The picture spread like fucking wildfire devouring a sea of dry hay. By the time I got back home and climbed up my bedroom window, the Instagram picture had already accumulated over 50k likes! The comments were massively negative and degrading with the viral hashtags of #CharliCharityCase and #MaxDoin'CharityWork. I don't bother to take my shoes off as I drop onto my bed , my back fusing with the springy mattress underneath me, phone held above my face as I thumbed up my phone screen, unable to look away from the Instagram post.

Another like, and another, and another....over 20 more likes and it just kept going!

Next week was probably going to be one for the history books. Maybe I should plot my demise before Monday comes, maybe I should drink a glass of toilet water in hopes that it would get me ill, that way I get to miss school. But for how long can I fake being sick? I scroll back to the image, the undebatable picture of Charli kissing me. The way her hands had grasped against my upper arms, her neck stretched up to plant her lips on mine. And my eyes pinched shut, receiving the unforseen kiss.

Another ten more likes.

What happened after the kiss also contributed to the impending insomnia I was about to have. The way she looked at me almost as though she'd seen the devil's incarnate or the abominable snowman. Despite the jeering noises in the background, Charli still managed to voice out her excuse of being too drunk that's why she did what she did.

" Fuck, this alcohol is messing me up!" She said in a breathless voice, pushing herself off of me, eyes still glued on me, or more accurately, on my lips. But what's even more puzzling was that she didn't reek of the alcohol that she was speaking of. Didn't taste like it. Through the three -maybe four second kiss, I didn't detect any taste of liquor. In fact, the taste that lingered after she pulled away was the taste of peppermint and orange.

" I-I....gotta go...gotta get outta here..." The last words to me before storming outside, ignoring the sea of mocking students as she squeezed her way , headed to the door. Tina followed right afterwards, leaving me to suffer the weight of the teases and mocking laughter.

The way Zac looked at me....boy! Astonishment would be an understatement. His jaw hung open, afraid it'd fall off his face , his eyes testifying the absurdity of what he'd just witnessed. If only he knew....

Speaking of the devil, my phone vibrates from inside my hands, the caller id showcasing Zac's name . My stomach lurches at it , manifesting a violent throw up as the alcohol I had previously chugged down at Tyson's party churned inside my stomach like a cyclone. I tried to prophesy what he wanted to say to me- probably yell at me for kissing her sister, probably call me insulting names and end our friendship, probably threaten to burn my house and down as revenge for taking advantage of his sister....All possible case scenarios.

Pushing down the nauseous feeling on my throat with an aggressive gulp, I decided to face the music and hit the receive button, with trembling hand, I held the phone to my ear. Waiting for the worst.

" Max?" His voice sounded gravelly, hoarse and groggy. It was way past two a.m so I totally understood.

I hummed in response, suddenly losing the voice to properly speak.

" Are you still up?" I rolled my eyes at that stupid question. Of course I'm up , weirdo! Otherwise I wouldn't have answered the goddman phone!

I hum another response despite the sarcasm dancing in my head for his foolish question.

" Good, 'cause I wanted to talk to you." I hear him shuffling through the phone, a loud sigh proceeded before he dove back to the conversation at hand. " So what's going on with you and my sister? Should I be worried about you two? Should I do something about this - I....I am stumped! This is too fucking much for me to unpack like,what the fuck!"

Zac was angered, frustrated, nervous....all in one basket. I knew this because he was rumbling nonstop, not even giving himself some time to breathe or swallow, just talking endlessly. I was too afraid to say anything, lest he throws an even bigger tantrum. So I resorted to silence, let him rant until his chest felt lighter than what it currently was.

" I can't believe you've been fucking my sister behind my back!" Now he wasn't ranting, more like screaming and I was concerned that he might wake his mom in the process. " What kind of friend does that?! And now the whole school is going to tease her about it because they think you're playing with her!"

If Zac was this livid about a tiny peck on my lip from his sister, how mad would he get if it was his mom instead of Charli? Dude's probably going to blow a casket or something, might even resort to a possible first degree murder. That should scare me into quiting my flirting and teases towards Amanda but oddly enough, it didn't. Maybe I'm just fucked up, a psychopath or something. As Zac is busy making my ears bleed with his third grade whining party, a chime is heard from my phone.

A text.

I pull my phone away from my ear just enough to meet with a text notification from -

You've got to be kidding me!

I sit up straight on my bed, the springs squeaking abit before rereading the new text once again, just ensure that I wasn't deluded or anything.

Can we talk now? I'm standing outside your bedroom balcony.

My gaze falls on my window, through the cotton blend white curtain fabric draped over it, a silhouette hovering behind, the unmistakable shape of a female standing there. Zac's voice is still going on from my phone's microphone and I wonder how long he's planning on lecturing me on this.

" I'm sorry bro, I gotta go. But maybe, we'll talk tomorrow, yeah?" I say to him through the phone, immediately hitting the end call button without giving him time to protest. I tuck my phone underneath my pillow before stepping down, the soles of my shoes tapping the carpeted floors on my room as I cautiously made my way over to the window.

