charfletchh

[charfletchh]

"ooh, yay! i can't wait." charlie did her best to feign enthusiasm. as much as she loved rhia, and was confident in her songwriting abilities, she'd sat through enough warbly renditions of wonderwall to be wary of an acoustic guitar. "okay, wait, let me art direct you." she looked at rhia through the phone screen (but not before switching to the front camera and taking a few selfies first). "give me an over-the-shoulder. and can you try looking like you know how hot you are? you look terrified. this is not a hostage situation." she clicked away as she talked, taking dozens of identical pictures to capture every slight variation in rhia's face.

Pleased with Charlie's approval, Rhia's hands balled into fists of excitement. She felt an urgency to wobble over and see for herself, pick through exactly what it was Charlie found hot. Her smile waned at the mention of a Disney princess, which was far from the effect she was going for. The blue lace meant to imitate something between a snow fairy and a merciful angel, not an angsty, PG-rated ice queen. "You should come over after! I can play it for you," Rhia enthused, focusing on what was easier. Good thing she brought her guitar, forever after the next chance to play for someone. She felt less secure without Charlie beside her, not to mention the discomfort of someone else observing her imitate confidence. "Oh, I don't know. How do you think I should pose?" Rhia asked shyly. She pulled the hem of her slip outward and tilted her head pleadingly.

[charfletchh]

she felt a rush of affection for milo - unbothered, unperturbed milo, who did not seem to be particularly interested in unraveling whatever knot g had thrown his way. she couldn't tell whether he trusted her or if he just didn't care very much. "exactly. i'm always in the library." and she was - mainly because it was a convenient place to stop and pee on the way to the frats and it was open until midnight. "but i'm gonna pass this time. don't know why i'm getting blasted for just taking a couple rounds at it."

Milo stared at Charlie, his look as flat as one could be. "Ugh, Charlie… I don't give a fuck what is going on," he said, "but don't bullshit me." He rolled his eyes, letting out an annoyed sounding breath. Clearly done with his interrogation, if that was what you wanted to call it. "Look, whatever this is about," he said, having to really hold himself back from rolling his eyes again. He hated G and whatever dumbass shit they were on. "I've got your back." He slid his phone back into his pocket, and adding more assertive as if answering a stupid question that some unknown person had just asked, "I could never think of why. We study together all time."

[charfletchh]

"sure!" charlie didn't believe in resolutions, but she did believe in lying. "indulge me. i'm just feeling nostalgic. i'm graduating soon, you know," she gave her best puppy dog eyes. "like where did you grow up? what led you to ogden?" she was being decidedly uncasual and uncool about it.

“Hey,” Jacqui said, a smile spreading on poptheir face as they returned Charlie’s greeting, slipping past her to grab a drink before turning back around, a hint of amusement parting their lips. “What do you mean?” they asked, laughter laced into the words, wondering what had led Charlie into feeling that way - on New Year’s eve of all days, as well. “Is this some…unfulfilled 2023 resolution or something?”

[charfletchh]

"hey stranger." charlie was not one to hold a grudge, especially on a night like new year's. fresh beginnings was kind of the thing to do, right? and besides, she'd always felt some sort of odd kinship with him - a sense that he was just as fucked up as she was. "i never make new year's resolutions. i'm perfect exactly how i am," she informed him prissily. "i do make them for other people though, so let me know if you need suggestions. i have plenty."

— CLOSED STARTER

who: @charfletchh where: NYE party

"this party is a bit of a bore." link instantly says as he comes up next to charlie, totally uninvited. he wasn't even looking at her when he had made his statement, but his gaze shifts towards her before he speaks again. "so, what are your resolutions for the new year? it should be a long list, no?" he teases with a small grin, taking a sip from his cup as he kept his eyes locked on her. link never really knew what ground he and charlie stood on — annoyance was a heavy theme in their last few interactions.

[charfletchh]

as he said her new password, a bell of recognition rang in the back of her mind - huh. her old password was CharlieIsSexxxy. how could she have forgotten that? "edward, you're an absolute saint." she leaned forward, grabbed his face, and kissed him on the cheek with a dramatic flourish. "those silly computers. my little girl brain just can't handle it." there was so much clicking. so much refreshing. god bless face ID. "well, you'll have to keep it in the drafts," she frowned. "still nothing." the TBD next to her final remaining class grade floated off the page, ominous and foreboding. "this is stupid as hell. eddie, don't bother wasting any more time here. you should just drop out. because apparently no one gets to graduate."

