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**
“Here.”
I looked up from where I was sat at the kitchen island the next morning, quietly enjoying a bowl of cereal, to see Jason sliding something towards me.
“What’s this?” I frowned.
“Money.” He said it was like the most obvious thing it the world, which I guess it kind of was, but I was still quite confused.
“I can see that.” I raised my eyebrows. “Why are you giving it to me?”
“Because you didn’t bring many clothes with you,” He explained with a shrug, “So I thought you could spend today getting some more?”
That was the last thing I expected him to say. I knew I’d have to get some more clothes, as I was really running low, but I was planning on getting a job and then getting some. My mother had stopped buying me clothes the moment I was able to get my first job—which was a paper round at the age of thirteen—and I’d been buying it all myself ever since.
“I...I can’t take your money.” I blinked, sliding it back towards him.
“Midge, don’t even start that. I insist.” Once again, he slid it towards me. “I don’t know how your mom did things, but you’re living with me now. I’ve gone nearly seventeen years without being able to spend money on you. Please let me buy you some clothes. It’s really not a big deal.”
“O-okay.” I stammered. “I guess it’s not a big deal. But as soon as I get a job and I have money of my own, I’ll pay you back, I swear.”
“No need.” He rolled his eyes, reaching over and ruffling my hair. “Hey, maybe you could take Charlotte and Linds shopping with you?”
“That’s a good idea.” I nodded.
“Great. Well, I’ve got to go over to Johnny’s house in about an hour, so how about I drop you off at Matt’s on the way?”
Once again, I nodded and sent him a grin, before he exited the kitchen and went off to do his own thing. After I finished my breakfast, I grabbed my phone and dialled Charlotte’s number, waiting patiently as it rang.
“Hello?” She eventually answered.
“Hey.” I replied casually. “Are you free today?”
“Sure am!” She exclaimed. “And bored, too. Why?”
“My dad gave me money to go shopping for clothes because I’m quickly running out,” I told her. “Do you wanna come with me? And Linds, too?”
“Yes!” She sounded way more enthusiastic than I expected her too, but she soon explained why. “I was about to be subjected to helping my mom clean up after the barbecue yesterday.”
At that, I laughed. I couldn’t imagine Charlotte being too happy about that at all.
“Cool, well, my dad said that he’ll drop me off at yours on his way to Johnny’s in about an hour. That okay?” I asked.
“Of course!” She said. “I’ll ring Linds and tell her to come round. See you soon.”
“Bye, Charles.”
And with that, I went to get ready for a day around Huntington.
**
One thing I’d already learned about living with Jason, was that he actually managed to leave the house on time. My mother was terrible for it. She’d suggest leaving at six o’clock and we’d still be inside at six-thirty.
But luckily, both Jason and I were ready to leave when we planned to. An hour after he’d given me the money and suggested I spend the day with my cousins, we were leaving the house and getting inside the car.
“Hey, Midge, do you drive?” He asked, as he pulled out of the driveway and rolled the windows down.
“Yeah, I do.” I nodded.
“We need to get you a car.” He said it so casually, but I knew he was being completely serious.
“I’m not letting you buy me a car.” I refused. “No way, that wouldn’t be fair.”
He took one hand off the steering wheel to playfully hit me, at which I laughed.
“I’m buying you a car whether you like or not.” He chuckled along, quickly glancing at me with a playful grin. “Deal with it.”
Keeping the smile on my face, I rolled my eyes as he pulled into Uncle Matt’s driveway.
“Have a good time.” He grinned at me. “Just call me when you want picking up, okay?”
“Sure.” I replied. “Bye, dad.”
I stepped out of the car and into the hot sun, texting Charlotte to say I was outside of her house as my dad drove away. I didn’t really know whether to ring the doorbell or not, because I realised yesterday that my dad didn’t tend to do so, but he’d been here much longer than I had.
“Just let yourself in!” Charlotte texted back.
Smiling down at the screen of my phone, I approached the door and opened it, stepping inside. I was just going to make my way into the kitchen as I assumed that was where she’d be, but as I was still looking at my phone, I walked into someone.
