" she's the type of flower that can still grow after a forest fire."
-unknown
***
Charlotte had mumbled for the most part, knowing she'd have to ask for forgiveness from God later. Roger stepped back with a smirk, looking at Vera. Even John was smirking a bit.
" Well it has been a pleasure." MJ said, coldly, snapping her and her best friend away from the group. The two girls got on their horses and slowly walked towards the group again.
" I'm glad I'm in the higher class, anyway Vera. I won't have to deal with your shit for brain head the whole year." MJ called, before nickering to the horses and the two girls cantered off down the road. John had watched Charlotte the entire time, with her fierce guard up. He smiled. As the two girls neared the barn MJ looked to Charlotte.
" Girl, I didn't know you had it in you to curse like that." MJ said, reaching over and patting Charlotte on the shoulder.
" My mama would've slapped me." Charlotte muttered.
" Be proud, Charlie. Those assholes ain't got nothing on you. What could they say?" MJ said.
" That I haven't had my first kiss." Charlotte said sadly.
" Who cares?" MJ said.
" You have." Charlotte said, glancing at her best friend. Sure it had been when she was 10 and it was a dare, but it counted.
" Hey, Charlotte look at me." MJ said making her best friend look at her. " Gregory Temple doesn't count. It was a dare. You...you deserve a good first kiss, and from a good person, that has meaning, a reason." Charlotte smiled and looked down. The two girls put the horses into the barn and walked inside the glowing warm house.
" Hi Mrs. Tarvers." MJ said as Charlotte shut the door behind them.
" Bonjour, MJ." Charlotte's mother said, looking up from her book.
" Hi, Leroy." MJ called over to Charlotte's brother sitting on the couch, reading as well.
" Hey MJ. Hey Charlie." he answered back, then flipped a page as his eyes scored the page.
" How was the sunset?" her mother asked.
" Beautiful. As always. But some kids from our school came and we left." Charlotte said and hoped to keep it at that.
" Who?" her mother asked, and Charlotte sighed.
" Like John, Roger, Vera, and a few others." Charlotte said.
" I like John, he seems nice. Especially when he helped me with my groceries one day." her mother said, sipping her tea.
" You mean, he stepped inside this house mother, when I was possibly asleep?" Charlotte asked.
" Quite so, my dear." her mother answered.
" Why?" called Leroy, " You afraid some boy might see you asleep? I see you sleeping all the time."
" Leroy Tarvers, Je vais vous nourrir aux chevaux." she snapped at her brother, sticking her tongue out.
" Oh no." her brother said monotoned. " I'm terrified."
" MJ's gonna stay for a bit. We'll be upstairs." Charlotte said and her mother nodded.
" Just be quiet. Louis hasn't been feeling well." her mother said.
" Of course mother." Charlotte said with a nod. The two girls headed upstairs, as she heard her mother and brother burst out laughing. She giggled to herself. True to her mother's word, she walked by Louis' room and saw him passed out, ice on his head, tissues on the floor, with a water bottle and medicine on the bedside.
" Hey Lucie!" MJ said softly as they passed her room.
" MJ! Hey!" Lucie called back looking up from her dolls. Lucie loved MJ, and looked up to her, as if she were another sister. The two girls then sat in Charlotte's room, talking for hours yet again, giggling and laughing the entire time. As the school year began and drug on, and the onset of being a 10th grader hit the girls, the war became more well known as well. By 1941, America and it's citizens were getting knowledge of the war quick and fast from the advances of Hitler on the Allies. The Tarvers kids learned in school more and more everyday, and as boys grew older, they became even more amped up to want to fight even if America wasn't involved. MJ tried to get Charlotte to talk to John Henderson, but Charlotte had swallowed the feelings by that point and had avoided him completely. He was dating Vera Flynn anyway, the popular girl, why would Charlotte even try?
As her 16th birthday came and went, boys became the one thing on the two teenage lovesick friends. And that's when Roger McKinnis who had grown much more in early 1941, and started talking to the girl. Charlotte knew it was wrong, she knew nothing would benefit from it, but she let him sweet talk her, and take her places, and eat with her and MJ. But that's when it happened. Where her life altered completely. She didn't mean to be left in a dank alley way, sobbing alone, to the point where police found her, unclothed and bleeding everywhere. She had been 16. Roger McKinnis was taken to a different state and put into early juvenile for what he'd done.
Her father, became enraged. He didn't allow any boys to the house for a while and Charlotte completely understood why. He was protective of his family, and if anything happened, he would fight for them. Leroy and Louis, both on the football team, became hardened by the incident and when they heard comments about their sister, they had to restrain each other from fighting them.
They were good young men. They were mature, but they would fight anyone that hurt her more than she already was.
John Henderson saw the girl a week after the event, crying with MJ outside. And he couldn't get any information. He was bothered deeply about what had happened. By the new school year though everyone knew.
But everyone liked Charlotte, and her family and brothers so she got sympathy. Except for well the jocks and popular girls. They heckled her and she was called names. John never did. He liked Charlotte. She was quiet, but every time he ever interacted with her, she'd been nothing but kind and meaningful to get down to business.
Then December 7th, 1941 came.
It had been a normal afternoon on the East Coast, kids in school, when the broadcast crackled to life. Pearl Harbor had been hit, some attack by the Japanese, that killed thousands, and sunk ships and lives. Charlotte had been hit hard. Through the past year, it'd been nothing but hardship and hearing this only set that in stone. By the next day President Roosevelt had declared war on Japanese, then Germany, and Germany turned around and declared war on America.
