That terrible day that defined Carter's life. I'm sorry, I just really felt like writing it.

You don't have to read it if you don't feel like being sad.

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Carter stomped her feet, trying to banish the cold that was diving into her bones. The noise of the school had diminished as kids were picked up and others drove away. The wind wrapped around her, the whisper of winter teasing her exposed nose. The girl beside Carter buried her face in the collar of her coat. A compact car pulled up to the curb and the girl raised her head, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Don't die in the cold, Carter. It would suck to die on a weekend and for me lose my math partner," she said, racing down the steps to the waiting vehicle.

"I'll try not to," Carter said. "Cause who else would do your homework for you?"

The girl gave a dry laugh and slipped into the passenger seat. With a wave, she and the car drove off. Carter shoved her fists deeper into her pockets, urging her father to hurry up. When it felt like her toes were going to snap off, the black SUV appeared. Carter was already racing down the steps by the time it stopped. Yanking the door open, she hopped in.

A cocoon of warmth enveloped her. Dropping her gym bag onto the ground, she thrust her hands close to the heater, trying to regain feeling in the tips of them.

"I was almost a popsicle," she said, as the car melded back into traffic.

"Well, I'm glad you're still alive."

"No thanks to you. What took you so long?"

Feeling having returned, Carter shrugged off her backpack and sank back in the seat. D.C. was washed with a dull gray light, the blanket of clouds wrapping the world in winter. A few snowflakes were shaken free and swirled about in the wind.

"The President's meeting ran over. I'm sorry, Sarge. Did you call your mother?"

Carter nodded, rubbing her arms to get them working again.

"She didn't answer."

Carter didn't say what she was thinking, that even as she had made the call she had known it was pointless. Something had been pulling her mother away the last couple weeks and Carter was left in a void.

Her father nodded, his brow creasing with unsaid thoughts.

"Captain," Carter said.

At the hesitating tone in her voice, her father glanced over.

"If I married a Marine would you still love me?" she asked.

Her father burst out laughing. It was a sound that was as good as the car's warmth.

"What made you think I have any problem with Marines?" he asked.

"Well, I hear you and your Navy SEAL friends complain about them that I figure marrying one would be an act of treason."

Her father raised a curious eyebrow.

"Are you planning to marry a Marine?" he asked.

"I'm fourteen, I haven't even been on a date yet."

"Then why do you ask?"

"Cause I want to know if you would still love me even if I did?"

Her father chuckled and flicked on the windshield wipers, banishing the flecks of white.

"Of course I would still love you, Sarge."

Carter let out a breath. "Okay, then seeing how that could be the worst thing I could do and you would still love me...I have something to tell you."

Wearing a faint smile, her father's gaze cut to her again.

"Don't tell you met a Marine?" he said.

Carter shook her head and drew in a breath.

"Captain...I don't want to go to Hamilton Prep."

The words finally spoken, Carter gnawed on her lip, watching her father's reaction. He said nothing, his face controlled. Worried, Carter twisted in her seat, tucking one foot beneath her.

"I know what you're going to say, I know it's a really good school and it would actually challenge me and you worked really hard to make this all happen...but," she dropped her head and toyed with the edge of the seat. "I wouldn't have any friends. Especially since I would be transferring halfway through the year. Everyone would have already established their friend groups. I would be an outsider."

A slow breath came as a response. Carter lifted her face.

"I understand that, Sarge," her father said. "I know it will be different but you're a smart girl, you will make friends easily."

Carter rested back in the seat, lips twisted down in worry.

"How about this, we'll discuss it with your mom over dinner. Does that sound good?"

Sighing, Carter nodded. Minutes passed as the car cut away from D.C. and moved towards Georgetown. Seeing the familiar neighborhood, Carter perked up.

"Can we go to the deli that just opened up? I heard the sandwiches are really good. And we never eat sandwiches."

After a seconds pause, her father nodded. Carter beamed and stared out the window, watching the eddies of snow. When they pulled into a deli across from their street, Carter jumped out. Even from outside the aroma of toasted bread and melted cheese could be detected. The interior was swarming with families from about the neighborhood. The bright ring of chatter only added to the cheery feel of the place.

A woman in her early thirties with cinnamon skin and light brown hair stood behind the counter. As the pair walked up, she set aside the cloth she had been using and smiled at them. It was a smile that was so friendly it felt as if they had known her for years.

"Hi," she said. "What can I get for you?"

