Expelled

01 || Stronger

"You heard that I was starting over with someone new, but told you I was moving on over you..."

Charlene Dixon sat at her desk, facing an expansive courtyard filled with plants. A gardener was trimming the leaves of...wait, was that the rose bush?

Charlene tapped twice and moved the gardener over to the hedge on her screen. Then she hit save and closed the computer with a sigh. Her hand reached for her whiteout, but then stopped. No. She had to do this - it was the only way. So then why did it feel so wrong?

Instead of doing the right thing, Charlene slipped the piece of paper back into her desk drawer, then turned up her music and began dancing to Stronger by Kelly Clarkson, her favorite way to zone out from the real world.

During her first week at Berkshire Academy, Charlene had somehow managed to become the most popular person there - and assumed a whole new identity. An identity that happened to not include some important facts about her past life and would hopefully would stay that way.

Charlene hit pause as Kelly was about to sing "starting over". This wasn't helping. There were too many things to worry about for them to be wiped out by a song that just made Charlene feel even more guilty. How was she going to keep her secret life secret when her supposed best friends were just hours away from moving in next door to her? And how was she going to keep them from accidentally spilling the truth, when they didn't actually know the truth? It was all too much.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Charlene whisper-groaned as she flopped onto her bed. And yet, if Charlene went back in time, she probably wouldn't have done a single thing different.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway outside Charlene's room and seconds later her mother's voice drifted in under the door.

"Charlie? Can I come in?"

Charlene quickly closed her computer and picked up her book.

"Sure," she said as she fake-read.

"Lola and Summer just arrived at the airport," her mother said as she entered the room. "They'll be here early tomorrow morning." Her gaze landed on Charlene's book. "Why are you reading an upside-down book?"

Charlene glanced at the page in front of her and realized that it was, in fact, upside down.

"Um, brain experiment," she lied, then bit her tongue. Hard. Because Charlene didn't lie. At least, she didn't used to lie. But apparently, like her fashion sense and status, her morals had also changed since arriving at Berkshire Academy. Her mother raised an eyebrow at her explanation, but didn't comment on it.

"So you'll be there to greet them, right?" Her mother asked instead.

"Oh. Um." Charlene remembered making plans to go shopping the next morning, but she couldn't exactly tell her mom that. "I was supposed to go work on my science project," she said slowly. "We need to get it done before-"

"Nonsense. I'll call your partner," Charlene's mother said, whipping out her phone. Charlene's stomach dropped.

"No, no, I'll just skip," she said quickly. Charlene's mother glanced at her suspiciously, then nodded.

"Fine. Have a good night, Charlie."

"Thanks, Mom." Charlene waved at her mother, who kissed her on the cheek, then left the room, leaving Charlene with a very, very bad night.