Everything was quiet. Too quiet in an eery sort of way and if this was a horror movie, I wouldn't really be making my way over to my bedroom window where a suspicious silhouette loomed by. But this was no horror movie. This was a reality show, with me as the star. With my fucked up, messed up lifestyle.

Fantastic show!

I use my forefinger to part the curtains open just a crack and true to her words, Charli was indeed standing right outside, facing away as her hands resting on the balcony railing, gazing over it. Our backyard wasn't as visually appealing so I don't understand what it was that she was fascinated with down there.

She's still wearing the same clothes she wore at Tyson's, except the sweater is off. She has on a black sleeveless top, cropped a bit to reveal her lower back and belly button, I presume. There's a cowardice voice inside my head that's yelling for me to just ditch this supposed talk and retire to bed, effectively avoiding her. But for god's sake! This is Charli Dawson. Since when am I scared to talk to her?

Even with that vote of confidence, I still tried to take really big deep breaths to replenish my jumpy nerves, maybe even regain my composure before I turned the knob to my balcony door, swinging it open. The cold night air nipped my skin and face like bee stings and I wondered how she was standing out here without a sweater to cover her excessively exposed skin.

The sound of me opening the door grabbed her attention, her neck twisting to face behind, our eyes meeting in the process and suddenly, the images from the party came rushing back in an assaulting manner. Charli turns around, giving me her full attention, her hands sliding inside her back pockets , pushing her chest out instinctively, amplifying its size.

Her breasts looked a bit fuller than what they usually do. Or...wait a second! Did she finally take up on my advice to wear a push up bra? For added support?

" Hey," A small voice, almost inaudible. She looked sheepish, embarrassed, as she tilted her chin downwards, whilst gazing at me through her long eyelashes in a rather coy manner.

" Are you drunk or sober?" I exhaled, using her previous excuse against her on how the alcohol messed her up that's why she resorted to kissing me in front of fifty plus people, all of whom just so happened to go to our school. That's so going to get me teased for the entirety of next week. Or my life. Or maybe until I graduate

" Sober?" She chuckled sheepishly, her eyes falling away from mine as she gazed around me.

" Just checking ,don't want whatever it was that happened at Tyson's party to happen again, " I commented with a light humorless chuckle, discomfort evidently laced inside my voice. Charli chuckles back, just as humorless as I did and if someone could die due to awkwardness, I swear to the gods, we'd both be six feet under.

" So...." She started, rocking on the balls of her feet back and forth, still avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

"So...." I drawled along, instantly regretting the decision to come here to talk to her after what happened.

"Um, I just came to explain myself.... about the whole situation," I took a step back enough to lean against the wall behind me, my hands effortlessly slithering inside my jacket's pockets, head cocked to the side abit as I waited for her to speak.

" So obviously, I was ...drunk when I did it so-"

" Were you?" I blurted out, a curious grin dancing on my lips , my voice dripping with doubt at her supposed drunken state when she had her lips all over my face .

"I was," Came an adamant response, but behind her conviction filled tone, I could hear it crack, wavering with lies. " You really think I'd....kiss you willingly? I can't stand you and neither can you me."

" The thing is, there's some discrepancy in what you're telling me," I remained calm and composed as I responded.

" Discrepa- What?!" Her forehead creased with confusion on the newly found word in my vocabulary. What can I say? I sometimes read stuff whenever I'm bored ogling naked pictures of porn stars etcetera.

" You're a friggin poet, you should know these words," I scoffed. " So in other words you're telling me that you were drunk when you kissed me but your breath had no hint of alcohol smell in it? "

" What are you, an alcohol expert?" Even through her tough exterior, I could see her slowly crumbling under the weight of her lies. She wasn't drunk and she knows it. The way her hands slipped out of her back pockets, hanging beside her and I noticed them slightly trembling - could be because of the extreme drop in temperature and the fact that she wasn't wearing a jacket or sweater. Or more accurately, because her own body wouldn't allow her to lie.

" I'm just stating what's on my mind,"

" Well your mind is full of BS!" She snarled , rage dancing inside her eyes. " I was drunk when I did it, end of story. If you don't believe, that's on you."

" Why is so hard for you to admit that you kissed me with a sober mind?" My voice rose with amusement , taunting her ludicrous excuse of being drunk. " I'm not going to be mad at all. It's okay if you've dreamt of kissing this Amazonian prince lips of mine-"

" Oh please!" She yelled out in frustration, her voice echoing through the deadened night. " I don't like you like that, okay?"

" Would it kill you to admit that you kinda sorta do?"

" It would, in fact, I'd puke blood if that ever happens, you know why? It's because I vehemently hate you with excessive vitriol," She decreed, her face not only hardened with rage but reddened with it too. She was so red, all the way up to her cheeks.

" Touchè,"

" I hate you, Maxwell Cooper,"

" Heard you the first time, Charlotte Dawson,"

" It's Charli, not Charlotte,"

" And it's Max, not Maxwell,"

We just stood there, the howling wind sliding past our bodies like silky waters, it's whoosh mutilating the silence, this uncomfortable silence. Through the silence, I avoided her eyes, failing miserably at that as I unwillingly zeroed in on her lips. I can't believe those lips were pressed against mine a few hours back. A strange feeling crept it's way down my stomach at how hypnotic they looked; those pink lips. I hated that feeling.

