I slowly drug my butt to class on Friday morning, not really knowing why I showed up when I was mentally and emotionally exhausted and hurt.
It had been about a week since I had last heard anything from my group of friends, and it was disheartening to say the least.
I had tried multiple times to contact them, but they never messaged me back and never figured out a way to tell me why.
Charlie stopped writing on the board and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. Concern filled his eyes while he looked me up and down to make sure that I was fine physically before he looked at me again.
I shook my head and didn't say a word while I sat down in my assigned seat and laid my head on my desk, closing my eyes.
Why did I say that I would go to school today? I thought and pursed my lips in annoyance and bit back a mental groan. Hell, I would have stayed home because I didn't even get any sleep until two.
Charlie walked over to me and cleared his throat. "Are you ok?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, ignoring me shaking my head as if to tell him not to talk to me. "You don't look that good."
I bit back an annoyed sigh and shook my head again. "No," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I'm not ok."
Charlie hesitated before he nodded and leaned against the desk in front of me. "Do you want to talk to me about it?" he asked, and I hesitated before I shook my head a third time.
"Not here," I said before I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. "Can we talk later?" I lifted my head a little before I looked at him.
He pressed his lips into a thin line but slowly nodded, and worry flashed through his eyes. "Do you want to go to my apartment after school?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "We can talk there later and then I'll take you to training afterward."
I hesitated before I shook my head, no. "I still have auditions to go to after school," I said and moved a hand across my face before I sighed and shook my head again while I pursed my lips in annoyance. "Then I have dance practice before we go to the warehouse to train."
"Don't go to the warehouse tonight," Charlie said, and I raised an eyebrow while I looked at him. He pressed his lips into further line while he studied me with hard eyes. "You know that you can take a break from there. Commander won't mind."
I hesitated before I slowly nodded. "I might take up the offer," I said before I cleared my throat while I shifted in my seat. "Do I just need to contact him to let him know that I won't be there?" I raised an eyebrow while he shook his head.
"I'll contact him on your behalf," he said, and I couldn't help but narrow my eyes slightly while I scowled. He raised an eyebrow and looked at me, amused. "Don't give me that look, Cass," he said. "I am not doing anything suspicious."
I held back an eye roll and scowled, not believing him, but I know better than to push because he wouldn't answer me anyway. "Then can we talk about this after dance practice, if you don't want to go to the warehouse yourself..."
"I can take the night off too," Charlie said and slowly nodded. He raised an eyebrow and studied me. "Are you going to tell me everything?" he asked, and I scoffed and rolled my eyes before I gave him a pointed look.
"Are you going to tell me why I don't need to contact Commander and tell him that I won't be training tonight?" I asked, and Charlie bit back a small smirk.
"Touché," he said, and I rolled my eyes and scowled before he cleared his throat and grew serious. "So, are you going to audition for the leading role?" he asked, changing the subject, and I shook my head no.
He raised an eyebrow, shocked and impressed. "Why not?" he asked, and I shrugged and grimaced.
"Because I like Dawn," I admitted and shrugged. "I like the character and the songs she sings."
"Hmph," he said and dipped his head closer to his chest. "Do you feel guilty? Is that why you are wanting to audition for Dawn?"
"Guilty as in..?" I raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
Charlie shrugged and looked nonchalant. "F-" He stopped talking when someone ran into the room, and we both jumped up and looked at the door, growing tense before relaxing slightly when we saw that it was Bryson.
Bryson's face was pale while he looked between us before his gaze settled on me. Relief filled his eyes, and he slowly relaxed. "Cass," he said breathlessly. "Are you ok?"
I gave him a weird look and was about to nod but didn't because of Charlie's look.
He knew that I was going to lie and say that I was fine, even though it was clear to the three of us that I wasn't.
"I will be," I said instead with a soft sigh and shook my head before I cleared my throat and grimaced. "I am just tired is all. I didn't go to sleep until two this morning."
"Really?" Bryson asked, and I nodded in confirmation. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Charlie before he looked at me. "Isn't that when you normally wake up?"
I hesitated before I nodded again. "It is," I confirmed.
"Why?" he asked and raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged and grimaced.
"Habit," I said before I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat with a small sigh. "It's an old habit that I can't seem to shake. My parents tried to get me to fall back asleep but stopped when I was older."
Bryson and Charlie looked at each other and silently talked, and I couldn't help but press my lips into a thin line, getting slightly annoyed.
"Enough," I said and bared my teeth, and they looked at me. Anger reared its ugly head, but I didn't act on it while they bowed their heads in respect. "Stop having these stupid conversations in front of me. Is that understood?"
They slowly bowed their heads further and stayed silent. They didn't talk to each other, but I could tell that they wanted to, especially with the fact that I was acting like a leader, a wolf.
I huffed and shook my head before I pursed my lips in annoyance. "Sorry," I said and moved a hand across my face before I cleared my throat and shook my head again. "I'm just tired, and I didn't mean to take it out on you two."
"It's ok," Charlie said and shook his head. He cleared his throat before he pressed his lips into a thin line. "Are you sure that you don't want to call your mom and have her pick you up?" He raised and eyebrow in question and cocked his head while he studied me.
I shrugged and grimaced. "I don't know," I admitted before I cleared my throat. "I need to get through today and the next."
Charlie pursed his lips into a thin line. He dipped his head closer to his chest while he studied me, staying silent.
Pain flashed through his eyes while he studied me. He opened his mouth to say something, but the rest of the students started to file in, not even caring about the fact that Charlie was leaning against a desk and not standing in front of the board.
"Good morning, good morning," Charlie said before he cleared his throat and stood before he walked to the front of the room. "How is everyone today?"
There were a few murmurs of greeting from the other students before they walked to their seats.
"While you are getting settled, make sure to take out your homework so that we can get started. We do have a lot to cover today, so I hope you are all prepared."
There were a few groans of annoyance, and I was one of them but did what he said to do and grabbed my homework from the night before.
Goddess, I shouldn't have come to school today...
What was I thinking?