This Thing With Charlie by Sophia Soames

“It’s only words.” Charlie would have said. “Words don’t define you. You are just what you are, and you can’t help who you fall in love with.”
Not that Charlie is in love with me. Not the way my heart has decided that he’s the only thing allowed in that big cavity in my chest where my feelings hang out.
“I’m in love with Charlie,” I say to the mirror instead. “I’m in love with him, and I don’t know what to do with all that.”
This thing with Charlie? It has to end. I can’t go on like this. I just…

“Get a grip, Daniel.” I say to the face in the mirror. “Get a fucking grip.”
This thing with Charlie is set in the same time frame as Ship of Fools, and takes place in the same fictional British town of Chistleworth.