Chapter 24 - Christian

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Chapter Twenty-Four

Christian

"I just don't understand why it's so imperative that we bring Nate," I grumbled while pulling my truck into the parking lot of Eastcoast High.

Kale, who was sitting in the passenger seat, shrugged and pointed his thumb toward the back. "Don't ask me – Adrian is the one who insisted we pick him up."

"I don't even know why we're bringing Adrian!" I exclaimed, nervousness coiled around me like a heavy blanket I couldn't shake. I parked the truck, looked up at the front entrance to the school, then back down at the clock that read 10:57. "Where is he? I thought you told him to be here-"

"At eleven," Kale said, folding his muscular arms together and giving me a knowing look. "You know, you're kind of a mess."

"Gee – thanks cuz', I haven't noticed," I retorted sarcastically, tapping my fingers impatiently against the stirring wheel. "It's been almost a week since I've seen Charlie – I'm just worried." Then I added offhandedly, "I can't believe it took you three days to find her. I thought you knew people who were good at this sort of thing?"

With glowering eyes, Kale lowered his voice and said lethally, "I found her didn't I?"

"I hope so..." I trailed off, unfazed by Kale's palpable irritation.

Kale called me early this morning to tell me that he found out where the Child and Family Services placed Charlie. Apparently, she was staying at some group home called Hillside House just on the outskirts of Linshore. It was Monday, but I figured they would still have her staying home from school to adjust to her new life.

"See, there's Nate – right on time," Adrian announced, leaning back in his seat with a smug look on his face.

I looked up and furrowed my eyebrows just as Kale hissed, "Goddammit, what's Kare Bear doing with him?"

When they reached the truck, Nate opened the back door behind the driver's seat. Before Karla could jump in after him, I reached back and blocked her way. "And what exactly do you think you're doing?"

"Don't patronize me, Chris. I'm coming with you guys."

I scoffed. "No you're not. You have school."

"So does Nate," she taunted while raising her eyebrows cheekily.

"Which reminds me," I turned to glare at Nate and Adrian. "Why are you guys coming? You don't even know Charlie."

Karla used my distraction to her advantage and jumped into the truck and shut the door.

Then Nate, with a mischievous smirk, admitted, "Well, we heard about how Cecilia the Heartless answered your phone when Charlie called," he glanced sideways at Karla before turning back to me and continuing, "So I bet Adrian $50 that when your girl sees you, she'll slap you across the face."

"Personally, I don't think she will," Adrian added. "She just doesn't seem like the physical type. She'll probably yell at him instead."

I glared at my two cousins, too consumed with frustration to even respond to that. I took a deep breath and finally said, "Whatever, I don't have time for this." I pulled the truck into drive, and muttered, "I can't believe I'm related to these chumps."

"You and me both," Kale said with a throaty chuckle.

An hour and a half later, we were driving down a gravel road looking for Hillside House. My sister and cousins were gossiping relentlessly about Cecilia, much to my dismay, while I continued to search for the house. The pit of emptiness in my stomach grew the closer we got, and I was feeling more jumpy than usual.

"I doubt she's that bad," Adrian said casually, stretching out his legs and resting his shoeless feet on the console between me and Kale.

I looked down, his wool socks wiggled dangerously close to my coffee mug. Before I could open my mouth to say something, Kale grabbed his legs and pushed them back causing Adrian to almost kick Nate in the face.

I rolled my eyes when Nate decided to respond by punching Adrian in the shoulder. And then Kale laughed smugly.

"She's not that bad?" Karla repeated with raised eyebrows, ignoring our cousins' antics. "Cecilia the Heartless makes Darth Vader look like a saint."

Nate, forgoing glaring at his brothers, turned to Karla and rubbed the top of her head. "Oh Kare, I never grow tired of your Star Wars references." But then he added in a whisper loud enough for everyone to hear, "But I think you need more girlfriends, you're like a tom boy disguised in a dress."

"And you're a douche-bag disguised behind a charming smile," she bit back and punched him in the arm.

Adrian, who was still rubbing his shoulder, laughed and then high fived her.

Kale leaned over the console to look in the back and I could almost hear the wolfish grin on his face, "But bitch or not, Cecilia Hart is one sexy minx."

"That's disgusting, Kale! And how would you even know?"

