You Won't Survive

"I really don't think this is a good idea," Charlotte voiced her concern as she and Becky approached a familiar house owned by a family a couple miles north of her own house. She could hear the loud music and girls and guys shouting.

How they managed to get invited to a party was beyond Charlotte. All she knew was that Becky ran into her brother's best friend and found out that she was home and invited Becky, and apparently her, to his party.

Charlotte was hesitant at first, the party scene was not her thing, and neither was it Becky's, but she mentioned that Marc was going to be there. It was her chance to spend more time with Marc and show that she was a little girl anymore. It was her chance to get close to Marc.

She smiled awkwardly at the already drunk guys that started to shove red cups of alcohol at her as they entered the house. Charlotte was being dragged by Becky who was making a beeline for the kitchen where she knew Jesse, her brother's best friend would be. Charlotte's heart stopped when she saw Marc smiling and laughing with Diana in his arms and a beer bottle in his hand.

"Jesse, hey!" Becky greeted him and hugged him.

Suddenly, Diana, Marc, Jordan, Tom and a few others's eyes were on the two girls who had just entered the kitchen, making Charlotte feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Becky, Charlie! I'm glad you guys could make it," he greeted the two with a smile and hugged both of them. "Glad to have you back Charlie, Jesse whispered when he hugged her. "Have fun and don't be strangers, guys," he told them and handed them a beer each.

Diana had a sour look o her face as she had her arms crossed in front of her chest. "I can't believe you're here," she sneered. "Since when did you go to parties? I thought you were too good for hick town parties."

Charlotte bit her lip feeling uncomfortable. It was no secret in the Masters family that Diana and Charlotte never got a long. It was also no secret that Charlotte wanted to get as far away as she could from Thunder Bay, constantly talking about how she wanted to get away and how excited she was to graduate.

"Oh, put a sock in it Diana. Not everyone has little ambition like you," Becky defended her best friend, giving Charlotte a comforting smile.

Diana scoffed and approached Charlotte and Becky. "Still getting man face Becky to fight your battles?" she asked rhetorically, once she was close to Charlotte's face.

Jesse laughed awkwardly, trying to break the tension between Diana and the two friends. "Okay then, Diana, why don't we go to the backyard and get another drink."

Diana shot Charlotte a glare before being dragged by Jesse to the backyard. Charlotte watched as Marc and his friends pass them by, some of them laughing and glancing at Charlotte and Becky. It was obvious that Becky wasn't a fan of Diana and her band of friends. They were the people that made her high school hell because she was so involved with the school.

"You could have stood up for yourself," Becky muttered before giving a disgruntled scoff and exited the kitchen, leaving Charlotte standing alone in the room. She rolled her eyes and made a beeline for the front porch.

Alone outside, the music inside the house was muffled by the walls. It was dark outside, Jesse's house, like hers and the Staals, were a few miles outside of the city. She looked up at the stars it was one of the only things she missed about Thunder Bay. In New York, because of all the lights, you never saw any stars at night.

Thunder Bay and New York were two completely different cities. Charlotte always wondered what possessed her to move away from the comforts of her home to be in a city like New York. She always figured it was because she was meant for something more that just a small town. Ever since she was little, all she thought about was getting out of Thunder Bay.

"It's different from New York, huh?"

Charlotte turned around, heat instantly going to her cheeks as she saw Marc approach her. Silently, she watched him rest on the railings beside her and looked up to the stars and smiled slightly. Internally though, it was like a war going on. A part of her deciding on whether to make an excuse and get out of there and another silencing her, telling her that this was her chance to talk to Marc.

"Completely different," he whispered and looked at her.

She nodded, stunned with silence. "Uh yeah, it's quiet," she cleared her throat and agreed with him.

"I'm sorry about Diana and the way she treated you earlier."

