𐙚˙ ༘ ⋆｡ ˚( DECODE ! )
❛ CALLING IT OFF ❜
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE !

"THEY DID?" Charlie's voice rose, as she whisper-yelled into the phone.

It was her daily phone call with Robby, she was relieved that he didn't blame her for ending up in prison. She was even more grateful that he was answering her calls, considering he had been ignoring everyone else.

"Yep." Robby confirmed, glancing around to make sure no one was listening, not wanting to be labeled as a snitch.

Charlie let out a sigh as she continued walking through the halls. "Are you okay, though? I can make some calls, get Daniel to help get you transferred."

"No," Robby immediately declined. "It's-That's okay, I'm fine. I don't want his help."

"Robby," Charlie put on a warning look despite him not being able to see her, "If you're in trouble, he can help you get out."

Robby shook his head. "It'll be the same everywhere."

Silence hung in the air for a moment. As much as Charlie wanted to get him out, she knew he was right - transferring him wouldn't doing anything. And it wasn't like she could literally get him released because he had to serve his time in prison.

"I saw the car wash interviews." Robby finally broke the silence.

Charlie slowed her steps and closed her eyes, bracing herself for the conversation, "Robby . . ."

"No, it's okay," he quickly reassured her, "It's not like he did anything to me. And anyway, I should be grateful that you're speaking to me after what I did."

"You know you didn't mean to." Charlie replied, picking up her pace to reach her locker before the bell rang for lunch.

"Still did it," Robby shrugged, "How is everyone?"

Charlie went to respond before seeing Hawk on the other side of the lockers, putting his stuff away. She watched him laugh with Mitch about something on his phone before noticing her staring at him.

The memories of the previous day came flooding back, too quickly. Both of them knew what the other was thinking but they were too much of a coward to go over and talk about it.

"Hellooooo," Robby's said into the phone bringing her back into the conversation.

Caught off guard, Charlie quickly averted her gaze, "Oh, uh, sorry. What did you ask?"

Robby chuckled before repeating his question, "I said, how is everyone?"

"They're good," Charlie replied, shutting her locker, "They're not as mad at you now that Miguel's awake. They all miss you . . . I miss you."

Robby sighed, "Yeah, I miss you too."

The sound of the bell ringing interrupted their conversation, and Robby's groan indicated that he had heard it too, "Back to computer messages."

Charlie laughed softly with a nod, "Yeah, sorry. I'll come visit tomorrow after Mom's rehab visit."

"Okay, can you say hi to my mom for me?" Robby asked, remembering that their mothers were at the same rehab center.

"Of course," Charlie smiled, with a small nod, "See you, Robby. I love you."

"I love you too." Robby replied before ending the call.

Charlie put away her phone and made her way toward the cafeteria. She passed Bert and playfully ruffled his hair, "Hey, squert."

Bert giggled, fixing his hair before saying hello and walking away.

She noticed his shirt was different, not the normal cobra kai one she was used to seeing, but Charlie didn't think much of it. She was done with cobra kai, especially after what Johnny had told her about Kreese.

Continuing her walk, she spotted Nathaniel with a bruised face. She approached him, breaking her usual habit of not interacting with Miyagi-Do members, except for Demetri and Sam.

Because now, she didn't have a reason to not like them.

"Nate?" Charlie asked, making him turn to face her, "Are you okay? What happened to your face, dude?"

"Your boyfriend happened," Nathaniel spat out, clearly annoyed, "Him and his little minions beat the shit out of me."

Charlie's smile vanished, replaced by anger, "They did?"

Nathaniel nodded, "Yeah, and they took all the money we raised at the car wash. Said they were gonna make sure Miguel knows it's from Cobra Kai."

Charlie's mind raced, absorbing every piece of information. She wanted to remember why she would never speak to Hawk again.

Everything that happened yesterday had been erased from her mind. It was Eli she had kissed, and now he was Hawk, someone she despised.

Hawk had taken away her best friend, and she wasn't going to pretend that it didn't hurt. She was determined to show him how much she despised the person he had become.

【☆】★【☆】

"MAYBE WE CAN MEET IN THE MIDDLE, LIKE A SEXUAL VENN DIAGRAM." Demetri playfully suggested, winking at Yasmin as he used his hands to trace a circle in the air.

Charlie's face twisted in confusion as she stood next to their table, carrying a tray of their food. "A sexual what?"

All three girls looked up at her, shaking their heads and casting disgusted glances at Demetri's remark.

"Is it cool if I sit with you?" she asked. She knew they wouldn't mind, but she knew they were still having troubles with the people she used to associate with.

"Of course." Moon replied with a smile, patting the seat next to her. Charlie settled between her and Alyssa.

"So, what's under the sheet?" Moon asked once the girl beside her had settled down.

"I'm glad you asked. Behold..." he began, unveiling the blanket to reveal his project, "what scientist believe to be the valley when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Go ahead, press the hadrosaur egg."

Yasmin hesitated for a moment before leaning over to press the button. The thing made a noise like a volcanic eruption, before smoke came out of it.

"Woah," Charlie exclaimed, leaning in for a closer look.

"Nerdy," Alyssa commented with a nod, earning an eye roll from Demetri.

"Not bad," Yasmin gasped, "my parents may not have to pay for my A this time."

"Oh, your parents will never have to pay for an A again," Demetri joked, wiggling his eyebrows, making the group laugh.

