25. Roll Out Fondant

Charity stared down at the piece of paper in her hand in shock. She had done it. All the planning, then the waiting and there it finally was. A smile graced her face and Charity felt butterflies build up in her stomach. She didn't know what she would tell people but she was more than excited to.

She folded the paper up and slid it into the pocket of her jacket. Charity glanced at herself in the mirror above her desk on the wall and smiled. This was it. Her life could finally start again. No more sitting around and wondering when her time would be. This piece of paper proved everything to herself. That she was actually worth it.

"Dinner!" she heard her dad call from downstairs.

"Coming," Charity called back and shoved her hands in her pocket, fingers ruffling the paper between her hands as she walked out of her room and down the stairs to the dining room.

Her three brothers were already seated, talking loudly to each other and passing bowls and plates around. Charity took a seat, though no one acknowledged her when she did. The smell of rich tomato sauce wafted through the room as the sounds of spaghetti slopping on plates and crusty bread being torn open with a satisfying crunch came after. Charity tried to get to the bowls of food but they were passed by her ignored hands without a glance. She sighed and finally managed to get hold of the pasta when everyone was beginning to eat.

Her mom and dad sat on either end of the table, two of her brothers opposite her and her younger brother by a year sat to her left. She tried not to focus on how far away he had place his chair. Forks scraping over plates were the only sounds to be heard in the Evans' house. Charity put her fork down gently and took a quick will of water. Her hand went to her pocket, clasping the paper tightly. She pulled it out, playing with the corner and took in a deep breath to speak.

"Um-"

"So, I have some news," Daniel said from his place opposite Charity.

She closed her mouth, realizing that no ones attention was on her but settled on her brother instead.

"What is it?" Charity's dad asked, swirling pasta around his fork.

"I applied to Ohio state for football last month," Daniel said and a grin slid over his face. "And I got in!"

The table erupted in congratulations. Charity felt one leave her lips but she wasn't truly aware of it. Her dad's face broke out into one of the biggest smiles she had ever seen and Charity's heart dropped. Tonight he was supposed to finally smile at her like that.

Charity smiled and patted Daniel's hand, keeping quiet as she slid the piece of paper back into her jacket pocket where it would stay.

***

Maisie decided to shut the bakery for the day.

There was nothing she could do anyway. There was no more money to put into the interior decorating so now it was just a run down room with scratched seats, shattered cabinets and vandalized walls. She told everyone it was because she couldn't sell anything when the place looked like a mess.

But really she just couldn't go inside.

The bakery - a place where her stepdad's grandma had flourished, taught her to bake, smiled in, love in - was destroyed. The walls were still upright, the flooring was done and the glass was brushed away. But it would never change the fact that someone forcefully broke into the one safe haven she had. The one place her grandma had.

The spray paint on the walls felt like the paint had hit her own skin. The glass felt like it had sliced her own hand open.

Maisie sighed and turned down the street, walking up the driveway to Charity's house. She hopped up the steps and knocked on the door. After a few moments of waiting, the door swung open to reveal Chris, Charity's younger brother. A bright blue bath robe was covering his body and a toothbrush was sticking out of his mouth. He moved to the side and Maisie raised an eyebrow, walking inside.

"Fashionable," she said

Chris mumbled something, making toothpaste dribble out of his mouth and Maisie cringed. Chris sighed and pointed to the stairs and Maisie took the hint and left him. Her socked feet sank into the soft, thick carpet as she walked towards Charity's bedroom.

Maisie knocked the edge of her fist against the door before pushing it open.

Charity had an album playing lowly in the background on her yellow, retro CD player that sat on her bookshelf. She was putting her jeans on when Maisie walked in and glanced over, giving a quick smile.

"Hey," Charity said.

"You sure you want to wear jeans?" Maisie asked. "It's a sauna out there."

Charity looked out the window then sighed. "Fuck, give me a sec."

She took off her jeans and walked to her closet in her underwear. Maisie flopped down on her friend's bed and took her phone out.

"This better?" Charity asked, coming out in shorts and a shirt that made her look like she couldn't give two shits about her appearance.