"We're not sure," Carter said. "Sandwiches aren't our thing. We live just across the street and decided to give this place a try."

The woman's smile widened, her eyes crinkling in the corners.

"Well, I appreciate the business," she said.

"You own this place?" Carter's father asked.

The woman nodded. "I do. My mother passed away a year ago and left me some money. It had always been a dream of hers to own a deli and now I get to make it real for her." She held out her hand. "I'm Maggie, by the way."

Carter's father shook her hand and smiled. "I'm Steve and this is my daughter, Carter."

"I'm happy to meet both of you. Now, since it's your first time I can make you some of my favorite sandwiches, how does that sound?"

Carter and her father exchanged a look.

"Sounds good," Steve said.

"But nothing with American cheese," Carter said, "my mom doesn't like that."

"No, American, Got it."

As Maggie worked, Carter studied the board displaying all the different types of sandwiches, including breakfast sandwiches.

"I didn't know there were breakfast sandwiches," Carter said.

Chuckling, Maggie came back to the front counter and placed three wrapped sandwiches down.

"I believe that there is a sandwich for every meal," she said.

Carter grinned at her father. "Look at that I actually learned something new today."

He ruffled her hair and she slapped his hand away. As Steve paid and Carter grabbed the sandwiches, she found Maggie smiling at them.

"I hope you both come back," she said.

They both nodded and waved goodbye. The cold was shocking after the heat of the deli. The swirls had picked up and snow was added to the mounds that had been built over the past months.

The lights in the apartment were glowing as Carter jogged up the stairs in front of her father. Like the deli, the place was warm and inviting. Photographs lined the walls. The early years of Carter's life were depicted with both parents holding her. As the years changed more of them held her father and her, though her mother was still always there.

"Mom, we have dinner," Carter called out.

Carter dropped her gym bag and backpack on the floor. When no response came, she walked to her parent's bedroom. Sitting in front of the desk with a computer in front of her, was Carter's mother. Her dyed blonde hair was pulled into a bun, exposing her neck and mocha skin.

"Mom, dinner," Carter said, holding onto the doorframe and leaning in.

Her mother didn't turn around.

"Okay," she said.

There was a strange note to her voice, but Carter shrugged and walked back to the dining table. One of the sandwiches papers were open and a bite had been taken out of the sandwich.

"Captain, you can't eat before us. It's rude."

He smirked. "Who is going to stop me?"

Carter darted forward and snatched the sandwich out of his hands. In retaliation, he tossed her over one shoulder. She let out a shriek of laughter.

"The sandwich is going to die," she said. "Put me down."

"You asked for it."

Carter was tossed and landed on the couch, the sandwich only half destroyed. Leaving the sandwich on the coffee table, Carter scrambled to her feet and launched herself at her father.

"Attack!" she cried.

Before she could manage any form of attack, she was scooped back up and turned upside down, hanging from her ankles, the floor brushing her head.

"How's that attack working for you, Sarge?" her father asked.

Carter twisted this way and that but couldn't find any leverage. Annoyed, she huffed and let her arms fall back to the floor.

"Did you say you had dinner?" Carter's mother asked, appearing.

Steve turned, taking Carter with him.

"Hey honey, look what I picked up for us?" he said, lifting Carter's ankles higher.

She let out a laugh, her face going red. Her mother offered up a weak form of a smile, her eyes never meeting Carter's. The flat response sucked the laughter from Carter's lungs. Steve set Carter down and she rolled onto her knees.

The playful energy gone, the trio all settled around the table. After the first half of the sandwiches had been consumed, Carter brought up the topic of Hamilton Prep and her lack of desire to attend. The discussion bounced between her and her father for the most part. When Carter asked her mother what she thought, her mother finally met her gaze.

"Go, Carter. It will help give you a better future," she said.

There was an intensity in her eyes that made Carter nod. But part of her feared being alone.

************

A shout startled Carter awake. She tensed, laying in utter darkness. Half asleep, she tried to remember what had woken her. As she was about to drift back asleep, the muffled sound of voices floated in through the closed room, the tones taut with discord. Another shout rang through the apartment. Carter shot up, her heart tightening with fear. She heard the sound of a heavy thud on the floor and another protest.

The cold air chilled her skin as she pushed the layers of blankets back. She tiptoed towards the door, barely making a sound. As she opened it, it squeaked but the noise was unnoticed. Words became clear as Carter crept along the hallway.