"So tell me about Tina," I said even before I could stop myself and Charli faced me, surprised at the statement.

" She's not your type or more accurately, you're not hers ," She sneered, eyeing me contemptuously.

" Please," I smugly replied. " I'm everyone's type, even to you."

" I'd like to agree with you on that particular notion but then we'd both be wrong, Maxwell," Her arms folded across her chest, plumping her breasts in the process and I silently cursed myself for allowing my eyes to linger on that area. Seriously, is she wearing a push up?

" Interesting," having recovered from the slight arousal of Charli's boobs, I sighed loudly. " anyway, tell me about her. She seems pretty cool. "

" I don't want you near her," Came a cold response and her face morphed into a death glare. I've seen that face before on her on countless occasions. She doesn't scare me.

" Is she your property?"

" She's my best friend and I don't want her hanging out with losers like you,"

" I thought we'd both agreed never to use the term 'loser' ,ever ,"

" Just stay away from her ,okay?"

" Or what?" She didn't reply, except her facial expression spoke on her behalf. Ticking jaw, flared nostrils, narrowed eyes- she detested the thought of me and Tina getting close. But why? It's not like I'm going to start dating her or corrupt her mind with my 'morals'. I just wanted to get to know her better.

" You don't want to know," Charli said, her tone icy. " Just stay away from her. She's...the only person who actually likes me in this whole world. I don't want you to poison her thoughts."

" You think she's the only person that likes you?" I didn't mean to laugh but I did, it coming out as a derisive laugh at that ridiculous statement.

" Name one person that likes me , like genuinely likes me for me," She dared.

" Your mother , for status,"

She rolled her eyes aggressively at that. " My mom doesn't like me for me. She's been trying to change me for years now, telling me how pink looks good on me and how I should stop dressing like a depressed chicken. "

" I mean, she's not wrong, pink would look sexy on your ghostly white skin tone ," I teased, watching her glare intensify. If she had heat vision, safe to say but she'd have me in a puddle of gooey Max. Also, I beg to differ but pink isn't really a Charli Dawson thing. I'm so used to seeing her in black or grey but not those fairy tale colors. Oddly enough, I liked seeing her in black. It's what defined her true personality; cold, aloof, independent loner.

Anything that wasn't black on Charli would look plain wrong.

" So that's genuine love to you?" She asked, still in an angered tone. " If she truly liked me-"

" Then she wouldn't be trying to change who you are, I absolutely agree with you on that," That made her blink in shock . It's very rare of me to openly agree with her on anything. Like that one time, we had a heated argument that lasted for about three hours, just because she stated that Earth was round. I know Earth is round based on the millions of pictures taken of it from out of space but seeing how much I hated to agree with her on anything, even through factual data, I strongly disagreed with her and stuck with the Flat Earthers.

" Okay, what about Zac," I softly asked. " He genuinely likes you, doesn't he? I mean, he just called me a few minutes back , reprimanding me for kissing you. He thinks I'm using you or pranking you or whatever. That means he cares about you."

" He's overreacting," Charli snorted. " I'll talk to him about it. Tell him it was my idea to kiss you. "

" And if he asks you for a reason on why you did that?"

" I'll tell him I was drunk,"

"Right, you'll lie to him the same way you lied to me about being drunk," Another eye roll from her , tucking some hair strands behind her ear in a furious manner. Still, I couldn't believe she thought that nobody liked her. Of course she's an outcast at school and many people pick on her but even the school outcasts have people who like them for who they are.

Standing in front of me, an annoyed expression pulled on her face, I couldn't help but question if I truly and genuinely hated  her as I proclaim to be. Sure, we both have this rivalry enemies thing going on between us but did I really hate her like that? Years of insults hurled her way , snide comments and degrading statements about her being a highschool freak but what's surprising is that before both of us joined highschool, we got along pretty well.

When we used to go camping together, midmorning picnics down by the creek, movie nights - we were besties. I don't know what happened.

It's not like she was ugly or disgusting or anything. Charli was hands down top five most attractive females I've ever met, with her mother leading the list.

" So you think Tina's the only one who likes you?" I gently probed in a soft spoken voice.

" Well she doesn't pick on me like the rest of you guys, so yeah, she's the only person that likes me for me,"

" I also like you, Charli," That earned me a burst of laughter from her , almost as if I'd pulled off the most hilarious prank in the history of pranks or told the most rib cracking joke . " Laugh all you want but I kinda like you for you. "

" Yeah, right!" Another breathless chuckle. " Thanks for the laugh though. I'm going to bed now." And she turned to climb down the balcony, something I found to be skillfully mesmerizing. The way she intricately slide down the web of ivies that had overgrown against the walls of our home.

Pretty soon she's climbing up her own bedroom balcony like a fucking acrobat.

" Just think about what I've said, ok?" I ensure to inform her through a shout before sliding right back into my room, feeling exhausted and worn out.