Remember This✔

Chapter Ten

Charlie sits opposite Aubrey on her shiny, four-seater glass dining table. She has a bottle of beer in her hand and he has a coffee in his. They were supposed to be discussing their relationship but as always it's the last thing to be brought up.

Aubrey taps her long, fake fingernails against the beer bottle while glancing around her kitchen ceiling in boredom. She is wearing silk pyjamas with a thin gown over it and her hair is tied back ready for bed.

"You sure you don't want a drink?" she asks him.

"No," he says.

"You never drink. You're boring."

Charlie leans back and sighs. She is still mad with him for changing their plans of going out tonight and is somehow even more mad at him for turning up unexpectedly at her apartment rather than not at all. It'll be morning soon and Charlie has plans to spend the rest of his Friday night somewhere else.

Aubrey begins playing with the strands of her dark hair, twisting them around her fingers as she rolls her tongue around her mouth. They are both waiting for the other to speak, they are equally stubborn and Charlie knows that is a dangerous flaw in a relationship.

Finally, Aubrey gives in and meets his gaze angrily. "It's four 'o'clock on a Saturday morning and you're sitting at my table drinking coffee. What is the point to this?"

Charlie shrugs. "You tell me."

She yawns sarcastically. "I am not playing games with you. I'm tired. I've been out all night. My head is a wreck. Either say what you want to say or go."

"Out where?" Charlie questions.

"Well, seeing as though you cancelled our plans again I took it upon myself to give myself a good time."

"That isn't an answer."

Her eyes shine with fury. "I'm sorry, weren't you the one that told me not to question you on what you do? If you don't need my permission then I sure as hell don't need yours."

"I'm not saying you need my permission. I'm asking you where you've been. I'm making conversation, it's a simple question. Unless you've got something to hide."

"I don't. I just don't want to tell you."

Charlie bites on his lip in frustration. She is hiding something. The odd thing is he doesn't really care. Deep down, he knows they are headed nowhere. Maybe it'd be easier if she cheated on him, maybe it would give him the courage he needs to walk out the door and never look back. After all he's still in high school and she reminds him of that every waking moment of the day. It's her greatest shame.

"Your sister invited me to a private party last night," Charlie says. "Were you there?"

"What if I was?" she hisses. "What can you do about it now?"

Charlie rolls his eyes.

"What do you mean she invited you? You mean she invited us."

"No," Charlie says. "She just invited me actually. Camilla isn't the angel that she pretends to be, at school she's-"

"Here you go again. Badmouthing my sister when she isn't here to defend herself. I'm sick of you always thinking badly of my family."

"Have you met your family?" Charlie says. "It's with good reason."

"Well I'm sorry that my mother isn't as perfect as yours. I'm sorry that I was born into money which I chose not to take while your family grafts for a living."

"Your parents detest me," he tells her. "They always have. They look down on me and you know it."

"Yeah," she says. "Which is why I left home, which is why I earn my own money and rent my own apartment. My family are awful people but I have the right to say that, you don't. Keep your opinions to yourself."