MIDNIGHT RAIN, ʲ.ᵏ

𐮚chapter six𐮚

charlotte couldn't find johnny anywhere. she had assumed he would come to her locker again after class, or maybe before lunch, but he never did. after english, she wasn't too disappointed, he had classes too. she knew he couldn't drop everything to come to her locker. she was disappointed however, when she saw him at lunch, laughing with his friends and not even sparing her a glance. she felt hurt, but then again, she didn't know what she expected. they spent one day together. it wasn't a commitment, and thought it meant something to her, clearly he didn't feel the same way. regardless of what she told herself, her eyes still welled up with tears and she turned out of the cafeteria, opting to sit in hughie's car instead. she just sat there for what felt like forever. she didn't go on her phone or listen to music, didn't nap or do school work. she just sat. he had played songs for her on her stereo, taken pictures with her on her camera, taught her to throw a rugby ball. but to him, it was just a day trip. she wasn't going to get anything else from him, and she had to learn to be okay with that. she checked her phone and jolted when she realized she was late to trigonometry. once again, hughie parked on the other side of the school, meaning she would have to cut by the rugby again. she walked quickly, scanning the field for a glimpse of johnny, but to her surprise, he was nowhere to be seen. she let out a sigh of relief at not bumping into him, but any good feelings quickly left her as she walked on the sidewalk behind the bleachers and found him. with a blonde girl she hadn't seen before. she tried to walk even faster when she spotted them, but it was no use.

"charlotte!" the girl said peppily, sounding fake, "god, we were just talking about you!"
"bella," johnny said, looking at her strangely. bella. that's what her name was. that made her bella wilkinson, the girl everyone knew he was messing around with for months. how could she compete with that?
"sorry," charlotte said, but her throat was tight and her voice sounded weird even to her. she moved to keep walking, but johnny called out, "wait!"
she could hear bella laughing behind her. she did not wait. she walked faster, if possible. so fast she was running away from the rugby field and bella wilkinson and johnny. she just kept running. she ran past the doors that would talk her to the west wing of the school, where the trigonometry room was, and she kept running until she got to the front entrance of the school, where the courtyard was. she walked through the courtyard gates and sat at one of the picnic tables, resting her head in her hands as she sighed. this wasn't worth it, she knew it. the gate creaked and she was about to yell at johnny to go away when she realized it wasn't johnny at all. it was bella wilkinson. she sauntered over and sat across from charlotte, resting her unusually defined chin on top of a sharply manicured hand.
"are you doing okay?" she asked gently, in that same fake, too nice voice.
"fine," charlotte replied coldly. bella looked insulted for a second before her face pulled into a genuine bright smile.
"oh man this is gonna be fun," she laughed, standing up and walking to charlottes side of the table. she grabbed her chin harshly, her nails digging into her neck, "stay away from johnny," bella hissed, smiling wider as a drip of blood trailed down charlottes neck.
"get the fuck off me," charlotte said, grabbing bella hand and trying to yank it off her, causing her nails to shallowly slice her throat. "fuck," she hissed, pulling the hand off her neck more forcefully and walking swiftly out of the courtyard. what the hell, she thought, walking straight out of the school gates, not caring about class or all the stuff she left in johnnys car.

she didn't care about anything except the burning pain in her neck and getting home. all she wanted was her bed, her mom, and to burn the picture of her and johnny that was taped to her mirror. she was so absorbed in her thoughts she barely noticed the rain. small, cold streaks hit her head and back as she walked, but she didn't notice until rain pounded around her, drenching her completely. she shivered as she walked, barely aware that johnnys clothes were hanging limply off of her, weighed down by the rain. she walked and walked, until a car pulled up next to her. a familiar car.
johnny rolled down his window and said, "get in the car charlotte."
"hell no," she scoffed.
"charlotte," he said warily, "i can explain,"
"no need," she cut him off, "you were right earlier, in the car. i barely know you, and you barely know me."
for a moment, he was silent and charlotte wondered if she had succeeded in scaring him away. oddly, even though she was saying these hurtful things to him, the last thing she wanted was for him to go. she wanted quite the opposite, in fact. she wanted him to stay. she wanted him for keeps. she didn't care about bella wilkinson, or how he ignored her, all she wanted was for him to stay. with these thoughts fresh in her mind, she turned away from him quickly.
"i need to go," she insisted, beginning to walk swiftly away from him.
"charlotte stop," johnny said, urging her to stop.
"johnny," charlotte said, her voice shaky, "just stop, okay? i don't wanna talk right now."
"charlotte," he said quietly, quieter than she had heard him before. she stopped walking. "will you talk to me tomorrow?"
"i don't know," she said, looking at her shoes.
"can i drive you to school again?" he asked, sounding timid.
charlotte sighed before nodding, "i'll see you tomorrow johnny."

she looked back want times as she walked down the street away from him. he didn't start driving again until she turned down the next street. unlike what she expected, he didn't go back to the school. he drove in the direction of where she knew the kavanagh estate was. she would talk to him tomorrow, she decided. she would fix things.