𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃─𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

thirty four.

─☼☼☼─

"You have two new messages."

Message received today at 5:54pm

Can you come over today, please? I need to talk to you. Or I can come to The Wreck. Anywhere...just please talk to me. 

Message received today at 7:07pm

Charlotte, this is getting ridiculous. Call me.

─☼☼☼─

"𝙋𝙃𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝘿𝙊𝙒𝙉, 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙇𝙊𝙏𝙏𝙀." Anna spoke, returning to the kitchen table with two mugs of tea. "We need to talk."

Knowing where this was headed, Charlotte did as her mother said, mentally preparing herself for a conversation she did not want to have. 

"I'm okay, mom." She assured, hoping to squash the discussion before it even had to begin. "I'm going to be okay."

Anna's hand placed itself over Charlotte's giving a light squeeze. "Your dad and I have been really worried about you. These last few months, you've been...you haven't been yourself."

A wave of defensiveness surged through Charlotte as she pulled her hand away from her mother's. "You mean I haven't been the me you've been used to."

"What?"

Sighing, Charlotte leaned back slightly. "Look, mom, I know I've changed this summer, but have you ever considered that maybe it's for the better?"

Anna gawked. "For the better, Charlotte? You're always out runnin' around with your sister and her friends to God knows where? You're pushing away your old friends, your boyfriend─"

"He is not my boyfriend." Charlotte gritted out, clenching her fist in her lap. "Do you even know why we broke up, mom? What he put me through?"

Pausing for a moment, Anna studied her daughter's face. "Charlotte, sweetie, you've barely gotten out of bed in the last few weeks, barely eaten...I just need to know what's going on."

Charlotte wanted to tell her mother everything, she wanted to so badly. But she knew that wasn't an option. So, she told the part of the story that made the most sense. "Kensington tried to sleep with Rafe after we broke up." 

The shock factor that she had hoped to drop on her mother worked. Anna sucked in her cheeks as her eyes grew wide, "You're kidding."

"No." Charlotte assured, plastering on her best 'I'm so sad that my best friend tried to sleep with my boyfriend' face. "That's why I've been distant from her and Willa. That's why I was spending a lot of time with Kie and the boys. I was just trying to digest everything. I was upset enough over Rafe and I, and then the thing with John B and Sarah, I just─"

She let out a fake sob, burying her face into her hands. 

Among other things, Charlotte Carrera was an amazing actress. 

"Oh, Char." Anna soothed, pulling her daughter toward her in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. I had no idea."

Little did Anna know, the betrayal of her ex-best friend was the least of Charlotte's concerns right now.