Taint Of Innocence

They told me there'd be palm trees. I didn't believe them, but that's what they told me. They told me I'd be able to see them from the plane. I didn't expect to see palm trees in Ohio. Not after my dad told me not to give away all my sweaters. 

"Oh, no," Dad had said. "You'll need them. Your coats too. It can get cold there. Not as cold as New York though but pretty chilly." 

Which was why I wore my black leather jacket on the plane. I could have shipped it, I guess, with the rest of my stuff, but it kind of made me feel better to wear it. So there I was, sitting on the plane in a black leather motorcycle jacket, seeing these palm trees through the window as we landed. And I thought, Great. Black leather and palm trees. Already I'm fitting in, just like I knew I would...Not! 

My dad isn't particularly fond of my leather jacket, but I swear I didn't wear it to make him mad, or anything. I'm not resentful of the fact that he decided to marry a woman who lives three THOUSAND miles away, forcing me to leave school in the middle of my sophomore year, abandon the best- and pretty much only- friend I've had since kindergarten; leave the city I've lived in for all my sixteen-- almost seventeen-- years. Oh no. I'm not resentful. The thing is, I really do like Carole, my new step mum. She's good for my dad. She makes him happy. And she's very nice to me. She came over a couple of times, mostly talks about her son, who I haven't met yet. 

It's just moving to Ohio bugs me. They were both there to greet me when I got off the plane. My dad standing as broadly as ever, Carole, whose blonde hair was tucked neatly behing her ears and had a sweet smile plastered on her rosebud lips and her son as blonde haired as his mother, holding up a sign saying 'Welcome Home Charlotte'. 

Everybody getting off my flight was walking by it, going 'Aww, look how cute!', to their travel 'companions' and smiling at me in a sickening way. Oh yeah, I'm going to fit in brilliantly! (notice my sarcasm?) 

"Ok" I said, walking up to my new family."You can put the sign down." 

But my dad was too busy hugging me to pay attention. 

"Oh Charlotte!" He kept saying. I hate when anybody but my dad calls me Charlotte (I'm not much of a girly girl) He was the only one allowed to do so, so I shot the boy a mean look over his shoulder, just in case he'd get any big ideas. He just kept grinning at me with a stupid grin plastered to his face. 

"How was your flight kiddo?" Dad took my bag off my shoulder and put it on his own. He seemed surprised by how heavy it was and said.

"Woah, what've you got in here, anyway? You know it's a felony to smuggle New York City fire hydrants across state lines?" That's my dad for you.