The Kings of Summer

seven.

She ran away to find meaning in her life.

What good was running away to find freedom only? That was an added gift all in itself. Charlie came here so she could be free and to feel deeply, to connect to herself in respect to her environment. She wanted to choose a life that suits her. And it was then she realized that this suited her. That thunder before meant nothing. They would get through the storm together, and they would live here as a family for as long as they could.

~

"Cheers," Joe says, clinking his beer bottle with Patrick's. They sat on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the wide expanse of thick brush. It was beautiful, in Joe's opinion. Everything here was beautiful. "We have water, shelter. We can put a balanced meal on the table. I mean, we answer to no one." There was a brief silence before he continued. "We're men."

"Just now?" Patrick jokes. "It just happened?"

"Just happened, man."

"You don't say." There is another comfortable silence between them as they overlooked the land. Behind the boys, Charlie stands in between the trees. She traveled off on her own, looking for more fruits to pick when she stumbled across them. She hadn't wanted to eavesdrop, but her natural curiosity made it hard for her to leave. She tried to her best to disguise herself and she listened in on their conversation.

"All I'm saying is that if anything was missing from all of this...it'd be a woman's touch," Joe states wistfully. Her heart stops for a second as she takes in the information. As crazy as it sounds, she could be that...woman. She had serious feelings for Joe, feelings that were always pushed down. Charlie had a suspicion that he liked her back—he always got nervous around her and seemed highly disappointed and jealous when she went off with Patrick.

"We have Biaggio," Patrick jokes. Charlie found it quite odd that he didn't mention her. In all fairness, she was the only girl there. She made a mental note to ask him about it later...if she decides to tell him she was eavesdropping.

"Doesn't count," Joe chuckles. They both stare out into the distance while Charlie stealthily makes her way back to the house. She just hatched a horribly nerve-racking plan, and she hoped it would work.

It was only about ten minutes later when the teen girl arrived at the house. She quickly ran to her book bag, rummaging through to find something to make her look presentable. Her usual ratty converse and frizzy hair were not cutting it.

She finds the only dress she packed here and grimaces at it. It was obnoxiously yellow, and it made her look like a giant flower when she wore it. Desperately, she tries to search for something else but finds nothing. Sighing, she peeks her head outside to make sure no boys were coming and then begins to get dressed. Her dirty clothes were thrown in a pile next to her bed.

Charlie makes a mental note to wash her clothes later.

Looking in her bag once more, she finds a brush and a small bottle of soap. With them only being a small distance away, she didn't have time to go to the nearest river and wash her hair. She settles on giving it a nice brushing.

The teenager furiously detangles her hair and hopes she looked okay. They didn't get a mirror for the house, so she had no idea how she looked. That's why she usually stuck with buns or ponytails.

By the time she was finished, the door of the house swung open revealing Patrick and Joe. They stand in the doorway for a moment, seemingly confused on her sudden outfit change but quickly shake it off. "Hey, where's Biaggio?" Joe asks, the question directed at Charlie.