You, Me & 'Charlie'

You, Me & 'Charlie' - chapter 24

Chapter 24

“Look Mummy, look! I got a chocolate present!” Ethan cooed as he held the chocolate up for my mum to see.

“Great sweetie! What did you get Zach?” mum asked as she finished packing the lunches.

“A robin.” my brother replied, calmer and less excited at the prospect of chocolate this early in the morning.

“Sweet.” my mum smiled. “Right then. That’s all done. Have you opened your advent calendar Tabby?” my mum grinned at me.

“I’ll do it after school.” I smiled back.

It was December 1st, Christmas was literally around the corner, and the chocolate advent calendars were out. I felt happier now that I knew the school term was nearly over. These past few weeks had been stressful and forgettable. So forgettable in fact, I hadn’t even told Paloma about my chat with mum. I sighed out loud as I thought about that again.

“Well, I’ll see you later.” I said bye to my mum. I grimaced at the cold weather. I wished it would snow soon.

I decided to send a text to Paloma so we could properly talk.

‘Need to talk to you @ lunch, it’s important, should have told you a couple of weeks ago.x’

I knew she’d be annoyed with me, but how could I have spoken to her properly? She was out with Max, I was out with Jake, and we were both out together. There had never really been a proper time. I just hoped she’d remember this and not be such a ratty chihuahua when I got to school.

***

“So, how’s your boyfriend?” I asked casually.

“Cut to the chase Tabby, what was the important thing you wanted to tell me? I know you should have told me at that sleepover you threw, but seriously, I’m not going to bite your head off.” Paloma said as we sat in science.

It was another cover, thankfully, so we were free to talk and casually do the work.

“Well, I kinda told mum about how worried I was about Bree.” I admitted.

Paloma nodded. “Ok, and what did she say?” she asked.

“She said maybe she was doing the drugs because she didn’t want to talk about it to her mum.”

“Her mum’s never really there though, is she? That’s probably the problem.” Paloma said matter of factly.

“That’s what my mum said, and she wasn’t over her dad yet either.”

“No. God, I bet she was so cut up about that. Her mum seems to just brush it off like it’s nothing.” Paloma said.

I nodded. “I know. My mum said if worse comes to worse, we should talk to Mrs Turner, or my mum offered to do it for us.”

“Sounds good. How about tomorrow?” she suggested.

I thought for a moment. “As long as you’re not out with Max.” I grinned.

Paloma rolled her eyes. “Please Tabby.” she said, nudging me in the ribs. “He’s kinda my boyfriend, y’know. I had to put up with you and Jake, blech.” she grimaced.

I laughed. “He’s just ‘kinda’ your boyfriend? And I had to put up with you getting hyper about us. So shhh! Does Max know he’s only just ‘kinda’ your boyfriend then?” I said.

“Oh shut up Tabby! It feels weird saying I have a boyfriend, my dad pokes fun at me all the time about it because him and Max’s dad go golfing or whatever, apparently they’ve planned the wedding and everything!”