Reasons I Can't Forget You

Chapter XX: He Did What??

POV: Char

I was about ready to kill myself. Or everyone else. My family was driving me crazy. My mother had made zucchini bread, the whole house reeked of it! I swear every time she saw me, she was forcing another piece down my throat!

All anyone wanted to talk about was Tommy and his many accomplishments! I, on the other hand, kind of flew under the radar when it came to school. Mostly A's and some B's. This was unlike The rest of my family who wanted straight A's nothing less. Avalie was the same way.

Avalie.

I was a little angry at her when she did that to Zach! I mean the poor boy had looked so broken when I left him! How could she break his heart like that.

It was relieving for me that Zach finally knew the truth. I wanted him to know that I hadn't betrayed him like that. Now I just had Jeff to worry about.

I pushed him out of my head, and began to wonder what this would mean for Zach and I. Even though we weren't dating, I still cared about him immensely.

My father walked in, interrupting my thoughts. I could see that his blonde hair had been getting lighter, "What are you doing just sitting here in the kitchen Charlotte?"

That was another thing about my family that drove me crazy, they refused to call me Char. Saying it sounded punk, and rebellious. Whatever! You needed a LITTLE rebellion to get through life in this house. I sighed loudly, "Not much else to do."

"Do you have homework? Charlotte you know I expect those grades to stay up! How do you ever expect to get into as good a college as your brothers if you don't put in the work?" He folded his arms, looking exasperated.

I loved my parents, so much. And I knew that they gave me so much, I got that. So I tried my best to please him, "You know what dad, you're right. I'm going to go upstairs and work on it right now!"

He grinned, "That's what I like to hear!"

I made my way up to my attic bedroom.

-Maybe you'll actually get something done

That would be nice.-

My bedroom was hot as ever, I started to sweat a little. I made my way across the worn, faded carpet. I had loved having this room, I had to beg for it. The isolation was something that I had needed living here. My bed creaked as I sat on it, I could feel the springs through the mattress. Both of my parents had only attended community college, that was why they wanted the best for us. We didn't always have the nicest things in our house because they weren't alway affordable.

Neither was college, Tommy and Mike had both gotten scholarships. I was in boarding school on a running scholarship, but I didn't try to hide it. The fact that we weren't overflowing with money didn't bother me much. Still, my biggest fear was that I wouldn't get a running scholarship, and that was my best shot at a good college. I was pretty fast, and one of the best on the team. I just didn't know if it would be good enough to carry me through college.

The vibration of my phone drew me away from my thoughts. It was a text from Avalie. My chest tightened a little, I still wasn't sure how I felt towards her. Reluctantly, I pressed read.

A: FACETIME :(

C: SURE ILL CALL

I dug the iPad that the school had issued me out of my bag and opened the FaceTime app. I clicked the name Avalie, it was the top of my favorites.

The call connected after the second ring, I didn't know what to think when Avalie's face appeared on the screen.

Honestly, she looked terrible. From what I could see, her eyes were puffy from crying, her nose was runny, and her hair was disheveled. "Avalie, what happened?" My mixed emotions were forgotten, replaced with utter concern for my best friend.