Broken Descent (Bruno Mars)

Appreciation

For the rest of that day, Charlotte tried getting Aaron to talk. Although they were supposed to be separated, it was different at lunch time. Different adults supervised lunch, so Charlotte and Aaron ate together.

Charlotte started eating a granola bar first. She looked at Aaron's lunchbox noticing he had so little, in comparison. He finished eating everything by the time she finished the granola bar.

"You're done already?"

"That's all I have," Aaron shrugged.

Looking down at her sandwich, Charlotte didn't take a second to respond. She slid half of it over to him.

"Really?" He asked with wide eyes.

Charlotte nodded and they sat there in silence until the end of the period.

The next day was a Thursday and two of them talked about the weekend. Charlotte talked about her plans to play with Madison, while Aaron listened quietly and hesitantly.

"Can you do something...for me?" Aaron asked.

Charlotte shrugged. "Maybe?"

"Ya know how you give me sandwiches and snacks and stuff."

"Yeah?"

"Well maybe...maybe tomorrow you can bring one more...of everything?"

"You're not bringing lunch tomorrow?"

"No for like...the weekend...but you can't tell your dad..."

"Why do you need it for the weekend?"

"You can't tell anyone this...but sometimes I don't eat on the weekends. Amy and Jeff don't always give me dinner."

"Who's Amy and Jeff?"

"My foster parents..."

"What's a foster parent?"

"My real parents couldn't take care of me...so they take care of me now...but before that other people took care of me...I live in a lot of houses."

"My real parents couldn't take care of me either...but I only stay with...my dad..." Charlotte said, pausing for a while, "...and we always have dinner."

Although Charlotte got trapped in a whirlwind of confusion, she kept her questions to herself.

"So can you do it...bring me food?" Aaron asked with hopeful eyes.

"I'm gonna try. I'll make you a really good peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

"Please don't tell your dad," Aaron pleaded again. "It has to be a secret. He can't find out...no one can."

"I won't," Charlotte said. "I promise."

At the school day's end, Charlotte waited for Bruno to pick her up. She was extremely excited, wanting to see him so badly. She and Zadeh waited together at school to be picked up.

"Hey Charlotte," Phil said. "Dad has a meeting so you're coming to our house for dinner."

As the hours passed, Bruno was stuck at the meeting. He didn't show up at Phil's until midnight. He carried Charlotte home and into her bed. Then, he turned off the light, heading toward his room.

It didn't take too long for Charlotte's body to realize that she'd been moved. She woke up fairly quickly. She ran toward Bruno's room, out of breath by the time she got there.

"Dad," she gasped, her lips starting to quiver.

"Charlotte?" Bruno asked, taking off his jewelry and smiling a bit. "I'm sorry I was late."