Chapter 23

CHARLOTTE

I leave.

Something I always do. It’s what I am good at and something I’m used to—leaving.

I run until I can’t run anymore. I need fresh air and then some. I find myself in front of the campus administration building. I take a minute to catch my breath. I take the paper out of my back pocket and stare at it.

I couldn’t sleep at all last night for two reasons: Chase and this paper. I didn’t open the paper last night because I am scared to see whose name is on it.

At times like this, I wish Raven and I were still best friends, or even friends. She would know how to cheer me up.

I stare at the paper for a few seconds before having the guts and courage to open it. There it was in bold cursive handwriting.

“Raven?” This has to be a joke. She wouldn’t dare do this to me. She knows how much RCA means to me. Why would she be such a bitch? I toss the paper to the ground, and I take off running to Slivermist dorm.

I’ve reached my boiling point for the day, and it’s only nine-thirty in the morning. I’m feeling pretty reckless, and I just want to smash everything in sight. I reach the building, racing up the stairs—two at a time.

“Open the fucking door!” I pound and kick. “Open the damn door, Raven.”

I see red when she finally opens the door, and I go in for the kill. I pounce.

We fall to the ground hard. She gets more of the impact than me. I don’t care what comes of this. She put everything I worked so hard for at risk. Hell, she might have been the one to send the dean all those pictures of me.

Now that I think about it, she never defended me when he showed me them. If anything, she called me a slut.

For a fact, she had to have sent those pictures to get me booted from the competition, but that got me pulled into another mess. We go from pulling hair to throwing punches.

Our screams draw a crowd of female students pulling us apart. I want blood, and that’s what I get. I look to see Raven’s nose and lip bleeding.

I lick my lips to taste my own metallic blood too. I am going to rip her fucking throat out.

“What the hell is going on?” a girl holding me back asks. She is out of breath but isn’t loosening up her grip on me.

“It’s you who got me into this mess. How could you!?” I yell.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Raven tries to shake from the girl who is holding her back.

“You’re the person who submitted the application for RCA. Then you sent Dean Grey those inappropriate pictures of me. You’ve been trying to sabotage me this entire time. We were best friends.

“You could have come and told me you were going to enter. Why go behind my back and do those things to me?”

“You would have never listened!”

“I am not you, Raven! I actually care about the people I make friends with. I would never…” I can’t finish that sentence. “Fuck you, Raven.”

I shrug the girl off of me, telling her I am leaving. I must be a better actress than I thought, because she lets me go.

I went back at Raven again, punching her right in the face. The girl holding Raven back let her go, not wanting to get hit, and I'm glad she did. All this anger inside of me had to come out one way or another.

Raven grabs me by the hair, swinging me into her computer table.

My left side is in pain, but with all the adrenaline pumping through my veins, I ignore it and knee her in the stomach. She hunches over, and that’s the opening to catch her again.

This time I knee her in the face. She stumbles back, and I reach for her, but this time I'm pulled back with so much force, I think I’m being sucked into another dimension.

“Charlotte, what the hell is going on?” I look to see Valerie and another girl pulling me out of the room. “Charlotte, calm down. What is going on?”

“Nothing. Just let me go.”

“I am not going to let you go. You are going to get in trouble if the RA comes and sees you two fighting. You can get expelled. Is that what you want?” She places her hands on her hips. “Is that what you want?”

“No. Of course not.”

“So, go. I’ll do damage control here. Hopefully, we can spin a story Eden will believe.”

“Thank you,” I tell her, limping to the staircase. My side is in pain, and I am literally shaking. I want to turn around and go for another round. Lord knows Raven deserves it.

“Hey, Charlotte,” Valerie calls out. I turn to look at her. “Don’t thank me just yet. But once this is all done, you and I will need to have a talk.”

“Yeah, sure.” I smile weakly, pushing the staircase door open.

GEORGIANNA

Georgianna.Ford

Massive fight over at Slivermist this morning.

Erica.Hurbet

With?

Georgianna.Ford

Raven and Charlotte!

Machelle.Murano

Who’s Charlotte?

Georgianna.Ford

Ugh, the girl everyone is calling Snow White. But she is far from that prissy Princess. She kicked Raven’s ass. I didn’t think she had it in her.

Erica.Hurbet

I guess living with seven guys toughen her up. Why did they fight?

Georgianna.Ford

Something about that RCA and Raven sent Dean Grey XXX pictures of Charlotte.

Erica.Hurbet

STFU?! Seriously???

Georgianna.Ford

Yes!

Erica.Hurbet

This is Walsh’s first HUGE scandal since the John Tucker games.

Machelle.Murano

Raven looks like Martin from that episode

Georgianna.Ford

Ha! She does.

Erica.Hurbet

???

Machelle.Murano

She looks like this. Hahahaha

Machelle.Murano

Sent One Image

Erica.Hurbet

Charlotte beat her up like that? My goodness, remind me never to get on her bad side.

Georgianna.Ford

Bwahahaha she does look similar to that. I mean she had it coming. First she told the campus Charlotte was a virgin and then boom this. Serves her right.

Machelle.Murano

Sure does. I gotta go. TTYL

Erica.Hurbet

What is going on with this campus? Everyone is just running around like their heads are chopped off.

Georgianna.Ford

IDK but I am here for all this tea and drama! Later Rica

Erica.Hurbet

Later