety built up in him. "Anderson." I said with a grin. He looked over, and I could feel his anxiety lessen. "It's fitting that you're in my english lecture." I laughed.

He didn't know what to say, and his words came out in a jumble of vowels and consonants. Finally, he got ahold of something. "Hi."

"Hi." I replied with a short laugh. "It's great to see you again, Todd."

"You too." He replied, opening up his journal when the professor walked in. I reunited with someone I had not even imagined I would ever reunite with again. I felt a sense of belonging again, for the first time in a really long time. At least now I had Todd... and Rhonda.

Todd was silent throughout the entire lecture, but I kept cracking jokes. Finally, at the end, we stepped outside to walk to our next classes. Todd had an hour to spare, so he decided to walk me to my class.

"Have you seen Meeks and Pitts?" I asked, wanting to find everyone.

Todd paused a moment, then nodded. "Just Pitts. Uh, well, I didn't talk to him. I just think I saw him." He smiled, becoming a bit bashful. "I know carpe diem and all, but I got scared."

"Scared of Pittsie?" I asked, and he laughed, knowing how ridiculous it sounded. "Yeah, no, he is scary." I said, trying to cheer Todd up a bit.

"He hasn't changed his haircut." Todd decided to joke around with me a bit more, becoming comfortable. "It's terrifying."

"Wow! That's actually so scary. I hope I don't run into him!" I acted as if I were paranoid now. Wow, bullying Pitts became a great way to bond. Huh, who knew?

"Are you still in touch with Charlie?" Todd finally asked, and I shook my head. "Oh, I thought you two -"

"He sent me a letter then dropped off the face of the earth." I replied, my mood becoming sour. "Have you kept in touch with him?"

"I haven't heard from him since he got expelled." Todd answered honestly, giving me a shrug. "I wonder if his parents sent him to space. Maybe the cold, empty void straightened him out."

"I always knew he was an alien." I giggled.

A few days passed, and Todd and I were on the hunt to find Pitts and Meeks. Todd was too shy to ask people on his dorm floor, but eventually got up the courage. Rhonda even tried helping us. Eventually, we did find them. They were in the same dorms as Todd!

We went over everything that happened from Welton to summer to here. It was great to catch up with them. "Knox went to Oxford!" Meeks exclaimed. Knox was in a whole other country now? "We send each other letters, but I wish he were here."

"Oo, Knox." Rhonda replied, biting her bottom lip. "That's a cool name."

"Knox Overstreet." I told her. "He's anything but cool." I laughed, and the others did too. "Just kidding. He's kind of cool. I mean, he's in fucking England now. I guess that's cool."

"Have you guys heard from Charlie?" Pitts asked, looking between Todd and I. We both shook our heads. "What? Does he hate us now or something?"

"I bet his parents made him cut all ties after what happened." Meeks began, fidgeting with the book in front of him. "You know how they are..."

I decided to let them in on a detail that didn't seem all that important. "All I know is he got switched to a different prep school, and that's it."

"I bet he got expelled from that one, too." Meeks laughed, not at all surprised. I frowned, knowing how his parents acted when Charlie got expelled from Welton.

"Oh, you like bad boys y/n?" Rhonda nudged me in the side. "Good taste, but I like the nerdy ones." She glanced to Meeks, his face going bright red. She laughed, and I did, too. Meeks tried to play it off by laughing with us, but it didn't work.

"Charlie isn't a bad boy." I shook my head, but my smile remained. "Stupid, idiot boy. That's what he is."

"Mhmm." Rhonda nodded sarcastically. "Arlight, whatever."

On Firday, I didn't have any classes besides my elective—poetry. It was near evening when it took place. I decided to get there early, watching the sunset as I walked. I was nervous to take this class. It reminded me too much of the club, but it was a passion of mine. It was a healing process.

I could feel someone's eyes on me as I walked. I looked around, not seeing anyone. I decided to play it off as just my nerves. I would soon find out who it was after I got to class.

I sat near the back. I didn't want to be picked to read my poetry. I just wanted to listen and write. Nothing else. More students cluttered the classroom, very few being adventurous and sitting in the front.

The rush died down, and someone opened the door last. I didn't look up, I was too busy staring into my empty journal page. "Doll." Was I hearing things? Maybe this class was a bad idea...

I then saw a hand take the journal right from under me. "What are you doing here?" I looked up to see Charlie staring at me, his eyes a tad bit wild. I stared at him. I didn't know what to say. I felt like Todd the minute I met him. "Why are you sitting in the back? You know Keating would want you in the front. You're a good poet, doll. Carpe diem." He took my hand, having me sit in the front of the class with him. "Have you gone mute or something?"

I still didn't respond, and he looked at me with full concern. He wiped my cheek free of tears. What?! I was crying? My first impression in this class and I'm fucking crying?! He kissed my forehead, and I fell into him slightly. "Where the hell have you been?" I finally asked, pulling myself together.

"A camp for unruly youths." He responded with a laugh. "And now I'm here to be a banker."

I didn't find what he said funny at all. "What do you mean a camp?" I have only heard a few stories from those places, but they sounded terrible. "Charlie?"

"Oh, we're delving deep into the serious shit are we? No, hello, charlie! Oh, I missed you?" Was he getting mad at me for wanting him to explain why he just ghosted me? He was still smiling even though I could tell I hit a nerve.

I sat back in my chair, folding my arms. "I'm sorry." I finally said in a whisper. I didn't want to upset him. "I did miss you."

"I missed you too." He replied. We went quiet when the professor walked in.