"Oh, Kare bear, relax. It's not like I'm going to marry the chit, and I met her last week when she was looking for Chris."

"Thanks for that by the way," I added dryly.

"Sorry, bud." Kale shrugged. "How could I say no to a hot blonde in a school girl outfit?"

"I have to agree with Kale, I mean if Cecilia didn't talk, or move, or do anything, I'd tap that," Nate said with goofy grin.

"Ugh!" Karla elbowed him in the ribs. "I think what you're looking for is a blow up doll."

Kale laughed. "Don't tease him, Kare Bear! Little Natey can't get himself a real woman."

"I think you're talking about yourself, big guy." Nate looked at his older brother with mischievous smile that made the dimple in his cheek deepen and then added, "No girl can withstand my charming smile and charismatic personality."

Adrian and Kale both looked at each other before they started laughing.

"We're here," I interrupted them, looking up at the big sign that read Hillside House.

Everyone fell silent as I drove down the long gravel driveway that led to an older style Victorian house. It was beige in color, and had peeling paint and faded spots that indicated its older age. The wrap around porch was missing boards, and railings that needed adjusting, but overall, it looked like a nice little country house.

As I parked the truck, I noted the only other vehicle in the driveway was a black motorcycle. The knot in my stomach tightened – there weren't many foster parents who rode bikes. Maybe Kale's information was inaccurate. I took a deep breath to try and gather my nerves, and climbed out of the truck.

I could see Karla from my peripherals bouncing with excitement, but I didn't share her feelings. I was too nervous, uncertain - edgy. I wasn't sure if this was the right house, and if it was, how would Charlie even react to seeing me. I had a feeling neither Nate nor Adrian was right – if anything, Charlie would take one look at me and walk away without so much as a screw you.

All I wanted was wrap my arms around her and runaway.

"I recognize this motorcycle..." Kale said, running his hand along its handlebar. "I'm almost positive the guy who owns this is a street racer who comes down to Bridgewalk once in a while. They call him Raider, and he's actually pretty good." Kale admitted with a crooked smirk, "He almost caught up to me once."

"Well, does this Raider live in a group home?"

Kale glanced my way and shrugged. "No clue – I always thought the guy was a bit older, but I guess he could be around Charlie's age."

I nodded, still trying to get a grip on my nerves.

Turning toward the house, I noticed Karla was already up on the porch knocking on the door, a large smile plastered to her face. Obviously, she had no doubts about Charlie's reaction. Maybe I was overthinking things.

Ignoring the pessimist in me, I headed over to my sister just as someone answered the door. I didn't realize how much I was hoping it was Charlie until I saw a guy and a wave of disappointment crashed over me.

Clad in black jeans and a leather jacket, he leaned against the door frame with folded arms, his eyes slowly evaluating every inch of my little sister. He made no attempt of hiding the way he was mentally undressing her, even with me and my three cousins approaching them.

A slow smile crept across the guys face, and then he asked Karla, "Do you have a mirror in your pocket?"

"Excuse me?" Karla balked. Turning to look at me as I reached the top of the steps, her face creased with confusion before she turned back to the guy. "No, why?"

"Because, I can definitely see myself in your pants."

I froze. My fists at my sides clenched, and I swear I could feel the anger radiating off my cousins. "Do you have a death wish?" I gritted out.

"Yikes," he said mockingly, pretending to just notice us. "Are you her boyfriend?" before I could say anything, he whispered loudly to her, "Because you could do so much better. Why not ditch the pretty boy, and I'll take you for a real ride." Wink.

Kale stepped forward with a rigid posture, Adrian and Nate following him. "Kare bear, go wait in the truck," he growled in a low, barely audible voice.

"Or you guys can go wait in the truck," the guy offered, his eyes never wavering from Karla. He was either too stupid to back down, or didn't realize the size of Kale. "And the Care Bear here can come inside with me and be my new Bedtime Bear."

"You're disgusting and delusional," Karla finally stated, folding her arms and staring at him with repulsion. "Please tell me that little act doesn't actually work on girls? Are you always so repulsively forward, or am I just a special case?" Karla reached out and flicked the edge of his leather jacket, and continued, "Word of advice Danny Zuko, if you find a girl attractive, next time, try starting with Hello."

