invisible string • Gracie Abrams

036 the speech

charlotte nodded and followed maya with the other three where she regrouped with her cast. eventually jude showed up, said his hellos and found jenna to talk too just as matthew and marcus appeared. of course, they asked where mr and mrs parker were and charlotte had to brush off the topic once again because she seriously wants to think about anything else than them until she sees the stupid looks on their faces.

after getting pictures of herself and some with the cast, charlotte had gracie come over and stand for some, arms snaked around each others waist and sure enough, the cameras were going more crazy for them than anyone else. charlotte smiled brighter than she ever has, and she could see the happiness in gracie's eyes at all the supportive photographs shouting for angles which made her even the more proud to be here with her tonight.

after they finished the carpet, they were dragged by maddie over to one of the cocktail bars for some more low key time and to say hi to others. but the two people charlotte still didn't get to say that to was her parents who should've already been here by now. she shook her head, snapping out of that thought she really didn't want to prioritize and brought her focus back to gracie who was telling sadie about some upcoming music.

"i'm almost done working on my debut album, we just made the album cover," she said. "the singles from it have been doing really well though, so that's good."

"what's like the vibe of the album?" the redhead asked.

"well, mostly my past relationships and revealing some of my emotions with things," gracie said. "it's kind of sad though," she chuckled. "one of them is about something more current though about someone i've met recently."

charlotte backtracked, thinking if all the songs she's heard gracie play for her that are in the new album, and as far she knows she couldn't pin who that doing could be about, especially since she didn't know the lyrics either. could be anyone though, gracie did get to meet most of the people in charlottes life.

sadie nodded, a grin forming on her lips as she glanced to charlotte and sipped her drink, "cool."

"yo, they're here," jude suddenly said, knocking charlottes leg under the table and gesturing forwards.

charlotte whipped her head to look behind her, then staring at the all mighty couple that is her parents, dressing in the same red and black colours and walking into the bar while greeting people. charlottes table went quiet. gracie's fingers slipped out of charlottes and she didn't dare to look, she already knew who was there given the looks on people's faces. charlotte felt her heart hammer against her chest, not with anxiousness but with anticipation. never once has she felt such resentment looking at her parents, it was something so completely different yet she didn't question it, knowing damn well that if they don't treat her and gracie with respect, it might be her last straw with them and she'd then truly tear away from them, not only for herself, but for gracie and for everything else she stands for.

she turned her head away as she felt them approaching, giving jude a stern look as he did the same, both knowing they were on the same side. and so was everyone else at the table.

"there she is, my little star," mrs. parker said, wrapping her arms around charlotte from behind and kissing her cheek. she hasn't looked at the other faces yet, only wanting to pay attention to her daughter for the moment. "you look so pretty," she said, examining the dress.

"thanks mom," charlotte replied, eyes still fixed on jude's protective look.

"jude, how are you," she asked, getting a mumble of 'good' in response. "sorry we missed the carpet, there was so much traffic up here."

"all good um," charlotte looked to see her father, only to find him moving near marcus to get a better look at the girl sat next to charlotte. "hi da—"