Chapter Fourteen

Charlotte

After the weekend, I stayed at Karla's house for over a week. I just couldn't handle the thought of going back to my house. Her parents were more than accommodating - they often let me sleepover for prolonged periods of time.

Although, it was different this time - this time it was probably one of the best weeks I ever had. First, we  spent all day Sunday on Silver Sand Island enjoying the sun – well, technically everyone else enjoyed the sun. I stayed in the shade on the yacht wearing pants and a long-sleeved shirt. When I looked in the mirror that morning, the bruises had worsened.

I still had a lot of fun though – Christian stayed with me almost the entire day, much to Karla's dismay. She was so frustrated with her brother's refusal to stay away from me that she started giving him the silent treatment. It was pretty awkward since I stayed with them all week. Christian joined us to watch a movie Sunday night, but even with Karla in a foul mood, it was the best day I had in a very long time.

Christian never tried anything on me, but we spend the entire day talking and laughing, and just getting to know each other better. I couldn't believe in all the years of knowing him, I never realized how smart he was. I've always thought of myself as walking encyclopedia because I knew a lot of facts about a lot of things, but I swear Christian was like the man-made version of Google. I could probably sit and listen to him talk for the rest of my life and still be the happiest person in the world.

During the day, Christian drove me and Karla to school, and then would always be there at the end of the day to pick us up. As the week went on, I noticed Karla warming up to Christian constantly tagging along with us. He gave me my space, but I could tell he was using this time for me to actually get to know him personally rather than judging him based on the things I'd heard of second hand.

I did notice, the more we talked, laughed, and even debated, the more closer Christian seemed to get to me. There was a part of me that honestly was starting to think that his feelings toward me was growing. Even Karla gave us a few thoughtful glances throughout the week. I couldn't help but love spending all this time with him.

I guess that was one of the reasons why I didn't want to go home. I'd never been so happy in my life, and I didn't want my parents to ruin that. Unfortunately, I knew that if I didn't go home and clean up, there would be a bigger mess later on.

Grabbing my chain lock, I wrapped it through the bars of my Bicycle and then locked it around the porch handrail. Turning around, I looked up at my house and tried to listen for any voices. The house seemed quiet, so I figured they were either sleeping or they went to Hank's Tavern. I was betting on the latter.

I opened the door and froze.

For a second I thought maybe I walked into the wrong house, but I knew no one else would have the same god awful olive green carpets as us. I stared down the spotless hallway thinking maybe they kept their partying secluded to one part of the house. But that didn't explain how the glass was cleaned up from the picture frame, or how the whiskey stain was gone.

As I walked past the bathroom, I noticed the porcelain sink was almost sparkling. The floors looked like they'd recently been mopped and the toilet didn't even have any pee stains around it. I could feel a smile spreading across my face when I saw nine year old me hanging on the wall inside a brand new picture frame.

My mom was sober.

"Is that you Charlie?" Her voice came from the kitchen.

I ran the rest of the way, but stopped at the threshold when the smell of fresh chili reached my noise. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table wearing white sweat pants and a pink t-shirt. Her hair was washed and she wasn't wearing any make-up. She looked up from the book in her hands and smiled at me. "I was wondering when you'd get home."

"Hey, honey. How was school?" My dad walked over to me from the stove and kissed the top of my head. He had a spatula in his hand and used it to point over to a big pot when he said, "I'm making your favourite chili."

I knew I was smiling like a doofus, but I couldn't help it. The last time I saw them sober was almost a month ago, and I missed them so much during that time. "That's great, dad!" I looked from him to my mom and my heart accelerated with the excitement of seeing them like this. "And school was good! I have a test tomorrow though." I dropped my backpack on the floor and sat beside my mom.

She was still smiling at me, but I could see sweat forming on her brow. She fidgeted a bit and wiped it away, then scratched her forearm. I knew that these were just signs of her drug withdrawal, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it sometimes got, so I decided to ignore it. In the past, being sober would make them bedridden with chills, cold sweat and vomiting. I would look after them for a day or two, and then they would fall off the wagon again to end their torture.

Needless to say, I preferred the fidgeting, scratching and sweating over the more severe symptoms.

"What's your test on?" My mom asked while putting down the book she was reading.

"Biology – it's Mr. Gregger's class," I said and scrunched up my nose.

"I can't believe he's still teaching," she replied with disbelief. "Does he still spit when he talks about plants?"

I laughed. "Yup – I sit at the back of the classroom."

"Smart girl."

"So, Charlie," my dad put a Cherry Coke in front of me and sat down with us. "I called the ophthalmologist's this morning and talked to Dr. Green about getting you a new pair of glasses, or at least some eye contacts. It's pretty pricey, but I figure if we save up for a month, we can probably get you something better than those ones."

I forced myself to smile and said, "That would be nice." But I knew it wouldn't happen. Every time he was sober, he would talk about getting me nicer eyewear but eventually, they would take the money they saved and spend it on alcohol or drugs. I push the thought away – I didn't want to think about the future, I just wanted to enjoy the present.

My mom wiped the sweat off her forehead and took a sip of her water. "We're serious this time, Charlie," she said. "Things around here are going to change – starting today." She stood up and grabbed my back pack.