He titled his head. "Maybe Grumpy Bear is more fitting." Then, with a devilish smirk, he added, "But regardless of which Care Bear you are, you'd look good lying on my bed."

"I'm going to kill you, Raider!"

Something in Kale's voice finally captured the guy's attention. Raider, if that was even his real name, looked up and for a moment faltered. I saw his Adam's apple rise and fall before he covered his fear in false bravado. "Four against one?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "And here, I thought that Kale Steele and his family were supposed to be fair fighters."

I stepped forward, ready to tell him that I would fight him one on one for being such a pig toward my sister, but then thoughts of Charlie flooded my mind, and I hesitated. She was against violence, and even though this had nothing to do with her, it didn't feel right to punch my way through problems anymore.

Charlie really was changing me.

"True – which is why only I'm going to kick your ass," Kale said casually like he was talking about going for a walk.

"Enough," I interrupted them finally being reminded of why we were here in the first place. "Kale, we're not here for this." I looked over at Raider and asked, "Is Charlie here?"

"Charlotte?" He looked almost taken aback. Then he asked very carefully, "How do you know her?"

"I'm her best friend."

When he looked back over at Karla, his eyes trailed down to her chest and stayed there a few seconds too long.

I barely managed to grab hold of Kale, and I saw Nate beside me restraining Adrian, while Karla glared at Raider looking even more furious than all of us.

"Raider," I said low, barely managing to contain my own irritation. "You're really walking on the edge right now."

He raised his eye brow at me patronizingly. "First of all, my name is Rayden – Raider is just a nickname my friends call me." Then he looked at Karla, and said in a low voice than made me want to strangle him, "And I like walking on the edge – what about you Grumpy Bear? Feel like coming over to the dark side?"

Nate burst out laughing, and everyone stilled, looking over at him like he just grew a second head. "Holy hell," he breathed out, still laughing. "Star Wars reference!"

"Shut up, Nathaniel!" Karla barked, both embarrassed and frustrated. Turning around, she glared at Rayden, and demanded to know where Charlie was, using a few curses that would have traumatised our mother.

Mind you, even I was a bit stunned by it.

"She's not here," Rayden finally answered.

My heart constricted. "Well, where is she?"

"If you guys know her so well, shouldn't you know?" He asked cautiously while scrutinizing us.

"It's a long story," I admitted after a few seconds passed.

Rayden pulled away from the doorframe and said, "Well, guess you're S.O.L, because I'm not telling you where she is. I don't know how you guys know her, but if she wanted to see you, I'm sure she'd get a hold of you herself."

He started to shut the door in our faces, but I held out my hand to stop him, "Wait."

Clenching my other fist, I refrained from yelling at him because as much as he was pissing me off, I had to acknowledge the fact that we was obviously trying to protect her. It was almost a relief to know that she wasn't completely alone these past few days, and that she obviously made a friend who was willing to stand up to me and my cousins on her behalf.

"I can see why you're hesitate to trust us, but can you at least give her a message from me?"

He furrowed his brows and slowly started to nod. "Fine, what's the message?"

I dug in my pocket and found an old library receipt, and Karla handed me a pen from her purse. I quickly scribbled a note on the back of the receipt and handed it to Rayden.

He took it and stuffed it in his pocket, and was about to go inside but stopped midway. When he turned back to look at us, there was that damn smirk on his face again, and I was so tempted to give him a matching scar on the left side of his face when he said to Karla, "So, did you want to come inside and see who's tongue could win in a fight?" He chuckled at her grim expression. "Come on, Grumpy Bear, smile – it's the second best thing you can do with your lips."

He shut the door and locked it barely a second before me and my cousins reached it. Kale banged his fist against it, Adrian cursed and even Nate was yelling profanities as Rayden's laughter faded in the distance.

N/A I am sooooo Sorry about the week long wait for this Chapter. It has been a busy, busy week for me so I wasn't able to get any writing in until today! But this week should be a bit better. I will most likely upload the next chapter tomorrow!

Soooooo.... Question of the day: What's your thoughts on Rayden's first meeting with the Steeles?

I'm sure you've all guessed it by now, but Book 2 of the Steele Family Series will be:

Standing on the Edge - Staring Karla Steele and Rayden Stoker

PS!!!!! I got a new tattoo which is sooo exciting... hehe! Look at the picture I uploaded to this chapter. 8)

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