"Why should you be apologizing? She's my sister and besides, I'm used to it. We've never been close," she replied. Even though their relationship was strained, Charlotte would never badmouth her own sister. Diana was still her sister and she still loved her. Besides, Charlotte wasn't going to stoop to Diana's level and publicly humiliate or slander Diana.

There was a long silence between them, both just enjoying each other's company before they heard Diana call for Marc from inside the house. Marc looked at Charlotte torn. He wanted to spend more time with her even though they weren't really talking, but he didn't want to raise any suspicion about his recent preoccupation with his ex-girlfriend's little sister.

Looking back at Marc, Charlotte smiled sadly. Even though it seemed like Marc wanted to talk to her, she could see that he was ashamed of being seen with her. Why wouldn't he? He was the guy everyone wanted and she was just some girl. "Go," she commanded him softly.

Without another word, Marc left. Charlotte released the breath she didn't know she was holding once she was sure that Marc was long gone. For years she had been pining after Marc. For years she had a schoolgirl crush on him and yet he never once looked her way. It was always Diana. It was like she had some kind of hold on him.

"Charlie! There you are," Jesse greeted her as soon as Charlotte entered the house. "Here, have a drink," he said and handed her another red cup.

She gave him a small smile and shrugged her shoulders. Feeling a little let down that Marc chose her sister over her; Charlotte downed the whole cup without regard and reached for another one to numb the disappointing feeling in the pits of her stomach. Cup after cup, Charlotte soon found herself dancing in the living room pressed against a guy she didn't recognize with his hands roaming all over her body.

"Let's get out of here," he whispered, his voice hot and heavy with lust and excitement.

Charlotte nodded, too drunk to realize the mistake she was about to make. Grabbing his hand, she led him out the of the living room and through the front door. Giggling, she leaned on the nameless guy as he tried to get her out of the property as fast as he can before she either sobered up enough to realize she was about to do something stupid or one of her friends realize she had gone missing.

Marc left the house in a huff, Diana was behind him still yelling and still glaring at him, her voice was drowned by the music and the shutting of the door behind him. Outside it was relatively quiet, a great contrast to the ranging emotions he was experiencing. Diana had been nagging at him for his sudden interest in her sister and why he was being nice to her. Not only that but he couldn't even explain why he had a sudden interest in Charlotte. It made him feel shallow and angry with himself that part of the reason was because she caught his eye as she was pretty now. Not that she wasn't before, but before she was cute, now she was gorgeous.

He heard giggling in the distance, ripping him from his thoughts. He turned to glare at the couple that ruined his private moment, but his eyes widened instead when he saw Charlotte, little Charlotte Masters, draped around a guy much older than her. She looked to be drunk and out of it, because he had a feeling if she wasn't wasted, there was no way she would be doing what he thought she was about to do.

Walking over to the two, he pulled Charlotte from the guy's arms making him protest angrily. "Charlotte you're about to make a stupid mistake," he warned the younger girl.

Charlotte stumbled clumsily in Marc's arms. "Hey, we were just going to have some fun. Don't be such a part pooper," she giggled and slapped Marc's arm.

"Yeah Marc. Really this isn't any of your business. Leave me and the lovely lady alone," the guy egged him on, stepping closer to Marc to intimidate him but Marc was the least bit intimidated since he was much taller than the guy.

Marc placed a stern hand on the guys chest and glared angrily. "Back off! Leave her alone."

"Aw Marc, why don't you join us and have some fun?"

The guy shook his head in frustration and started to walk away. "Fuck this," he muttered.

"Come on Lottie, we should get you home," Marc muttered and hoisted Charlotte into his car.

Sighing contently in the passenger seat of Marc's car, Charlotte sighed and smiled at Marc. "You're so sweet. This is why I like you," she flirted sloppily and hit his arm as hard as she could. "Too bad, you only like Diana," she confessed, unaware of what she said. "Diana, what kind of name is Diana anyways?"

Marc blushed and cleared his throat. He passed her confession as a drunk person's muttering and left it at that, but for some reason he couldn't help but hope that what she said was true. That she did like him.