I'm sorry that I love you

Chapter 8

It had been a few days from the fight, and Mia hadn't bothered to go back to school just yet. Her whole face was numb, and ugly, She hadn't bothered to go see a doctor about her nose, which was clearly broken. She had never liked hospitals since she was a kid, not since she saw her mum connected to countless wires and tubes for overdosing. She didn't want to be like her, yet here she was laying in her bed drugged up on the first thing she could get her hands on. It wasn't all bad considering far worse could've been done, but it definitely wasn't ideal.

While in her process of thought, and drugged up experience, she'd hear the doorbell ring downstairs. She hadn't gotten out of her bed in ages, and she didn't really fancy doing it now, but she knew she couldn't just ignore it. What if it was something important? What if it was Roger? Or her mother? She'd slowly make her way downstairs, making sure to keep herself steady as she made her way to the door. She'd open it, and she had expected almost anything but this.

"Charlotte?"

"Hi, Mia. Sorry for just.. showing up like this."

"No, it's alright. What do you need?" Not in a million years had she expected Charlotte to show up at her door, let alone a few days after fighting her friend. She didn't understand why Charlotte would even want to talk to her, or see her. It didn't seem right.

"Oh, uh, You left your bag and I thought I'd return it. Sorry it took so long. I had to, er, find out where you live without anyone knowing."

"Right. Well.. do you want to come in? I can get you a drink or something."

Charlotte wasn't too sure about this situation at all. All she had done was to come here and drop off Mia's bag, not for anything else. She felt bad enough to even be here in the first place; Marjorie would kill her if she knew, especially after that fight they had. It seemed neither of them were quite over it yet, mentally or physically. Marjorie was all bruised and scratched up, and Mia.. she didn't look great at all. Her nose looked horrific. But, of course, Charlotte wasn't someone who said 'no' easily, even when she wanted to.

"Uh, sure."

She would take a breath before stepping inside, and Mia would shut the door behind her. It felt unreal to even be here, she felt like she was betraying everyone she knew. She'd look around as she took off her shoes and handed Mia's bag over to her. It was a very fancy place. Modern, pristine, clean. Very.. well, Mia. "It's a nice place."

"Thanks. My mum isn't really here a lot, so I took the initiative to decorate it myself."

"You live alone?"

"Pretty much."

Charlotte hadn't even questioned Mia's life before now. She had assumed she had a perfect life, two amazing parents who let her do whatever she wanted, supported her financially and gave her everything she wanted. Mia acted like she was on top of the world, but that wasn't it at all. No mention of her father, her mother was absent, she was left to fend for herself. It was.. pretty sad. Charlotte knew she shouldn't be feeling sympathy for someone so bad, but.. How could she not?

She would follow Mia through the halls of her house to the kitchen and would sit down at the island counter on one of the stools as Mia went to the other side. She was starting to grow curious about her. When Mia was with pretty much anyone else, she was cruel and cold. But, when she was around Charlotte.. She had a whole new demeanour. It was like she was a different person. It made her wonder what kind of person she actually was, and what her life was actually like.

"What drink do you want?"

"Uh.. a coffee will be fine, thanks."

Mia would smile in her direction and would put the kettle on while she started making a drink for herself. Charlotte couldn't really tell what it was, but it looked healthy. Very healthy, enough to make her a little self conscious. Charlotte would clear her throat as she looked around again, admiring the artwork hung up on the walls. Renaissance art. That was also a very Mia thing. "I haven't seen you around for the past few days."

Mia would turn around to Charlotte for a split second before going back to making her drink, "I just wanted to take a few days off."

"Are you sure there's nothing else?"

"Are you worried about me, sweetheart?" Mia would chuckle as she stirred her drink with a spoon and put some ice in, before turning around and leaning her back against the counter, facing Charlotte. Something about the word 'sweetheart', especially coming from Mia, made Charlotte feel all.. odd. It made her stomach twist in ways she didn't like. "No. I just like to make sure people are okay, that's all.."

"You know, you don't deserve all those 'friends' you have. You're kind, and pure, and likeable, unlike them. I bet they haven't even realised yet."

"What?" Charlotte's heart would skip a beat as she heard that last part. Realised what? What did Mia know? What had happened? Charlotte's brain was going a million miles an hour trying to figure out what the hell she was talking about. "You have an attachment to that necklace of yours. And, I don't know if it's just me, but I haven't seen you with any boy, even though you supposedly have a boyfriend."

The kettle would come to a boil and Mia would turn around, grabbing a mug from one of the cupboards and starting to make the coffee. As she did, all Charlotte could think about was how Mia had figured it out. How could she know about that? Was it really so obvious? "How did you.."

"Please, anybody with a little common sense would figure it out. Char, your friends are idiots. They don't care about, or even notice you. You can do so much better." Mia would finish making the coffee and would go over to the kitchen island, placing the coffee mug in front of char as she took a sip from her own drink. Maybe Mia was right, but she didn't know them like she did. They were good people underneath. They were just.. wrapped up in their own things.

"They're good people, Mia."

"Sure they are. Good people. Do good people not realise stuff that's happening right in front of them? Do they blatantly ignore it? Do they pick fights for no reason?"

Charlotte would frown as her hands wrapped around the mug in front of her, her hands warming up instantly. Mia was making more and more sense with each word, but she couldn't put what happened past her. The things she did to Reece and Autumn.. The fight with Marjorie.. Who knows what else she had done. "Marjorie only picked that fight because of what you did."

"I tried walking away from that fight, Charlotte. But her ego is so goddamn massive that she just had to go through with it."

Charlotte would take a sip of the coffee as she thought, trying to process it all. Mia was right. She was completely right and it hurt Charlotte to admit that, even just to herself in her head. "Why would you do that to Reece and Autumn, though? I mean.. I thought they were your friends. Now they won't even look in each other's direction."

Mia would frown as she heard what Charlotte said and would sip her smoothie as she leaned back against the counter, thinking of her reply carefully. She knew she couldn't just out her plan and deal with Roger. It would ruin everything. Everything she had done so far, and everything to come as well. And it would also put Charlotte in danger. She couldn't do that to her. She couldn't let her curiosity hurt her. "I don't know. I was bored, I suppose." She knew this would ruin any chance with Charlotte she had. She knew she wouldn't want to be friends after this. What kind of person would?

"Bored..?"

Charlotte's tone made Mia's heart rip into pieces. She sounded.. hurt, betrayed. She didn't quite know why, because she knew that Charlotte knew what kind of person she was. They both should've seen this coming. "Yeah. Bored."

Before she knew it, Charlotte was getting up and ready to go. "I'm sorry, I have to–"

"It's fine."

It wasn't fine. Mia wanted Charlotte to stay. She wanted to explain everything in great detail that she wasn't doing this by her own choice, but.. She couldn't. This wasn't meant to be. It was never meant to be.