─☼☼☼─

"𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙄𝙎 𝘿𝙄𝙎𝙂𝙐𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂." Kiara declared as she stood in front of the mirror, staring back at her own reflection.

Anna Carrera walked out of her bathroom, adorning herself with the last of her jewellery. "I know. Just horrible. I'm asking you to go to a fun party and relax." 

Kiara scowled at her mother's sarcasm. "I look like a bourgeoisie pig."

Charlotte snorted from where she was leaning against the end of the bed. Her head was starting to hurt from the mingling smell of her, her mother and Kiara's perfumes.  "I was thinking more like a Powerpuff girl...but bourgeoisie pig works too."

Kiara stifled a laugh as Anna glanced at her oldest. "Charlotte, you're not helping here. And Kie, will you please not worry about socioeconomic injustice for one night."

"Mom," Kiara breathed. "There are people not three miles from here who have no power, no running water, and we're going to Midsummers. That's so tone-deaf."

As Anna launched into the well overused bit about how hard she and the girls' father worked to get into the Island Club, Charlotte moved toward the mirror that Kie had left vacant. 

Taking in her appearance, she couldn't help but feel the smallest rush of excitement. Okay, sure, she didn't really want to go tonight. But getting all dressed up again was kind of fun, she had to admit that. 

Her dress was a pastel blue ─ tight in all the right places and flowy in all the others. Her hair had been fastened in a braided crown, pieces of laurel intertwined within it. 

It was simpler than some of her looks had been in years previous, but this one might have been her favourite. 

"Do you know why we did that?" Anna continued her speech to Kiara, causing Charlotte to finally turn from the mirror. 

"To keep up with the Jonses?" Kiara muttered.

Anna rolled her eyes. "No. So that you and your sister could have the experiences that I had as a child." She turned on Charlotte. "Charlotte, you love Midsummers, right? It's been a good experience for you."

"Sure, mom." Charlotte agreed, the enthusiasm not quite reaching her eyes. "Kie, you'll especially love the ridiculous amounts of waste that this thing procures...and guess what? They don't even recycle it."

Kiara glared at Charlotte as Anna shoved her toward the hallway. "Out." She snapped, quickly realizing that Charlotte was not on her side in this matter. 

With a small snigger, Charlotte stumbled into the hall where her dad was making his way up the stairs, brows raised. "What are you laughing about?"

She nodded toward her parents' bedroom where Kie and Anna were still discussing. "Mom's trying to convince Kie that Midsummers will be fun."

"Let me guess," Mike started as he began to push past Charlotte. "You weren't helping?"

The girl grinned at her father as she shook her head. "Not at all."

─☼☼☼─

Midsummers was a beautiful event...even Charlotte could admit that. 

The sun was slowly setting over head, casting a golden light across the party as light music floated through the air. 

Everyone seemed happy─emphasis on the word seemed. But maybe sometimes, pretending to be happy was enough.

Kiara had disappeared just about as fast as expected once the Carrera's arrived at the Island Club. 

Charlotte figured that she had gone to find Pope who was surely working here with his father─he did almost every year. 

Instead of following after her younger sister, Charlotte decided to find something to drink...Lord knows she would need it. 

"There you are!"

She had barely taken a single sip of her drink when two figures made their way over to her, their dresses billowing in their wake. 

Damnit. Charlotte thought. I guess my avoidance has come to an end. 

Kensington and Willa both looked extravagant─their hair was done perfectly, their dresses held not a wrinkle and their makeup was, like the rest of them, flawless.

"Where the hell have you been, Charlotte?" Willa demanded as they reached her. "We've been calling you for days! We even showed up at your house looking for you the other day."

"Yeah." Kensington chipped in. "I mean after you left the party with Rafe, we didn't hear a word from you!"

A quiet sigh tumbled from Charlotte's lips as she set her drink down, turning to face her two friends. "I'm sorry. I've just been─I've been busy."

"Busy?" Willa echoed. "Busy with your sister and her criminal friends?"

Charlotte bristled slightly. "What JJ did...it was only retaliation for what Rafe and Topper did to him and Pope."

Kensington scoffed, her face clouding in what could be deemed as disappointed anger. "When are you going to stop defending them?" She snapped. "You're a Kook, Charlotte. Stop acting like you're too good for us now."

"That's not what I'm doing." Charlotte whispered, feeling the clawing eyes of the other party guests. 

"Yes it is." Kensington asserted. "You used to be as obsessed with Kook like as anyone. You loved the parties. You loved the expensive clothes and the makeup and jewellery. And you loved us, Charlotte. Your friends."

Everything that Kensington was saying was true...and that's why it made Charlotte so mad. Her jaw was clenched for a moment before she spoke. "My friends." She nodded, as if milling over the statement. "Let me ask you something Ken...were you my friend when you were trying to screw my ex?"

The party still boomed on around them, but it felt like the space between the three girls had gone eerily silent. 

Willa looked deathly pale as Kensington sputtered for a moment. "What?"

"You made it pretty obvious that night at Topper's. The whole 'you don't sleep with a friend's ex'? You were just saying that because you still felt guilty about the fact that you tried to."

Charlotte hadn't been entirely sure if she believed what Rafe said, but the look on Kensington's face had confirmed her worries. 

"How did you know?" Kensington questioned quietly. 

Next to her, Willa looked utterly shocked...apparently this was news to her. "What the fuck, Kensington?

"Rafe told me." Charlotte answered, her voice wavering slightly as she ignored Willa's shock. "I didn't believe him at first...but the more I thought about it─" She cut herself off for a moment, shaking her head. 

