Skin Deep ✔️

Chapter Twenty - Five

"She tried to drown you?" Charlie gapes before pushing past me to go back into the library.

I panic and grab her, pulling her back towards me. "You can't say anything to her. It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Charlie asks incredulously and I cringe.

"Well of course its a big deal but she's dating one of my best friends." I explain.

Charlie groans and rolls her eyes. "Why do you think Ezra is even dating her?"

I shrug because I don't actually know. Charlie rolls her eyes again just as the others come outside of the library.

"Girl time is over because if I stayed in there any longer I would've died and that wouldn't be good for anyone." Isaac says, putting an arm over both me and Charlie. "What are we doing tonight?"

"Studying." I reply at the same time that Charlie says, "Babysitting."

"No, no, no. That's boring." Isaac complains as he steers us towards the door. "We'll help you babysit. I love children."

"Do you?" I ask him and he just winks at me.

I turn around to wave goodbye to Ezra but he's already gone and I sigh.

We begin to walk to Charlie's house and just as we get there she pauses by the front door and smiles sheepishly at us.

"Quick warning before we go in." She looks down at her feet. "My siblings are... a mess and I know it might be daunting since you're both only children."

Isaac smiles at her, stepping towards her so that he's looming over her. "I have a brother so shut up and let us in."

She shrugs and turns the key in the door, the minute she does it swings open and a brunette girl looks at her sister with wide eyes.

"They're trying to kill me." She whispers. She slowly turns her head to Isaac and I, a blush forming on her cheeks. "Oh, hello."

"Hi." Isaac raises an eyebrow. "Who's trying to kill you?"

The girl blinks at him. "Harper and Eden."

Charlie laughs and ruffles her sister's hair. "Cami, go change out of your uniform. Where's moms?"

"They're upstairs." Cami, mumbles, moving out of the way so that we can come inside.

As soon as we walk in we're hit with chaos and it makes me smile. I look over and see that Isaac's smiling too.

"Moms!" Charlie shouts, standing at the foot of the stairs. "I'm home."

Charlie leads us into the the living room and there's even more chaos. Cami, the girl we just met, is being chased with pretend swords by a girl and a boy who I assume are Harper and Eden. They look about seven years old. There's a teenaged boy in the corner of the room with headphones on reading and another on a console, shouting to his friends.

"Winsloe Children!" Charlie yells, and all five kids scramble into a line. Isaac and I take a seat on the couch and look at each other with a smirk before watching the exchange between Charlie and her siblings.

"Eden, how was School?" Charlie asks him and he shakes his mop of curly, black hair. "I got star of the week."

"Good." Charlie nods. "Harper, what about you?"

Harper frowns with bright, blue eyes. "Miss Kinbott gave me lunchtime detention."

"Why?"

"I bit Eden."

"Swiftly moving on." Charlie laughs. "Twins. Jayden first."

Jayden taps the controller in his hand and shrugs. "Nothing."

"I got a seven on the exam and he got a four." The other twin puts his headphones back on over his inky black hair.

"Shut up, Joseph!" Jayden pushes him but he barely moves.

"Cami?" Charlie asks her sister. Cami looks up at her through her bangs, chewing on her hair. "I found a dead bird."

"God, Cami. You're so weird." Jayden goes back to playing his console.

"Leave her alone." Joseph hits him upside the head and he curses.

"This is Tonoya and Isaac." Charlie says to no one in particular, gesturing loosely towards us.

Cami perches on the sofa right next to me, chewing on her hair still. Charlie sighs and sits in-between Isaac and I. She grabs the remote from her brother and he curses when she switches it to Netflix, kicking him out of his game.

She puts on a random movie and leans her head on Isaac's shoulder. He strokes her hair absentmindedly and I smile at them. I look over at Cami and see she's still chewing on her hair.

I tap her on the shoulder and she jumps. "Are you okay?"

She looks up at me with a blank expression. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

I shrug and she moves her gaze to the movie.

"Don't worry about Cami, she's just like that." Charlie smiles at me.

After about ten minutes, two women come down stairs in dresses. Harper and Eden rush forward hugging their moms and telling them how pretty they look. One of the women is black and I smile at how proudly she wears her afro.

They both look at Isaac and I.

"Charlie, who are these two lovely people on our couch?" One of the women ask.

"This is Tonoya and Isaac." She answers. "Tonoya and Isaac, these are my moms. Arsema and Margot."

We wave goodbye at them as they leave through the front door. Harper comes up to me and smiles. "Do you have a boyfriend?" She asks and I laugh at her.

"She would if she would just man up and tell him." Isaac mutters under his breath.

"That's sexist." I glare at him and turn back to Harper. "No I don't."

"Then why is there a boy outside asking for you?"

"What?" I question her.

Ezra walks in with ruffled hair and tired eyes, slumping against the door frame. Joseph looks up at him and then back down at his book. "Charlie there's a stranger in our house."

"No stranger." Charlie smiles at Ezra. "I invited him."

"Why?" I look at her.

Ezra coughs bringing my attention to him. "Can we talk?"

I sigh and get up, following him outside. He slumps against his dad's car, sitting on the roof with his gaze pointed towards the sky.

I step towards him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Did something happen between you and Katie?" He blinks slowly at me, his eyes barely open.

"No." I lie.

"Are you sure?" He grabs my hand and as soon as his fingers curl around mine, all of that feigned insouciance disappears. His grip is tight, firm, a clear and impossible challenge.

I look directly into his eyes and smile. "It's nothing. I want to forget it."

I let go of his hand and step back. He looks at me but doesn't say anything. I watch silently as he walks past me into the house, all the while, pleading for him to break up with her and fight for me.