Exhausted, wiped, tired. And all other adjectives of tired define my existence right now.
As Tori collects me after my Physical Therapy, I almost crash into her. Barely able to keep standing. The doctor pushed me hard today. Well harder than I was prepared for today and I need a day to recover from this. But alas, I have already planned to paint my room today. Tori shakes her head helping me back to her car. Instead of sitting up front beside her, I take the back seat and lie down.
"It's not too late to say that you feel tired," Tori tells me. I shake my head knowing too well that she cannot see me. Tori laughs. "I feel like you just shook your head." I nod. "You know what, lie down there and just rest." I nod yet again. Tori somehow seemed to understand me, even though I did not say a word. Pulling out my phone, I text Charlie to see if she even remembers it.
☠️: how you feelin Lee?
Charlie 😎: like crap! 💀 wby?
☠️:kinda same.
Charlie 😎: wait but how?
Charlie 😎: you took one hit
Charlie 😎:it hit you that bad?
Charlie 😎:you a light weight or smithing?
Charlie 😎: 😱
☠️:shush you
☠️: nothing like that
☠️: just tireeeedddd
☠️:saturday hitting hard
☠️: 😩
Charlie 😎: nobody told u to wake up soo early
Charlie 😎: LOL
Charlie 😎: did u not nap or smethg?
☠️:something like that
Charlie 😎:fuck rlly?
Charlie 😎:why?
☠️:been busy.
☠️: so Lee you remember i asked if you wanna help me paint my room?
☠️: still up for that?
Charlie 😎: i remember.
Charlie 😎: you sure you don't wanna nap and rest?
☠️: nah m fine.
☠️: when do u think you can come?
Charlie 😎: is late, so after lunch?
☠️: sure 👍
☠️: you dont know where I live
Charlie 😎: yeah, just meet me at the park by the bridge?
☠️: you dont want the address?
Charlie 😎: nah! meet me there. 😀
☠️:cool
Charlie 😎: 💙
I smile seeing her last text. I heart it before locking my phone. I glance up to see Tori looking at me weirdly through the mirror. "Shouldn't you look at the road instead?"
"Ah, you got your energy back to speak again." Tori teases. I roll my eyes. "And we are almost home anyway. Who have you been texting smiling like that?"
"Smiling? What? No. I was just texting Charlie, my friend, the one who is coming to help me paint my room today."
"Ah, the same friend you don't want to disappoint. The same friend for whom you asked me and Liz to buy the paint first so as you get to paint today only. Right."
"Shut up Tori."
"Kris!" Tori exclaims. I sigh. "We are here. Let's go in." Tori helps me get out and back in the house. I spot the two little humans on the couch. Alex is awake but James seems to be fast asleep. Alex waves at me as Liz helps me sit down.
"So after lunch my friend Charlie will come, well she asked me to meet at the park," I inform them both.
"What's happening, Kiss?" Alex asks sweetly.
"I will paint my room Kid."
"Can I help?"
"Sure," I reply looking at both Liz and Tori who nod.
"Can I invite my friend Tim?" Alex asks me. I tilt my head. His name sounds familiar but I cannot place it.
"Sure, go ahead," Alex screams happily waking James up who looks confused but then spots me, giving me a gummy smile and falls back asleep.
"Did he just fall back asleep?" I ask, stunned.
"Leave him be. Let's go have lunch. James already ate. Alex ate half and is waiting for you and we are too." Tori informs me. Alex rushes back as we eat lunch.
After lunch I check the color and see if it's the one I chose or not, after a few minutes I text Charlie if she is ready, she says she will text once she gets out of her house. I text her okay and ask if either Liz or Tori can give me a ride. I cannot walk today. Liz says she can and as soon as Charlie's text comes through we leave. This time I ask Liz to take me to the other side of the park and she does. There I spot Charlie standing by the bridge.
☠️: Yo m here. In the car, waving.
I see Charlie start looking around as soon as she reads my text. I wave yet again and she spots me. Walking over to the car, she tilts her head.
