Life Rolls On

chapter four

*2 years ago*
*Charlie's POV*
—

I wave goodbye to Lav, her long blonde hair blowing in the wind as she yelled her goodbyes from across the beach.

I observe as she runs through the little beach trail back up to her house. She trips over a tree root, stopping to stabilize herself immediately. Her silhouette shakes her head before disappearing.

I think a small part of me will always be in love with her.

I would never admit that to her, of course. She could never feel the same. I mean how can she?

Lavender Rose Riley is the epitome of perfection. I swear her hair could be in one of those conditioner commercials.

Her eyes are the most beautiful thing in this world, the way they were always shining.

Her cheeks are always rosy and pink, flush with excitement and littered with sun freckles.

Her smile. Don't even get me started on her smile. And she always smells like coconut.

"You're whipped" Yeah yeah, I know okay?

But this girl just has this way of making everyone around her feel safe, comforted, happy. You can't help but be drawn to her in every way. I've truly never met someone like her, and I know I never will.

Lav is genuinely one of a kind.

Come on, even her name is perfect. Lavender Rose. She's our little flower.

God, I can be poetic sometimes can't I? You'd think I would've gotten better than a C in English last year, damn.

You know how Porter drinks to feel something, to distract himself from his pain?

Well, Lav is my alcohol.

I couldn't help the grin on my face as I walk back home, tossing my surfboard gently under the canopy.

She has a boyfriend, Charlie. Let her be happy.

Plot twist. My perfect little flower has a stupid fucking bee poisoning her.

Or however that works. I didn't get a good grade in Biology either.

My inner voice, that little angel on my shoulder, tries desperately to remind myself of the painful truth, she is taken. I cannot have her.

The devil on the other shoulder wins, as always. My feelings for Lavender are unfair, heavy. Mind consuming. However, they're the most real thing I've ever known.

I tune everything out, jogging back inside house. I mindlessly make a smoothie and stare out the window, admiring the sun above the water.

Jealousy isn't pretty on me.

"Honey?" A sweet voice rings from upstairs. 

"Coming Mom!" I shout back, breathing deep before I step into her room.

There she is, laying on the giant king mattress that makes her look even smaller than she already is.

She's been getting worse since her treatment started. Her skin has been getting paler, her eyes more dark and her eye bags more noticeable.

My once strong and athletic mother is gone. She's fragile now. You could almost see her bones through her skin.

I knew as much as I despised it, and as scary as it was, I didn't have that much time left with her.

Her room hasn't changed a bit since Dad left. There's the bed in the middle, a flat screen TV in front of it. Two bookshelves in the corner, top to bottom filled with books my mother has read hundreds of times.