I didn’t expect to look up and see Zacky, but he was there. He looked pretty exhausted, but he still managed a smile.
“Hey.” He greeted me, reaching past me to grab his shoes. “Spending the day with Charlotte?”
“Yeah,” I nodded, “And Linds. I’m not stopping, though; we’re going out.”
“Cool. I’m just heading home.” He smiled. “Charles? Get out here and give me a hug before I go.”
I smiled slightly at that, as Charlotte came in from the kitchen and approached Zacky casually, giving him a half-hearted hug as if it was an everyday thing. Which it probably was.
“And thank your dad for letting me stay over for me.” Zacky then said, pulling away. He turned to me, his arms slightly open like he was about to give me a hug as well, but as quickly as he looked at me, he glanced away. “Have a good day, you two. See you later.”
And with that, he just opened the door, sending us one more wave, and left.
I was a little confused by his actions, seeing as it was only yesterday he was comforting me while I was crying and now he seemed awkward about giving me a friendly hug.
But then again, yesterday, he’d been drunk.
“Linds will be here in a minute.” Charlotte said, not even noticing Zacky’s hesitation.
I followed her as she began to wander into the kitchen, chatting away to me like she’d not seen me in days.
“Zacky stayed over last night, as you probably already know.” She said with a laugh. “He was too drunk to drive, so he crashed in the guest bedroom.”
“Weren’t the other guys also too drunk to drive?” I raised my eyebrows, laughing along. My dad had been the only one out of the men that had stuck to one drink; the others were way past drunk by the time we left.
“Yeah.” She nodded casually. “But they had their girls to get them home. Zacky doesn’t.”
It was then that I realised I’d never thought about it. Zacky hadn’t had a girl with him last night. I could’ve sworn I once accidentally came across something about him having a girlfriend, but she didn’t seem to be around now. I became intrigued, but I didn’t want to mention it to Charlotte in case she found my interest rather odd.
“Okay, I’m here!” Linds’ voice suddenly echoed through the house. She wandered into the kitchen, looking pretty pleased to be here as she held her car keys in her hand. “Can we go before my dad comes round here and drags my ass back to our house? I was lucky to get away back there.”
“Let me guess,” Charlotte chuckled, “He’s hungover?”
“Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.” Linds rolled her eyes. “He tried to get me to clean his car! Fuck that.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the relationship Charlotte and Linds both had with their dads—and all the guys. I’d discovered only yesterday how amusing it was to just sit and listen to them bickering with one of the guys.
“Right, let’s go.” I said with a grin.
I already felt completely comfortable here. It was a good feeling.
One that reassured me things were looking up.
**
“Can we go to Ruby’s?” Linds asked, somewhat of desperation in her voice. “I’m starving.”
“Yeah, me too.” Charlotte nodded, then turning to me. “Do you want to go to Ruby’s, Midge?”
“I don’t know what that is, but sure.” I shrugged, laughing slightly.
“It’s a diner right on the end of the pier.” Linds explained, as the three of us began walking. “The food there is amazing.”
“Sounds good to me.” I grinned.
Of course, I had no idea where I was going, so I just followed them. The scenery around me was absolutely beautiful as we walked, but I was studying it a lot more than Charlotte and Linds were, as they saw it every day. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to get used to just how amazing it was.
Linds wasn’t kidding when she said the diner was right at the end of the pier. It looked like a pretty popular place to eat, but it wouldn’t bother me if it was crowded. I was enjoying my day too much to care.
Another thing I was relieved about, was that my mother had seemed to get the message. Not once had she tried calling me today, and I was hoping it would stay that way. If it did, I’d be able to forget all about my life back in England and happily live here.
“Hey, Midge?” Linds said, her voice snapping me out of my happy thoughts. “What do you want to order?”
“Uh...” I blinked. “What are you having?”
She momentarily looked back up at the menu board, and then back at me.
“Probably just a burger and fries.” She shrugged.
“I’ll have that.” I nodded.