"So you know we didn't actually do anything." Kensington hoped, as if that somehow made it so much better. "I was high and I wasn't thinking─"

"But you would have." Charlotte interrupted. "What stopped you?"

Kensington twisted the ring on her finger, shame seeming to spill over her entire face. "He said no....because of you."

"He said no." Charlotte repeated with a humourless laugh. "So, you're telling me that Rafe Cameron had more of a moral consciousness than you did?"

She was being harsh, Charlotte knew that. I mean, her and Rafe were broken up, he could sleep with whoever he wanted, right? 

But while she tried to tell herself that, it didn't make it hurt any less that her best friend was almost one of those people. 

"You said it the other night─ that you didn't care who he slept with!" Kensington grappled for an ounce of understanding. 

"I said I didn't care if he slept with some girl I was barely friends with...I didn't mean my best friend."

Kensington was getting frustrated. "I didn't even sleep with him!"

"But you tried!" Charlotte's words carried above the noise of the party, and for a moment, people paused to look over at the three girls.

Lowering her voice, Charlotte settled her eyes on Kensington. "How many nights did I call you crying over him? How many nights did I tell you how heartbroken I was? Did that mean nothing to you?"

"Char, please." Kensington begged. "I know I fucked up, but─"

Charlotte didn't have to hear what she was going to say next, because the party soon quieted down, everyone turning toward the entrance where the Cameron family were entering. 

While Kensington and Willa were turned away from her for a moment, Charlotte took that as her chance to leave.

Silently, she moved away from the two of them, letting out a defeated sigh as she stopped at her parents' table.

"Everything okay?" Her mother wondered quietly.

Charlotte nodded, her jaw tight as she watched Ward and Rose Cameron smile and wave like they were royalty. 

"Yeah." She answered. "Everything's great."

Her mother didn't seem convinced, but didn't push the issue any further. "You look beautiful by the way, I don't think I got the chance to tell you after arguing with your sister all evening."

A genuine smile came to Charlotte's face. "Thanks, mom. You look gorgeous too."

Her father grinned at the two of them. "Must run in the family."

Charlotte let out a small laugh before her eyes settled on where her sister and Pope were standing. "And as for Kie," She started, looking back at her parents. "Just cut her some slack. This isn't where she wants to be, it may never be."

Anna let out a small sigh as she dropped her eyes downward for a moment. When she looked back up, she was about to say something. But someone beat her to it.

"Mrs. Carrera, you look wonderful."

Charlotte felt her heart slam against her ribcage as she turned around, her eyes landing on the source of the voice. 

"What do you want?" She demanded. 

Anna placed a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Charlotte, be nice." Putting on a wide smile, she turned to the new arrival. "Thank you, Rafe. You look very nice."

He smiled, the fake kind of smile he always put on for Charlotte's parents. "Lottie and I were supposed to come together...hence the matching."

Charlotte's cheeks were burning as she glared at him. "Is there a reason you're over here...or?"

Rafe turned on her, raising his brows with a grin. "Yes, Charlotte. There is. I came over here to ask you to dance with me."

"Shouldn't you be greeting guests or something?" She wondered, dismissively waving him off. 

"Charlotte." Her mother warned through gritted teeth. "Just dance with the boy."

If her mother wasn't watching her like a hawk, Charlotte probably would have told Rafe to fuck off . But instead, the bit down on the inside of her cheek before placing her hand in his outstretched one. "One dance."

A satisfied smile came to Rafe's face as he bid goodbye to her mother before leading Charlotte toward the dance floor. 

His hand was still wrapped around Charlotte's. And as much as she wanted to tear it away, a bigger part of her didn't want to. 

"What's this about?" She demanded as they stopped on the dance floor, blending into the other couples that were swaying back and forth. 

Rafe pulled her closer to him, settling one hand on her lower back, the other still gripping her own. "I need to talk to you."

A gentle breeze blew through the air. But that wasn't what made Charlotte shiver slightly. No, that was all Rafe. 

"About what?" She questioned, draping her free hand over his shoulder. "I didn't really think we were on the conversation level yet."

Sighing, Rafe's eyes scanned her face for a moment. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for the other night."

Charlotte paused for a moment, shocked that the words 'I'm sorry' were leaving Rafe Cameron's lips. 

"For what?" She finally spoke. "Telling me that you made me or almost killing two of my little sister's friends?"

He let out an awkward laugh before swallowing hard. "Both. For everything."

This was the Rafe that Charlotte had first fallen in love with. He had never been perfect, not at all, but he had his moments.

Charlotte studied his eyes, the way they flickered between hers and her lips. "You've been a real dick." She finally whispered. "Like a colossal dick."

He dipped his head, nodding slightly. "I know."

"And you can apologize all you'd like, Rafe. But I know you're not really sorry."

He looked startled for a moment. "But I am. I am sorry."

Shaking her head, Charlotte kept her gaze on him. "Maybe you're sorry for what you said to me. But I know you're not sorry for what you did to Pope and JJ. And I really wish that you were."

Rafe exhaled through his nose as he pursed his lips. "Lottie, I don't want you hanging out with them."

There it was. The thing Charlotte had been waiting to hear. 

"You don't get a say in who I hang out with." She declared. "Just like I don't get a say in who you sleep with."

Rafe regarded her with a slightly gentle expression. "Half of what you heard isn't even true."

She didn't believe him. "Okay."

Her ex-boyfriend's mouth was open to say something else, but before he could, Charlotte stepped away from him. 

"Song's over."

"Lottie, come on." He begged, wanting more time to speak to her. "I'm just looking out for you."

She shook her head, backing away from him. "That's not your job anymore, Rafe."

Charlotte wished that it was. She so desperately wished that it was. 

─☼☼☼─