"Why are you here in a car?" She asks through the window. I step out as I let her in the back and join her too.
"Because..." I trail off.
"Ah, one of your lies. Cool." Charlie scoffs. Then she spots Liz. "Woah Eliza!"
I chuckle at her observation. "Charlie, this is Liz, my sister-in-law." I smile proudly as Liz smiles at me with adoration. "Liz, this is Charlie, my friend."
"Hello Charlie we heard a lot about you."
"I... uh... huh? Hell-o Eliza!" Charlie mutters words, seemingly forgetting how to speak anymore. I chuckle at this.
"Good to see you too Charlie. Hope you are having a great Saturday. It's about to get messy." Liz says and winks at me through the mirror. I laugh at her. Shaking my head I look back at Charlie.
"So..." Charlie starts.
"Yes, Lee?" I ask, using her new nickname for the first time. She smiles at me shyly. I tilt my head in confusion.
Charlie does not say anything anymore, just observes the way the car takes to Tori's house. When the house comes into view, she whistles and then looks at me. "You live here?"
"This is my sister's house," I tell her, hesitantly.
"Yes, she lives here with us," Liz tells her. Then she turns to me, "Kris, gimme your hand." I roll my eyes but oblige. She helps me back in the house. Charlie frowns at this but does not say anything.
"Welcome to our house!" Tori greets her. She smiles but then looks at Charlie weirdly.
"Charlie, this is Tori, my sister." Charlie whips her head so fast I think she strained her neck. "Tori, this is Charlie."
"Ah, nice to meet you, Charlie. I have been hearing so much about you." Tori says, teasing me as Liz kisses the side of her head. I roll my eyes again.
"Stop teasing me, you both." They both chuckle.
Charlie looks at me with wide eyes. "Your sister is Victoria Beaumont?" I nod.
"Lee, please not you too," I say and sigh.
Tori and Liz both ignore this as Tori keeps looking at Charlie as if trying to place her. "I am so sorry to be this straightforward but it seems like I have met you before." Tori finally says.
"Yes, when you helped out at the other hospital on the other end of town," Charlie replies not looking at Tori. My eyebrows raise at this. Woah!
"You are... you are Charlotte Evans. Now I remember. How's your mom doing?" Tori asks. Charlie stiffens but nods.
"She is okay." She replies but still does not look at Tori. Now she is not even looking at me. Weird.
"Okay let's get you some plastic to cover your clothes and...come on." I urge Charlie to move.
"So you are Victoria Beaumont's sister?" I nod. "So, you live on this side of the bridge?" I nod yet again.
"Will this be a problem Lee?" I ask instead.
"Nah. Are you kidding me? This will up your rizz by so much. Wait why do you hang out with us then?"
"Umm... you guys are my friends," I reply, shrugging.
"Okay, well I will take it considering I get to meet them in person through you," Charlie replies, raising her eyebrows.
"Not you too, Lee." I sigh.
"What Victoria is.... oof." I look at her horrified.
"She is my sister, Lee."
"So? She is fineee."
"Please don't say it like that. My lunch is threatening to come back out." Charlie laughs upon hearing this.
The doorbell rings alerting me someone is here. I walk out with Charlie on my heels. I just gave her the plastic wrap to cover herself. We are both wearing it now. Liz opens the door and she lets the people in. I look at them feeling like I know this person. Charlie stiffens behind me and touches my elbow.
"Hey Kris! Hey ....Charlie?" Amy says, greeting both of us. Although, she seems to be questioning Charlie's presence here.
"Amy, what are you doing here?" I ask. Just as I ask, I see Alex run to a little guy hiding behind Amy. I realize this must be Tim, the friend she referred to. Ah, now I remember why the name felt familiar to me.
"Tim, you are here," Alex screams as a shy Tim steps out from behind Amy with a Supergirl action figure clutched in his hands tightly. His hair is long and he looks timid, very unlike Alex.
"Kiss, this is Tim, my bestest friend in the world." Alex introduces me, over excitedly.
