Spelled

Chapter 13

Jess's POV:

I was laying on my bed, clutching my pillow, when I heard a hesitant knock on the door.

"Come in," I called.

Charlene appeared in my doorway, closed the door behind herself, and sat at the foot of my bed.

"We to talk," she said. There was resolution and depression shining through her eyes. It broke my heart.

"I thought so too," I whispered.

Charlene cleared her throat. "I found Amanda and Wayne today." She looked down at the floor. "And Maybeck."

Happiness flooded through my heart when she said Maybeck's name. I had gotten memories of him now and then since Willa and I touched. "When will I get to see him?"

Charlene looked back up at me, meeting my gaze. "Soon," she assured me. "But I won't be there. You can meet him right before you guys go home."

I furrowed my brow. "What do you mean? You're coming, aren't you?"

She shook her head slowly, sadly. "No, I'm not. You, Willa, Finn, Maybeck, Wayne, Amanda, and Philby, once we find him, will go home. I will stay here."

"What?" I exclaimed. "But you have to come home! We love you."

"No, I don't. And if you really loved me, you wouldn't have kissed him. But more importantly, you would understand why I'm staying behind."

Her words cut deep. "Why do you want to stay behind?"

Char smiled grimly at me. "There's nothing left for me back home. Nothing. I lost Finn, and I finally bounced back from that and found Maybeck. But you took him from me. All that's left back home for me is anguish and heartbreak, because I will never love someone like I love Maybeck. And I cannot bear to watch the two of you. I want him to be happy. I just don't want to see it." She paused. "So I will stay here. I'm a queen, after all. I could be happy here. Why would I want to leave that?"

"You still love him?" I asked quietly.

"Of course I do."

"But I want you home. I want to spend time with you. You are the person I've always asked about boys. How to deal with them and..." I trailed off, realizing how insensitive I was being. A tear slipped quietly down Charlene's face and she let it fall to the ground. "I was the one who broke your heart, wasn't I?"

Charlene looked down.

"That's what no one else realized. I broke your heart, Char. Because you have always been there for me, through thick and thin. You've always had my back, against everyone." Tears fell down my face. "And I turn around and steal your boyfriend. The one thing you asked to have to yourself. You gave Finn to Amanda because I asked you to lay off, because I wanted her to have a little bit of happiness. I never thought how that must have made you feel, because I never bothered to listen. I thought you had the perfect life."

"But I don't." Charlene interjected, standing up. "I'm a mess. And I thought that Maybeck loved me anyway. But I was wrong, and you threw that in my face." She yanked her cell phone out of the folds of her dress. "I'm going call him. And you are going to talk to him."

"Why?" I cried. "What can I do?"

Charlene pressed her fist to her mouth and pinched her eyes shut as she handed me her cell phone as it rang. "Tell him that you love him. I want you two to be happy."

And with that, my best friend of five years was gone. I'd lost her forever, and there was no one to blame but myself.