The Known (On Hold)

2

10 Years Previous

"Alright, class settle down." The teacher enters the room, walks over to her desk and lifts up a paper, "So, it looks like we left off with David on Friday, so Charlotte, that means you're up. Just a reminder that everyone is to turn their listening ears on and talking mouths off while your classmates are speaking."

A hand goes up, "Yes, Jason."

"Can I go out in the hallway, because these speeches have been so bad my ears have been bleeding." The class laughs at the comment.

"Quiet. You all have the choice of sitting here and quietly listening to the speeches or spending the class doing work in the office. Any volunteers to go and sit with Mr Tomlinson?"

The students all quickly shake their heads, none of them wanting to spend any more time than necessary in the company of Principal, who more often than not seems to forget to put deodorant on and always has pit stains, not to mention his badly stained teeth.

"Good, then, let's begin."

Charlotte Jennifer Gordon, or C.J. as most of her friends call her slowly makes her way up to the front of the class, for the dreaded public speaking portion of her English class.

Standing up there, she fiddles with the cue cards in her hands, taking some deep breaths and trying to picture her classmates in their underwear as her Dad told her too. Looking towards the brothers Grimm also known as Jason and David, she shakes her head trying to clear that picture out of her head.

She makes eye contact with her best friend, Matthew Finnegan aka "Finn" and he does his best job to reassure her that everything will be okay.

"You may begin anytime you're ready, Charlotte."

Standing in front of the group, she feels her heart rate pick up, and tears threaten to come to the surface.

"Look at her, she's gonna cry, like the little baby she is," Jason yells out.

"Jason, off to the principal's office with you!"

Charlotte stands at the front, frozen in fear and then as the contents of her stomach threaten to re-appear, she takes off running out of the classroom and into the girl's washroom.

She sits crying against the wall for God knows how long, before the door opens, and she feels someone sit down beside her, "Everything will be okay, C.J."

Charlotte wraps her arms around her older sister and sobs on her shoulder, "Why can't I do it, Kenz?"

Mackenzie holds her sister, "Some people just aren't meant to talk in front of large groups, and it would seem that you aren't. But you have something they don't, and that's the ability to bring words and stories to life on the page. I know you worked hard on your speech and I'm sure that Mrs Hamilton knows that as well; so what, if you don't get to move on to the local competition, all that matters is that you tried your best."

"Thanks, Kenz. But what about Mom and Dad?"

"Their heads are so far into their work and research right now, that I'm sure they don't even know what's going on with school and us."

"It's hard sometimes, you know, living up to the expectations that are placed on me because of who our parents are."

"I know and don't think that I don't understand because I do; I didn't understand something in Biology and put up my hand to ask the teacher a question, and I swear I saw jaws drop around me." Charlotte laughs, "You actually didn't know something?"