“Sucks that you got it so bad.”
“Mm.”
“Because… that’s all it is. right?”
For the first time, Gabi turns her head in an attempt to make eye contact, but Charlotte keeps staring straight ahead.
“Yeah.”
“There’s… nothing more going on?”
“Nope.” Charlotte plops her lips on the p.
“Good,” Gabi nods slowly. “Good. Because, you know, you really had me worried there for a sec—”
“Fucking hell Gabi, if you’ve got something to say, then say it.”
“There’s something you’re not telling me!” Gabi snaps. Charlotte whips her head around to look at her.
“Oh, and you know this, how, exactly? No—don’t say it. You can’t help it you're such an empath,” she fires back, childishly mocking her on the last word.
“I might be an empath, but you’re a nuclear factory.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
They come to a halt in front of a park bench; Gabi suggests they sit down. Charlotte follows sheepishly.
“When you feel down, Charlotte, everyone and everything within a three mile radius can feel it,” Gabicarefully explains. When Charlotte wants to interrupt, she holds up her hand. “I’m not saying there’s anything you can do about it, or that it’s your fault, but… when you’re in your feelings, you’re like… really in your feelings.”
The corner of Charlotte’s lip jerks up. “So you’re telling me to stop being a gloomy ass bitch to stop distracting the neighbors?”
“Your sense of humor isn’t gonna save you this time, girl.” Charlotte’s jaw drops in mock offense as her hand flies to her chest. “I’m worried. We’re not gonna leave this bench until you tell me what’s going on.”
A sigh. “I hope you packed lunch because we’re gonna be here a while then.”
Minutes pass without either of them saying anything, until Gabi finds the courage to ask:
“Does this… is it possible this has anything to do with you and Riley?”
“What? Of course not. Why would it?” Charlotte responds calmly, really trying to mean it.
“Then why did your eye twitch when I said her name?”
“What the fuck? No it didn’t!”
“No, it didn’t, but that reaction tells me more than enough.”
Charlotte throws her head back, admitting defeat. “Fine. What more do you want me to say?”
Her eyes lock onto a robin perched on a tree branch above her.
“Did… did Riley do something bad to you? Should I talk to Lou?”
She carefully chews on Gabi’s words, trying to figure out how she’s going to explain what’s kept her up—or down—all week, when it suddenly clicks what Gabi’s implying.
Charlotte shoots up like an arrow and finds her gaze, horrified. “No!” she says firmly. “God, no, no, no. It’s not like that. It’s nothing like that.”
Or is it?she wonders for a brief moment, but she shakes the thought away immediately. No matter how she feels about it, everything that had happened had been completely consensual. And the rest of it—like being annoying and having a stupid face—those things are no criminal offenses.
