Okay. It’s been months. Sorry for the hiatus, but life decided to not like me for a while.
Here’s your one and only warning, kiddies, this has strong language usage and some trips down memory lane. If you can’t handle it, then I suggest… I don’t know what.
Also, I’ve been noticing there are quite a few stories on fp with the same feel as this one, and here is my first official disclaimer: This story is my own, nobody else’s. I did not take any material from anybody else. Thanks, g’night.

.Chappy 13.

Charlie sat on Tuck’s bed, cursing the kitchens for being so far away. It was the day before the family dinner and classes had been canceled so the students could get their rooms parent friendly. The four roommates split the cleaning between themselves; Charlie with the living room, Oscar with their bedroom, poor Gavin was stuck with the bathroom, and Tuck was cleaning his and Gavin’s bedroom. Charlie and Tuck, being the only two done, decided to retire to the letter’s room to watch some Angel (after learning that the Buffy saga wasn’t over, Tuck went out and bought all 5 seasons of Angel).

The current predicament that had taken hold of Charlie was the distinct lack of popcorn. Tuck, who was the golden boy of The Learning Academy Boarding School, had gone to the kitchens to get some. The kitchens, however, were in the faculty building, far from the third floor student building. Tucker had already been gone from the room for 10 minutes.

Just as the angry girl was about to leave to check the progress of everyone else, a sleek, fancy cell phone started ringing. Despite the pressing of many buttons, Charlie couldn’t figure out how to answer the phone. After pressing a couple more buttons, the ringing stopped, but the answering machine started.

“Hey, this is Tuck. Either I’m not in or I’m avoiding you. Leave it at the beep.”

“Yo, man. I guess you’re not in… Damn, I really needed to talk to you about next week.” Charlie’s heart skipped a beat during the long pause Jeff took. “Shit. Well, I guess I’ll call back then, because this really needs to be planned. Anyway, thanks a lot, Tuck, for doing this for me. I’m grateful that not everyone condemned me for a little mistake.”

Staring at the phone, the now distraught Charlie wasn’t sure how long it was before Tuck got back. Minutes, days, hours? When he finally did walk through the door, merry and baring popcorn, the girl’s blood ran cold. Charlie threw the phone at her roommate.

“Asswipe! Planning, plotting. You know, when I first met you I thought you were an arrogant, egotistical ass. I got to know you, and thought I was wrong. I wasn’t, though, was I?”

Tuck watched on, confused, as his friend ran out of the room. A few seconds, later the sound of the outer door being slammed was heard. Oscar and Gavin walked in, trying to decipher the girl’s antics. Tuck could only stare after her.

Charlie’s POV

I watched as an unlit cigarette weaved in and out of my fingers. It bobbled up and down, around and out, not a care in the world. It reminded me of happier days, when I was 7. There was a get-together of my parent’s friends, all sitting around the table playing poker with cheap plastic chips. I sat by my dad’s chair, watching in fascination as he weaved poker chips over his fingers, not even missing a beat when he made a joke, or was focusing on the game. I had practiced the expert roll of the coin for two weeks straight, only coming out of my room for meals. When I finally had it down, I proudly showed my dad. From there I moved on to twirling everything and anything I could, just to see how good I could get.

I looked down at the cigarette again and plucked it from its path, lighting it. I don’t need the memories, happy or not. I was sitting with my back up against the side of the student building, and for the past half hour, I had spent every minute not thinking about anything. Or at least, that’s what I was trying to do. It’s harder than one might assume.

I let my head fall back against the hard brick of the building, taking a deep drag from my no longer twisting, twirling, carefree cigarette as I felt Tuck sit beside me. “Hey, Charlie. It’s good to see you’re okay. Everyone’s been really worried.” My only reply came in the form of exhaling smoke rings. “So, um, about up there… I’m really sorry. If you don’t let me explain, I totally understand.” So much for not thinking.

Looking at my roommate, I saw that he was sincerely sorry. I took another drag off my cigarette.

“I’m not angry,” I told him, but I only got a disdainful look in return. “No, really, I’m not.” I let the smoke seep out of my lungs as I spoke. As the wind blew between the buildings, I shivered. Apparently rushing out of a room in a dramatic action was overlooked by December weather.

