The Howling

First Day Back

Six:

The rest of Charlotte's winter break passed with countless hours on her laptop, fixing her Malibou, and working double shifts at the resteraunt. The morning that her alarm went off for school, Charlotte groaned and turned it off. She hasn't seen the wolves in the past week, then again she hasn't paid much attention to the woods.

"Charlie!" Jeremy called down the hall from his room. Charlotte rolled her eyes and threw a sweatshirt over her tanktop and slipped on some basketball shorts. Padding down the hallway she stood in the doorway of her brother's room.

"What." She snipped. Jeremy furrowed his brows for a second before a smile spread across his face.

"You get to drive me to school." He was already showered and dressed.

"Well no shit Sherlock," Charlotte rolled her eyes and headed to the bathroom to see what damage happened overnight.

After her shower, throwing an outfit on, and making sure she had her homework together, Charlotte warmed up her Blazer and enjoyed a morning cigarette with her cup of coffee.

"No face mask today?" Jeremy asked as he carefully walked out of the house.

"Didn't feel like pulling out the Obama mask." Charlotte replied as she watched her smoke drift up towards the pink sky. Jeremy just chuckled and threw his bag in the Blazer. His left arm was in a sling and the gash above his eyebrow was healing quickly. He enjoyed the attention he got when he went into town.

Too bad he couldn't break that goofy smile... Charlotte thought to herself as she put out the cigarette and grabbed her thermos of coffee. Climbing into the drivers' side she took off and played music that Jeremy wouldn't generally listen to.

"So the circus returns," Charlotte muttered to herself as she pulled into her usual parking spot. Turning off the engine she hopped out and waited for Jeremy. He slung his backpack over his good shoulder and walked up to her.

Making their way silently, Charlotte sunk into her own world again. She didn't pay attention to what her brother said, just nodded every once in a while. The people that she walked besides didn't notice her, and she didn't notice them. In the middle of her newest tattoo idea, someone bumped her shoulder and she turned her head around quickly.

"Whoa killer," Byron held up his hands and Charlotte relaxed. "Why didn't you hang out with us anymore during break? We were hoping to see you around town or the trails or something, but you never appeared." He slowed his pace and walked with Charlotte.

"Cool kids work during breaks," She mumbled. Byron smiled and shook his head. Stopping at her locker she twisted the dial and the locker popped open. Charlotte thought Byron left so when she shut the door and he started talking again, she jumped.

"Well I'm sure you don't work twenty-four seven," Bryon raised an eyebrow. Charlotte shrugged and noticed how he looked over her face again.

"Damn close," Charlotte replied. Byron reached out and ran his thumb over her temple. Charlotte turned her head away and looked up at him."Yeah, that's real."

"It's so..." Byron's voice trailed off as he stared at her birthmark. On her temple was a perfectly shaped paw, what animal it belonged to, she didn't know. The birthmark was small enough so that she could hide it easily with make-up, but on days like this one she couldn't hide it so easily.

"Random? Strangely proportionate?" Charlotte filled in the rest of his sentence.

Byron shook his head and looked in her eyes, if he was searching for something, he must've found it cause his face broke out into a poisonous smile. Charlotte furrowed her brows and slipped into her classroom.

"I'll see you later, Charlie," He called after her. Charlotte nodded and took her seat in the back corner of the class. Other teens filed in slowly, lost in conversation and giggles.

Charlotte was content with zero contact and pulled out her drawing pad and pencil to start drawing her latest tattoo.

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School passed slowly, and Charlotte remembered why she always sat in the back corners of the classes. Walking quickly to her Blazer, Charlotte started it up and lit a cigarette inside. Cracking the window she leaned against the seat and closed her eyes.

Jeremy climbed into the cab soon after she finished her cigarette and looked at her skeptically. "You need to park closer to the school."

"You can stand to walk a little farther. Besides, I hate parking next to all those people. I get dirty looks enough as it is." Charlotte clenched her jaw as she fought her way out of the parking lot and onto the main road that would carry her to the gravel road to their home.

"Why do you care about the way they look at you? You always isolate yourself, Charlie." Jeremy played with his backpack strap and watched the road. Charlotte pursed her lips and forced herself to relax a bit.

"Nobody's perfect." Charlotte furrowed her brows and pushed the gas.

"I know this," Jeremy looked over at her as she lit up another cigarette, rolled her window down a bit and blasted the heat for him. "Maybe you should at least try making friends while you're here. You know who to stay away from and who you can rely on. You just need to let them in a little."

Charlotte ran her tongue over her teeth and took a deep breath. "I'm done with this conversation." She reached over and turned up the radio. Jeremy sighed and leaned against the window in defeat. No matter what he said, how he said it, or how many times, Charlotte was so stubborn. She was so hesitant to open up to people. He was amazed they were so close, then again they've known each other since they were both eight. Having the title of 'step-brother' and being the same age made it hard for them to not have things in common.

He watched as Charlotte kept a rigid posture the whole way back to the house, her hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly, her knuckles went white, her jaw flexed, and her eyes could set the road on fire. Jeremy shifted his gaze to the snow-covered trees and remembered how much his shoulder hurt.

"Remind me to take my drugs when we get inside," He glanced at her. Nodding curtly, she sped up a little. Smilling to himself, Jeremy rested his head against the window again and enjoyed the last fifteen minutes of rock and roll.