I walk up to the kids and bend. Offering my hand to shake, I notice Tim looking at me scared. "So you are Tim. Cool dude. Love the Supergirl. She is strong and fierce like you. Fearless too." I say as Tim smiles at me shyly. I look up to see Amy smile at me weirdly.
"Ello Kiss," Tim says, still scared but less frightened.
"Dude you have Supergirl with you, she will protect you," I tell him, as he gives me a shy smile. I look at Amy, who mouths a silent 'thank you' to me. I nod.
"Tim, come on, we will help Kiss paint." My eyes widened at that. Two 5 year olds? Oh goodness me.
"Okay let's get you both in plastic wraps to prepare for it," I say as I let Tori take them to get dressed.
"You staying, Amy?" I ask.
"Umm... sure if you don't mind."
"You have nothing better to do than help me paint my room?" I ask, confused.
"Well, no. Also, Tim's here." Amy shrugs. I raise my eyebrow at her. Without saying anything more, I give her another plastic wrap around herself.
After we are all prepared for the war zone we venture into my room to paint it. It is messy work mainly cause the two five-year-olds are here with us and we are more interested in having fun than painting. Although we are doing that too with occasional chit chats. It is awkward I notice because of Charlie and Amy being in the same place. But after a while, Charlie sighs and goes to the bathroom.
"Why is Charlie here?" Amy asks.
"I invited her. She is my friend." I tell her. Amy nods.
"Umm Kris... she is a bit.... you know...." Amy trails off. I frown at her but then Charlie walks out thereby pausing whatever this conversation was supposed to turn to.
"Kris, I gotta say when you asked me to help you paint, I didn't realize your room, is this sad," Charlie tells me, picking up her brush.
"Shut up Lee. It's not sad. I have not been here long enough." I bump her shoulder with mine.
"Girl, say no more. I hear you. But still, you need things to liven it up." Charlie tells me. "And this paint ain't gonna cut it." I scoff.
"I know. I have a plan."
"Really you do Kris. I am shooketh." Charlie says, teasing me. I slap her shoulder. "Ouch!" She rolls her eyes at me.
"I don't have meds with me," I say with a wink.
"Huh? You never brought them with you anyways last night." Charlie says.
"So you did give yourself a headache?" I ask, dancing my eyebrows at her.
"No, talking to you did." She rolls her eyes again.
"If talking to me gave you a headache then why you here Lee?"
"Causse Kris...." She trails off. She looks at Amy for a second. "Plus, I am not alone." I frown before looking at Amy, who has been observing us. I completely forgot she was even here while talking to Charlie.
Soon the main portion is done and what's left is the upper part and someone needs a ladder to climb onto, to pain it. Before I could even do it, Tori screams "You are not climbing the ladder, Kris." I look at her and roll my eyes.
"Geez Tori! You scared me." I put a hand over my heart to calm it. "No, I wasn't going to anyway. PT killed me today." Tori laughs.
"PT? Kris?" Charlie asks.
"What she said," Amy asks too.
"PT as in Physical Therapy," I reply, acting cool. Inside I am scared of what they might ask next.
"I know what the full form of PT is Kris. Tell me why you need it?" Charlie asks.
"I didn't know that's what you meant by PT," Amy says. Charlie rolls her eyes.
"Cause Lee." I just point to my leg. Charlie frowns, shaking her head.
"How bad did you injure yourself, Kris?" Amy asks. Charlie looks at her and then at me.
"Amy, I don't think Kris injured herself now, I think it's a previous injury acting up," Charlie observes. I cover my eyes and sigh.
"So you did not tell your friends. I should have expected that." Tori comments from behind.
"I...yeah... no." I just utter words, exhausted from today. I limp towards my bed and sit on it.
"How is the pain today, Kris?" Charlie asks, sitting beside me.
"It's pretty bad," I tell her honestly.
"Tell me why did you not nap when I told you to, instead of painting your room."
"Cause Lee we made a plan yesterday."