I looked at my roommate again, ignoring the wind any further. I sighed and decided to start from the start. “Tuck, do you know why I liked Jeff so much from the beginning? He let me indulge in my fantasy world. I’m was in no way chaste before Jeff, but I was naive. I still am, and I like it. I love believing that everyone is good, that there is no bad in anyone, regardless what their actions say. Jeff let me believe it. He encouraged me to believe that nobody was bad, and that nobody would hurt me without much regret.”

I shook my head, knowing I sounded ridiculous. I could feel my no longer calm face turn to a bitter smile. “I know it’s kind of twisted, me thinking that everyone is good with how my dad and his family acted, but I seem to specialize in irrational thoughts. Actually, it could be because of my dad that I think like that. It’s like I have to reassure myself that I’ll never be hurt so bad again… that nobody could stand the repercussions of such a horrible deed.”

At Tucker’s silent nod of understanding, I went on. “I tried explaining it all to friends, boyfriends, but nobody understood. They would laugh it off, thinking it was jut me being my usual, quirky self. When I explained it to Jeff, and when he said he understood… It was perfect! Here was someone I absolutely adored, someone who adored me, and he completely understood me. For those four months we were together, I was in heaven. Then he cheated on me, said all those horrible things… Not only did he betray my trust, but he also betrayed me in every way possible. He crushed me completely.”

I sighed again, and looked over toward my roommate, expecting a look that said I was insane. Instead, he looked confused. I snubbed out my cigarette, then scooted a little closer.

“Hey, what’s up? You look troubled.”

The look that Tuck gave me made my heart skip a beat. He looked completely confused, like his world was crumbling around him. It only lasted a minute, but it wasn’t a look I would ever forget.

“A mistake... He said he was drunk, and it was a total mistake, everything he said and did.” The boy’s face was now full of sorrow. “He told me that if he got you alone for only an hour, he could make you understand. I was arranging it for him, because I believed what he was saying. What if I had gotten you two alone together, who knows what would have happened?”

I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, briefly thinking about how warm he was. “Hey, there’s no way you could have known. You were being a loyal friend, doing what you knew. Jeff told me that you, him, and Os have been friends since the awkward puberty stages. I’m just some chick who lives with you because of dumb luck.”

I smiled, and then stood up, dusting my behind off. I held down a hand to my roommate on the ground. “Why don’t we go upstairs, so I can chastise those lazy bums for not getting any work done while I was gone.”

Tucker smiled back and took my hand. As soon as he was standing, he frowned down at me (though it wasn’t by too much). “Jesus, girl, you’re freezing! Why didn’t you say anything?” He quickly skinned his jacket and put it around me, rubbing up and down my arms furiously, trying to work up friction. I smiled gratefully, making a mental note to remember a jacket next time I stormed out.

We walked like that for a while, until we got inside the dorm building. Walking up the steps, Tucker suddenly stopped. “Oh! You mom got here early for the family day. I completely forgot. She should be waiting in the room.”

I stopped with him, my eyes wide. “My mom. Is here? What?! How could you forget that?”

With a sheepish smile he replied, “Well, I was kind of worried you would murder me on the spot. There’s also a large scary man with her. I think he said his name was Bryce, but I didn’t-”

My eyes were now the size of small tea plates. “Bryce?” I started running full speed up the stairs, not caring if Tucker was behind me or not. I burst out of the stairwell and into the hallway, running towards our room. I got through that as if it were nothing, then spotted a familiar face sitting on the couch, relaxed and oblivious.

I launched myself onto the couch, more specifically onto the lab of one of my most favorite people in the world. “BRYCE! Bryce, Bryce, Bryce, Bryce,” I exclaimed in joy. I pulled away enough to catch a well-known grin, met it with my own, and proceeded to beat the shoulders and midsection of said person.

“You jerk! When did you get out of the service? Why didn’t you call?” I sat on the knees of the man in front of me, one of my legs to either side of his legs. I heard two people tittering, probably Oscar and Sebastian, but I could deal with that later.

Bryce’s green eyes shined with laughter. “I’ve been home for about a month and a half. Before you kill me, though, blame your mother for me not calling.”

