I don't know how long I must have been crying when Charlie suddenly appeared in the living room. He must have gone to get his granola cookies for his friends because he was holding a plate full of them until a minute ago. He must have dropped the plate as soon as he noticed me and it shattered into a thousand pieces. Bryce and the other boys cringed. "Man, St. George, can't you be careful," Walker replied as he bent down to pick up the coarsest shards from the floor.
Charlie, however, dropped everything and instead came up to me to give me a hug.His hugs were golden. He patted my head and back a little with different hands. Then he pulled me into the hallway where neither Bryce, Luke nor Monty could see us. "Why are you crying,Charlet? Did the boys do something to you?" He pointed with his hand behind him where the boys should be "You just have to tell me and I'll send them away. My sister's well-being comes first"
Now that Charlie has made friends so quickly at the new school, I certainly won't destroy his image of them. I will grit my teeth and not cry about Bryce or Monty, as much as it hurts. But what else did I expect? Did I expect this to be like a film? My life is not a film, it is reality. I shook my head "those boys didn't do anything to me, you chose the right friends" I lied without any guilt "Charlie, you won't be able to protect me 24/7. You'll get exhausted sometime. That's just the way it is"
Charlie looked at me with his special look. I really didn't want him to worry just because of what some Montgomery de La Cruz said. I just wanted to go upstairs, snuggle into his jacket that still smelled like him and just cry. Shed tears like there was no end to it. "Then why were you crying, Charlet?" he crossed his arms in front of his chest. I shrug my shoulders "I don't know,Charlie. I don't know why I was crying. It won't be anything. Probably just some mood swings because of the one woman problem"
I knew that if I mentioned the woman problem, he wouldn't ask again. Since our mother died, I don't really talk about it with anyone except my friends. He frowned a little at the thought "If it's nothing else, I can go back" I nodded "By the way, I cooked today. Why don't you have some when you go into the kitchen? I mean it's reasonably edible" he jokes and walks down the corridor back to the living room.
I almost ran up the stairs to my room again, but not as hysterically as a few hours ago, more torn down. I don't even know if Bryce and the others noticed me. Hopefully not
I still wanted to cry, so I did. Here I was undisturbed. I could cry as much as I wanted, hammer my pillow against my face or just cuddle up with Monty's jacket as if he were with me. Just as I had imagined. A typical happy ending.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door and I had no idea who it could be. I wiped tears from my face even though I knew that my blurred mascara showed that I had been crying. Just before I was about to open the door, it opened on its own. It was my father standing in the doorway with a tray full of goodies in his hands which he placed on the desk next to the door "Your brother said it was time again" My father shrugged "It was his idea to bring you a candy dream. You have a great brother" "And a great dad" I replied with a slight smile.
He smiled back and was about to turn to leave, but I held him back. "Dad? Can I ask you something?" "Always, sweetheart. Shoot." I pointed to the edge of the bed for him to sit down and he looked at me eagerly. "Dad, I know this is something I would have discussed with Mum" I breathed in and out again as I stared at the bedspread on my bed for a brief minute and then pulled myself back together. "But I wanted to ask if you've ever had anything like heartbreak? That is, that a boy, in your case a girl, has hurt you very badly with something that she or he has said?"
My father eyed me a little, "So that's why you're crying, honey? You don't have the girl problems, do you?" He sees the football jacket on my lap and immediately understands what's going on. I find it amazing what this man can do. I nod once for both questions, "Yeah, but dad, you didn't answer my question. Have you ever had this before? Because I feel so alone like no one understands me. It hurts. I don't know what to do"
One last tear runs down my cheek "but please don't tell Charlie. He's just made friends" My father was a good listener, I liked that about him "Don't worry, little one. He won't find out about this. In fact, I've had that several times. With time, the grief wears off. Besides" he points to the sweets. "If I've already brought you these, they should at least be useful. Chocolate makes you happy my darling" "Thank you dad" I took him in my arms as it was customary for us St. George's.
"You can always come to me, daughter" he says proudly and finally leaves the room after he releases himself from the embrace. Before he leaves the room, he turns to me for a moment. "Number 32. My daughter has good taste". I looked it up and sure enough, Montgomery de la Cruz wears the number 32. How did he know? How did he know it was Monty and not Bryce or Luke? Later I noticed that the number had been embroidered on Monty's jacket, somewhat hidden but still there.
Sad as it is I will have to give monty his jacket back.
I don't know how, but somehow I managed to fall asleep. Around 7 o'clock I started to get ready. I didn't put on any make-up like the day before. For what anyway? The only thing I really did on myself for today was the typical hygiene stuff like brushing my teeth and combing my hair. Last but not least, I put on a grey Jamsuit. Somehow I liked it because it reflected my mood today, even if it was a bit shorter and not exactly suitable for the weather. But I didn't really care about that now. I didn't care what Charlie or anyone else would say.
Just before I left the room, I slung my backpack over my shoulders. The boys must have fallen asleep during the game yesterday because all three except Charlie were sleeping peacefully on the couch with the appearance that no one could wake them. My eyes fell directly on Monty. His hair was slightly dishevelled and unlike Luke or Bryce, he didn't snore. In this situation, asleep, Monty looked like he would never want to hurt anyone. He looked like he was the most peaceful person in the world. Maybe he was, but his words yesterday proved me wrong.
I had tied his jacket around my backpack, which I now untied, of course. In my hand I had a certain momentum of anger and I threw it right in his face, waking him up. Maybe that had been my aim. Monty looked at me from the couch, "Morning, St. George" I didn't give him a smile or answer what he said, "Your jacket. The one you gave me yesterday" He eyed my outfit a bit "Better keep it and put it on" He threw it back in my direction. I, however, didn't even bother to catch it, later I just picked it up from the floor.