"Don't do this, Erica. We can work this out. Stay."

Her father's voice seized with fear, panic, desperation. The sound twisted Carter's insides, the voice and the emotions making no sense to her.

"Steve, I can't do this anymore. I need to go."

Blinking against the light, Carter paused. When the glare lessened, the first thing Carter saw from the hallway were bags by the front door.

They were at the feet of her mother.

Though late into the night, her mother was fully dressed in her coat and purse slung over her shoulder. The front door was like a gaping hole, letting in frigid air.

"Please, I need you," her father said. He gestured to Carter's room. "Your daughter needs you. There has to be something I can do."

Her father took a step forward, hands outstretched, the plea in every movement and breathe.

"She'll be better with someone who really cares for her. Goodbye, Steve."

As the meaning of the words settled on Carter, sweat begun to cling to her skin, her breathing shallow.

"Mom?" she asked, stepping out of the hallway.

Both parents started and looked at her. Despair etched its way onto the once loving features of her mother.

"Goodbye, Carter."

Her mother picked up her bags and left. Her father, the man of action, was frozen. Breaking from her shock, Carter bolted for the door. Cold air blasted her, ice burning the bottom of her feet.

"Mom!"

The dark figure was brightened for a moment in the light of the open taxi door before vanishing inside. The metal grating dug into Carter's feet as she rushed down the stairs. Snow soaked the bottom of her pajama pants. The red taillights melted into the distance. Breathing became unbearable.

She sunk to the ground, coldness gripping her as the snow melted against her. Reality was a tangled web of confusion and shock. Tears run down her face without any control. From behind her, she felt her father's strong arms wrap around her and lift her out of the snow. As she buried her face in the folds of his worn shirt, blackness settled around her.

*************

With the morning, Carter jerked herself awake. The nightmare was so vivid she could still feel the cold of the wind biting into her skin. Because that was what it was, a nightmare. She swallowed, her throat raw. Her face felt puffy but she couldn't remember why. The brightness of the morning sun penetrated her curtains and lit her room. At the sound of her parent's bedroom door, she stumbled out of bed. When she yanked open her door, she saw her father.

It was the lost, red-eyed look of him that hit her in the chest.

It hadn't been a nightmare at all.

Her father's shoulders were rounded like an invisible burden had been placed there. He ran a hand through his short hair, the gesture heavy with loss and heartbreak. Carter felt the well of her pain flooding over. But as her father met her gaze, she could all at once see the overwhelming fear, grief, and pain that was eating away at him and so she trapped her own emotions down.

"Are you hungry?" her father asked.

She shook her head then nodded, aware of the gaping hole that was once where her stomach had been. For a second, neither of them moved. It was like everything that had once made sense in the world was gone. They had woken up to a reality that they didn't know how to navigate.

"Okay, come on," her father said.

Without bothering to change from their pajamas, the pair tugged on boots. Her father helped her into her jacket and he threw his on. The morning air was vicious as if it were trying to freeze the very breath in their lungs. At the bottom of the stairs, the pair stopped. The grooves of the taxi's tire tracks could be seen.

Her father held out his hand and Carter took it.

He squeezed it and Carter felt the same strength and determination in the grip as she always had. She clung to that familiarity, trying to fight the tears building in her eyes.

When they stepped into the deli, they found they were the only customers that early in the day. A service door swung open and Maggie backed out of it, a large box in her arms. Spotting them, she beamed.

"Back so soon," she said.

Really seeing them, the smile on her face faltered and fell away.

"Sit down," she said softly. "I'll get you something hot."

Without a word of acknowledgment, Carter and her father took the closet table. The silence between them pulsed with everything that was too fragile to say.

After an eternity, Carter spoke.

"I'm fine going to Hamilton Prep."

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🗡⚔️🧨💣🔫🔪
(That's my threatening greeting. I let the emojis talk for me.)

Or it could be the reaction you're having to a depressing chapter and you would rather I die then keeping making you sad. The emojis can be interrupted in different ways.

If it helps, I'm sorry. I told you that you didn't need to read this chapter. But now that you have what did you think?

😕Poor Carter. At least she has Steve and Maggie though. It was interesting that Maggie only got a glimpse of them before disaster hit. But it makes sense why she would feel for them. Haha it sounds funny but until I wrote this I didn't know their original story. I just knew Maggie had been there for a while and she had, since everything went down hill. 

Vote, comment, follow but only if you don't hate me for this.