Simpler Things

Part 13: Friday.

I felt terrible. Unsafe. And what's the first thing someone who doesn't feel safe do? Call her mother. It rang, maybe 15 times. Each agonizingly slow. No answer; as it brought me to a voice mail,
"Hey, um, this is Alyson, and I need you, I guess. So, call me back, you know my number. It's important."
The message beeped, and an electronic voice told me my message had been delivered.
Charlie had come home to me curled up on my bed. I had fallen asleep, I really was tired. He had come in and draped my fuzzy purple blanket over me. I stirred but didn't wake. He crept toward the door when he noticed a white letter, sitting on my desk. He walked over, wondering who could've sent it. He read the message, his eyes scanning left to right. After he let out a short breath. He turned to look at me.
"Alyson," he walked over, the letter still in his hand, "what have you done?"

○○○

I hadn't woken up. I had no clue Charlie knew. No one did. The little bastard could lie. The following week, was normal. At least I tried to make it normal. But it didn't last forever. Kyle came almost every other night. I hadn't seen my father in days. And worst of all, the wedding was coming up. And I still haven't met the bride. But Kyle still insisted. Friday evening we headed off to the lodge that the wedding was being held. The car drive was long. The scenery changed into dark trees scaling the hight of my house. The road was less popular then our small town.
"Just a couple more hours." My mother voiced, too happily.
"Where us this wedding exactly?" Charlie questioned.
"Past Huntsville," she pointed out the window, "and just near the-" she smiled as we passed a large wooden sign, greeting us to Huntsville.
She never finished her sentence, but that's okay, I guess. She was really excited. I looked over to Charlie, hoping to share one of our silent conversations, but he didn't hear me.
Mom reached over and pecked Kyle on the cheek, as we reached our destination. I got out of the vehicle and stretched. The cold shocked me.
"Like the cold mountain air?" Kyle said, as he got out of the car.
"Mountain?" He calmly pointed to our right. Now I've never seen a mountain, besides movies and such but I swear, this was the weakest mountain I've ever seen. It was so... little. Even though it looked distant I guessed 130 feet. I looked back at my family, heading into this lodge.
At the front desk, a wide smiling blonde greeted us. She was 5"2 at the most.
"Hello! I'm Irene, may I get your names?" She ended with another thousand dollar smile. My mother, 5"7, said,
"We are with the Winc-"
"Kyle?!" A woman walked down the stairs, rushing over to hug Kyle.
"Hey, how are you?" She asked in a peepy voice.
"Great. How're you?"
I blanked out for most of the conversation. It was mostly about how much they missed each other, him introducing us and the front desk handing us our keys. Charlie and I were sharing a room, while kyle and my mother were doing the same.
I walked up the stairs, lugging my suit case behind me. Charlie took two at a time, holding his duffle bag with ease. I stopped in front of room 32. Checking the key, I slid it in the key hole. It clicked as the door swung open. The rooms were pretty basic, your usual hard wood, probably scratch proof. Your little closet, and dresser. And two twin beds. Charlie threw his bag on his bed, muttering, "sweet".
The bathroom was a dark stone traced with pink lines, like the side of a mountain. All the towels were folded neatly, the vanity mirror crisp without a trace of a finger print.
"I'm going to go... explore." He said, smiling childishly. I wondered around, aimlessly, running my fingers along the cedar paneling. I decided to go to outside, it being a beautiful day. Heading down the stairs, I left the large building. The large forest trees surrounded the pathway, I passed some signs that read; Lake. And soon enough I was greeted by the large lake. The wind blew in my face. I couldn't see any end to the large body of water. It was... beautiful.
"I know, right." I turned quickly. Cara stood behind me, smiling with a devilish twinkle in her eyes.
"Yeah," I said, forcing a smile. "So, you excited?" I asked.
"Of course. I'm marrying the perfect man." I had noticed Cara's features in the low light. Her large blue eyes, her turned up nose, and prominent cheek bones. She really was pretty.
"Well, I better get back, apparently I have a huge role in this wedding."
I laughed a little as she walked off. I walked on the dock and sat down watching the sunset, not knowing I was being watched.