Emerald Cove

Chapter 15

Katherine's POV

I woke to the most beautiful woman in the world snuggled into my side. I couldn't have been happier.

"Good morning, beautiful." I said sleepily.

"Correction it's good afternoon, love. Its almost four in the afternoon. I can't believe we've slept all day," she said stretching.

We got up and got dressed. As we exited the bedroom Mark and Victoria were coming out of the guestroom.

"I'm starving," Mark said simply. With that it was decided that we would head down to the diner for some food.

We order a ton of food and ate and laughed and had a really great meal together. Afterwards I dropped Victoria off at home first. When Mark kissed her goodbye Charlotte and I made gagging noises which made Victoria blush and Mark glare at us both.

I dropped Charlotte and Mark off at their house. I told Charlotte that I was going to go home to get a change of clothes and would be back before her mother had supper on the table for all of us.

The whole drive home I couldn't help, but let my mind wonder to Charlotte. Last night was incredible. She made me feel things I've never felt before. I pulled back up to the house and went inside humming to myself.

As I closed the door behind me I heard my father's booming voice from his office beckoning me in there.

"Yes, sir," I said from the doorway. My grin instantly fading when I saw the solemn look on my mother's face. Had she been crying? "Who died?" I asked voicing my first thought.

My mother scoffed and my father gestured for me to sit down. "Your mother and I have decided that it would be best for you to finish up your senior year at Harrigton Military Boarding School outside of New York," he stated matter of fact.

I shot back to my feet anger consuming me. "What?!? Are you both crazy? I can't change schools halfway through my senior year. Even if I did I wouldn't go to a military school." I stated venomously.

"This is not open for discussion. Now sit back down," he said simply. When I sat back down he continued. "We know about your little affair with that girl. It ends now. You go to Harrington and finish up school there. Then you go to college, my alma mater. After that you will join practices with me and this little disgrace will be forgiven. Are we understood?"

I slumped further in the chair in defeat. "Yes, sir... Just let me say goodbye," I said staring at the floor.

"No, you will have no further communications with that girl. Go upstairs now and pack your bags. You won't need much. They are expecting your arrival tomorrow and will provide you with uniforms then," he said. "Oh and no need to take your cell phone. They aren't permitted." He said holding out his hand. "Now go pack. Our plane leaves in an hour."

I handed over my cellphone and made my way upstairs in a fog. They can't do this. How can they do this? What can I do? If I don't comply then my whole future is at risk. I'll go up there and then come up with a way to get in touch with Charlotte to let her know what happened.

Charlotte's POV

I knew something was wrong. I could feel it. Katherine wasn't due back for another half hour, but I couldn't stop pacing. Something was wrong. Mark was trying to distract me. The minutes slowly ticked by and before long momma was asking Mark to set the table and serving supper. I gave into my worries and text Katherine.

After supper I still didn't have a response from Katherine. I tried to call her and her phone went straight to voicemail.

"Maybe she fell asleep," Mark said from the doorway of my bedroom. I was currently pacing the room and checking my phone.

"Something is wrong, Mark. I can feel it," I said.

"Look we will give it another hour and if she isn't here then I will drive you over," he said hugging me close and petting the top of my head.

He laid down on my bed and I sat hugging my knees in my desk chair next to the bed. We talked about Victoria and him. Apparently they were more serious than he let on at first. He said she was planning on going to the community college in the town near by and they had discussed getting a place together when she graduated. I was happy for him, but at the same time my heart was aching.

When the hour mark passed I jumped out of the chair and threw on my jacket and raced to Mark's truck without even making sure he was following.

He pulled up at Katherine's and I was out of the truck before he even got the truck stop properly. He yelled at me, but I wasn't paying attention to what he said.

I rang the door bell and waited a minute. I was just about to ring the bell again when Mrs. Middleton opened the door. She glared at me with disgust, but I wasn't sure why. She had always been very nice to me the times we've been around each other before.

"Is Katherine home?" I asked anxiously.

"No," she deadpanned, glaring daggers at me. "Look, Charlotte. You are a smart girl. I don't know how to properly say this, but Katherine wants nothing else to do with you. She came home this evening demanding her father send her away for the rest of her senior year. She's ashamed she got herself caught up in such a disgraceful relationship with you. Now if you'll excuse me." With that she closed the door. My knees went weak and Mark caught me before I hit the ground.

Mark carried me to his truck and put me in the passenger seat. He wiped my tears away and kissed my forehead. What was happening here? She was lying, right? But if she was lying why didn't Katherine tell me goodbye? My heart felt like it was shattering into a million pieces.

Katherine's POV

Four month have passed. In the beginning I wrote Charlotte every day, but after two months of not getting a response I stopped writing. I never stopped thinking about her though. My heart broke when she didn't write me back. Was she mad at me for leaving her? Didn't she know that I didn't have a choice?

I finished packing my stuff. Tomorrow is graduation day. My parents should arrive this afternoon. They are taking me out to supper. After graduation we fly back home together and then the following week we leave for the vacation house in Key West for the remaindered of the summer until college registration.

The first thing I did when I got home was take a nice hot shower. The second thing I did was relax on my balcony. I missed this. The peace and tranquility of this, I missed it. Sharing a dorm room with three other girls was the opposite of peace and tranquility. Not to mention the constant yelling that comes with military school. I'm glad to be home. However, being here makes my heart ache for Charlotte more than ever.
The next morning, after my run, I showered and made the familiar drive to Charlotte's house. I worked up the nerve and knocked on her front door. Mark answered and when he saw me his face contorted into anger.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked stepping onto the front porch and closing the door behind him.

"Is she here?" I asked.

"No... Not that she'd want to see you anyways. She's already left for college and I sure as hell am not going to tell you where that is. You destroyed her. I'm damn sure not letting that happen again. Now I think it would be best if you got the hell off my front porch," he stated glaring daggers at me before he turned and went back inside slamming the door in my face. With that I was officially exiled from Charlotte's life forever. I had loved and I had lost and I wasn't sure I would ever be whole again.