Charlotte was a lot nicer than Roya had originally anticipated. It was easy to tell that she cared about Damien, whom she protected with all her might. Roya visited during his lunch hour, as usual. Sometimes Charlotte was there, sometimes she wasn't. The days when she was, she treated Roya politely, even kindly, and they seemed to get along fairly well.

On one particular day, Roya knocked on the window, and instead of Damien, Charlotte answered.

"Oh, hello Charlotte. Where's Damien?"
Roya inquired, looking around the room.

"He's out with his mother. They went to the library, if I'm correct."
Charlotte replied.
"You can stay a while, if you like."

Roya hesitated. It seemed strange to talk to Charlotte by himself, without Damien being thee to make up for any awkwardness. Even so, he settled on the windowsill, and waited for Charlotte to speak.

"So, how long have you known Damien?" She asked, as began to tidy up the room.

"A month or so,"
Roya responded, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He looked out of place in this neat, clean house. He had dirt smudges on his clothes, and he was far from being clean. They didn't have baths at the school, only the elite had those.

"I was surprised, you know, when I first met you."
Charlotte said, starting to organize the wardrobe.

"What do you mean?"
Roya asked, confused.

"Damien's never been the most...forward type. He was outgoing, sure. But he never seemed to make any friends."
Charlotte explained, folding clothes and putting them on hangers.

"Then you came along and... he changed."
She continued.

Roya rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"I never knew. I assumed he had always been this...outgoing."

Charlotte looked at him and smiled.
"You mean a lot to him. You know that, right?"

Roya shook his head. He and Damien were friends, of course. But he had never thought that Damien cared about him so much.

Charlotte stood up and made her way over to him, on her way grabbing a book from her nightstand.

Without hesitation, she pressed the book into Roya's hand.
"From me to you."

Roya looked down at the book.

Romeo and Juliet.