UNEDITED VERSION
To break free of the stereotypical box that high school placed her in, Charlie must team up with Liam, the new soccer player on the team her dad coaches.
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Girls fall at Liam's feet - except Charlie. She...
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Mudita (noun) {Pāli, Sanskrit}
- taking delight in the happiness of others, vicarious joy.
~*~
The hours ticked towards my birthday and I could feel the excitement building as well as sorrow, sorrow at the fact that my mom wouldn't be here to celebrate with us.
Just 3 more hours and it would be 12:00 am and my brothers and I would hit the big 18. My tummy felt full due to all the food Dad just fed us at dinner. He spent the entire day cooking and it troubled me to see him so frail. But he insisted on cooking for us and not going to lie, the food was exquisite.
Halting outside of my room door, I took a second to look at the pictures on the walls. Maybe, just maybe things would be fixed between Jillian and me. She still hadn't spoken to me at school, wanting to stick to her rule but she texted me on Wednesday to say that she was available for the party tonight. The thought of her having to sneak out made me giggle.
Entering my room, I shut the door behind me and saw Liam slouched across my bed, gazing up at the ceiling. Every night for the past week, he'd slink into my room through the window and just sleep. Some nights he'd want to snuggle and other nights he'd just lay in silence before falling asleep.
My guess was that he was still distressed about his mom wanting to cut him out of her life. Aunt Judy was back home from her trip to her boyfriend but Liam never stayed the night there. Sabrina was back too and hated seeing her brother so hurt. They both tiptoed around each other. During the early hours of Tuesday morning, Liam murmured to me that he struggled to look Sabrina in the eye after he picked up alcohol.
After Liam had finished sobbing in my arms, Aunt Judy and Sabrina entered their house, the latter looking devastated at the sight of the numerous empty beer bottles. The older woman put two and two together and from what Sabrina told me at school, she was trying to subdue her own addiction for the sake of the kids she was trying to raise.
"Hey," I acknowledged softly, shifting to sit at the edge of my bed and crisscrossed my legs, fidgeting with the Captain America shorts I wore. "When did you get in?" I inquired as I glimpsed in the region of the now-closed window.
Every night I'd make sure to leave it unlocked so that he could get into the room. His motorcycle was fixed and he parked it a distance from my house so my dad wouldn't see. He'd have a coronary if he knew a boy was staying the night.
"Hey," he nodded in acknowledgement, inclining his head imperceptibly to give me that handsome smile I'd come to love. "Just a few minutes ago. How are you?"
I pouted and pushed closer towards his opened arms. "I was about to ask you that. " I comprehended that he was hinting at the fact that the anniversary of my mom's death was fast approaching but I wasn't going to ignore him still being troubled over what happened with his mom.
