The Moonwalkers

To School with Charles

I descended the stairs at Charlene's heels, Chris only just pounding out of his room. I could smell something from the kitchen, something that smelled a lot like cheese-filled garlic toast. My mouth started watering at just the thought of it.
We spotted Charles coming through the front door, carrying a Posiden Coffee bag. He smiled as we came up.
"Bought us some coffee," Charles grinned, holding up the bag.
"Aight, great," Chris simply said as he started making his way towards the kitchen without paying him much attention.
Charlene and I were left to stare after him in surprise.
"Thanks for the coffee," Charlene smiled. "I'm sure you got our favourite flavours, Dad."
Dad...
I smiled too as I followed Charlene to the kitchen to see what Mom was up too. I guess we already have an idea on what she's making because of the smell, but I still wanted to see.
Mom was spreading homemade garlic butter onto a slice of bread, another batch toasting on the skillet in front of her.
"Ooo, we're getting cheese with that, right?" I asked as I went towards the stove.
"Yeah," I turned to Chris as he closed the fridge, a few cheese slices in his hand. "What's some garlic grilled cheese without cheese?"
"Ooo!" I grinned as I sat myself down at the kitchen island.
Charlene was staring at her phone beside me. "Mom, my class goes up to four today. Shall I take a PickYou back?"
"No, no need for that," Charles said as he shuffled in with the Posiden bag. "I'll pick you up today after work."
"Your work's not until five?" Mom asked, taking the toasted slices off the pan to be placed on a plate.
Charles shrugged as he sat himself beside me, placing the bag down on the counter. "Not anymore. It finishes at four now, but starts an hour earlier."
"That means eight, right?" Mom said, handing the plate to Chris who came up with the cheese.
"Yeah," Charles said.
My gaze fell on the clock. It was nearly seven. Charles's workplace, though near, still involved a lot of traffic.
"Shouldn't you already be in a rush?" I said. "Because... it's almost seven."
"I still have plenty of time," Charles said, taking the cups of coffee out of the bag to hand around. "Here, extra Choco Mocha for Charlie, Caramel Macchiato for Char, Cappuccino for Christie, Hazelnut Latte for Chris, and..." he took out the last cup and smirked to himself. "A strong Flat White for me."
I opened my drink, seeing how they had fully taped it up to avoid spilling, and watched as Chris placed slices of cheese between freshly toasted garlic bread. Mom then gave the sandwiches one last press on the skillet before bringing it over to the dining, the rest of us at her heels.
We sat down to eat our breakfast, together with the coffee. It was strange, unfamiliar yet familiar as we ate. There was Charles talking about the employees of the company he works at, him being the HR meant he had to deal with their issues, and then there was Charlene complaining about this one classmate who refused to do anything but still has the audacity to look down on her though she supported him lots.
"I scored higher than him in that essay and he was actually like 'HOW COME YOU GOT HIGHER THAN ME?!' Like, why would I not get higher than you?" Charlene complained with a disgusted look on her face as she ate. "I've done nothing less than encourage him though everyone looks down on him for being constantly clueless in class, even taking the time to patiently help him understand whenever he's confused."
"Which one is this guy again?" Chris asked, taking a huge bite off his sandwich. "Nicholas or Jon?"
"Jon..." Charlene grimaced. "He asks us for help all the time, but ghosts us if we were to ask him."
"Can you stop hanging out with him?" Mom piped up. "He thinks he's the best despite having nothing."
"He's an idiot," Charles added. "An idiot that only cares of himself."
I paused from eating off the crust of the sandwich. "A narcissist."
"Ah..." Charlene smiled, evidently reminded of that City Pop song we sometimes listen to. "He is. I need a strategy to avoid him. He's taking another subject with me next semester, though he already took it, since he failed. Dude was happy when he found out I'm taking it next semester, while I was groaning inwardly. What should I do?"
"For starters, don't sit with him," Chris said.
"But that guy makes a beeline for me, what shall I do then?" Charlene groaned.
"Sit somewhere else," I said. "Like in a place that he clearly wouldn't sit."
Charlene gasped as an idea struck her. "Charlie, you're a genius! That idiot is a back bencher, while I'm a frontliner. I feel like that alone is enough to ward him off. I'll sit directly in front of the lecturer."
Charles snorted. "Reminds me of when I was in degree. My Business Ethics lecturer actually asked me to go sit somewhere else since I sat at the spot directly in front of her desk."
I snorted as I imagined that. "That actually sounds really funny."
"It was," Charles chuckled, nodding.
"Was this around the time you met me?" Mom smiled as she asked.
Charles nodded. "Yeah, I think it was the same year. You were in my Philosophy class, one of those mandatory subjects."
Oh yeah, these two met in college. Mom was taking some course, I forgot what it was, while Charles took Human Resources. They were in two completely different courses, but were in the same university, so that helped them get to know each other. They met during the mandatory subjects, in class, and in the library during the other semesters. Then they started seeing each other outside too, and Charles finally proposed one day.
Still hard to think that he could think of divorce after being the one to propose.
Chris suddenly nudged me. "You okay?" He asked.
I quickly nodded and resumed my breakfast.
"Is something on your mind?" Charlene asked.
I shook my head. "Nope, nothing. Just wondering what it would be like in college."
"You'll have lots of fun," Mom gave me a gentle smile. "It might be a bit stressful with assignments and all, but you'll still have a heck of fun."

Charles drove us to school in Gloria, making it a little awkward for us, especially since Mom left for work in her car. We dropped Charlene off at her college, then made our way to Chris's school. I'm just glad that the two of us sat at the back, unlike Charlene who was made to sit at the front.
We arrived at Chris's school and Charles parked behind a red car. Chris groaned as soon as he recognised it.
"It's that Brett, isn't it," I smirked.
Chris grunted in reply as he wrestled with the straps of his backpack.
"Someone you know?" Charles asked.
"An idiot from my class," Chris said as he opened the door and got out without saying goodbye.
There was silence at this, especially when he slammed the door shut. Chris stomped towards the sheltered pathway, not looking back. Charles let out a sigh as he adjusted the rear view mirror.
But then, Chris came back and gave Brett a disgusted look before giving us a wave. I waved back and so did Charles before he turned back and walked into the school.
"It's good how you transferred to a different school," Charles commented as he started driving off to my school. "Your old school was starting to have a bad reputation."
I groaned in agreement. "Tell me about it. The amount of bully cases and social status there. I'm surprised that this school doesn't have any of that. They only look up to you if you're smart. No matter how famous you are outside, they only see how smart you are."
"And that's good," Charles commented, nodding. "I'm sure you're at the top, right?"
I didn't answer, seeing how I closer to the bottom than I was to the top, though I was just an average student who didn't even fail anything.
"Not exactly at the top..." I admitted. "Most of my classmates are smarter than me."
"I'm sure you will do good, Cupcake," Charles said, taking me by surprise. "I have faith in you."
I couldn't help but scoff slightly. "Cupcake."