Maisie nodded and ran her hand over the thick, woollen blanket she remembered Charity's grandma giving her. It was the last birthday Charity had before she died. Maisie watched as her best friend lay down beside her and a heavy sigh escaped her.

"You okay?" Maisie asked.

Charity looked over at her before sitting up quickly and rummaging around on the floor until she found her jacket. She slid the piece of paper out and turned back to Maisie.

"I haven't managed to tell anyone yet. No one was really listening." Charity said. "But if anyone's going to be excited for me, it would only ever be you."

Maisie took the paper that was handed to her and opened it out, running her fingers over the creases. She read as Charity twisted her fingers together, her heart in her throat. Maisie blinked and then read the opening sentence again.

"You...you got accepted to Stanford?" she asked in bewilderment. "The Stanford?"

Charity grinned and nodded.

"I mean I know it's not nearby," she bit her lip and looked down. "California isn't that far away but still..."

Maisie put the paper down and looked at her friend. "I'm so proud of you."

Charity's breath caught and she smiled. "Really?"

"Of fucking course! I know someone that got into Stanford!" Maisie laughed. "You kept this all hidden well. I didn't even know you were applying."

Charity shrugged. "I kept quiet just in case nothing happened."

Maisie picked up the paper and skimmed over the rest of the letter. "You're doing marketing? I didn't expect that. Thought you were wanting to go into the arts."

"I can minor in things but the business side interests me and I'm good at it," Charity added.

Maisie smiled. "Are you going in September?"

"Yeah," Charity sighed. "I'm only a year older than those who went straight from high school so it shouldn't be too bad."

"They'll be all different ages there, probably," Maisie said and passed the paper back. "I'll miss you."

"I'm not gone yet," Charity laughed.

"But I'll still miss you," Maisie said. "I'll be visiting every second I can."

"The door will always be open," Charity said and pulled her friend into a hug.

They sat there for a moment, wrapped around each other in the room they spent so many years in together. Charity's hair brushed Maisie's cheek and she tightened her arms. They had never been apart. But this wasn't about her. This was Charity's time to do something she'd always wanted. Maisie had the bakery to pick back up and she couldn't ask Charity to stay longer than she had to.

"Alright," Maisie said as she pulled away. "We have a party to get to."

"Party?" Charity asked. "I thought we were just hanging out with the guys."

Maisie shook her head as Charity grabbed her bag. "They apparently do this thing once a year where they meet up with friends they had in high school or something. Logan said he'll give us a ride from his place."

"Where is it?" Charity asked as they walked out of her room.

Maisie shrugged. "No idea. I'd assume one of their places."

***

"We're going to a forest?" Maisie asked sharply and Logan swallowed heavily.

"Did I not mention that?" Logan rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Surprisingly you somehow managed to miss that off," Maisie huffed. "Why would we be in a forest?"

"I don't know. It's tradition. We got drunk one night and ended up there," Keith shrugged from the couch.

"The Pigpen will cater the whole thing," Logan tried to grin.

"Doesn't help," Maisie frowned at him.

"The tents are comfy if that helps. And the weather looks like it will be good," Andrew shrugged.

"Tents?" Charity shrieked. "We're in fucking tents?"

"You'll survive," Keith rolled his eyes and Charity sat down beside him, grabbing the remote out of his hands to change the channel.

"Anyone hungry?" Nick asked, poking his head around the wall separating the kitchen and the living room.

Everyone shook their heads but Maisie walked over to him, nodding her head. "I'm pretty hungry, honestly."

"Perfect," Nick said. "I made pies."

Maisie looked on in surprise as Nick pulled a cooling rack filled with mini pies off a counter and over to her. "You made these?" she asked.

"Yup," Nick grinned. "These ones are chicken and these ones are beef."

Maisie picked up and pie and hesitantly took a bite. It wouldn't kill her but she had no experience when it came to Nick cooking actual meat. She'd tried the things at the bakery he made but food that could lead to being poisoned was different. She chewed for a few moments then looked at Nick, swallowing.

"You made this?" Maisie asked. "Like, actually made it? You didn't go to the store at any point?"

"Nope, all me," Nick said.

"What the fuck?" Maisie slapped his arm. "You've been hiding the fact you can actually cook from me?"

