Chapter 4
Charlotte
I started at the nickname he’d given me when we were in kindergarten. No one ever called me that except for Ian. Just hearing him say his stupid nickname for me made tears well up in my eyes and I hated him for it.
I could not believe he could be such a fucking idiot. I mean, seriously? Did he really think I would be just like any other whore in this school and fall for him ‘charm’. Pssh, whatever!
“Yes, it’s me,” I said, rolling my eyes. “And don’t you dare call me that.”
“But you look…” he started, scanning down my body. I thought I was used to it since it had happened already a hundred times since I’d gotten here. But with him it felt…different. I had to fight urge to shiver.
“Different? Not fat? Not ugly?” I asked. “Yeah, well, it’s been a few years. I lost a few pounds. Got some curves that all of the guys seem to like. Actually grew a backbone so that I could stand up to assholes like you.”
“Charlie,” he said, still shocked. “I…”
“Stop calling me that!” I yelled. “You don’t have any room to say anything to me anymore, Ian. You made my life miserable the year before we moved to England. So whatever you have to say, you can save it because I will so not believe you.”
Pulling my bag higher up on my shoulder, I turned on my heel and headed toward my Physics class.
“Please, kill me now,” I groaned as Freddie walked up toward me as I waited in front of the dining hall for him.
“That bad, huh?” he asked, laughing.
“Yes,” I said, leaning my head back against the wall. “All of the guys keep hitting on me and the girls keep staring daggers at me. At least none of them actually seem to remember me, even when I tell them my name. That’s good, right? I get to start all over.”
“Yeah, but you’re still miserable,” he said. “What happened?”
I groaned again. “After you left me after first period, Ian tried to hit on me,” I said.
He laughed. “Oh, this is going to be good. So…?”
I rolled my eyes. “I started telling him embarrassing things that happened to him as a kid. I think he actually didn’t know that I was the only one who was with him when all of them happened. He might have started to realize but it really didn’t hit him until I said what happened that night at the winter formal.”
“Nice,” Freddie said. “I would have loved to see his face.”
I closed my eyes for a moment before I pushed off the wall. “We’d better go before we miss lunch,” I said, and headed into the dining hall with Freddie behind me.
I still wasn’t used to the stares everyone gave me. When I was here with the people that I’d grown up with, I was used to being the invisible one. But now it was totally different.
Freddie and I went to get our lunches – a choice of steak or chicken, baked potato, and an assortment of vegetables; totally different from a regular schools lunch – and looked for somewhere to eat.
“Hey, Freddie, over here!” someone yelled from a few tables away.
Freddie and I turned to see Levi standing up and waving.
“I so don’t want to sit with them,” I said, eyeing Ian, who was staring at me. “Why’d you have to make friends with them when you know I hate them?”
“Come on, we don’t have anywhere else to chose from,” he said, grabbing my hand. “I’m just a friendly guy. You knew that. And if you wouldn’t have had to rant out in the hallway, we would have gotten here sooner.”
I groaned as we got closer to their table. It consisted of Ian, Levi, Cooper, Carson, Morgan, and Audrey…the entire gang who ruined my last night before leaving for England. God, I so wanted to beat the hell out of all of them.
“Hello,” Freddie said, smiling, as he set his tray of food down next to the seat beside Levi. That left one for me between him and…Ian. Freddie looked at me and smiled knowingly. He was so going to get it when we got home.
“So how’s your first day at Jackson Academy going so far?” Morgan asked, leaning over Levi to look at Freddie through her lashes.
“Well, isn’t it everyone’s first day?” he asked, taking a bite of his potato.
“Yes, but we’ve known all of these people for years. We don’t know you,” Cooper said, winking at me.
I smirked and rolled my eyes. They didn’t know me. They knew the old me, the one that didn’t believe in herself. Now I was a totally different person.
I ate as they talked with Freddie about England and why we moved here. I didn’t say anything until I was done and leaning back in my chair, watching Freddie talk to them. He was always smiling.
I could feel Ian looking at me the entire time I’d been sitting by him. I glanced over at him for just a moment, just to see what he looked like. He still had the shocked look on his face that he had when I told him who I was, though it was toned down more.
“So your parents are married?” Morgan asked, more to Freddie than to me. But I answered her anyway.
“Yes, they’ve been married for almost two years now,” I said, speaking for the first time since we’d sat down. “Freddie and I were the ones to set them up.”
“How did you two know each other before?” Audrey asked, leaning against the table just enough for her boobs to be popping out of her shirt. Disgusting.
“We’ve been best friends since we were fourteen and she started at my school in London,” Freddie said.
“So you’ve never dated?” she asked, looking relieved.
“God, no,” I said, smirking. I reached over to pinch his cheek. “Though he is a handsome devil.”
“And you’re the greatest and most gorgeous best friend and stepsister ever,” he said, doing the same to me. I swatted his hand away with a laugh.
“Isn’t it horrible having such a hot stepsister, though?” Cooper asked. “I mean, you can’t even get with her!”
“I’ve never thought of her romantically,” Freddie said, shaking his head rapidly.
“And if you did, I’d kick your ass,” I laughed.
They all laughed and the guys continued to look at me. I wanted to slap every single one of them, curse them for making my life a living hell before I moved to England. But they still didn’t even know who I really was. Other than Ian.
I looked over at him and he was still looking at me. A little smile formed on his lips before I sneered at him and looked away.
I looked at my phone to get the time. We only had five more minutes until the bell would ring for next class.
“Freddie, I’m going to go ahead and get out of here. I’ve got to do something before class,” I said, standing up and grabbing my tray and bag.
“You know, you haven’t even properly introduced yourself to these fine people,” he said as I stepped away.
I smiled sweetly down at him. “They already know who I am,” I said.
“Um, no, we don’t,” Levi said, looking confused like he always seemed to be.
“Oh, really? Ian hasn’t told you who I am?” I asked, looking down at him. He was staring at me like he’d been.
“Ian?” Carson asked.
He didn’t say anything so I decided to say it for him.
“I’ve got two words for you,” I said, smiling and narrowing my eyes. “Charlotte Henry.”
All of their mouths dropped and their eyes went wide. I just turned and went to dump my tray. They were still looking at me with the same dumbfounded expressions on their faces when I looked back at the table. Freddie was laughing. I started laughing as I walked out the doors, my heels tapping on the hardwood floor.
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