Hidden Talents

Chapter 1

Present

I stepped off the ice looking at my watch. 7:00 AM. I still have 3 hours until Matt comes and gets me. Plenty of time. I go to the locker room and take off my skates and gather my things. I'm out in under 10 minutes, just as sleepy little hockey players come in, with their even more tired looking parents in tow behind them. I smile to myself remembering being dragged along on those days. And then I think of Brandon and quickly lose the smile. I pull my baseball hat over my eyebrows and throw up my hood to keep from anyone seeing my face. I look around to make sure I don't see anyone I know and then hurry home.

My fingers fly across the keys of the piano as I play my favorite sonata. I feel myself begin to get lost in the music and feel all sense of emotions slip away. Just as I am almost completely emotionless I hear Mother yell out, "Charlotte! Matthew is here. Its time for you to leave." And just like that all the feelings are back. I close the lid of the piano and slowly make my way down the overly grand stairs, in my parents overly grand house. At the bottom of the stairs stands my parents, looking prim and pristine as always, and Matt dressed in his usual hipster looking attire. I hadn't even reached the bottom step when Mother caught my arm and looped it with hers as she headed toward my bags.

"Now, don't forget that you have weekly dinners with Marilyn. She's very excited to get to spend time with you." I smile and nod even though I know she's lying. The reason I have to go to these dinners is because my parents want someone to keep me from going off the deep end again. Mother gives me a kiss on each cheek and then says, "I'm just so happy you're going to be at my Alma Mater!" Another lie, St. B's was the only option I was given and that's because Matt goes there. A warm hand grips my shoulder softly. I turn and face Dad. He's older than my dad by a few years and looks every bit of the bad ass lawyer that he is. He engulfs me in a hug and I just stand there and hug him back. I take a step back and take another look at my parents. My beautiful red haired mother has tears in her eyes and has my father in what is surely painful death grip by the arm. I sling my shoulder bag over my shoulder and give them half a smile and a half wave and follow Matt out the door. As soon as the front door closes behind me Matt starts talking.

"God, I always forget how stuffy your parents can be."

I laugh and respond, "Yeah. Well they are always slightly more animated and involved when you're around. I can guarantee had you not been there they wouldn't have even said goodbye to me."

Matt starts to give me a sympathetic look and I point at him, "Don't even think about it. I will punch you in the face," I say as I help him load my bags into the back of his SUV.

"Alright Charlie, let's get this show on the road."

"Don't call me that." No one can call me that anymore.

"Well then Charlotte, looks like I'm gonna have to come up with a whole new nickname. And that's gonna be a lot of work and is going to require experimenting. You've been warned."

He gives me this devilish grin that has a hidden meaning behind it that means he has a few ideas that I am going to hate. "Why can't you just call me Charlotte? You know, the name Mother and Dad gave me?"

"Because the names our parents give us are just for formal purposes. The names our friends give us are the names that really mean something to us."

"You're not my friend. You're my chaperon."

"Char-Char, you hurt my heart."

The ride to Saint Bernadine's should've been short, but because the school is in the heart of Chicago it takes an extra 45 minutes. When we arrive, we are greeted with a huge ivy colored wall surrounding the school with an iron gate. Matt punches in a code and the gates open at a painfully slow pace. Kind of like the gates in the Haunted Mansion movie, only slower. When they finally open Matt drives up the long driveway and pulls into a parking garage. By the time I muster the energy to get out of the car, Matt already has all of my luggage out of the car and on a trolley.

"Let's get you moving and into your dorm. If you're lucky your roommate won't be here yet and you'll get the good side of the room."

"What roommate? I requested a single."

"First off, freshman never get singles. And in your special case, you got booted out because some big shot kids are coming in and the few remaining singles all got taken. Including yours."

"That's total shit! I have legitimate reasons for wanting a single. It's for other people's safety!"

"Charlotte, no one is going to get hurt by being in your presence. Besides Viktor is..."

"Don't say his name. I don't want to talk about it."

"You're going to have to eventually. In court. In front of a bunch of strangers.

"Yeah, fine. And when that time comes so be it. I'm done talking now."

This whole year is going to suck. Matt gave me a folder with my room and meal plan info. I went straight to the page where it said who my roommate was.

Name: Janey James

Age: 18

From: Piers, Minnesota

Major: Musical Theatre

Matt and his endless chatter continued through the school's courtyard which was weirdly empty. He kept going on about the project he had been working on all summer with his friend. I am supposed to meet him and a couple of Matt's other friends later tonight once I get settled in a bit.

Finally we reached my dorm. Matt unlocked the door with my key and then let himself in, letting the door slam in my face before I could even get into the room. The door opened as quickly as it closed. Matt stared at me as I rubbed my nose and then he just started laughing. His laugh was so contagious that I couldn't help myself and started laughing with him. And once I got started I could stop, I walked into the room with tears strolling down my face from laughing to hard and then I threw myself down onto a bed and continued rolling around laughing for the next 10 minutes. When I had finally calmed down and sat up, Matt sat down next to me and said, "It's good to hear you laugh again."

I turned to him and said, "Haven't had much to laugh about." And that's when it began. Tears. And not just one glistening tear, I mean HUGE sobbing tears that make your whole face red. Matt pulled me into a hug and I just cried into his shirt. I'm not sure how long I cried for but when I finally stopped and looked at Tom's shirt it was soaked. "Sorry about your shirt," I mumbled and then got up off my bed and started opening suitcase. "You should probably go, I need to unpack. I'll catch up with you later."

Matt looked at me for a few seconds and then nodded, "Okay. You're still going to have dinner with me and the guys tonight, yeah?"

I hesitated a bit because I wasn't really in the mood to be around people, but replied, "Yeah, I'll come. Text me when and where you want me to meet you."

He looked at me for a few more seconds, then stood up and walked past me and stopped and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to keep yourself hidden from everyone Charlie. You know that don't you?" He left before I could say that if I don't keep hiding people will get hurt because of me. Look at Brandon.

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ALRIGHTYYYYYY as you can see I changed the names of characters and am going through and editing EVERYTHING sooooo hope you liked it! Oh and for Mother and Dad's characters I imagine Debra Messing and Richard Burgi! :) Later bugsssss