“Me, too.” Charlotte agreed. “Come on, Midge; we’ll go find a table.”
I smiled at Linds as Charlotte pulled on my arm and began guiding me through the place. I could see that she was heading for a table right at the back, but she suddenly stopped, making me walk into her. Before I could question why, I realised that she only dropped her phone, and bent down to pick it up.
“I swear, this phone is a fucking trooper.” She laughed and began walking again. “I’ve dropped it so many times, you have no ide—‘’
She stopped again, but not because she dropped her phone. This time, she’d walked into someone. At first, I found it quite amusing, but the way she was acting was a little odd. She was just staring down at her shoes, not saying anything, and she looked like she wanted to scuttle away quickly.
When I looked from her to the person she’d walked into, my eyebrows shot up a little. She was tall, blonde and very pretty. I wasn’t sure if I’d seen her before or not, but I could tell Charlotte definitely had some kind of connection with her.
“Uh...Sorry.” Charlotte murmured, going to brush past her, but the woman spoke.
“It’s fine, Charles.” She smiled and then glanced at me, her smile not faltering. “How are you?”
“I’m okay...” Charlotte replied, finally looking at her.
“That’s good.” The woman said, her smile widening. “Is Linds with you?”
“Yeah, she’s over there.” Charles nodded. “She’s fine, too.”
Once again, the woman smiled. I was completely confused as to who she was, but Charlotte seemed somewhat uncomfortable in her company.
“So, who’s this?” She asked Charlotte, nodding towards me. “New friend?”
“This is Midge.” Charlotte said, diverting her gaze from her. “Or Jasmine. Jason’s kid.”
Her eyes then widened, which made me wonder if she’d heard of me as well. I didn’t see why she would, as she didn’t appear to be part of the Avenged family.
“You mean...Jasmine, as in...” She trailed off.
“Yeah.” Charlotte nodded again. “It’s a long story, but she’s living here now.”
“That’s so cool! It’s nice to meet you.” She grinned at me. She went quiet again for a moment, before a small sigh escaped her lips. “And what about the others? You know, is Zacky oka—‘’
“We’ve got to go now.” Charlotte interrupted her, grabbing onto my arm again. “Our food’s coming. Bye, Gena.”
Before the woman—Gena—could even reply, Charles dragged me away and to the table we were headed for, slumping down in the booth and heaving a sigh.
“Well that wasn’t awkward at all...” She sarcastically muttered.
“Who was tha—‘’
“Did I just see Gena?” Linds cut me off as she approached our table, placing the tray of food down. “Or was it someone else? I dodged her just in case.”
“It was her.” Charlotte nodded.
“Um, hello?” I said, finally gaining their attention. “Could someone please explain to me who Gena is?”
“She’s Zacky’s ex-girlfriend.” Linds said, sitting down and chewing on a French fry. “They were together a long time and we really liked her, but she broke up with Zacky for another guy a couple of months before Avenged went on tour.”
“The tour they just got back from?” I asked, earning nods from them both.
“He covers it up mostly, but I do think Gena hurt him quite a bit.” Charlotte said with another sigh. “I don’t think she intended to or anything, but it was pretty sudden. None of us were expecting it. Tour definitely took his mind off it for a bit. He’s coped pretty well, but we don’t really talk about Gena in front of him, just in case.”
“And then she kind of just walked out on the Avenged family.” Linds shrugged. “Apparently she’s engaged to the guy she left Zacky for. It’s a shame, because she was pretty cool.”
Just by hearing this, I was becoming a little pissed off. Gena seemed like a nice enough person and I wasn’t going to deny that, but the thought of her walking out on Zacky like that annoyed me.
More than it probably should’ve done.
“Hey, Midge, don’t worry.” Charlotte laughed. “Uncle Zacky’s okay. It’s not gonna like...make the family fall apart or anything. I think he’s pretty much over it by now.”
“Yeah. He’s probably ready to move on and find another girl.” Linds agreed.
But if things kept going the way they were, I knew that would annoy me, too.