"Yeah, and I would not have felt bad one bit if you had told me you would rather sleep and rest. I mean I was high last night. Toasted." Charlie whispers the last part to me.
I look at her and smile, shaking my head I respond. "I remember very well. But I didn't want to cancel or postpone. And I was sober." I reply.
"Were you though?" She asks, raising her eyebrow.
"I was. I just had pain meds so was a little groggy." I smile.
"Fuck are you serious?" Charlie asks, looking mad at me. I nod. "And you... oh my...woah. Shit!" I shrug. "Don't shrug and don't ever mix them."
"I know Lee. Not my first rodeo." I roll my eyes.
"Are you both okay?" Amy asks. I nod as Charlie gets up.
"I am okay, she is not. I am going to climb the ladder and paint the upper portions."
"No. Why Lee?" I ask, disappointed with myself.
"Cause I have not fucked my leg up and anyways I am taller than you so..." Charlie winks at me.
"You are so not, Lee." Charlie just turns and winks at me.
"Keep telling yourself that," Charlie says while starting to paint. Tori goes to help her with the bucket and the ladder. Charlie seems to be starstruck then. I laugh seeing that.
"Lee wipe that drool off." I wink at her. She almost lunges at me before realizing Tori is smiling at her.
Amy sits beside me. I look at her once before moving my eyes to the two five-year-olds who did the painting pretty well. But now they seem to be bored and are on their way to get out of the plastic wraps. Liz helps them get out of it as they run out.
"So you and Charlie seem to be good friends." I glance at Amy for a second before switching my eyes to observe Charlie now.
"Yeah."
"You know she is a bit..." Amy trails off.
"What are you trying to say Am? Get on with it."
"She is a bit weird. And she lives on that side... so I mean why are you friends with her?"
"She is not weird, she is Lee. My friend. And why? Why does anyone become friends with anyone Amy? Geez! Also, Charlie is pretty cool and I don't give a damn where she lives." I tell her rather rudely.
"Okay. Just... I didn't expect you to invite her here." Amy continues.
"What is your problem with her? Also, why not? She is my friend, a good friend actually."
"It's just that... this is... I mean this is Vicky and Eliza's house." I frown.
"Yeah and? Vicky is my sister and Eliza is my sister-in-law. And since I now live here, hence, I think I can invite my friends over if I want to. Also, I did ask my sister if it's okay, you know the owner of the house." I am irritated with Amy now. Shaking my head, I stand up and walk over to the ladder beside Tori.
"You okay there?" Tori asks, eyeing me. I shrug.
"Kris you know, sometimes the paint fumes also affect a person's brain. It may cause headaches and alter their brain function making them stupider than before." Charlie comments, while climbing down to move the ladder. "I don't think stupider is a word but you get my point." I nod, laughing.
"Yep, loud and clear. And something tells me she inhaled a lot of it." I reply loudly, still looking at Charlie. She has a mischievous smile, as she moves the ladder.
"Will you ever tell me what is wrong with you though?" Charlie asks.
"Nothing."
"I mean with your leg. Your brain is damaged I know, otherwise, no one in their right mind would want to paint their room when they are in pain and limping and after Physical Therapy."
"Lee!" I exclaim. She smiles at me.
"I speak the truth, you know it." I huff.
"I told her if she wants to move it at least tomorrow, but Kris was adamant about keeping her promise," Tori tells Charlie.
"I keep my promises and I am used to the pain, it's nothing new anyway," I say without realizing that Charlie and Amy heard me too.
"Used to the pain." "What?" Both Charlie and Amy scream at the same time.
"Umm... yeah, it's a thing. Been for a while." I tell them as vaguely as possible.
"What she is hiding is that she has a metal rod as her bone in her right leg," Tori tells them, making me frown.
"What is wrong with you Kris?" Charlie asks, making me look at her with raised eyebrows. "Why would you join the cheerleading squad with that?"
"Exactly," Amy adds.
"I wanted to... Besides, I am okay now." I tell all three of them.