He rolled his eyes and sighed exaggeratedly in response, as though she was asking him to perform a herculean task. He didn’t mind it, of course. But he knew she was perfectly capable of doing it herself. Still, he tapped on the Gmail app and waited for the reset link to appear. And, because he was only human, he took the time to snoop around her inbox under the excuse that it was “taking a while” and that he would have to “check your spam folder, one sec”. But overall, there was nothing too weird about it among the early-bird ticket sales for Lollapalooza and the Charli XCX newsletter emails. The only thing that made him suppress a chuckle was an email confirming her enrollment in a masterclass on how to change your identity and disappear completely, which, he couldn’t blame her for taking…  “Oh, yeah. I remember some people had even drafted suicide notes and everything. You’re a pillar of the Ogden community.” He argued humorously. However, that last part was simply the statement of a well-known fact. As they spoke, he finished the password-reset protocol. “You’re all set. Your new password is Eddie_is_h0t because it had to have special characters and it’s easy to remember.” He explained, self-indulging as though he had bailed her out of jail (instead of changing her moodle password), and handed her phone to her. “Do the honors and tell me I have to start working on my suicide note.”

[charfletchh]

“is it?” she smiled mildly. is it nice to have entire nights missing from your memory? is it nice to have to piece together your own whereabouts from your instagram story? is it nice to wake up in beds you didn’t remember entering? no, she couldn’t think about that too long, she got nauseous when she did. it was just better to accept these things as they were - for the plot. “from what i do remember, it was uneventful. she seemed normal. or at least, as normal as she ever was, right?” it was sad, the way bitterness crept into her voice, even now. even after everything. "if i were you, i wouldn't bother looking for answers."

Nate snorted, glancing over at Charlie out of the corner of his eyes. Maybe he was feeling particularly melancholic because of where they were, but Nate just gave his head a slight shake at her. “Must be nice. T’not remember which ones you went to.” For a while there, Nate had been a frequent attendee. When his family first moved back to the US, when he had been dating Parker, but that had petered out, especially after...everything his senior year of high school. "No. I wasn't." Which was enough to make him wonder if something happened - he had learned up close and personally that the official story so often wasn't the truth.

[charfletchh]

“he’s literally up my asshole right now.” charlie’s father generally cared to keep her at arm’s length, only checking in when something was damaged irreparably- he didn’t care when she was getting blackout drunk in high school, but cared when she wrapped his benz around a tree, hadn’t cared when she was sleeping out every night, but cared when she callously dumped one of his client’s daughters and lost his firm the business. “somehow he had no questions about my grades until i quit that dumb job he got me last summer. now i think he’s ready to buy the school a new library if they’ll just let me graduate. the stress can’t be good for him, he has no hair. and look at us - we never stress and we're gorgeous."

"He cares?" Cara asked, her eyebrows arching up on her forehead in surprise at the idea that a parent may be invested in their child's life. She had gone through phases in her life - striving for perfect grades (parents never impressed) versus not trying in school at all (parents brushing the concern of the school off) - and had never managed to garner much interest either way. One of her parents concerned about how she was doing in school was completely a foreign concept. "Well," she said with a huff of air, as if she wasn't seething with jealousy internally. "He should relax. Stressing out over it will turn him and you gray - and over grades. They literally don't even matter."

[charfletchh]

well, if rhia wanted to be the center of attention, she shouldn't have asked charlie, famous attention seeker, to be in the picture. but she kept that thought to herself as she clicked back through the camera roll. "oh! you look hot." she hadn't even noticed the first time, but could she help that she caught her own attention? "it's giving sexy elsa. is that the vibe? i still haven't heard the song." or had she? it was so hard to remember anything that wasn't directly to do with her. "do you want some solo ones too? i'm an excellent photographer." if you only considered lewds and selfies.

Despite her insistent, internal monologue, Charlie's contrary attitude reflected Rhia's own truth. Although she would trade in a beach for a lake deep in the forest or a marshy bog. And maybe a cocktail for a mocktail, considering her recent struggles. "That doesn't sound too bad right now," she admitted, and her body shivered again in protest. She pushed all thoughts of warmth, sun, and mild temperature away, concentrating once more on resisting her discomfort. Her ears perked up when Charlie began her review, eagerly awaiting the redhead's approval. Rhia realized a moment later it would have probably been a better idea to look at them herself, given the only vivid image she was being described was of Charlie's breasts. "You make me miss my crazy hair colors," she reminisced with a sigh, scuffing the back of her head. Which she didn't particularly mind, but she wasn't sure it was the pose that drew attention to them. "If you don't mind," she smiled. "Can't ruin my Soundcloud clout by getting mogged on my single cover."