Charlie's gaze wandered to a ginger-haired boy filming something, following his line of sight until it landed on Hawk, playing with a football. She shook her head, remembering what he had done, and tore her eyes away, focusing on what Demetri was saying.

Unbeknownst to her, Hawk was watching her - happy to see her laughing again after the accident but annoyed that he wasn't the cause.

"I mean, everything's to scale. And at 8,251 individual pieces, this meticulously assembled model represents the exact moment before the asteroid hit-" Demetri explained, but before he could finish, a football flew towards them, completely destroying the project.

Everyone at the table instinctively leaned back, as if seeking cover from the impact, and gasped at the destruction the ball had caused.

Wide-eyed, Charlie turned to Alyssa, who mirrored her shock, before facing the rest of the group, their expressions filled with anger.

Cheers, laughter, and claps echoed from across the cafeteria, and Charlie already knew who was responsible.

"Oh pfft. I'm sorry, man," Hawk sarcastically apologised, catching his ball when someone tossed it back to him, "Looks like my ball just got away from me."

"That took me three weeks to build." Demetri exclaimed in disbelief, his gaze fixed on the person he once considered his best friend.

"Eh," hawk shrugged, playing around with his ball, "took my ball three seconds to destroy."

Charlie scoffed, catching his attention and making his smirk falter, but he quickly walked back to his table so she didn't see.

Yasmin looked up at Demetri, "Do you have another one?"

"Another week, another pissing contest," Demetri spat out as he made his way over to Hawk's table, "Although, I shouldn't be surprised since you love pissing so much."

"You landed one kick, you got lucky." Hawk retorted, scrunching his face.

Charlie then understood why Demetri's popularity had been rising while Hawk's was decreasing.

She watched as Sam approached them, joining in the argument. "You better back off, or you won't be lucky."

"Oh, for God's sake," Charlie sighed, slumping into her seat. She covered her face with her hands, trying to block them out.

Alyssa slumped down in her seat, bringing herself to eye level with Charlie. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Charlie shook her head, her voice muffled by her hands. "Nope. I'm done with all of..." she used to her fingers to gesture to the group still arguing, "that."

Alyssa nodded as Charlie continued, "Plus, he deserves to have people have at him."

"Oh? That's new." Alyssa chuckled, but her laughter stopped when she realized Charlie was serious. "Because of the ball?"

"No lyss, it's not just because of that," Charlie said, sitting up and watching as Alyssa did the same. "Did you know he beat up Nathaniel just to take the money we raised for Miguel and claim it from Cobra Kai?"

Alyssa's face contorted in disbelief, "What the fuck."

"Yeah, and he's been at it with Demetri for ages. I don't know why I didn't cut ties with him the moment he went after Meat," Charlie sighed, picking at her food.

"Incoming," Alyssa warned, causing Charlie to look up and see Counselor Blatt leaving the argument and walking past their table.

"Hey girls," she smiled, and they returned the gesture with a forced smile. "Hi, Counsellor Blatt."

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, so the two girls stood up and threw away the remainder of their lunch in the bin.

"Hey, I'll catch up with you later, alright?" Alyssa said, realizing she was on the other side of the school.

Charlie nodded, "Okay, see you later."

The blonde left her side, and Charlie began walking towards her class, passing Hawk's table and completely ignoring his existence.

The boy swiftly stood up from his seat and walked in front of her, "Hey, can we talk?"

She didn't even glance at his face, instead maneuvering around him to continue on her way.

"Charlie?" Hawk called out from behind her, but she continued, knowing he was trying to catch up with her.

The girl kept walking, and now they were in the computer corridor, with no one around, making his voice clearer than before.

"Charls," he whined, jogging to keep up with her fast pace before eventually giving up and grabbing her arm.

The force caused her to halt abruptly and whip around, but she forcefully pulled her arm away and locked eyes with him. "What, Hawk?"

"Hawk?" His expression dropped as his eyes searched her face in confusion, "Since when do you call me that?"

"Since you beat up a fourteen-year-old over some car wash money," Charlie explained sharply, "And since you destroyed Demetri's project that he had spent three weeks working on."

Hawk scoffed and rubbed his head, like he was tired of hearing stuff like this.

"Oh, is this hard for you?" Charlie laughed in his face, but he remained silent so she spoke again, "He was your best friend! I was your best friend! You don't treat me like that?"

Hawk removed his hand from his head and looked down at her once more, "You're different."

"Why? Because we kissed a few times?" She asked rhetorically, not wanting to hear his response, "Well, none of that matters anymore. It's over."

Hawk took a step closer, but she moved back in response, "What do you mean it's over?"

"I mean, I'm done with this, with you. I'm tired of you being a bully," she shook her head, watching as his pleading eyes transformed, "I should've called things off the second you threatened to beat up your friends. I'm an idiot for not."

Before he could utter another word, she turned around and quickly entered her classroom, not giving him the chance to follow after her.

Once she sat down, she buried her face in her hands. She didn't want to do that, not when all she wanted was her Eli back.

But he was gone, long gone, and there was nothing she could do about it. And she had to call things off before she got too attached.

Ending things was for the best.

✧  •   •  𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚  •  •  ✧ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

noooo :((

they'll make up soon dww just gotta get through his little bully phase because charlie is for anything BUT that

please comment and vote !