"No, you are not. If you were. You would not have to PT nor will you be limping. Geez girl. It's fine to not be okay." Charlie tells me. "Lord knows I am not. Nobody is all the time." Charlie steps off the ladder. Before moving it, she pats my shoulder. Amy comes to us as well and hugs my elbow. I look at her weirdly.
"I agree with Charlie. She is right. You are not okay and that's okay. You are going for PT and taking care of yourself." I lift one shoulder up and let it fall.
Tucking my lips to a side, I look at them. "Thanks." Charlie punches my shoulder slightly before moving the ladder and climbing back up as Amy hugs my elbow tightly.
"Now come on, sit down." Amy pulls me towards my bed. "I will help Charlie." She says making me look at her weirdly. "What? She did a lot of it, I can do the rest, while you guys talk and she rests." I shrug.
Charlie likes her idea so after finishing up the portion she was doing now, hands the brush over to Amy. But she realizes it might not be easy for her because she is tiny as compared to both Charlie and me, even though I did not even climb the ladder. As soon as I realize this, I chuckle and unlock my phone to click a photo of her. Charlie sees something.
"Who's that on your wallpaper Kris?" I glance at Charlie before clicking the picture.
"No one, Lee." I see that the picture is perfect. "Hey Amy, would you mind if I tag you in a pic?" She looks at me angrily.
"Kris you would not dare to post something pointing at my height," Amy says, threatening me. But because she is on the ladder and with a paintbrush in hand she looks comical.
"Sure," I tell her with a slight smile.
"Kris, she looks like an Oompa-Loompa now with the paintbrush in hand," Charlie tells me, making me laugh out loud. Amy whines.
"Charlie!" She smirks at her. Tori laughs too as she tries to control her laughter.
"By the way Kris, why'd you choose this shade of purple?"
"Cause I like it, Lee," I tell her. She nods.
"So, am I ever gonna get the real reason?" I shrug.
"Maybe later." She nods.
"Wait, you did not choose it because you like this color?" Tori asks. I shake my head.
"I mean I do like it but..." I trail off.
"What she means is that there is another reason for her choice which she will not tell us now," Charlie tells Tori, who just looks at us with a raised eyebrow.
"How'd you know Charlie?" Amy asks.
"Oh didn't you know, I speak Kris, well." Amy looks at her weirdly. "Amy in case you didn't notice, Kris, likes to lie and hide things but I can easily understand when she is doing those things." Charlie shrugs as Amy smirks at both of us.
"Ah, I see. I see it clearly now." She says, smiling at us weirdly. Tori looks at Amy for a second before smirking at the two of us. I frown before shaking my head and turning to Charlie.
"You know what she means Lee?" I hook my thumb towards Amy.
"Nada. Not a clue. Amy is being weird again. Weird Oompa-loompa." I laugh at hearing that.
"Hey, not nice," Amy exclaims but I can hear the smile in her voice.
Guess, a day of painting is all I needed to relax and have them behave nicely towards each other. Even though I know their differences will not be removed in a day and I do expect it to either. But if Amy wants to be my friend then she has to accept the fact that Charlie is my good friend and that I do not care where she lives. In fact her house does not bear any reasoning for our friendship. I mean all my friends technically reside on the other side of the bridge, so I will not be friends with them anymore just because. Ain't no way. Not happening. Even though I have not known them for long, they have become my friends and Charlie is the closest of them. I smile at Charlie as she jerks her head asking what. I shrug as I continue to smile looking at her.
"You are being weird now Kris." I slap her shoulder. "Ouch!"
"You deserved it, Lee."
"By the way, I like the nickname. Thanks." Charlie tells me with a shy smile.
"Of course." I bump her shoulder softly as she gives me a rare shy smile. She looks beautiful, perfect. The thought makes me jump and I start looking anywhere but her face.
"You know Kris, I said it before, your room was bare and the paint helps it only a bit. But what I do not understand is why do you have an unopened parcel underneath your bed?" Charlie says, making me look at her with wide eyes. I realize to my horror, I completely forgot about the package I received yesterday when I was leaving.