A week after Las Vegas, a Pandemic hit the world. Everything was halted, classes in school were suspended indefinitely, and Kyle's acting career isn't clear now. Everyone was forced to wear masks and be quarantined in their own houses. And because Charlotte's mom is a nurse, she has to be extra careful not to contaminate anyone so they decided that it would be best if Charlotte and his older brother would be living in Kyle's house for the meantime. However, his older brother doesn't want to leave his bedroom so it was just Charlotte who was now living under Kyle's family. Since Kyle's house only has two bedrooms, one for Kyle's and one for his parents. She has to share a bedroom with Kyle, and even so, that's going to happen, Kyle's parents bought another single bed for Charlotte to sleep in comfortably.
"Charlotte honey, if you need anything else. Just don't be shy to talk to us ok?" Auntie Grace said while fixing her clothes in the closet Kyle provided for her. He has to take out as many clothes as he can so Charlotte can put her clothes in them. Kyle is also there helping her fix her things.
Kyle and Charlotte had a sleepover before, which isn't new to them. From the moment they first met, they had already had multiple sleepovers, especially during summer and winter vacations if Kyle was at home. They would put up a tent and watch movies until they couldn't take it anymore. And they would tell many stories about their individual lives, and what they aspire to in the future. They would also play as a family often, Kyle is the husband, and Charlotte is the woman of the house. Charlotte would bring her dolls and it would be their children, and they would laugh as much as they could.
"And Kyle honey, please be careful with that." She told Kyle who was carrying Charlotte's camera.
"You two, after you are done please go to the dining room. I am preparing you some snacks," she added and the two nodded quietly, Charlotte then thanked her
"Thank you Auntie Grace for letting me stay with you."
Kyle's mom gave her a motherly sympathetic smile and said "If it's you Charlotte, you are welcome in our home anytime you can. I'll be glad to have a daughter like you." after she said that she once again smiled at her and bid her leave.
"This sucks, we can't travel and go outside, what about our plans Charlotte? What about Wizarding World and Prince Edward Island?" Kyle said while looking at Charlotte's camera and sulking his way out.
"Kyle, I know it's frustrating. But we can't do anything. Think of it this way, this is just temporary, and someday our plans will be in the future. There's always going to be next time. I am still alive, you are still alive. So we will just continue it 2-3 years later." I told Kyle and somehow he can now look at the bright side.
Except for his acting career which has been on pause. Yesterday he went on an Online meeting with his agents; Helen, Janet, and Amelia. It was explained that the acting industry was already fixing everything, but they couldn't tell Kyle when he'll next project was going to be.
When Charlotte finished fixing her clothes, she sat next to Kyle who was sitting on her bed and still looking at her camera. Her camera is a Fujifilm X100V, it's a perfect camera for a pre-teen kid like Charlotte. It's not too big for her, and she can easily carry it whenever she can. Her parents bought it for her last Christmas as a Christmas gift. Just like her father, who likes photography. Charlotte is also fond of photography, however, in her case, she mostly takes pictures of scenery and things rather than people.
"Why didn't you bring this when we were in Vegas?" Kyle asked her and Charlotte just told him that she knew they would be very busy and that bringing a camera isn't essential. And Kyle just frowned at her and he couldn't understand what she was thinking.
"You know what Kyle, you have to find a new hobby so you won't be able to touch my camera," she told him while she took the camera in his hand and then put it on her bedside table, which is only next to Kyle's other side.
"What kind of new hobby then?" Kyle asked her
"What do you like to do? Do you bake? Sports? Chess? What could be Kyle's new hobby?" she sarcastically told him which made the two of them let out a small laugh
"Sports huh? Could be...I can't think of any sports I can do here in our backyard. Let's look up the internet shall we?" he said and quickly searched on the internet using his phone. Both of them were looking at his phone as he scrolled up the choices the internet had been suggesting to him.
