Charms

Chapter Seven

About a good fifteen minutes later, I was in the old-fashioned living room of my grandparents' house once again. I began to scan the green carpet, looking for my mom's charm box. That's when one of it's glistening, purple gems caught my eyes' attention. I dashed over to it and knelt beside it. Right next to the charm box, was its golden key. I immediately picked it up, stuck it inside of the silver keyhole of Mom's charm box, and turned it. I yanked its little compartment open and placed Mom's elephant-shaped charm inside of it. I looked at my hand. The shape of an elephant was now imprinted on it.

I grabbed my Mom's pretty, little, pink charm box and stood up. I looked at the secret compartment on the wall and noticed that it was still open. I stood on my tippy-toes and tried to place the box inside of it. Unfortunately, I was too short and was just a few inches shy of reaching the compartment. Actually, I am not short; I'm average height. This secret compartment just happens to be really high up! I sped into the kitchen and grabbed one of my grandparents' old, wooden chairs. I dragged it into the living room and placed it underneath the compartment. I hopped up on the chair and placed my Mom's charm box back inside of the compartment. Just as I was about to hop off of the chair, somebody barged into the room. Ashley.

"Ashley!" I growled at her, "How could you?"

"Patricia!" She growled back, "I can't believe that you didn't trust me and went through my backpack!"

"I had a right not to trust you!"

"Yeah, but what would ever make you think that it was me?"

"Ashley, you are the only one who I told about my grandparents going away. You are the only friend that I have ever brought over my house. Now, tell me how you really found this compartment!"

"No!"

"Tell me or I'll call the cops!"

"Ok, I saw your grandmother open it while you were in the bathroom one day while we were both over here! She must of forgotten that I was even there if she keeps that in there!" Ashley confessed, motioning towards the box, "One day, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to look inside of it. I ended up finding the box quickly closed the compartment back up."

"And I bet that you sprinkled cookie crumbs in it and smeared ketchup on it just so i would think that Lauren and Georgia did it! I also bet that you only agreed to help me just so I wouldn't suspect that you stole my mom's charm!"

Ashley lowered her head in shame. "Yes, yes, and yes."

"The only question I have is why would you ever do something like that?"

Ashley paused for a moment. "You don't realize how lucky you have it, do you, Patty?"

"Huh?"

"Everyday, after school, you come home to a family who will always love you. You know what I come to after school on my days off? Someone else's home. If I were to go straight home, there would be no one there."

"But, you still have your mom."

"Again, you don't realize how lucky you are, Patty. You're family has so much money that you can afford a babysitter to help you and your siblings take care of yourselves, your handicapped father, and your pregnant mother. My family is so poor that my mom is always working and doesn't have any time for me. I had to get a job at McDonald's just to help her out. And where do you have to work? Nowhere. Your mom makes so much money as a doctor that you, your crippled father, Tom, and Rose don't need to get jobs."

I started to tear up. My own charm-removing best friend was making me feel bad for her.

"But, Tom and Rose are too young. You have to be at least sixteen to get a job."

"No, they're too young to get a job in the workforce. When I was their ages, I was raking leaves, shoveling snow, selling lemonade, delivering newspapers, babysitting young children, and walking dogs to help my mom out."

"But, why would you ever do something like that to my mom?"

"Patty, you have a wonderful family and have never had to worry about money. If I can't have a life like that, then nobody can.

My pity suddenly turned into anger. "What do you mean by that?"

"Let's face it, if your mom were to die, your family would fall apart. You would eventually start to go broke and have to fire Annabelle. Since your Dad is not eligible for a job of any kind, you would have to get a job at a place like McDonald's and Tom and Rose would be doing the stuff that I did when I was their ages for money."

"I can't believe that you're jealous of me!"

"And I can't believe that you're so stupid that you didn't notice that I ever would be until now!"

I growled. "No, Ashley, you're the one who's stupid for not seeing what's right in front of you! For years, my family has been supporting yours! We have been babysitting you and have been secretly lending your mom money when she needed it! My parents, Tom, Rose, and I care about you, Ashley!"

Ashley paused for a moment. "Wait, you guys have been lending us money?"

I nodded.

"How many times?" Ashley asked.

I thought for a moment. "Quite a few."

Then all of the sudden, Annabelle, Dad, Tom, and Rose came bursting into the room.

"What the heck are you guys doing in here?" Annabelle asked, seeming annoyed.

Before I could say anything at all, Ashley blurted it out, "I did it! It was me!"

"Huh?" Annabelle, Tom, Dad, and Rose all asked with confusion.

"I stole Mrs. Patricikson's charm!"

Shocked expressions came across all five of their faces.

"You did?" Rose asked.

Ashley lowered her head, feeling ashamed. "Yes, I did."

"But why- how- E-explain!" Dad stammered.

Ashley sighed. She explained how she found the box, how she fooled us into not thinking that she was the one who stole Mom's charm, and why she did it. Once she was done, she apologized for committing a crime like that and for taking us for granted.

"Ash, you do realize that we're going to have to call the police now, right?" Dad asked, "Stealing someone's charm is a serious crime."

Ashley sighed and lowered her head. "Go ahead. I deserve the punishment."

With that being said, Tom reluctantly pulled his phone out and called the police.