Trying To Get Away

Chapter 4 ~ Char's House

I love Char's house. Its the whole story book place. Two story house with a two car garage and even a white piket fence. Perfectly manicured lawn and freshly trimmed hedges. The inside just as beautiful as the outside. Charlie's room is upstairs as is his mom Erica's and Charlie's step father Aaron's. Downstairs is the living room, dining room, kitchen, and spare bedrooms. 

 I also love Erica alot. Shes woman in her fourties with long curly brown hair and the same black midnight eyes as her son. Charlie gets his straight dirty blonde hair from his father who died when Charlie was a baby. Erica married Aaron when Charlie was five so Aaron has been the only father figure Char has known.

Me and Charlie are laying on his bed watching Scrubs when my phone rings. "Where are you?" The voice of my nightmares demands. "Aunt Clara, im at Charlie's house." I tell her wondering why she wants to know. I feal my hopes rise even though I should know better. Maybe she is starting to care.

"You can't come back tonight." her voice interupts my thoughts.

"Wait, what? I don't understand." I am thoroughly confused.

"I have a special person coming over tonight and you can't be here." She says as if its the most ovious thing in the universe. 

"Umm, ya sure, ill just stay at Charlie's I guess." I say knowing that im always welcome here at least.

"Try not to get pregnant. You take after your whore of a mother." says  Aunt Clara, voice full of spite and discust. Then she hangs up the phone satisfied im going to come back and interup her.

I have no idea why I keep hoping one day she will change. That she will become that person my mother used to say she was. A pretty bright young girl with a bit of a rebelious streak but nothing to big. My mom and dad had no idea what she had become. Aunt Clara and my mom had a bit of a falling out. My parents and I had lived a few states away from Clara so I never met her before my parents died. My mom had not seen Clara since about 2 years before I was born. Mom would talk about her little sister now and then though. She said that Clara was the cutest little girl and that she was always following my mother around.

"You okay Zannie?" Charlie said sounding mildly worried.

"Ya im okay Char. Do you mind if I stay here?"

"Of course not. Your always welcome here."

"Thanks." I told him sincerely. "I dont know what I would do without you" 

"Probably get eaten by a tyrannosaurus rex." He told me seriously. I thought about it and decided the best course of action was to not reply and go into his drawer for something to sleep in.

The next morning I wake up in Char's arms, which isnt unusual, to his alarm blaring. The first thing I think is I want a papaya.

"Char." I say while shaking him. "Wake up." He groans and blinks bleary eyes the color of a dark stormy night.

"What Zan? I'm trying to sleep." Charlie exclaims, starting to close his eyes again.

"No!" I shout "Don't go back to sleep."

"Ugh, fine Zannie. Im up now." He grumbles at me sounding perturbed. He sits up and pushes the covers of himself and heads to the bathroom attached to his room.

I decide to go down stairs in search of my papaya while Char-Char is in the restroom. In the kitchen I find my prize in a red fruit bowl. I cut into it and start eating. 

"Zannie?" I hear Char's voice float from upstairs. I call to him that im in the kitchen and his footsteps pound down the stairs.

"Hey, you better start to get ready we have to leave in twenty." Charlie tells me.

"Oh shoot, yeah, im just gonna take a quick shower." I tell him already running up the stairs to his bathroom.

In about seventeen minutes I was ready. I had blow dried my hair, using Erica's hair dryer, so my hair wouldnt be dripping and was wearing a band tee and skinny jeans from the drawer of clothes I keep in Charlie's room.

"Lets go." I tell him and we head to his car.

"Took you long enough." He tells me.

"I didn't even take the whole twenty minutes!" I tell him indignantly.

"Hon, you took twenty five."

Danm I knew I shouldn't have wasted time drying my hair. I just hate walking around with wet hair. My mom always used to dry it for me because she thought I would get sick if I went out with it wet.

 Thinking of my mom gives me a odd combonation of feelings. Its nice sometimes to think of all the good times we had together but it makes me sad and somehow lonley to think we won't get anymore.

"Zannie?" Char-Char waves a hand in front of my face. "We're here."

I snap out of my own world and see that we are already at school.

"Oh right." I mumble.

With far away thought me and my best friend walk into school to face the day.