"Where are you going?" I got up to follow her out of the kitchen.

"The living room, I'm going to help you study for that biology test."

I sat beside her on the couch, and she pulled the biology textbook out of my backpack. "What unit are you on?"

"Three – from pages 68 to 103."

"Okay, let's test that smart little brain of yours," she said while wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "Describe the fluid mosaic structure of cell membranes."

*

"I was three years old!" I exclaimed while laughing, "How was I supposed to know it wasn't chocolate."

"You're just lucky your mom stopped you before you actually put it in your mouth," my dad said while putting his chili down on the coffee table. He only ate about half the bowl, but that was more than my mom did. She barely touched hers and seemed to be having more difficulty concentrating to our conversation.

It was almost six thirty, and we had been sitting in the living room for three hours. My mom and I studied for about an hour and a half, but then we put the books down to eat. I scarfed the chili down in less than ten minutes, but my parents picked at theirs for over an hour – another side effect of the drug withdrawal.

"This is definitely not the conversation we should be having while you guys are still trying to eat."

"We're done eating anyways," my dad said smiling. He reached toward my mom and pulled her into his arms. "How're you feeling, honey?"

She scratched her arm and wiped sweat off her neck. "I, uh-" her fists clenched and she quickly stood up. "I'll be right back."

A couple minutes later I could hear her vomiting in the bathroom. I shifted uncomfortably, and asked, "Should I go see if she's okay?"

"She'll be fine Charlie, just give her a couple minutes."

I nodded my head, and sure enough, she came back into the living room looking a little better. She smiled down at me and said, "Don't look so concerned – I told you it's going to be different this time, and I wasn't lying. Just give us a couple days to get it out of our system, and things will be different."

I was a little caught off guard by the look of determination on her face. Maybe, just maybe, things really were going to change. I was almost afraid to believe it, but even my dad looked resolved. My parents had been drinking for as long as I could remember – could they really just quit it all? The idea of us becoming a real, normal family warmed my heart and I couldn't stop a smile from creeping onto my face.

I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up, but after witnessing Christian attempting to change his ways, new sense of optimism was growing inside me.

My dad pulled my mom onto his lap and they both started laughing.

"Get a room," I teased, but truthfully, I loved seeing them like that. Eighty percent of my memories were of them fighting with each other, but that other twenty percent were of moments like this. They were the memories I treasured most.

They really did love each other, but alcohol and drugs turned them into monsters.

The doorbell rang, but my parents were too busy tickling each other to notice. I laughed and said, "I guess I'll get the door."

Nobody really came to our house, so I was expecting it to be girl scouts, or Jehovah's Witnesses. I was a little surprised to open the door and find Christian standing there. He had that look on his face that Karla always got when she was up to no good.

"Hi?"

"Did you really just say that like a questions?" He raised his eyebrow. "Are you that surprised to see me here?"

"Kinda, yah."

"Well, maybe I should've texted first – too late now." He leaned his hand against the door frame and said, "Now get your shoes on. I'm taking you on a date."

"You're what?" I almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. In all my life, I never would have imagined that one day Christian Steele would be standing on my porch telling me he was taking me on a date. I had my parents inside sober and tickling each other, and the man of my dreams – literally – wanting to take me out on an evening excursion.

I folded my arms and tried to look offended. "Shouldn't you ask me if I even want to go on a date with you?" Unfortunately, I was smiling when I said it.

"No, because you don't have a choice," he said with a smirk. "Even if you said no, I'd still kidnap you."

My parents chose that moment to come see who was at the door. "Charlie, you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend," my mom said teasingly.

I blushed and tried to correct her but Christian cut me off, "Christian Steele." He offered my dad his hand. "You must be Mr. and Mrs. Locke?"

"Call me Richard," my dad said while shaking his hand. He put his arm around my mom and added, "This fine woman here is Charlie's mom, Jane."

"It's a pleasure you to meet you guys-"

"Are you stealing Charlie away from us?" My mom said cutting Christian off. She never was known for her manners.

He looked at me and then back to my mom. "That is, if you don't mind?"

"Not at all," she answered with a bright smile. "You two kids should go have fun."

I refrained from reminding her that I was seventeen and he was twenty – technically, we weren't kids. Instead, I looked at my parents and bit my bottom lip. "I don't have to go. I can stay here and hang out with you guys."

I could see sweat forming on my dad's forehead, and my mom kept scratching her arm. They were still having drug and alcohol withdrawals, so I wasn't sure if my leaving would be a good idea. If I was here I could help them through it.

"No, honey, you should go have fun," my dad insisted. "We will still be here after."

My mom nodded and placed her hand on my shoulder "Go," she said, "When you get home, we'll have a movie night – I promise."

It took a couple more seconds but finally I caved. "Fine," I said, smiling. "I love you guys." I kissed them on both their cheeks and then followed Christian toward his truck.

"Love you too," they called out to me.

I turned around and smiled at them before they shut the door. I was still a bit worried about leaving them like that, but there was just something different about them this time. In the first time in years I actually thought that my parents were being sincere – perhaps they really were going to change. Between them and Christian, it felt like my life was turning into a fairy tale.

Maybe I was wrong before – maybe people really could change.