City Of Dreams

Sixty-Nine

I stare down at my glass of tea.

"Geez, Charlotte, we get it you're from the south. You don't have to just drink sweet tea."

Chris chuckles awkwardly.

I smile.

Addie and Darren  decided to meet Victoria at a diner for supper.

I stare at Chris for a bit.

His and Addie's  little chat earlier did not go unnoticed.

They were arguing as we were walking here.

About something.

Maybe I should have-

My thoughts are cut off by the echoing voice of Victoria giggling with Addie about Kylie Jenner.

"So Charlotte...I hear you were in Wicked for a bit right?"

Victoria leans toward me.

My mouth goes dry.

Addie shoots me a sympathetic look and Darren goes rigid next to me.

"Yes. I was."

She cocked her head.

I looked at her eyes.

She had the spark like Addie.

But her spark isn't a spark of hope.

It's a spark of hatred.

"Oh cool! What happened?"

I swallow hard.

My brain automatically drifts far away from this conversation.

I sigh and lean back in my chair.

"I took this pill...It had a supercomputer in it, called a squip...It tells me what to do. So I quit."

My voice is surprisingly not shaky and monotone.

Her eyes widen and her lips curl at the ends into a smile.

"That's lovely. Another question, why was it you left New York a while back to go to Cali?"

I lean forward in my seat, inching closer to her face.

When I'm only inches from her nose, I tap my right temple with my pointer finger.

"Supercomputer. In my head."

Darren glared at me.

Wow.

That was smooth.

Way to break the ice with your little...whatever musical you got that from.

I leaned back and the whole table went silent.

"I was just trying to ask you a question."

I roll my eyes.

"Then ask away. I'll answer truthfully this time."

Addie cringes and tenses up.

My anger only rises three notches.

"Why did you leave New York?"

I stare her straight in the eye.

She stares forcefully at me.

I feel my confidence and swagger drain out of me through my toes and out of the tips of my Vans.

"I wasn't needed anymore."

She nods.

There is a long silence before she speaks again.

"You tried to kill her didn't you?"

I lift my head from in between my shoulders.

"Pardon?"

Chris grabs Addie's arm, ready to run.

"You tried to kill Addie."

My entire throat dries up this time.

"I-I don't understand wh-"

She groans loud enough to attract the attention of a few others.

"You got her shot. You tried to...."

She imitates a gunshot, then holds her tongue out of the side of her mouth, imitating the noise of a dying animal.

Addie flinches.

I ball my hands into fists.

"And you felt bad. That's why you came back. You wanted her to die didn't you? You wanted to grab all that sympathy up. Didn't you, Charlotte?"

Didn't you, Charlotte?

Sympathy.

You tried to kill her didn't you?

You wanted her dead.

I clutched my head.

I saw two of everything.

Two Victorias.

Shit that's terrifying.

Darren scowled at her.

"Would you stop?!"

The air seemed to suck out of the room.

The oxygen in the diner felt like it was heavy and almost not even there.

"What's the matter, Charlotte?"

She turned her head from Darren back to me.

Her face became blurry.

"Squip got your tongue?"