Like every day, Charlie cursed that we would be late. So there was no breakfast for me on my second day at school either. I was lucky that I had taken some chocolate bars from the tablet.
On the car ride I didn't exchange a word with the driver Bryce, nor with the passenger monty, nor with Luke who was sitting next to me, not even with Charlie.
The rest of the school week was like any other. At lunch time I always sat at the table with the other cheerleaders, I liked the attention from the other students. One of them, Debroah Beauford, or simply Debi, had suggested throwing a party at my house. Sort of a welcome home party. I knew that neither Charlie nor my father, who was away on business anyway, would mind if I had a party with some people from school.
Debi and her friend, what I would rather call a lap dog, Leanna, arrived at my house hours before to get me ready. Unlike Jess, they looked really professional. I also invited Jess and the athletes, it was Debi's idea to invite them.
After they had finished with me, I was finally allowed to look at myself in the mirror. They had also brought me a dress, it was black, tight, had a low neckline and was made of leather. Somehow it looked very cheap on me together with the much too strong make-up I couldn't let myself be seen at my first party. I decided to simply ask, "Are you sure? Isn't that too provocative?" Debi shook her head and Leanne did the same "Don't, sweetheart. You look fantastic and not cheap at all. You are beautiful" She had such a smile that it was disconcerting.I tried to force a smile on my face. I didn't know why I felt so sick to my stomach but Debi and Leanne were much more experienced with parties than I was so I decided to listen to them.
Downstairs the party had already started, Charlie and his friends were in the middle of it all, Monty too. I just wanted to sit with them. Enjoy his closeness. My brother waved at me and gave me a sign to join them. I was surprised he didn't comment on my outfit, a stern look was all he had to say. "St. George, would you like a round of never have I ever?" Bryce said to me and I just nodded as he handed me a drink which I smelled a little. What did it smell like? A lot of alcohol. There was a small gap between Monty and Charlie. I sat down between the two of them.
Monty put his hand on my thigh. I didn't like that feeling. When Charlie looked at him sternly, he took it away. At times like this his inner Labrador comes out again "I guess everyone knows how this game works.Those who can NOT answer the question in the affirmative, that is, who are guilty as charged, must take a sip of their alcoholic beverage." Bryce looked around for a minute. Since no one objected, he finally started.
He points to the girl in his arms. Her name was Chloe Rice, she was also a cheerleader, just like me. "Never have I ever blasphemed about any of the people present here" Almost all of the cheerleaders at the table drank from their cups but what else did I expect? No one commented.
Now it was Luke's turn. A few athletes and cheerleaders raised their cups for him too. "Never have I ever had sex while other people were in the room"
After a few other people, it was Monty's turn. I was really curious what he was going to say. I hadn't had anything to drink yet, did that make me uncool? "Never have I ever had problems with the police" Not only him, but six other guys took a sip of their drink and I wondered what each of them had done to end up with the police.
Was I that innocent? Most of the cups were almost empty, even Charlie was allowed to drink half of his drink. Finally it was my turn. Exactly what I said at that moment I immediately regretted the next. Unlike the others, my statement sounded lame and like kindergarten "Never have I ever left the house without underwear under my clothes" I blushed and had to watch Monty and the others laughing at me, even though they tried to suppress it. And yet I drank from my drink. It was really a very bad mix, so I screwed up my face. Monty also drank a little, but almost spat out the contents in his mouth from laughing.
I wanted to sink into the ground, but that didn't work at all. Bryce just took another sip and laughed, already slightly drunk. "Never have I ever sucked somebodys dick" To my amazement, not only all the girls without me but also a few boys drank from her cup, including Charlie. My brother Charlie, I decided not to ask.
Without saying anything, I left the table and went into the kitchen. There were a few people there. It was not unusual to see them smoking pot at school. At the moment I would give anything for a puff of it. A blond boy with slightly dishevelled fringes waved at me, or at least it seemed that way. "Hey, you, come over here." So what? The boy seemed nice. Besides, he was carrying a crutch himself. What could he do to me? Next to him, on the kitchen shelf, was a shisha, which he must have brought himself, as there was no one else standing around. In general, I found it amazing what Debi had done to our house. With his hand he pointed at the shisha "do you want? You look like you could really use it right now. Your face, it looks very tense."
I stared a little at the Sisha and nodded with a slight smile "How do you know?" The boy laughed lightly to himself "You know, a smile suits you much better. Well" he takes a drag from the shisha and hands it to me. I do the same, having to suppress a slight cough "without wanting to seem like a stalker. I've been watching you, Charlie and Montgomery" I look at him a little surprised. He shrugs his shoulders. "Is Charlie your boyfriend or your brother?" I have to grin a little since he's not the first to ask that "My brother,Charlie is my twin brother. I don't know why else we have the same last name, St. George" He looks around the room for a moment.
"So this is your house party? You're not much in the way of hustle and bustle " I took a second puff of the Sisha, put my head back and blew the smoke into the air, the way you usually saw it "Yes, my house party. The whole thing was Debi's idea, you think?" The boy was about to answer me when I felt someone wrap both arms around my neck from behind and brush a strand of hair behind my ear. Goose bumps formed all over my body as he whispered something in my ear.
"Naaaaa babeeeee" It was Monty. It was obvious from his voice that he had been drinking a lot and yet I didn't feel the need to push him away. I enjoyed every single second of him running his hands from my shoulders down my arms and closed my eyes. Then when he started kissing my back a little more roughly, I opened them wide again and pushed him away slightly. We both stared at the boy in front of us "What are you looking at, Standall? You know what, me and my girlfriend charlet are going to fuck off now anyway" He put his arm on me and leaned on me at the same time so as not to fall over and pulled me with him.