After The Bet

12

They told me that I went off the deep end, and I told them that I was just fine.

Charlotte

After that video of Cole and I surfaced campus grounds, I figured no one would know it was me. I tried staying for a couple days, but I couldn't take it.

I wasn't even going to classes yet, I only ever left Cierra's room for food. On my walks to the campus dining hall, people would stare. Some would snicker or laugh as I walked by, and others offered apologetic looks. I didn't understand why until Kristie brought the video to my attention, asking where the hell it even came from in the first place.

I didn't know who released the video to everyone on campus. At first I thought Cole did it in some sick, twisted way to get back at me for breaking up with him, but I wanted to believe he wouldn't do that.

It didn't matter who released it, everyone on campus had already seen me and Cole have sex on video. Talk about humiliating and tarnishing my reputation.

I couldn't take the constant stares anymore. I finally dropped out. I didn't give the school a reason, for it didn't sound like they knew about the video yet. I didn't have the heart to tell them about my humiliating downfall.

No one knew where I was going, and I wanted to keep it that way. I packed a a single bag of clothes and all of my necessities and left campus. That wasn't nearly all of my things, but I figured if I was leaving I didn't need everything.

I ended up hopping on a bus not knowing where I was going. All I knew was that I wanted to get as far away from NYU as possible. As far away from him as possible.

The bus ride took hours. There are many stops I could have got off on, but none of them seemed to be far enough away. One of the last stops before it turned back around on its route was in The Bronx.

I gave some money to the bus driver for my travels as I walked off the bus, staring at my surroundings. I didn't know where I was, so I just kept walking.

I spent days being homeless. I didn't eat or drink hardly anything, and I mainly hid from public eye. That was until a certain redhead approached me and took me in. Her name was Darcy, and she offered me a roof over my head.

Darcy and her friends were drug dealers, and that's how they made their money. Darcy and her friend Gwen were the pretty faces to attract people in, and that's what she wanted me to do. The seven men she lived with were the muscle to make sure things rolled over smoothly and that there wasn't any trouble. And believe me, there was a lot of trouble in this business.

They initiated me into their little friend group by having me get a tattoo, which I had never thought of getting before. My first one was an anchor on the inside of my finger. After that, I got more. I now had five tattoos, but each of them were small and had their own meaning.

I chopped my hair to my shoulders shortly after getting settled in the warehouse, which used to be owned by Darcy's father before it got shutdown. One of Cole's favorite features of me was my long hair, so I chopped it all off so the new growth wouldn't be tainted by his touch.

I now go by a new name. I go by Charlie. The guys used to tease me about becoming one of Charlie's badass angels, and the name just kind of stuck.

New look, new identity. The old Charlotte was slowly dying, and Charlie was gaining ground.

Being the front face for a drug dealing business had its falls. I had tried more drugs than I could count on my fingers. I wasn't exactly proud of what I've tried, but it helped numb the pain I was feeling.

I ended up screwing around with a few of Darcy's friends until I finally settled down to just messing around with one. His name was Asher, but we call him Ash for short. He was this clean cut, tatted up guy who listened to all my pathetic history and what happened to me the past couple of years.

He wasn't my boyfriend. I swore that I would never date again. After what Cole had done, something inside of me broke. What broke was any and all of the trust I had in someone that I was in a relationship with. Now, whenever I think of relationships, all that I think of his hurt and heartbreak.

So, there's a little backstory of what happened to me after I dropped out of college and how I ended up here. A real tear-jerker on self love and recovery, right?

Wrong. I definitely hit rock bottom, and I know I did.

So, here I am now, crashed on a bed with Ash, Darcy, Gwen, Stefan, Kirk, and Heath. Last night we all tripped on some acid tabs and I was the first one to pass out. Man was that a wild trip though.

By wild, I mean bad wild. Everyone in the room seemed to warp into someone I used to know. The worst part was that Ash warped into Cole, and I panicked in front of everyone.

I woke up listening in on a conversation between Stefan, Heath, and someone else. My head was pounding as I sat straight up to look at who those two hooligans were threatening now. I felt a pain in my chest that I hadn't felt for a long time, heartache. It was Cole.

Why the hell was he here? I tried my best to keep my composure together as I gazed over at his stunned face.

"Hello Cole."

He was shocked, I knew he was. His brows were all furrowed together in confusion as his gaze never left me. His hair was a mess and the bags under his eyes were dark. It looked like he wasn't taking care of himself.

"Stefan, Heath, stand down."

"And when did you get to start giving us orders?" Heath groaned like a child. He was the shorter one between the two. Both him and Stefan were brothers that never knew their real parents.

"Becausssse I know this one." I drew out my s as I swung my legs off of the bed. I properly hooked my bra and slid on one of Ash's old shirts before hopping off the side. I wasn't wearing any pants, but Ash's shirt dropped down to about mid thigh, so I wasn't too worried.

"Whatever." Stefan grumbled as the two of them slunk back over to the bed. Within seconds they were back to snoozing.

Cole's gaze really never left me, even when I ran my fingers through my short hair as I approached him.

"Charlotte, I–"

"Please don't call me that." I cut him off before he could even finish his thought. "They all call me Charlie."

"Yeah? Well, I'd rather eat a bowl of nails before I called you Charlie." Cole was quick to snap back.

"So, you're going to just come rushing in here like a lost puppy dog who just found his last bîtch and then snap at me?" I crossed my arms and shifted my weight onto one foot .

"This isn't you."

"You wouldn't know."

"Yes I would. I know you, and this is definitely not you."

"You don't know who I am anymore."

•

Short chapter, I know. But it basically mirrored the last chapter a little to do a time catch up. But I wanted to give some backstory on how Charlotte got to where she was today.

I love reading all the comments you guys leave on my stories, I wish I could reply to all of them. You guys are the best.

PS I picture Asher as Ash Stymest.