Desires

•CHAPTER XXVIII•

The hum of the warm cafe began to die down as time went on. The conversation between us was casual. Like it had always been, but I felt like Charlie's grin was nervous. Nervous because I was there like I was there in the forests when her eyes turned to unrecognisable orbs looking back at me like a stranger.

"Speaking of hotties, Azra; you seem to have your fingers wrapped round a certain someone." Charlie chimed and rested her chin in her hands in a doll like fashion, showing her silver rings that adorned her long fingers.

I chuckle nervously. "I don't know who you're talking about." I press my lips into a bashful smile and try and not look at my friends. They know who has got me feeling this way and I know it too.
"Girl yes you do! Shall I spell it out for you? R....O...M....E...O-"
"Yes yes I get it." I say in defeat.
"Wait...Montgomery?" Levi asks and knits his eyebrows in a curious motion.
"Well duh! Who else?" Charlie remarks and flicks his temple to which he cringes at.
"Do you like him? Does he like you?" Levi perks up, sitting straight.
"What? No...Charlie's just assuming."
Charlie scoffs and leans back in her chair. "Am I wrong?" She says and raises a brow.
I part my mouth to say something but nothing comes out. At this point I feel hot and heavy and I lean my chin into my hands to cover my cheeks that are surely pink now.
"Guys stop." Cole's low voice interrupts Levi and Charlie's comments. "Leave her alone." He says sternly and the others look at him and then at each other in surprise. I too am surprised.
"I was just going to say that you should be careful." Charlie said "You've heard about the girls he plays with. They leave with him and come back broken hearted."
"Or impregnated." Levi said and earned a nudge from Cole.
I widened my eyes.
"What?" I say in disbelief.
"He's kidding, no one pregnant. He's just saying that Romeo doesn't have the best track record when it comes to girls." Charlie explained and I nodded.

I feel suffocated. I know about Romeo and his antics but to hear them again makes my head spin. It makes me feel twisted and raw like someone's taken a bite out of my stomach. It's like I know what he's like, but yet I'm still drawn to him. What stops me from being just another toy to him? I'm sure he knows this too.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." I say and make my way to the 'Ladies' sign feeling my friends' eyes hook onto me.

I look at myself in the mirror while I wash my hands.

I don't look like a supermodel. I'm short and petite. I don't have accented curves like the girls in my class do. My chest isn't small but it's not big and my hips are barely justifiable. My arms and legs are slender with small curves yet I don't have an ounce of muscle on me. I'm barely athletic with my short legs compared to Charlie's long leans'. I struggle to find why Romeo even speaks to me.

The thought of his tall lean figure standing next to my petite frame is barely imaginable. His angelic face adorned with his supple lips and his chiseled facial structures decorated by his green eyes feathered with dark eyelashes that linger in my dreams.

I'm interrupted by the door opening to reveal Charlie. We meet eyes and I revert back to washing my hands even thought they are pink from the scrubbing and cold too.
She freezes and then stands next to me.
The tension between us is like a thick layer of ice.

"Azra...about what happened..."
I swallow my dry throat and meet her eyes in the mirror. They are her normal chocolate brown.
"I'm sorry about what I said to make you...mad." I say and turn the tap off. The silence is heavy.
"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
"Or to ditch me in the middle of the forest." I mumble.
"I'm really sorry Azra. I can't explain it to you now..." She says and looks around like she's trying to catch someone out for listening. "How's about we go for a walk? I won't ditch you this time." She says and tilts her head to the side letting her long beads clatter together.
Her wide brown eyes please for my answer and I say "Sure". I say yes because I don't want to make an enemy out of Charlie, and I'm also curious for her excuse. And why Miss Merzion thinks she's 'trouble'.

We walk out of the cafe, parting ways with the twins who are off to practice for Lacrosse tryouts tomorrow.
"Text me after okay Azzy?" Levi said, talking about the conversation that my mother and I would be having once I get home.
I nodded and smiled at the nickname he had given me.
Cole ruffles my hair like I'm a puppy and Levi flicks Charlie on her temple getting an annoyed glare that could kill in return.

Charlie and I walk in silence. The town is quiet with the occasional car that drives by.
"I am really sorry Azra. I know how it would have felt for me to just leave you like that. Did you find your way back?"
"Yeah. Actually Romeo so happened to be there. Weird actually he claims he heard me even though we were miles apart." I say in truth.

She doesn't say anything and I'm worried that it's going to be like this the whole time.
"You know...the thing I'm going to tell you might help you answer all the things you question about this town."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sure Romeo plays a big part in it. For you anyways."
At this moment I'm lost.
"Has he ever said anything weird? Or done anything odd?" She asks and I agree instantly.
She stops herself from going further.
"It isn't for me to say. I'm sorry, I'm being really confusing."
"Yeah..."

We reach the edge of the forest. She looks up at the trees and closes her eyes. It's like she's forgot that she's not alone.
The white sub beams shine onto her dark skin as she inhaled slowly.
"Something changed in me. It all becomes clear now, how I feel things. How I see things. How I hear things." She opens her eyes now. "How I know what's going to happen before it does. How I already knew you before I met you, Azra.  I could hear you coming to Morgenstel months ago. I thought I was crazy, but I'm not. I saw your face in a vision, and I know that face. I know about your dream, I mentioned it before without realising it. Remember? All this crap makes sense now. It was all you Azra, you awoke that part of me." She takes my hands in hers. "Thank you Azra." She said and gives my hands a gentle squeeze in between hers.

I'm looking at her, lost but also stunned at what she had said. She looks so stoic whilst saying whatever it is she is saying. I don't understand, but I do at the same time.

"That day you angered me. How I felt weird and I'm sure you saw what happened to my body."
I recall her eyes swirling dark purple and the whites of her eyes becoming like crystal. How her skin was coated with vibrations and how every step she took, the rocks and turns beneath her shook.

"I'm a witch."

♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎♤♠︎
authors note:

so i've uploaded twice today, i hope you enjoy. what do you think about Charlie?

please vote/comment, i feel like i haven't heard from any of you in ages hahahahaha

-kiim