In Charlotte's Eyes

Avoidance

A few more days passed. Suzuki hummed to himself, walking over to his station. It was the beginning of a new work week. There was still half an hour before the shift started, but he needed to make sure everything was ready.

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around him. “Sue!” Charlotte’s voice excitedly greeted him.

He was startled, but laughed. “Oh, Charlotte! You're here early.” They separated, and he got a good look at her.

She chuckled. “Yeah. I wanted to chill out with you.”

Suzuki’s cheerful expression dispersed when he saw her face. The patch of teal that was on her face had gotten bigger over the weekend. The teal color hung just above her right eyebrow. “Oh. It's gotten worse.” He commented.

“Oh, this? Pfft,” She motioned a hand at him casually. “Yeah. But it's not a big deal.”

“What even is it?” He put a hand on his hip.

“Dunno. But it's nothing to worry about. Anyways,”

The two made some conversation for a while. Just before they split off to get ready to work, Suzuki said, “Hey, I'm gonna hang out with Parker after work. Wanna join us?” He invited.

“Mm, no thanks.” She smiled.

“Why?” He smirked. “Don't you wanna hang out with your two best buds?”

“I do.” She smiled, although it had a hint of nervousness behind it. “Buuut I have something I need to do later. Sorry.”

He chuckled. “Alright.” He waved at her. “See you in a bit.”

“See ya.”

Charlotte walked away. Suzuki put a finger up to his lip and hummed in thought.

…

Suzuki and Parker were almost finished eating. Suzuki was waiting for Parker to finish. As he chewed on a bit of his food, Suzuki grabbed his attention. “Hey, question,”

“Hm?” He looked up at him with a face full of food.

“Have you spoken to Charlotte lately?”

After a moment of chewing and swallowing, he responded with, “No. She's been too busy, apparently.”

He nodded with a hum. “I see. Do you know about her, uhhhmm, appearance?”

“What do you mean?” He asked quickly.

“She has like a..” He lazily pointed to the corner of his head. “Blue or gray-looking spot growing on her head?”

“..Huh?”

“I dunno.” He shrugged, resting his arms on the table. “You're a piece of food. I thought you might know what it was.”

“...” Gray spot? Growing on her head? It.. it couldn't have been mold, right? Charlotte said she got it checked and that there was nothing to worry about. “..Do you have a picture of her?” He asked.

Suzuki shook his head. “Nah. You want me to take one of her tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Send it to me. I'll let you know what it is, if I know.”

He grinned. “Cool. Thanks, Parker.”

“Uh, yeah.” After a moment of eating the rest of his food, he looked at Suzuki again. “By the way, what does Charlotte think?”

“Hm?”

“Like, what does she think about that.. gray spot, or whatever?”

“She's pretty laid back about it.” He looked up, arms crossed. “Says it's not a big deal. I don't know, though.”

Parker stifled a laugh. “Sounds like her.”

Suzuki snickered. “Yeah. You're right.”

Parker shared a smile with him for now, but he couldn't help but feel worry about Charlotte. He hoped whatever this was wasn't serious.

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