Bryce was my older brother’s best friend. After Chuck left, his friend continued to play elder-sibling, nearly a father figure, to Kyle and I. When Kyle died, Chuck moved back, and Bryce practically lived with us, too. It took me a long to realize how hard that was for him. Not only was he taking care of our family, he was taking care of his own life, too. His father wasn’t in the picture, but had left Bryce his farm on the county boundaries. Each day he would wake up at about dawn to check on his animals and garden, then come back to help out the family. Years later he was still a close family friend.

I gave the man a glare, a last punch in the shoulder for good measure, then jumped up to find my mom. She was waiting patiently with an amused smile on her face in the armchair. I gave an evil grin right before jumping into her lap, ringing my arms around her shoulders. She smiled at me, giving as much of a hug as she could in the awkward position. After a few seconds, the smile turned to a grimace, then quickly an angry gaze. Busted.

“Charline Elizabeth Madeline Hayes, you give me your pack right now.” I knew resistance was futile. Once both of my middle names worked their ways into a conversation. I slowly slipped my hand in my pocket and pulled out a beat up pack of the cheapest menthol cigarettes on the market (well, they had been floating around in my purse for the past 4 months!) She gave a pointed stare, but it was broken by a yawn. In a chain reaction, Sebastian and Oscar yawned too.

“Why don’t we all get to sleep, then we can properly meet everyone then?” Bryce was brilliant, too, did I mention?

We ended up putting my mom and Bryce in Oscar and I’s room, Oscar and I in Tuck’s bed, Gavin in his bed, and Tuck on the couch. It took a good half an hour for everyone to get their turn in the bathroom. Os made grumbly noises about sleeping in a bed with me and not his boyfriend, but in the end sleep won out. It had been a long, eventful day for everyone

Four people groaned nearly simultaneously the next morning, being woken up by a loud round of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". Charlie’s mom could be heard laughing loudly, before the music came to a stop. Oscar groaned as Charlie rolled out of bed. She walked to her bedroom and glared at her mom.

“Ohh, I forgot that was my ring tone when I set my alarm this morning,” the older woman gasped between laughs. Her daughter glared. “You just rickrolled us. Not cool. Not cool at all.”

Everyone slowly dragged themselves out of bed. By 8:30, all the inhabitants of the room were in the dining room eating a hearty breakfast. Other parents and family had trickled in over the night. The headmaster was trying to play nice with the parents, and quite obviously took a route that didn’t bring him near Charlie or her family. By the evening, another four tables were set up for all the family that had come from out of town.

There was little trouble, despite all the people, though. Jeff only tried to speak to his ex-girlfriend once, but with her mom glaring from one side, and Bryce menacing from the other, Jeff quickly learned to drop the idea of getting back together. After that, Oscar had taken his family to another table, dragging Sebastian’s company with him. Oddly, Edward and Edwin had chosen to sit with Charlie and her family. Their mother and father were proper and polite, while their younger sister, Madeline, was in awe of Charlie. The first girl at The Academy! Tucker’s older brother, who was nearly a spitting image of the younger boy, plus a goatee and a 7’o’clock shadow, was sitting across from Bryce, sharing stories about their time in the army.

After the fifth “you’re so amazing, Charlie” from a young Madeline, the youngest Hayes was almost glad to see the headmaster making a toast. Almost.

“Tonight, for the upcoming winter holidays, we the administration at The Learning Academy Boarding School would like to raise our glasses to all the parents and siblings for coming out tonight.” Most of the administration at the faculty table grumbled as they raised their wine. “To loving family, great holidays, and amazing feasts!” a few people chuckled, but most just took a small drink out of their glass. Apparently, it was more than one family with a dislike for the current headmaster.

Taking the few laughs as a sign, the man continued speaking. “Seeing as this is a family holiday, I am quite happy to have my entire family together. Not only do I have my mother and brother at my side, but my niece and her lovely mother are here, tonight, too! Why don’t you come on up here and sit with your family?”

Everyone looked back towards the two aforementioned people. Charlie and her mother glanced at each other. Gracefully, the older woman stood up, but didn’t make a move to step forward.

“I believe we’re fine where we are… among friends.” She sat back down, and smiled at her daughter and the friends surrounding her.

kay, guys, here we are again with a new chapter. Once again, I’m soo sorry about the hiatus. Hopefully, now that school’s coming to a close I’ll get more writing time in, though that’s probably wishful thinking.

-Hearts, stars, and all that good stuff
Vh