a sky full of stars - louis partridge

pride and prejudice

CHARLOTTE
MONDAY, SEP 6TH, 2020

As soon as the last school bell went, i rushed out of class and quickly put away my things into my locker. It was raining outside so I put my hoodie up and stuffed my hands in my pockets to keep them warm. It had been awhile since i had gotten a new book to read so I caught the train to central London where the nearest book shop was. I arrived in the crowded city centre and made my way to the book shop.

The wind was heavy and my hair was going everywhere. As i walked through the door of the small, cosy shop, I made my way to the fiction section searching for a good book to read. After a while of reading the synopses on the back, i picked out Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. As I continued to browse through the books I heard the door open, i looked up to see the same brown eyed, brown haired boy i had seen on the bus this morning. Louis. He looked my way, as he gave me a faint smile. i shyly smiled back but then my gaze lost the boy as he continued walking through the massive shelves of books.

I decided to return to browsing through the books, but all of a sudden i felt the presence of another figure standing next to me. "pride and prejudice, good choice" the voice said. It was soft and it had the typical southern English accent compared to my accent which was a strong northern english, Geordie accent as I was born in Newcastle but moved to London when my dad died. I knew who's voice it was straight away, it was his. I looked up at him and noticed a pinky colour appearing on his cheeks. "Have you read it?" i replied quietly, i had never properly spoken to Louis, like one on one, if we were to have spoken before it would have only been in a group conversation with other people. "Only like a million times" he replied back sarcastically with a single laugh. "Well was it worth the read?" I said wondering whether I should still buy it or not. "Not my cup of tea but i reckon you'd like it." He replied. I laughed slightly giving him a smile. "You go to my school, right?" He asked "uhh yeah we have english together" i replied "oh yeah of course, we'll i'm Louis" he said as he put his hand out for me to shake it. "I'm Charlotte" I said as I grabbed his hand and shook it. His touch was soft but powerful i found myself falling in love as soon as our skin brushed against one another. "Well I should get going but it was nice meeting you Charlotte, I'll see you at school" he said as our hands parted. "Yeah it was, bye Louis" i said back. He walked by me and straight out the door back into the rain.

As I watched him go i felt myself growing feelings for the boy. But this couldn't be i hardly even knew him. Putting my thoughts aside i walked up to the counter and payed for the book and placed it into my backpack before putting my hoodie up and heading out the door. I crossed the road and headed towards the train station to go home.

My mum was up and awake when I got back from the book store, sitting on their porch smoking a cigarette. She looked awfully hungover and was dressed in her night gown. "Look who decided to come home" Margaret stated snarkily. "Are the boys home yet?" I asked, instead of responding to her snarky comment. She knew how much her two younger brothers, hated being home alone with there mum. Charlotte was the one who had to encourage them to stay out of the house, as much as the could, "I don't know. Why don't you go and fucking look yourself?" Margaret said, rolling her eyes. Charlotte ran upstairs and dumped her bag in her room.

Today she had walked home from the train station instead of catching the bus, hoping that by the time she got home her mum would already be out again. She fell onto her bed, and for a while she stayed like that, just staring up at the ceiling. Charlottes room was what you could call cluttered well on the walls at least but she liked it that way, they were covered in fashions sketches and designs and words that she'd scribbled on the walls when she was bored. She always had her diary with her, just incase she ever had to write something down like a feeling or anything it was her outlet. She loved writing it was her way of expressing herself.

Her oldest little brother River got home just as the sun was going down and walked into her room, dropping his schoolbag on the floor and coming over to her bed. She was writing in her diary but she looked up when she heard him enter. "Mum's drunk again," River said, He was upset, and kicked the door to stop himself from crying he sat back down next to her and she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He leant into her and covered his face as he started to tear up. She knew he was trying his hardest not to.

River felt the need to be the father figure in the house since there dad died and there mum was never in shape to parent her own children. He was thirteen, three years younger than Charlotte. River tried to act strong for her and there younger brother Elliot. He hated it when he acted weak and he'd beat himself up so much if he thought he'd let his siblings down. She didn't tell him everything was gonna be alright. She wasn't going to lie to him. Charlotte and him had the closest sibling bond you could get, she knew him better than anyone else, but she never knew what to say to him when he was upset. She was upset, too, but she kept it to herself. "Is Eli coming home tonight?" she asked softly, River looked at her with his ocean blue eyes, he had the same eyes as her and so did Elliot. That was what the three children all had in common. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "No, He's staying the night at Madi and Joel's house."

Madi had a little brother named Joel who was around Elliot's age, the two would hang out all the time and Madi's family always loved to have Charlotte, River and Elliot over. Her parents knew that it was hard for them at home, and let them stay when they liked. Eventually River fell asleep on her bed. She felt a cold breeze come through the window so she laid her blanket over him so he stayed warm. She tucked her phone into the her pocket and walked down stairs.

Her mum was there, with her newest boyfriend. Margaret had never cared about privacy. She would bring her hookups home even when she knew her children were upstairs and could hear, she did it regularly. The children just chose to ignore it. After all they couldn't really do anything about it. The drugs, the sex, the late nights and the alcohol all started once Charlotte's dad died. She had never been the best mother but she was better than she is now. The newest boyfriend had light brown hair and a beard. He took out a cigarette and lit it up filling the room with smoke. She quickly ran upstairs before she even risked being caught spying. She laid down next to River and pulled the blanket over her to keep herself warm. As her eyes fell heavy, she began to dose off.

hey guys!
i hope you enjoyed this chapter of ASFOS. I will try and upload the next chapter as soon as possible.
i hope you all are doing well!