Charlie
"Good morning Dad... and Miss. Smith?"
I wasn't expecting to see our neighbor at my house early morning while leaving for school. But here she was, chatting with my father as he was sipping his morning cup of coffee.
They were standing on either side of the kitchen counter and got startled when I announced my presence.
"Oh hey, Charlie," Miss. Smith smiled at me as I now noticed that she was holding a basket of something. "Good morning. I was just here to drop off these mangoes. One of my uncles is road-tripping in India and send a whole crate to us."
I checked the basket and saw some delicious-looking mangoes inside. They were mostly ripe and looked ready to eat.
"Oh wow," I said to her. "Thank you so much. I haven't tasted mangoes in such a long time and all of these looks so delicious."
"That's what I was saying," Dad replied as he kept his cup in the sink. "And they are from India, which is like, the best place to grow mangoes. So really, thank you."
Miss. Smith and Dad smiled at each other, as I took the basket and kept it aside. There were like a dozen of mangoes, so maybe I could make cookies too.
"I will leave now." She informed us. "First, I need to drop Alice at school and then go to work myself."
"Okay, I'm also getting late for work so I'll come too," Dad replied, then turned towards me. "Hey kid, I have prepared pancakes for you so don't go to school without eating. Remember it's your turn to do the laundry, water the plants, and you also promised to clean your room. Get all that done after school. Before I forget to ask, you must be going to that party right? When is it again?"
I was nodding along to everything and stopped at the last question.
"Party?" I replied, confused. "It's on Saturday, but how...?"
"Great," Dad replied as he checked his watch. "I'll prepare dinner tonight, see you then. Bye."
Miss. Smith and Dad both left the house, chatting about something. Meanwhile, I was still in the kitchen thinking about how the fuck my Dad knows about the party.
Because I was certain that I never mentioned any party to him.
With that question in my mind, I ate my breakfast and drove myself to school.
'Find Your Drink' party was planned for Saturday night at Beecher's house because his parents were out of town. It was a party for seniors mostly, something about finding their drinks before they go off to college. Most people were just happy about having a party that they could attend and get shitfaced.
Personally, I don't understand high school parties much. It's acceptable to have a party after we win a match or if it's the last day of vacation. But this party where seniors are just going to try different drinks to find out what they prefer, is actually kind of crap. However traditions are traditions, so I'm just going to fully witness them.
Everyone in school was talking about the party. The sports teams were planning it, so it was bound to be fun. Luke and others were pretty excited in the morning, so it surprised me when I saw Luke sporting a dejected look during the break.
"What happened to you?" I asked him as he was entering the students' lounge. Diego and Jessica were in there too, exploring each other's mouths.
"That party is canceled now." He said and jabbed the nearby locker in anger. Everyone in the hallway gave him looks, but no one had the courage to approach him while he was fuming.
"What? Why?"
"Beecher's parents found out about it." He replied, getting some coins out of his pocket. "Fucking idiot wasn't careful enough. So for now, Find Your Drink is on hold."
With that been said, Luke stomped off to the vending machine while I once again started wondering.
How did Beecher's parents know? How did my Dad know?
Still, I continued my way to my next class, Spanish, which was also my favorite class currently.
Because I get to sit beside my crush.
After the whole camping trip fiasco, Alex changed his seats in this class to stay away from Winston. So now, he sits beside me and we get to chat during group discussions.
Alex has been avoiding people since then too, with the exception of Tyler. They mostly hang out in the library together, and other times he is alone there. I manage to stop him once a day to ask how he is been, and he actually replies without sounding irritated.
I actually googled about Traumatic brain injury, which kind of scared me and made me restless. It was really unbelievable how much people suffer after, and right now Alex was suffering too. He doesn't show it but after knowing that he gets nightmares at night, I am more worried about him.
There were many symptoms listed on a site, including changes in sleep patterns, dizziness, ringing in the ears, and confusion. As long as I have known Alex, he hasn't shown any other signs apart from his nightmares and he is great at hiding things. So I actually don't know much.
As I entered the class, students were slowly filling in and chatting with each other. I noticed Alex was already in his seat too, reading his book.
"Hey!" I greeted him and he lifted his head to give me a small smile.
"Did you hear?" I asked after settling down in my seat and placing my bag down too. "Find Your Drink got canceled."
"I did not hear," He replied as I started getting my book out. "But wasn't really listening. I wasn't planning on going to that."
I chuckled at his reply and sat straight with the Spanish book in front of me.
"What is a Find Your Drink party anyway?" He asked, turning towards me in wonder.
"You find your drink before you head off to college."
My answer probably confused him more as he stayed silent and looked at me to explain more.
"You know, like tequila, vodka, whiskey." I continued telling him and he nodded along. "You try them all, find which one is your drink, so you know."
I looked over the page he was reading, which was the next chapter in class so I started turning pages too.
"Can't you just know?" Alex asked again and I laughed lightly.
"It... Yeah, I don't know." I honestly replied. "I don't endorse the traditions. I'm just simply reporting the details as I get them."
"Yes. And it's appreciated." He smiled at me and my heart did a flip.
"Thank you."
Just then the bell rang indicating the end of lunch as I sighed to myself. From the corner of my eye, I saw Alex taking out his phone and reading a message.
"What is it now?" He mumbled to himself, typed something while shaking his head, and put the phone back in his pocket.
"Is everything okay?" I asked him as he looked at me in surprise. He now had a frown on his face and a worried look.
"Let's hope so," Alex answered as the professor entered the classroom. "Jessica messaged. She and Clay want to meet me after school. Said it's urgent."
"Oh."
Just then the Professor started talking and we had to stay quiet.
But it didn't stop me from wondering what the urgent matter must be.
×××××××××××××××××
Heya everyone!
This is a short chapter, I know, but I am not going to add much fillers because then it keeps getting hard to keep up with everything.
Anyways, I'm happy to see so many people reading and voting this story, it really makes me so happy! I'm also reading comments which I'm going to reply. I never thought people will actually love the idea of this book so thank you so much!
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