Plan B

33

CHARLIE'S POV

"Charlie, let's play football," Ryan, my little brother told me.

"I... can't. I have a lot of work to do, see?" I said showing him the table full of paperwork. I really hated turning him down. "We'll play later okay?"

"Okay," he sadly walked away. I'll cheer him up with some ice cream later today.

Now for my paperwork. I was trying to sort out all my documents and certificates for my entry to the university. I had secured a place in two universities; The University of Packstar which is here, in Australia and The University of Kon Yu in Japan, my home country.

I really wanted to go to The University of Kon Yu mainly because I needed to identify myself with my people but despite this, something held me back from choosing to go there. Probably, it was my dad and Ryan. It was just us three after she left when I was little. Ryan was my half brother. My stepmom, Ryan's mom, died right after Ryan was born.

These events changed my perspective on life. You only have yourself to lean on. You will always be your best option even when you look for backup. Be your own backup.

"All this thinking is making me feel thirsty," I said to myself. I walked up to the fridge, opened it, took out some mango juice and closed it.

I noticed a picture that had been glued on the fridge. I stared at it for a long time. I heard my dad come down the stairs but this did not make me take my eyes off of the picture. I had always ignored it but today, I felt disturbed.

"Dad?"

"Yes son?" My dad replied taking his eyes off of the newspaper he was reading.

"Why do we still have this picture?" I asked pointing at it.

"What's wrong with it? It's always been there," he answered calmly.

"Can't you see that she's in it?" He put his newspaper down.

"And so are you and I."

"I don't understand why you would keep anything that reminds us of her. I got rid of everything."

"She is still and will always be your mother Charlie."

"No! Not after she left us. We don't even know where she is or if she's alive or dead!"

"Charlie!" My dad shouted as if to make me stop talking. Even his shouting was calm. I quickly walked away with the glass of juice in my hand unwilling to continue with the discussion.

I sat next to my papers. I saw my dad walking towards me and I pretended to be engrossed in one of my documents as I sipped some juice.

"Son, one day when you find love, you'll understand." He then left the room.

When I find love? I've never even looked for it in my life. The only love that I have ever known is from my family, without HER of course.

Back to serious matters. I had to look for my major documents and by the look of the messy sofa, I had a lot of searching to do. I started sorting them out. I found a multi-coloured card. It looked quite unfamiliar. I opened it and reading it refreshed my memory.

It was an invitation card from Kristie to her mom's homecoming. It was actually the first day we met. I can remember looking at the stars with her, they were equally beautiful. She always looks lovely, even when we argued... oh yeah, that happened.

She was right. I hardly disclose anything about myself to anyone. I like keeping it private. I decided to go on with looking for the documents but I couldn't help but think of our argument and feel guilty about it. I never feel guilty.