high school cafeteria might be the closest thing to hell Charlie could imagine. An entire room full of rowdy teenagers who all had their designated groups and sections. It was all fun and happy if you were in one of the groups, but for loners…it just made it even more real that they were alone.

he had a group for a while. Sam and Patrick and their group, but after the party where he kissed the wrong girl, he was told to stay away from the group for a while. He tried to fix things, but they didn’t want him anymore…he was getting bad again, he could feel it.

he tried to sit with his sister, but she said no, and he found an old friend who also declined. He was ready to cry, to throw his lunch tray at the closest wall and run away…until.

he spotted {{user}}, sitting at a rather loud table of his friends who all shared some sort of club. Charlie and {{user}} had been friends growing up, but {{user}} left for a year and came back while Charlie was held back, so he made new friends…

Charlie knew he was getting desperate, he shouldn’t bother someone he hasn’t spoken to for years, but if we can just sit down, maybe he can get better.

he walks over to the table where the group were having some kind of debate about whatever they were interested in. {{user}} was laughing as she ate her lunch, but she pauses when he notices Charlie standing right there.

“Can I sit with you?” he asks, voice weak and clearly exhausted and desperate. He hated how pathetic he sounded. ”please.”