A year after losing her older sister in a tragic accident, Charlie's Mom marries the father of the most popular boys in school. Still grieving, Charlie struggles to accept her new family and gets involved with her stepbrothers worst enemy, the capta...
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• CHARLIE •
When Monday morning came, summer was beginning to feel like a century ago and my week was already off to a bad start.
Having slept through my alarm, I got out of bed and quickly ran into my bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. Startling me, Tommy was standing in front of the mirror, drying his wet hair with a towel, wearing only a pair of jeans. Tommy was smiling to himself whilst he hummed the lyrics to Drops of Jupiter that was playing a radio sitting on the counter. Tommy seemed to be his happiest in the morning, it was when he had the most energy. He was never affected by hangovers or sleepless nights. I had never seen him with bags under his eyes or depreciating energy. It was kind of impressive.
I quickly realised he had likely just got out of the shower and hadn't bothered to lock the door when he was showering. Gross.
I grabbed my toothbrush, deciding not to let Tommy know how annoyed I was that he hadn't bothered to lock the door while showering. I knew I had to fight any urge to start a conflict with my stepbrother. Especially, after my mom's recent threat to send me to live with my Dad, if I caused any trouble. If I was going to leave here, it would be because I decided I couldn't live here anymore. Not because my mother decided I was ruining her perfect family.
Checking the time on my phone, I only had ten minutes left to get ready so I rushed to finish brushing my teeth. Then I looked for my face wash.
"What's the rush? We've got an hour." Tommy asked, leisurely messing around with his hair.
"No, you've got an hour." I corrected, splashing some cold water on my face, deciding to skip the face wash. "My ride to school died on Friday. I'm riding my bike to school — I don't like to drive."
Tommy furrowed his eyebrows. I could see the cogs turning in his brain as he remembered Joe's car was no longer working. Tommy's crystal blue eyes flashed like he was considering an idea something.
Tommy raised his eyebrows and said, "Do you want a ride with us?"
"Ride with you, Harry and Sebastian?" I question, raising an eyebrow.
I wasn't expecting that.
"It makes sense." Tommy shrugged, an amused smile tugging at the corners of his lips when he registered my surprise. "We're going to the same place, and we live together. It will take you forever to ride your bike."
I scrunched up my face, unsure. Everyone would watch me walk in with the Lakewood brothers. When people at school paid attention to me, it reminded me of how they used to stare at me when my sister died. I wasn't keen on recreating that.
"Although it's tempting, I don't want the attention that it will give me." I replied.
""Who cares? Everyone knows you're our stepsister. Why are you letting people you don't know determine whether you have ten minutes to get ready in the morning or thirty-minutes?"