"I didn't think it was necessary to mention," Nick hissed, stumbling away from the assault.

"You were working in a bakery," Maisie rolled her eyes and stuffed the rest of the pie in her mouth. "I could have exploited you."

Logan and Andrew came around the corner, cutting off Nick's moment of shock. Andrew picked up a pie and began eating it like a wild animal while Logan leaned against the wall.

"We're gonna go now," he said and flinched when Maisie poked at his hair.

"Your spike is very excited today," Maisie pointed out as Logan's hair fired right back up after she prodded it.

"Fuck off," he grumbled and caught her hand, using it to pull her out of the kitchen and to the front door.

"Oh," Maisie pulled on Logan's hand to make him stop. "Ocean's coming by the way. He should be outside right now. He'll just follow your car."

Andrew came out from the kitchen as Maisie spoke and sighed heavily, slipping shoes on. "Fine, whatever."

Everyone watched Andrew storm out of the apartment with the door rattling in his wake.

"Just ignore him," Logan murmured as they walked out. "He's been pissy over everything lately."

But when Maisie could tell it was something much more than just a bad day.

***

It was almost dark by the time all the cars pulled up to a patch of land that was flat enough to park and had a few motorbikes parked up as well as the PigPen truck. From there, everyone was walking through the woods with tents in hand and Maisie could see the packs of alcohol too. The further in they got, the louder the music became and Maisie became aware of the fire-pit in the middle of a group of people that were surrounded by tents.

Logan's hand fell from Maisie's as Jimmy, one of the owners of the PigPen, came running forward. He grabbed Logan around the neck and proceeded to completely destroy his 'spike'. Logan lightly punched him in the stomach and Jimmy stumbled away laughing.

"Asshole," Logan huffed with a smile before he was pulled into another assaulting hug.

Maisie stood to the side as a ginger haired guy greeted Logan and then pulled away. His eyes caught Maisie and he smiled.

"Who's this?" the guy asked Logan.

Logan took a step towards Maisie. "Maisie, this is Blue, we knew each other in high school. And you already know Jimmy."

Jimmy waved and Maisie gave one back.

"Blue, this is Maisie," Logan wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "my girlfriend."

Blue looked between the two of them before grinning. "I knew you'd go for a ginger."

"Oh fuck off," Logan grumbled.

"Nice to meet you," Blue smiled and shook hands with a sheepish Maisie.

"Nice friends," Maisie commented as the two of them ran off and left her and Logan beside the fire alone.

"I ignore them most the time," Logan said. "They're all idiots."

Maisie smiled and looked up when someone called Logan's name from the other side of the fire. It was a group of guys and Maisie immediately narrowed in on the joints in their hands. Logan looked towards Maisie and she shrugged.

"I'll go find Charity," she said.

"Alright," Logan said and kissed her gently. "I'll be around."

"Don't get too drunk, lightweight," Maisie called after him and Logan threw her a grin back.

Maisie sat for a little longer, watching the fire crackle as people talked back and forth and the music became a monotonous droning beat in the background. Charity ended up finding her a few minutes later, two beers in hand. She sat on the log beside her friend and passed a beer towards Maisie.

Maisie took one sip but otherwise didn't do much more. Drinking was never something and found much pleasure from. Charity drank at least half of her beer as they sat there before putting it down and resting her head on Maisie's shoulder.

"I'm not in the mood to party," Charity sighed. "I want to sleep."

Maisie laughed. "We sound like old ladies."

"I'm okay with that," Charity smiled. "You're a bakery owner, I'm a future Stanford grad, there's no room for partying anymore."

Maisie took a sip of her beer and rested her head on top of Charity's. "You were never much of a partier. You like being invited but actually having fun is too much energy for you."

Charity clinked their bottles together gently. "You know me too well."

The two girls looked up when someone sat down in front of them on the ground, back to the fire. Ocean sat with a bright orange can filled with a sugary, fizzy drink. Maisie frowned at it.

"They have fountain drinks?" she asked with interest, already putting the beer down on the ground.

"Just a few. Andrew brought them, he knows I don't drink," Ocean said and Charity raised her eyebrows.