[charfletchh]

"if you would just do a shotski, you'd have a tequila blanket and you wouldn't need a sweater," charlie grumbled, but she didn't change her posture. "yay! she found her sweater!" she clapped her hands. "better get a move on then. i'm not moving a muscle until you walk out that door, because i just don't like the idea of you around all my stuff without me. you might suddenly decide you're tired of dressing... in sweaters, and start trying on my clothes. so either get moving or get comfy."

"A sweater," Sassa repeated, the tone of the word mocking, continuing to rifle through the clothing that she had brought. "Since it's December and it's cold." As if that need an explanation. Leave it to Charlie Fletcher to be completely unreasonable and act like she's committing a crime for no reason. Guilty conscience, much? Sassa glanced over at the blonde on her bed, her eyebrows raising up. "Can you not?" she said with a sigh, turning back to grab a sweater and pulling it out, an over the top flourish accompanying the tug, of course.

[charfletchh]

no. no. she was so close. she could see the finish line, practically envision herself in a pointy hat and big bat wing graduation robes, waving that hard-earned diploma in the air. there was no way g was going to get in her way. "because i'm stupid." she blinked at him with her well-practiced vacant stare. "you know me. you've seen my work ethic. is it surprising?" she scoffed. "whole school already knows i'm a bimbo."

Where: Hamptons NYE party Time: Sometime after the texts Who: @charfletchh

If the text in his phone had been about anyone else Milo was pretty sure he'd deal with it differently. He was hardly one to beat around the bush or spare someone's feelings, and though he wasn't exactly doing either of those things currently, he did wait until he saw Charlie was by herself in some area of the house before he approached her. She was certainly annoying, and a huge bitch, but she was also his friend. Maybe one of his closest, as sad as that might be. "Hey," he said, as he strolled over in her direction, opening his convos, and simply showing her the texts that G had sent him. 'go ask charlie why she really had to retake a class'.

"What's going on?" He asked with as little accusation as possible because he couldn't imagine why her having to retake a class, for whatever reason, would actually be a big deal.

[charfletchh]

who: @jacqui-velazquez

when: new year's eve

"hey you," charlie slurred her words even though she was uncomfortably, awkwardly sober, her text from g burning a hole in her pocket. "you know, it's so crazy. i see you all the time and there's still so much i don't know about you!" her smile felt frozen on her face. "come here. we should chat."

[charfletchh]

she crossed her fingers in the universal good luck gesture. "should be. did everything i could to pass." but that hadn't stopped her from keeping an eagle eye on her email waiting for the final confirmation. "remember how it used to be so fun here?" even with charlie's blitheness, she couldn't ignore the sword dangling over their heads. "i'll miss that. but i won't miss this." she paused for a beat. "it'll stop for me when i leave. yeah?" it hadn't occurred to her until that moment that she might not escape g as she escaped ogden.

"Ugh," Milo groaned dramatically, his head falling back against the back of the couch, "I told everyone to stop inviting me to those." More seriously he agreed with Charlie that he had no idea what G could even have meant about finding. That party had been over a year ago. "They think we're mind readers," he said shaking his head. They should know very well by now that wasn't the case. "I'm tired of the cryptic bullshit. They have to know it's not hitting like it used to. Just tell us what you fucking want. And you're going to be leaving, and not even know what happens next semester," he pointed out a hand waving in Charlie's direction. Then he added a quieter, "right?"

[charfletchh]

she'd forgotten to look for her shoes, and the shock of the snow on her bare feet sent her careening dangerously close to sobriety. thank god for drugs. she accepted the spliff gratefully - she'd need another layer of security if that's what he was going to talk about. "sure. i never miss a good party." at least she assumed she'd been there. there had been so many parties back then, so many helicopters charted to the hamptons, and always greer. everywhere, until she wasn't. "i was wondering why this house was so familiar. i think i threw up in that planter. were you?" she switched gears abruptly.

