CHARLIE'S POV
I was watching Netflix on my laptop after I ate breakfast. I didn't want to eat, but Demi didn't give me a choice.
Demi and Maddie went to go shopping together after Demi made me sit with her for two hours after breakfast. The guilt of not purging was eating me alive.
"Charlotte, someone from your school is here to see you!" I heard Dad shout from downstairs. Who from school would want to see me? I have no friends there.
"They're all outside." Mom told me as I came down the stairs. I nodded and went outside to be greeted by familiar faces. Trent, Daniel, Lucas, and Harper were all here. Why?
"Did you get fatter?" Trent questioned. I ignored his question.
"Why are you here?" I asked, trying not to sound nervous.
"We need to torture you one last time before you go to LA." Daniel spoke up.
"Get her boys." Harper smiled mischievously. Trent, Daniel, and Lucas all grabbed ahold of me while Harper pulled out her phone and started filming. "Do it now."
"Hold still!" Lucas shouted as they rolled up the sleeves of my hoodie.
"No! Stop!" I screamed as they held me down. "Why are you doing this?!"
"I'm doing this so I can upload the video." Harper smirked as she stopped recording.
"Please! Don't!" I tried getting out of their grip.
"Okay, you can let her go now. It's uploaded." Harper smiled.
"Fuck you guys!" I yelled before I ran into my house.
"Charlie? What's wrong, baby?" Mom immediately questioned as I entered the house with tears streaming down my face.
"Nothing! I'm fine!" I shouted. "Leave me alone!" I screamed at Mom as she tried to stop me from going upstairs. I rushed upstairs into my room and went to grab one of my blades. That's when I realized none of them were there. Fuck you for telling them, Demi.
- TRIGGER WARNING -
I angrily ran my fingers through my hair before I locked my door. I smashed a photo of an old friend and I. Then I proceeded to pick up a piece of glass.
"I'm sorry, Riley.." I whispered.
- FLASHBACK -
"Come on, Riley." My eleven year old self started saying to my best friend during recess. Riley and I were both sitting on the swings and talking. "Trent and them really don't mean that."
"I don't know.." Riley whispered as her hair hid her face. "Maybe I'm better off dead like they say."
"No, you're not!" I tried comforting her. I was about to continue talking when the bell rang for class. Riley quickly got up, trying to avoid the last of our conversation. I sighed as I headed back to class.
—————————————————————
I was sitting in my room with Maddie while we waited for Demi to come home later tonight.
"I don't think this is working, Mads." I giggled. Maddie was trying to help me with math homework but it wasn't going great.
"Shush." Maddie laughed. Someone then knocked on my door.
"Come in!" I exclaimed as I closed my math book.
"Can we talk to Charlie alone?" Mom asked Maddie as both Mom and Dad entered the room. Maddie nodded and went to work on her homework.
"What did you guys want to talk about?" I asked, sitting up in my bed.
"It's about Riley.." Dad said, sitting down on the edge of my bed with Mom.
"What about her? Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay!" I panicked.
"I wish we could say she is.." Mom had tears in her eyes.
"W-What happened?" I stuttered, tears blurring my vision.
"She.." Mom started saying, but stopped.
"Just tell me!" I screamed.
"She.. she killed herself, sweetie." Dad finally spoke up as he held my hand.
"N-No! Please say you're lying!" I cried out.
"We wish we could, baby girl." Mom tried to pull me into a hug but I backed away.
"Y-You're lying!" I yelled before I ran out of my room and to the front door. I had to see Riley. My parents had to be lying.
"Charlie! What's wrong?" I was immediately stopped by Demi coming in the front door. Demi picked me up in her embrace.
"Let me go!" I tried getting out of her arms. "I need to see if Riley is okay!" I sobbed.
"Shh, Charlie." Demi spoke comfortingly as I kept trying to get her to let go of me.
"S-She can't be gone.." I whimpered as I got tired of fighting against her and relaxed in Demi's embrace.
- FLASHBACK OVER -
I held the piece of glass in my hand as I opened up my phone. I immediately saw the video Harper uploaded all over social media. I sobbed as I dragged the piece of glass across my arm, watching it open some old cuts and also create some fresh cuts.
After a couple fresh incisions, I decided to clean up my arms. I rolled down my sleeves once I finished and went to lay down in my bed, where I cried myself to sleep.
- TRIGGER WARNING OVER -
DEMI'S POV
"That was so much fun." Maddie told me as we pulled into the driveway. "Especially when you fell over nothing." She laughed.
"We don't talk about it!" I screamed while laughing as we entered the house.
"I tried knocking on her door and getting her to come out but she didn't answer." Mom said as she came downstairs.
"Who didn't answer?" I chimed in.
"Charlie." Eddie sighed.
"Why? What happened?" I immediately asked.
"We don't know. She came inside the house crying after some friends from school came over to talk to her and ran straight up to her room." Mom looked worried.
"I'll go check on her." I reassured them.
"Okay, make sure to tell us what's wrong." Eddie said.
I proceeded to go upstairs and I tried opening her door, just to find out it was locked. I sighed as I grabbed one of my many bobby pins and unlocked her door with it. I entered her room and shut the door. I walked around the broken glass on her floor, one shard was covered in blood. I'll have to talk about that later.
"Charlie?" I slowly walked over to her bed and sat on the edge of her bed. I looked over at her and it looked like she was sleeping. I went to get up but she stopped me.
"Stay." Charlie choked out.
"What's wrong, baby girl?" I asked Charlie as I got in the bed next to her.
"Why'd they do it?" Charlie asked quietly.
"Why'd they do what?" I didn't know what she was talking about. Charlie sighed as she grabbed her phone and opened up a video on Instagram.
I watched the video and saw three boys holding her down while someone filmed. They rolled up her sleeves in the video and showed off the cuts on her arm. I covered my mouth as I tried to stop a gasp from escaping my lips.
"Why did they do it?!" Charlie cried out as she got off her bed. "Why did they hurt Riley? She didn't deserve it! Riley didn't deserve to die! Why did she leave me here by myself?! I could've helped her!" She fell to the floor as a sob escaped her lips.
"Charlie, calm down!" I rushed to her side and pulled her into my embrace.
"I-I want to die!" Charlie screamed as she pushed herself out of my grip. She ran into the bathroom and attempted to shut the door, but I stopped her. She ignored my presence as she grabbed a variety of different pills.
"No, no, no!" I rushed to her and grabbed all of the pills out of her grasp, causing her to scream bloody murder. I quickly shut the bathroom door and locked it, not wanting Mom and Eddie to see this even though they probably should know about this. I just have to get Charlie calmed down.
"L-Let me go!" Charlie yelled and sobbed. "I need her! I miss her!" She wailed.
"Shh, I know.. I know you do." I held her tightly and spoke gently. I honestly didn't know what to say. Knowing that my baby sister said she wanted to die and attempted to in front of me made me speechless.
"I-I want to be happy..." Charlie whimpered and closed her eyes as tears kept pouring down her face. I stayed silent, letting her cry it all out as I wiped away some tears with the pad of my thumb occasionally. That was all I could do.
Eventually I noticed that her cries quieted down and saw she was asleep. I quietly stood up off the floor and carefully picked her up, not wanting to wake her up. I decided to bring her to my room for the night and put her in my bed. I got on my side of the bed, feeling a bit exhausted myself and fell asleep holding onto her, afraid she would run off when I was sleeping and do something bad. Afraid that I would lose her.