My Hater, My Lover (Book One)

Chapter 24: Drugs and little guns (Miguel)

I finished the last period and I went to Eron's locker. I waited for a bit but he didn't come. The students finished putting on their coats and everyone was leaving.

I asked a classmate if they had seen Eron. "Nah, he wasn't in last period," he said, closing his locker.

"Oh...well, thanks anyway," I said. I leaned agaisnt his locker. He skipped class. That wasn't like him. He usually was always here, and we could walk home together.

I sighed. If he wasn't here, I should just go home instead of waiting for someone who already left. He hadn't even told me...I wondered why he would skip just like that. Did something happen?

I was walking down the stairs and out the back door of the school when I saw Charlotte ahead.

"You aren't going home with Bruce?" I asked her. They both usually went home together.

 "He has band practise today. So yah, I just go home alone this day of the week," she said, smiling. 

 There was a bit of awkward tension between us. It was usually better when Robert and Bruce were there, filling in the silence with chatter.

"Hey, um...you wanna get some food together?" Charolette asked, tucking a hair behind her ear.

"Sure, I'd like that," I smiled. We walked in silence, and it felt almost like before all this drama.

 

"So...you're seeing Eron. How is that? Are you happy?" Charlotte asked casually.


 I mulled over how I wanted to answer.  "..yeah. I am happy," I finally answered.

 "I'm a bit surprised, you know," she said. She continued to walk, without looking at me.

 Why? Because maybe I slept with her but now had a boyfriend?  "Yeah, I understand. I guess that makes me bi," I shrugged.

 She shook her head. "I didn't mean that...." she trailed.

I looked at her. She held the straps of her backpack tightly. "I meant, I thought he used to stress you out. I thought like, the two of you didn't get along. When he first transferred to our school, your face would turn green when you saw him. What changed?" she asked, looking at me, searching my face.

 I opened my mouth and closed it. Should I tell Charlotte about my past? Didn't she already know?

 "Thanks for having noticed...I thought I was good at hiding it," I laughed weakily.

 

 "You were. I'm just good at noticing these things," she said glumily.


 "To answer your question...yes. I didn't like him before. The truth is, actually, in my old school, he used to bully me to the point I almost killed myself. Then I transferred to our school. And the rest is history," I said.

  Charlotte looked at me shocked and horrified. "He did what?....How could you still stand to date if you already knew he was a terrible person?..."

 "He's not terrible anymore..." I tried to defend him. But it's true, how could I have fallen for someone who used to make me miserable.

 "And I thought we had something," Charlotte pressed.  My face went red, remembering what she was implying.

"I didn't know it meant something to you, I always thought that it was just a one-night stand," I said. 

 Charlotte's face darkened.

"Oh, I guess it makes sense now, all of this had just been in my own mind. I understand," she smiled again but it was so obviously fake.

"Char..." I said, gently taking her arm. "I thought you weren't interested. That night, you seemed so aloof, like I was just some thing to use and throw away. Then in school, you were always so formal with me, I thought you just wanted to be friends."

Charlotte bit her lip. "I felt so ashamed you had seen that side of me. It still haunts me, you know. I felt like...of course you wouldn't want to be with me. And then when Eron showed up, he was always on your mind, and I don't blame you, he's popular and friendly and outgoing...totally not like me..." she said sadly, as tears started to come down her face.

 I rubbed her arm, and wasn't sure I should hug her or not. She lifted her jacket and showed me her arm. There was small little needle pricks in the bend of her elbow.

"When the pain gets too much, I use it to help me sleep," she said.

 My eyes flashed anger. "Charlotte, smoking weed is one thing, doing heroin is another!" I told her sternly. No one was worth messing up one's life over.

"If you were with me, I wouldn't need it, the pain would all just go away..." she begged, looking at me with desperation.

I took in the words she was implying. I couldn't just dump Eron like that. But then again, Charlotte needed me.  I sighed. I felt torn.

"I know, Char, I know," I said. I hugged her and I let her hug me tightly. Like she wanted to make sure I never ever left.