"How come he knows you don't drink and we don't?" she asked.

Ocean shrugged meekly and hid his face by taking a drink.

"I guess we're the three loves of the party, huh?" Maisie asked and Ocean sighed.

"I don't like forests. Or dirt. Or bugs. Or tents," he said.

"So why are you here?" Maisie asked.

"You're the one that forgot to mention we would be in a fucking forest!" Ocean growled and Maisie grinned.

"My bad. Must have slipped my mind," she said.

Maisie looked around at everyone until she caught sight of Logan with a few guys she didn't know, joint in hand and a beer in the other. It felt weird to see him smoking with other people. Before it had just been a thing Maisie had experienced, something she had some form of control over. And she would always give him a piece of lemon cake when he was done. But this was different - he was with lots of other people smoking. And she couldn't exactly just bring over a piece of lemon cake.

"The Pigpen's open," Charity said. "We could walk over and get some burgers?"

They all nodded and stood up, walking through the crowds of people like a group of little kids clinging to each other so they wouldn't get lost. The giant pink food truck showed up like a beacon of hope and the three of them went up where there was luckily no line and ordered their food from one of the Tucker brothers. Beside the open window to order was the window to collect food which had two stools in front of it which were occupied by two girls. One had short, blonde hair and rounded features and the other was a Chinese woman with long, dark hair.

They looked over and smiled.

"Hey," the blonde greeted. "I'm Alex. If you've met the crazy ginger with the colour for a name then I'm his girlfriend."

"I'm Maisie," she smiled. "If you've met the blonde guy who's usually high then I'm his girlfriend."

They laughed and the other girl greeted herself over the back of Alex. "I'm Jessie."

They talked to each other, all realizing that they were the awkward populous that weren't in the mood to party. Jessie and Alex were drinking but made no move to even inch towards the area where people were dancing.

As they ate their food, Logan came over with other guys getting food. Blue stopped by for a few moments, holding up Logan and laughing together as they stumbled around together. Logan went over to Maisie and stole a fry.

"Hey there," Logan smiled and ate some more fries.

"Hey there yourself," Maisie said and realized she wasn't getting anymore fries if Logan went at the pace he was. "Hungry?"

"Starving," he said and Maisie wrinkled her nose at the smell of alcohol.

"Don't you just smell fabulous," she commented. "I'm tempted to get the air freshener from your car and hang it round your neck."

Logan burst out in a fit of giggles and Maisie almost laughed herself at the sound.

"You're such an idiot," she said endearingly.

Logan kissed her cheek before heading off with Blue, trays of fries between them.

Tents began to go up an hour later and Charity, Ocean and Maisie put all their stuff away in one of them, setting up sleeping bags and grumbling about how bad their backs would hurt in the morning. Ocean was about to get his car and book a night in a motel but they all held him back - literally.

Almost everyone was drunk now apart from a few and those who were driving in the morning. Nick and Keith were the designated drivers for the morning and Maisie saw them only have one beer before switching to fountain drinks. But Logan had been at it all night. Maisie wasn't sure how much he had drank but there never seemed to be a bottle out of his hand and there was always a joint in his hand.

She would be worried but everyone said that it was normal. This usually happened and nothing went wrong. Maisie nodded and walked away, grabbing some marshmallows and sitting between her friends as they roasted them over the fire.

Then she heard a choking noise.

Maisie looked up to see a commotion on the other side of the fire and she stood up, dropping the marshmallow to the ground. She saw people stumbling back until she caught sight of Logan, body heaving up and down quickly before he choked and puke spluttered out of his mouth. He heaved over.

"Logan!" Maisie yelled and ran forward, pushing past people until she could get to his side.

His body shook, hands never steady and he gasped in a harsh breath every few seconds. He was mumbling nonsense under his breath and Maisie was aware of someone calling an ambulance in the background. Logan threw up some more, eyes wide and his throat closing up. Maisie hesitantly put a hand on his back and his beer bottle fell ground just before Logan fell forward, his chin hitting the forest floor.

Thank you to Slayin_Princess for the lovely banner!

Thank you to xThePineappleGirlx for the awesome banner!

- Ellie x