who: @charfletchh when: a few days into break where: the hamptons house

Nate was out on the deck at the house, a spliff between his lips that he was occasionally taking a drag from, mostly just taking the moment to be in the quiet, away from the classmates that filled the house they were all staying at. The idea of being shoved into one house - even with how large it was - with a bunch of spoiled brats from Ogden wasn't exactly his dream vacation. Then again, it spoke to how much he didn't want to be around his family that he was there at all. So, taking a few moments or himself, he heard the footsteps as soon as someone stepped outside, glancing over his shoulder to see Charlie. Ugh. Unpleasant but...there could be worse. Which was wildly different from how he would've felt a year ago. He waited for her to get a closer, not much wanting to invite her to join him, but since she chose to approach, Nate held out the spliff in her direction, the only greeting he offered. "Were you there? Or here, or whatever. At that party." It should've gone without saying what he was asking about - he was pretty sure it was all anyone was thinking about, since those texts. At least, in his mind it was. Then again, he had bad experiences with being invited to rich kids parties out here.

[charfletchh]

"ugh, i don't want to click through all those links. be a doll and do it for me," she held out her phone to eddie with just the subtlest puppy dog eyes. "and don't forget, it's been eight semesters," she corrected him. "remember? you all just couldn't live without me if i left last summer? i seem to remember several threatened suicides if i left," she heaved a dramatic sigh. "hopefully you'll all manage to carry on without me next semester. i'm going to graduate. i mean, i won't know until i get my grades, but there's no way i don't." not with everything she'd done to secure it.

Three years in, Charlie’s voice still made his head perk up in the same boyish manner it used to do back in his freshman year. A lot had changed about their relationship in the meantime. But there was still a sort of magic spell about her that somehow compelled his attention like she was one of the most interesting people he had ever met. And, honestly, she kind of was. After all, who else, besides Charlie Fletcher, would be able to push through 4 years of education without ever looking at her grades? Absolutely fascinating...

“You’ve gone seven semesters without looking at your grades. You’ll be fine on your last one.” He meant it. He didn’t doubt Charlie would do okay in her last term… Still, he took her phone and clicked the forgot password option because he was feeling empathetic and knew that if he were in her shoes, he would rather die than not know his grades. “You’ll get an email to reset it.” He should know. Last semester, someone guessed his password (H@ml3t_2001 – which, by the way, fit ALL the strong-password criteria) and signed him up for an elective called The Sociology of Harry Potter as revenge for his rant about why the ‘objectively awful’ Harry Potter series was a socially accepted pyramid scheme in his literature class. “So… Counting down the days to get away from all this madness?”

[charfletchh]

"i know," charlie nodded emphatically. "apparently this is how we see our grades. my dad keeps texting me like, every twenty minutes asking if i got my finals back. i don't know what his damage is," she rolled her eyes. "like, how am i supposed to know?"

Cara gave one look at the utterly unfamiliar website before she raised an eyebrow at Charlie, a look of utter disdain coming across her face. "Why would I know how to log into that?" she said, her nose wrinkling up. What was she - a hacker?

[charfletchh]

"a sweater?" that didn't sit right with charlie - not that anything sassa did sat right with charlie - but her "in case of fun" stash wasn't hidden particularly well in her suitcase and she didn't want to hear it if sassa happened to go snooping through it. "you know what? the shotskis can wait." she settled onto sassa's bed criss-cross-applesauce, looking up at her expectantly. "i'll just hang out here while you pick out your sweater and leave. wouldn't want you to walk back alone. it's dangerous out there," she smiled angelically.

Sassa turned when she heard Charlie enter the room, her upper lip curling in a sneer before she crossed her arms over chest. "I was getting a sweater," she said, her tone making it clear how offended she was that her actions would even need to be questioned. Never mind that ever since G had said there might be something to be found, she had been itching with the urge to snoop through her roommates things. Even if it wasn't related to Greer - there was no doubt in her mind that Charlie and Henrietta both had things to be found that could be...beneficial. "So by all means, don't let my presence deter you from returning to your shotski," Sassa said, turning away from the blonde as she reached to go through her stack of clothes like it had been what she was doing all along.

[charfletchh]

END

"really? i think i've been incredibly nice to you. giving. and sometimes even receiving," she dropped her voice precipitously low, smirking at heni over the top of her wine glass.

"what was that, charlotte?" her stepfather remarked, still pathetically trying to insert himself into her conversation. she ignored him. "ah! government! are you interested in politics, henrietta? another field that could use more women," he shot heni's mother a stomach-turning grin.

"here here," charlie pouted in faux agreement. "it's high time we had more women on top."