Basketball
Volleyball
Baseball
Table tennis
Badminton
Skateboarding
"Skateboarding...now that's the kind of sport I like to try," he said
"But isn't that dangerous Kyle?" Charlotte countered
"That's the thrill of it, besides if I don't try it. I might regret it when I am older." He defended himself and Charlotte just told him to be careful and buy the complete protective gear.
"Can you help me convince my parents? I know they won't let me do this, please I really wanna do this." he pleaded for her to back him up later and Charlotte just shook her head while laughing at him and gave him her answer "Fine! Fine! I'll back you up. Come on, before I change my mind." and Kyle hugged her and thanked her then he quickly pulled her towards where his parents were.
His parents were in the dining room eating some afternoon sandwiches, Auntie Grace made for them.
"You two look suspicious...what is it?" his mom told us and I looked at Kyle that he should spill it now and that she'll be here for him. He took a deep breath first before saying it
"Mom, Dad. I know this is dangerous, but please hear me out." he made an introduction first, so his parents then looked at him very seriously and curious about what their son was going to say.
"Mom, Dad. I want to do skateboarding as a new hobby." the moment he finished his sentence his parents didn't allow it
"Son please pick something else, it's dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt." His mom blurted out calmly
"Your mother is correct, it's dangerous. And the hospital is busy right now catering to the most important disease. It's difficult to go to the hospital." his dad added
Kyle then looked at me with sadness in his eyes, his sulking right now and giving me a puppy face that said 'Charlotte-please-help-me-out'
I chuckled at him and I stepped in for him "Auntie, Uncle. I know I am in no position to convince you anything regarding this matter. But this is the first time I saw Kyle so eager to learn anything. And he has been a great kid for over the years. So I just think, this could be a new opportunity for him to develop something hidden inside of him."
With what I said, his parents looked at each other first before speaking out. It took them a while to fully decide after giving us their answer.
"Fine, we will let you under three conditions." once his mom told him that he jumped continuously and gave them a hug
"Thanks, Mom! Dad! Whatever it is! I am alright with it!"
"Okay so here are our three conditions. You could only do it here first in the grass until we say you could do it on the pavement, Second there must be an adult when you play your skateboard so you can be guided accordingly, and lastly, you have to wear your complete gear. Do you understand Kyle?" his mom explained to him and he agreed and promised he would
"Alright, go on. Order the skateboard you want online." his dad told him and he quickly went to his phone to browse online while we ate our afternoon snacks. His parents then asked me if what kind of hobby I would do, now that everything was halted.
"I'll continue my photography, and take pictures of Kyle while he skates?" I said and we laughed all together.
—
After 4-5 days Kyle's skateboard already arrived including those protective gears he needed. His dad helped him to get him all good. He also lets Kyle run his skateboard alone, and his dad is just there watching him with me. His mom couldn't watch him do it, so she just did something else. At first, Kyle would fall in the grass, but it's just fine and we would just laugh it off. While Kyle did his thing, I would do other hobbies I learned over the years and months. Other than photography, and take pictures of Kyle. I painted, read a lot of books, baked and cooked with Auntie Grace, learned to sew and crochet with her, and also I just started writing my book. At the age of 10, I was doing a lot of things. I was in a higher level of confidence that I could do anything. My father is also building a treehouse in our backyard so that I can still go home whenever I can. Kyle's father helped him build it also, and it became their hobby together. My older brother, on the other hand, just became a video game addict. But his video game hobby was taking him to another level because he was joining online tournaments left and right.
When everything became hotter already in May, Our families decided to have a backyard barbeque. Our families also decided to put a gate in each other's backyard, just for us to get easy access without going in the entrance door. And this way Kyle could also go to the newly built Treehouse our fathers built for us in our backyard. The backyard barbeque also consisted of Auntie Grace putting up a big inflatable pool for anyone to get in, even though it was big for adults to fit in. They didn't join me and Kyle in the pool. My brother also didn't join us in the pool and just helped our dads in the barbeque and "man things" whatever he called it. He's just jealous because his friends can't see him now, and my best friend is just next door. My brother and I don't have the closest relationship, unlike other siblings. I think it's because of our one-year age gap. He didn't get to enjoy or savor being the only child back then, so he distanced himself from me as much as he could. However when I get hurt or when somebody is picking on me, his the one who'll usually tell those kids to back off. Even if he is like that, I am grateful to have a brother like him. I didn't need him much, because Kyle was with me he was the one who was there with me to support, listen, and play with me. I don't consider Kyle to be a sibling or a twin, I think it's because of the possibilities that could happen to us in the future.
