Charlie

2. Yellow Sundress

The road to Bradford Middle School has got to be the most rugged roads that Florida has to offer. Believe me, Florida has A LOT of bumpy roads. The sound of disgruntled teens, along with backpacks jumping around the floorboards is not the most exciting noise first thing in the morning, but it's our usual. The typical morning routine in the Crawford household goes like this:

6:00- Wake up, brush teeth, cook breakfast.

6:30- Try to wake up twins, bang on Blake's door.

6:45- Yell at twins to get up 480 more times, feed the cats, bang on Blake's door.

7:00- Yell at twins to get up only 3,709 more times, curse, bang on Blake's door until I get a response.

7:05- Get myself dressed, brush hair, do makeup, someone usually breaks something. (Flashback to this morning's plate.)

7:10- Rush everyone out the door, honk at Blake from driveway and text him that I'm going to leave him.

7:15- Blake comes out of house with shirt in one hand and a waffle in the other.

7:20- As we're pulling out of the drive way, one of the twins says they forgot something and the other has to pee and the whole process starts over again.

We're usually late.

Today, unfortunately, is not an exception from our usual routine. So, I'm forced to walk the twins in to school and sign them in tardy. The oh-so-sweet (not really) receptionist, gives me a posh 'I'm-better-than-you' smile.

"What's the reason today?" She says as her evil nose scrunches up in a superior way.

I'm nineteen and I'm raising 3 teenagers and myself! I want to scream this, but since I am a mature adult, I restrain.

"Oh, well. We just woke up late, Mrs. Ranchy." I smile sweetly as I say this, and wonder if she knows the kids call her 'Mrs. Raunchy'.
This idea makes me involuntarily snort, to which she responds with a deathly glare. I quickly rearrange my face back to the sweet smile.

"Well," she hisses, "The children should get to class. Don't want to miss any more learning than I'm sure they already have."

Andrea and Aiden just stand there, hands by their sides like they're waiting for me to snap back. Instead, I take a deep breath and forced a smile.

"Go on, I'll see you after school." I say through my fake smile as I nudge the twins toward the double doors. "Love you!" I say with the cheeriest wave I can manage, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

...

As we pull up to Bradford High, I realize how weird it feels to be back. I just graduated last year and dropping Blake off felt a lot stranger than I thought it would. I mean, it's only been a year and I already only talk to four of my high school friends. Not that I had all that many to begin with, but definitely more than four... at least five. The thought of this almost makes me tear up.

"See ya, sis." He says, hopping out of the Jeep, obviously oblivious to the personal crisis I'm having right now.

Blake slams the door to the jeep and immediately turns back around, feeling the cold fabric of his back pack strap touch his bare shoulder. I roll the window down, laughing.

"You were going to spend your first day of senior year shirtless?" I ask and hand him his black v-neck through the car window. He takes the shirt and slips it over his head effortlessly, replacing his backpack on his now clothed shoulder.

"Hey! I'm trying to make a fashion statement. You know, go out with a bang?!" He says this through a grin, spinning around with his hands out by his shoulders. He waves me goodbye and just as he's about to turn around, a blonde ball of energy comes bouncing up next to him.

"Hi, Charlie!" Mack says, with more pep than I've ever seen at any given sporting event.

She swings her long pony tail behind her shoulder. She really is very pretty. She's the kind of girl that you would see online and think they have the absolutely perfect life. She's slim, has perfectly clear skin and big round blue eyes with eyelashes that go on for days. I blink, too aware of my too thick thighs, little belly pouch and squinty green eyes. Out of habit, I reach up and push my golden wired glasses to their respective place. I swallow and smile back at Mack. Biting my lip, I try to resist the thought that pops into my brain; the pregnancy test. I can't help but lean down to see if she's got a little baby bump under that yellow sundress. They have no idea I've found that test in the bathroom, and I have no idea how to tell them.

"Um, Charles? What are you looking at? Is there a bug or something?" She swipes at her dress frantically, then moves her hands up to her hair.

Nope, just a baby.

"Um- I - No! No bugs. Haha. I - er- I Just"

I stumble over my words and now they're both looking at me like I've lost my mind. "I just really like your dress. Where did you get it? Because I've been looking for one like that... for work!"

Why did I yell that?

"But I don't know if I could pull off yellow like you can. I have just been looking everywhere and I just can't seem to find one like it. I found one in green, and red, and orange. Just not yellow, nope not yellow."

Someone stop me!

" Maybe if I did find the yellow one then we could match! We'd be twins, huh? That would be so cute I-"

"Oh Charlie, I think that was the bell!" Blake says, with a what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you look on his face.

I sigh, relieved to stop talking.

"I got it from Old Navy!" Mack yells and smiles back to me, hand-in-hand with my baby brother as they walk towards the school, blending in with the crowd. I know we've got at least 10 minutes until that bell rings, but I'm thankful to Blake for cutting off my ramble.

I slump down in my seat and close my eyes. Why does my mouth still work when my brain doesn't?! Just as I release a deep breath, the car behind me honks, making me jump.

I straighten my neck, push the gas and turn up the radio. Shania Twain, I smile to myself. Just what I need to fix my day.

Wait... why isn't the car moving?