A followup to Charlie Davies! (Featuring his twin sister!)

How the hell do people move on from a breakup?

Charlie shrunk into the passenger’s seat of his sister’s jeep, burying his muzzle in the hoodie he was wearing. It still smelled just like him, but the scent was just boring now. Much like how Kyle had seemed to see him in the last few weeks of their relationship. Boring. Uninteresting.

The Cavalier Spaniel let out a soft growl and pulled the hood over his head.

“What are you doing, bro?”

He turned to face the driver’s seat and peeked out from the hoodie. His twin sister, Shannon, was still watching the road, but he could see her gaze occasionally flick to him.

“Nothing.” He grumbled and sat up straight.

“You’re just going to make yourself feel even worse if you keep thinking about him.”

Charlie turned away to look out the window. “Probably…”

“You know,” She cleared her throat, “You could take his hoodie off and throw it into the abyss? I’m no expert, but I am sure his scent won’t help you forget about him.”

Charlie instinctively hugged himself. “I don’t wanna.”

“That’s not very healthy, you know. You can’t afford to let that cat live in your head rent-free. You should at least make him pay you something, you broke bitch.”

Charlie pursed his lips, trying not to laugh.

“Come on. Are you not even going to giggle?” Shannon scoffed. “I worked so hard on that one.”

“I’m not a broke bitch.” Charlie let a chuckle slip through his lips.

“I know.” Shannon grinned. “I just felt like that was a good way to end a dig. Was it?”

“Honestly, yeah.” Charlie grinned. “The kids are going to love you, I’m sure.”

“They always do!”

Shannon had been working at Sapphire Streams for about four summers — this year would be her fifth — as an improv instructor. Charlie grinned to himself. Improv. Shannon was a great choice for an improv teacher, not because she was funny, but because she was corny as fuck.

Then again, Charlie was not really into improvisational comedy. He was more into the clear-cut comedy. Maybe because he knew he could never improvise like Shannon could.

“So,”

Charlie tilted his head at Shannon as she flicked the turn signal, slowing as the car approached Exit 96. “So?”

“Why are you so attached to the hoodie?”

Charlie opened his muzzle to answer, but Shannon held a paw up.

“No, really. Like… I get that you and him were close at one point. And like, the hoodie is the last thing you have to remind you of him… But come on!”

“You come on! I love this hoodie.” Charlie gritted his teeth, looking down at the hoodie. As he studied the navy colored fabric, he started to doubt himself. Was this hoodie really that special to him? It wasn’t like there was anything about the hoodie that stood out. It was just that: plain navy colored fabric. He gently sniffed the fabric again, but the smell of his ex wasn’t even really that appealing to him anymore.

He stifled a soft whine, his claws digging into the hoodie. Even though he knew how the mountain lion felt about him, it was still hard to overlook everything they’d been through.

He heard a deep sigh from the driver’s seat. “Charlie…”

He sniffled, wiping at his eyes with his arm. “What, Shan?”

“I am not going to tell you what to do.” Her voice was soft, as she paused before she spoke again. “But is it really worth it to hold on to someone that doesn’t even think about you?”

Fuck…

Shannon was right. What the fuck was he doing, holding on to Kyle like this. He slammed his fist on the window and screamed “Fuck.”

“Charlie!? Are you okay?” The car swerved a little as Shannon turned to look at him.

He lowered his head, his teeth bared as he softly growled. “Yeah… I’m just really fucking mad.”

“Jesus Christ, Chuck!” She smacked him on the shoulder as she turned her full attention back to the road. “You almost made me run off the road!”

His gaze snapped up to her as she gritted her teeth, eyes locked on the road. “Ow! That hurt!”

“Good!” Shannon’s muzzle twitched as she snorted. “Next time don’t try to give me—” She muffled a chuckle with a cough. “A fucking heart attack.”

Charlie sighed, settling back into his seat. “Fine.” He looked out the window again, his eyes scanning the passing groves of fruit trees. He had no idea what kinds of fruits were on there. Probably oranges? That was a very Florida fruit, right? “How much farther till we get there?”

Shannon bit her lip. “Hmm… About like, fifteen or twenty minutes I think? I recognize these orange groves.”

“So, what? Do we just turn around when we get to any groves you don’t recognize?”

“You’re trying to be smart, aren’t you?” Shannon stuck out her tongue. “Jokes on you! That’s exactly what I’m doing!”

I wrote this the morning after I aired my frustrations on bluesky! I got so much wonderful feedback on how to go about getting some good progress, and this was the first thing I wrote! Thank you to everyone who offered their advice! I am really happy with it so far, and I have written three different scenes.

I am focusing on the romance and character development first. Like Charlie, Shannon, Kyler and the others.

Do you like what I have? Have you ever been to a summer camp? What’s your best memory? What was a quintessential camp experience for you?