Just My Luck

Before

(Read 'A world of its own' by @dancer571 its great!!!!)

Charity knelt by the photo album. It was still the same shade of pale pink, with bows and hearts on the cover. She ran her finger across the top to remove the thick layer of dust hiding the name she had spent so long trying to forget.

Leslie Milton.

As her hand shook, she turned the page to reveal a baby. She was still in the hospital, freshly swaddled by the nurses. She was looking up at the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. A young woman with chestnut brown hair that fell to her shoulders, a bright smile flowering from her face. She has just given birth to a healthy baby girl.

Despite all the odds.

All the naysayers. The teachers, and peers who told her she was ruining her life. The religious folks who said to pray for her. Those who said she couldn't raise a child. All the prying eyes, the stares, the gossiping and rumours. It all became to much for her to handle.

Before any of this happened. A time when it was Leslie and Andy up against the world. Before bills and stress. Before that fateful day that would change their lives forever. When they were celebrating the football teams win at Chad's house, and Leslie pulled Andy into another room. When nothing else mattered but the two of them.

When the delivery day came and they had to grow up so fast. They got married while everyone else was partying without a care in the world.

She flipped to the last page, even though her better half advised not to. There it was the inscription that squeezed her throat like an animal caught in a noose.

In loving memory of Leslie Ann Milton. A mother, wife, daughter and performer. You will be missed dearly.

That was a photo album from when she was a baby though. The one that brought back the feeling of nothingness. She wanted the happy one. from when her parents were in high school.

She snapped back to the present day, when she saw the velvet rope across the room. She leaped over to it, and snatched it up. She ran out of their before Avery could ask any questions.

When she got downstairs, her father was waiting on the landing for her. She didn't try to escape him. She just nodded. He nodded, and let her pass him without a word spoken, but she felt as if it was a conversation in itself.

The group of girls had gotten back to the library earlier, since Charity had taken so long. When they walked in, she couldn't help but yell.

"You've got to be kidding me right now!"

There were over a hundred kids from the looks of it. They were dancing around and the music was cranked up so loud, she could feel the old tile floor of the foyer shaking. They pushed past some kids to find the display.

Thankfully, someone had the decency to push it into the corner so it wouldn't get any further damaged. Once that was cleared up, Avery pulled Charity into the centre of the commotion, and they started to let loose.

Charity was having so much fun, and laughed genuinely, something she hadn't done in a while. It had been so long, she didn't think she would be able to remember, but there it was bubbling up from inside.

What felt like minutes, turned into hours. The time washed away, and all that was left was a calming sense of joy. Everything was going perfectly, until the music came to a halt. Everyone looked around, but couldn't pin point who the culprit was. That's when they made deathly eye contact.

"EVERYONE GET OUT NOW!" Yelled Mrs. Wilkins. For such a petite lady, she had a booming voice. The sweaty teenagers scrambled for the door without so much as a second glance.

In seconds, it was just Charity and Avery staring at an extremely angry Mrs. Wilkins. Her face had turned dark red, and a blue vein looked like it was ready to burst at any second. Her white reading glasses in a crescent moon, where hanging on the tip of her nose before she pushed them up.

She shook her head furiously, and stormed out. Charity and Avery looked at each other and started to clean up. The place was a mess of garbage on the ground, and fallen books.

Someone must have stayed behind, since Avery was across the room, but she could hear someone behind her.

"Thanks." She said, turning around not seeing who was behind her.

"No problem."

It was Michael. She didn't want to talk to him. She had a bad feeling about him. Something about him was off putting.

"Oh." She said taken aback.

"I'm sorry about the other day," he said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, "I wanted to look cool in front of the other guys."

"Whatever. It's your life." She said trying to walk away. This time when he tried to grab her fore arm, she let him.

"I didn't catch your name, by the way."

"Charity. Charity Davis."

"What a beautiful name, for such a beautiful girl."

She blushed, and looked away. It wasn't usually like this. She tried to stay away from people. Now she had a friend and a friend who was a boy at that.

His hand was resting on the small of her back , when he saw something over her shoulder.

"What's That?" He asked, walking over to the display.

"It's a really old book, written by a famous scholar."

"Wow. That's cool. It must be worth a lot of money for the library to have."

"They only have it for a little while. I heard Mrs. Wilkins say it's worth over five grand!"

"Shouldn't there be someone guarding it?"

"Well, we weren't supposed to be here after hours." Charity admitted. He smirked at her, but not a rude one, a kind, understanding one. It was beautiful.

"So, someone watches it during the day?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." She replied. Why was he so hung up on this? They should have someone guarding it at all times since it's very valuable.

Avery walked back to where they were standing, and it looked like the library was as clean as it had ever been.

"Well, at least it's clean for tomorrow." Said Avery.

"What's clean?" Asked Michael.

"The library." Said Charity. She walked over to the book shelf, where there was an inscription, probably from years of people chipping at the wood.

AD+LM=LOVE

Who could that be?

(I'm not sure if Michael should have blonde or black hair. Please comment what you think!!!!! Don't forget to vote!!!! thanks!!!)