In Charlotte's Eyes

Chill Out

She drove her way to Aaron's art bridge. She went speeding all the way there. She didn't care about following the laws. She was too pissed to care. She pulled over to the side of the road, quickly parked the motorcycle. Her heart raced, and her veins were screaming to let off some steam. She was so angry, she didn't even notice the second motorcycle parked on the other side of the road. She ran down the small path towards the under part of the bridge, fists tensed with fury. Without hesitation, she punched the stone bridge with all her might. And then again, and again. She recoiled from the pain, grunting and growling. A few tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She kicked the wall, too. She screamed loudly. And then she punched the wall again.

She let out angry huffs, staring at the wall and taking deep breaths. She stood up straight, taking a deep breath through her nose. There was a distinct smell of weed. She shuddered, feeling the newfound pain in her fingers.

"Charlotte," A voice, concerned, called to her quietly. Her body snapped to her left, looking at the offender. Aaron was there, and he seemed very concerned for her. "Dude. Are you okay?"

Charlotte grunted quietly, taking a step back. She looked down at the backs of her hands. A few parts of her fingers were bleeding. "..." She looked up at him. "I'm.. fine."

As chill and, even gullible, that Aaron was, he was definitely not going to buy that. Had he watched her whole meltdown? And how had she not noticed him there sooner? He sighed, quietly. As did she. He sat down next to the wall, then patted the ground next to him, urging her to sit with him.

Charlotte looked away, holding her opposite arm. She gave in and sat next to him, still looking away. "..How long were you watching me for?" She asked after a moment.

"I was taking a piss," He informed her. "Then I came back as you screamed. You punched the wall." He looked at her. "Is your hand okay?"

She looked down at her hands again, feeling the red liquid travel down the backs of her fingers and hands. "Never better." She lied in a mutter.

Aaron hummed, twisting himself to his left. The small noise made Charlotte look at him. He began shuffling with a backpack, which she hadn't even noticed was there before. "I was smoking some weed before you got here. Want some?" He turned back to her, holding a pipe.

Charlotte grimaced. "I would," She lightly pushed it away. "But if you already used it, then I'll pass."

"This is a spare one I have."

She looked at his eyes for a second. He didn't have a reason to lie to her. She hummed, looking down at it. "Sure, then, I guess." She grabbed it from him.

"Cool." He casually handed her a small bag of cannabis and a lighter. She hummed deeply, crunching a bit and setting it into the pipe. Aaron stood up with a small grunt. "I was gonna draw somethin' before you got here." He admitted, looking down at her. "But if you want, we can talk about whatever has you so angry."

Charlotte looked at the ground. "..I'll think about it. Thanks, Aaron." She said somberly. She would just need a bit of time.

He hummed in acknowledgement, then walked over to his backpack. He took it and walked carefully over the bridge over the river below. As he did this, Charlotte used the lighter to begin smoking. She took a huff as she looked down at her bloodied hands. Some of the blood had dried, some dripped from the sides of her hands, and she grimaced at the sight of it. Her knuckles still throbbed slightly. She shouldn't have punched the wall so hard. Or that many times.

Aaron began spraying onto the wall, and Charlotte watched. She exhaled, smoke climbing into the air from her lips. She waited a few seconds to take another whiff.

She began thinking about what happened earlier with Parker. Her brows furrowed. Had she really been hurtful to him? To her, she never thought anything she said to him during their spelunking trip to be harmful. She was just standing her ground. For her right to live the way she wanted to. But..

She sighed, exhaling. She frowned, looking to the side. She reimagined his face. The hurt in his eyes and anger in his frown. The vengeful poison in his words.

It clearly did hurt him.

She groaned, a little louder than she wanted to. Why did everything have to be so complicated? It's not like she was the bad guy here. But she didn't exactly think Parker was, either. Even if he did slap her. He held his anger back enough to not punch her, at least.

She took another whiff as the cannabis withered away.

"Aaron."

He didn't look at her. "Yeah?"

"I'm.. ready to talk." She admitted.

Aaron stopped spraying the wall. He hadn't gotten that much done, and Charlotte felt a little guilty for stopping him. He turned and smiled at her. He let the can he was holding drop from his hand. "Then I'm ready to listen, Charlo." With a pep to his step, he hastily crossed the bridge to sit by her side. She watched as he sat next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. He somberly smiled at her. "What's going on, man?" He quietly asked her.

The sun had disappeared over the horizon. A few fireflies wandered their way into the bridge as darkness began overtaking the world. Charlotte hummed, unsure of how to start. "Well, I had a fight with Parker. Again." She admitted, upset. She looked away, then back at him as he nodded.

"What happened?"

"He.." She looked away again, wondering if Aaron would side with her in this mess. "He tried confronting me about the last time we fought. And because of that, we ended up fighting again." She paused. Aaron said nothing, waiting for her to continue. She thought that that was good. "He tried to soften me up beforehand by treating me to some food and playing some games together." She took a deep breath, looking up. "I told him I didn't want to talk about it. That's when things began escalating and we started arguing."

"..Why didn't you want to talk?" He asked in a mutter, curiously.

She looked down. "I didn't really think we needed to." She admitted in a murmur. "I thought that we could put it behind us without addressing it. We began shouting at each other, and then.. Parker slapped me." She glanced at him. His eyes widened in surprise. She looked away again. "So I left and came here.. That's why I was so steamed. I needed to let out some bottled up anger. I didn't want to stoop to Parker's level and punch him." She ended.

"Wow." Aaron said at first, looking down. This was a trickier situation than he was expecting.

"Yeah." Charlotte said. She didn't blame him for being speechless. She probably wouldn't know what to say if she were in his position.

"Well.. do you want me to be a mediator in this situation?"

"I'm not going to force you to do anything, Aaron." She looked at him, her frown seeming miserable. "It's not like you should care, anyway."

"But I do!" He said quickly. He hummed in thought. He sighed. "I-.. I care about both of you..! You're both close friends of mine." He put a hand to his chin. "What to do..?" He muttered.

"You don't have to worry about it, man." She tried to act casually. "Besides, I'd rather have Sue be a mediator."

Aaron hummed, slightly hurt by that comment. "Do you.. want help sorting things out with him?" He suggested unconfidently.

"Noo." Charlotte rolled her eyes, leaning back against the wall. She sighed. "I'll figure it out. I said we'll talk later. I need more time to figure my feelings out."

Aaron hummed again. He had no clue how to handle this situation. "Is there anything else you want me to do..?"

She smiled, snickering lightheartedly at him. "No, man. Listening to me was enough. Thanks, dude."

Aaron smiled lightly at that, feeling a bit more optimistic. "Yeah. Yeah." He smiled wider. "I'm always here for you if you need someone to listen."

She chuckled, looking up at the bridge's ceiling. "Yeah." She giggled involuntarily. "I'm here for you, too."

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