I am not closing any doors for me and Kyle
Because if I could choose who I want to spend the rest of my life with
It's Kyle that I want
Even though the chances are slim for us because we are still young and we would get to meet other people along the way. For me, Kyle is already enough.
By June, Kyle can do other skateboarding tricks. He still fails often, but now he doesn't fall and he already perfected his balance so when he fails, he doesn't fall to the ground. I also got better at painting and drawing. I would paint, and most of the things I painted were sceneries and flowers. I also finished the book I was writing back in April. It was a fantasy book, titled "When the confetti falls". It's a story about two people continuously meeting in each other's dream realm and never thinking that they are both existing in reality and never just in the dreamland. When I finished writing the book, I let Kyle read it first and when he finished it he told me that I was a genius and that it should be published. He convinced me to tell his mom about it so that she'd be able to find me a publisher. When I was able to gather my confidence, I agreed with him. His mom then found a publisher through Kyle's agent Helen. And the publisher accepted my manuscript. By the end of June, Kyle's mom told us what the publisher had to say about it.
We were in the tree house when Auntie Grace told us the good news, and she was screaming in excitement.
"KYLE! CHARLOTTE! COME DOWN HERE! I HAVE GREAT NEWS!" she excitedly said while waving at us. We looked at each other first before coming down. Once we were standing in front of her, she said "Your book is going to be published! Congratulations! Oh my goodness I am so proud of you!" she said and she hugged me.
Everything went slow, I saw Kyle scream in happiness while jumping and raising his arms pushing it in and saying "Yes!"
Once my family also received the great news, they were happy for me too. At the age of 10 turning 11, I got to publish my hard work book.
I went to an online meeting with Kyle's family and my family supporting me and being my legal guardians. Helen was also there in the online meeting to be my official representative, so that I won't get to be overused and she's the one who'll do the negotiations and business matters. The publisher just had a few things to say about me, and they want to have an editor so that the book is fully furnished. I am alright with it but the copyrights would all go to me fully. They were only the ones who would publish the book for me and have the protection for physically distributing it under a contract of 5 years. The Publisher is also the one who'll find a graphic artist for the book cover, and I still can express my creative freedom of how I imagine my book would look.
After a week we met again for an online presentation for the book cover and design, with the designer. Helen, Me, and Kyle helped me with deciding what was the best of all the designs I had in my mind. I told them that I wanted it to be like those classical storybooks since the vibe I felt while I was writing the book was like a storybook. I wanted the color to be shades of blue and gold writing for its writings. As for the Font style, I wanted it to look classic-elegant, and not cursive. As for the feel of the book, I want it to be a smooth matte one, and only the writings would be metallic. The graphic designer then suggested adding gold and pale blue as the color of the confetti on the book.
After 2 days we again met for an online meeting, and the graphic designer presented many options that I could choose there's one that I fell in love with immediately.
When I first saw it, I almost cried and I was so happy. Kyle was there for me and handed me some facial tissues and his hand was then seen in the online meeting, and the people who saw it knew that it was him. I got viral a few months ago, and the people on the internet still knew my affiliation with him. For everyone else to watch the meetings I had, without them being seen in the meeting. The laptop was plugged, into the television in the living room of Kyle's house.
The publisher then told me and everyone else involved in this project, that the physical copy of the book would be shipped after a month and they once again congratulated me. After the meeting ended Kyle proudly hugged me and told me something that I would be carrying for the rest of my life.
"I am happy to be here and see you reach your dreams, Charlotte. I am proud of you."