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two weeks later, charlotte woke with the sun in her eyes. it reflected off of the water and under the lifeguard tower where she was sleeping in the sand.
she groaned and sat up, flipping her sunglasses down over her eyes. she looked around the beach at the few people here so early in the morning. there was a couple a little ways down, laughing at each other. a group of lifeguards came down the beach towards the tower she slept under. charlotte shook the sand out of her sneakers while she looked around.
there was one more person to her left. he sat in the sand in front of the bike shop, staring up at the building. it was the middle of august, but he was wearing dark jeans and a flannel tied around his waist.
strange place to sit, charlotte thought. strange building to be staring at.
she laced up her shoes and folded up her towel, then stood up and ducked out from under the tower.
her hair was wavy from the sea breeze and sand, and charlotte pulled it up off of her shoulders into a bun. she shrugged her backpack on and adjusted her sunglasses, then started up the beach for another day of wandering hollywood.
she took another look at the boy, who was drawing shapes in the sand with his fingers.
something about him made her want to go sit down next to him, but she stopped herself.
he wouldn't even be able to see her.
charlotte popped out in front of the grief center.
she knew she shouldn't go in, and everything was telling her to turn back around, but she couldn't.
she popped into blake's office.
it was empty, save for a cold, half-full cup of coffee from the day before.
damn. she could've gone for any type of coffee right now. she really, really missed being able to eat.
charlotte promised herself she wouldn't try to talk to blake. she just wanted to see her friend again. despite her ongoing nausea, seeing blake had been somehow healing.
she settled herself into the chair opposite blake's desk and waited, picking at her fingernails.
minutes later, blake came in with a sigh and dropped her bag by her desk. she opened up her laptop and tapped out a few things.
she reached for the cold coffee, but it was just out of reach. charlotte nudged it forward, and blake looked up for a minute, then shook her head.
charlotte felt a tiny twinge of that nausea brew in her stomach.
blake raised the coffee to her lips and grimaced, then picked up her phone. after a short pause: "can i get a coffee, please? thanks."
charlotte laughed to herself. blake always hated iced coffee.
the assistant from weeks ago knocked on blake's glass door, then came in with her coffee.
"thank you." blake smiled and took the steaming cup.
"ma'am, i've noticed...are you okay?" he asked, looking a little concerned.
"oh, i-i'm fine." she said.
"is it," he looked to the frame on her desk, "is it charlie?"
blake sighed and rubbed her eyes. "yeah. i've just-i get in these ruts, sometimes. missing her. thinking about whether she'd like what i'm doing." she put her head in her hands to hide the tears charlotte knew were filling her eyes.
he gave a sad smile. "ma'am, with all you've told me about her, i'm sure she would be so, so proud of you."
"i am." charlotte said quietly.
"thank you." blake quickly composed herself and took a sip of her coffee. "do you have anything else?"
"that's everything for this morning." he said. "it is freezing in here, ma'am. do you want me to turn the heat up?"
charlotte knew she had to leave. she was close to throwing up, even though there was nothing in her stomach to come back up.
she popped back into the street and stumbled to the nearest trash can. she was hyperventilating, trying to stop the pain in her abdomen.
"charlotte."
she heard a familiar voice calling her.
"hey, charlotte!" willie jumped off his board and grabbed her shoulder. "are you okay?"
charlotte whirled around, wide-eyed. "yeah, um, i'm fine. i'm just, uh, winded. i was jogging."
she didn't want to lie to willie, but something in the back of her mind told her to.
"jogging, okay." he laughed. "new hobby?"
"yeah. i don't think it's going to last." she forced a giggle. "uh, what brings you around here?"
"i was looking around hollywood for you, actually." he said.
"really?"
"yeah!" he said. "i think i can get you into the club in a couple weeks. i'm bringing three other guys that i've met, though. is that okay?"
"yeah, that-that sounds good." charlotte said.
"cool." willie set his skateboard down again. "i'll catch you sometime before then?"
"i'll see you around." charlotte waved as he skated off.
she didn't know why she lied to him. feeling sick was a normal thing, even for the paranormal. but, though she considered willie a friend, she'd only talked to him and hung out with him a handful of times. she felt like she couldn't completely trust him.
willie seemed like a nice guy. he was a nice guy, actually. the only thing was his job, or whatever it was he did at that club. that was suspicious. why did his boss keep track of the ghosts around town? why was charlotte on his radar? and why did the sight of willie make her violently sick?
one thing was for sure: charlotte had no shortage of things to keep her up at night.