The US became wrapped up in one of the biggest wars in history.
Christmas that year was sad, and rather depressing. All Charlotte could think about was the people that had died and were so close to another Christmas, before they'd been ripped from it completely. Charlotte, at the beginning of 1942, dreaded for the moment her siblings might be ripped from her. But she kept up her positive persona. She rode her horse Mickey on the family farm everyday, she walked Oliver, played with her friends, went out and shopped, wrote letters, read books, all the things a normal teenage girl should be worried about. But instead all she could think about was one thing.
The Nurse Corps.
Charlotte kept up her volunteer work at the local hospital, and her work at her father's general store on the island. She worked cashier and always brought Oliver in to greet the customers. She greeted everyone with a smile, and the elders especially appreciated the young Tarvers woman who remained a beacon of light, or ray of sunshine for them.
In March, many boys started to leave for war. John Henderson knocked on her door one day after school had let out. She opened it and gave a soft smile to the boy.
" Hi John." she said. John was handsome she couldn't beat that. He came from a Christian household, and a big family like Charlotte. He smiled.
" Hi, Charlotte. Can I talk to you outside for a minute?" he asked her. She let the door shut behind her as she stepped onto the porch and turned to him.
" What's up?" she asked, arms crossed over her chest, at the light breeze that flowed through the sunshine.
" I'm heading off for war, to the Marines." he said. She'd known. The whole school had virtually known about John and his friends going off to war. She didn't really know what to feel except that it was for the greater cause.
" I wish you luck." Charlotte said quietly to him. John looked at the girl for a little while longer. She had long eyelashes, and soft skin. Her brown hair was curled down her back, and pulled from her face, with some strands coming past her eyes. She had soft pink lips, and a small adorable nose, and her big blue eyes were bright as always, and a small smile was hidden behind her mouth. She was short, shorter than him, and quite tiny, but he didn't mind. Her tried to memorize her so he could think about her when he needed to. She'd grown more mature and confident in the past year or so. She was always happy, always smiling, but firm when needed. She never went to her last period class of study hall. She stayed in Mr. V's biology room, talking and doing extra work with him for fun. He'd wait for her sometimes, and walked her home or just to her brother's car, and she always had the most interesting things to talk about, like her grandfather or grandmother and their experiences with their mothers or fathers in the French Civil War. She also sounded intelligent, highly, and that she was confident in her word, like she wasn't putting a fake persona up just to get a guy's attention. Vera had caught on, but she'd let it slide knowing John would never actually try to be with the girl. John had walked Charlotte to Leroy's car the other day, and Leroy had given John a rather harsh stare down as he'd done so, so John being the gem he was, gently kissed her hand, before waving and setting off. Vera was not too happy. But even Vera, couldn't seem to get under the girl's skin. Charlotte was nice, way too nice to even say something remarkably terrible. There were no rumors about her, sure jocks and popular girls bullied her, but none of the rumors spread. Every teacher, administrator and student loved her.
" Thanks." John said. " War's a scary thing."
" Seems to be." Charlotte said, " But who says it isn't? You're supposed to be scared. It's only human nature." Charlotte said with a nod to him.
" I'm gonna miss you a lot Charlotte." John said to her. Charlotte glanced up at him, a small blush rising in her cheeks slightly. She wanted to say something sarcastic, like 'I'd miss me too.' back, but that was more of an MJ thing and for the moment she didn't want to ruin it. John watched as she nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and glanced at the door where she heard her mother singing in wonderful french as she made a family dinner for when her grandparents and neighbors came over tonight.
" Remain tough, John." she said, " They can't take who you are from you." John smiled. He remembered the day when it was their classes outside field day in 7th grade, and no one volunteered to jump through mud, but Charlotte and her best friend MJ. Seeing her covered in mud and laughing and happy, showed how much he really liked her. She hadn't cared how people had seen her. She was happy, and to her that's all that mattered. John had asked the girl to come out for ice cream with MJ to tag along and his friends, but she had declined saying she was rather excited for the meal her father had opted to cook tonight, a rarity of its own, and didn't want to miss it. John had been a little heartbroken, but he didn't mind. She knew that family was important and that she held pride in her family. Her loved that about her. Her remembered all the times, he'd ride by on his bike with his friends, seeing her with the horses, chickens, pigs and cows, and would be dancing in her boots as she danced around the field feeding them. He'd call out to her, but she wouldn't hear him, caught up in her own tunes. It made him happy. She had been wearing her hair up in a braid crown, and she had jean overalls on, with her boots on, yeah, and a maroon collared shirt. She had her smile wide on her lips, as she sang to herself in French and let her feet guide her. He remembered when she had first moved in as well. The entire family. Her brothers had been outside with Charlotte when he came by to go to church with his family. He remembered when the family started coming to church and how well Charlotte knew the Bible and how smart she was that way. She also knew humor. Her laugh was beautiful, her smile too, and her personality made him happy. He remembered the first dance the church had for all the families that attended. She had been the one to get everyone dancing on the floor. She was doing a little jig around on the floor, clapping and stomping, eyes closed completely enjoying herself and the music. He'd watched her from afar, clapping along a small smile on his features the entire time.
" Hopefully this mess'll be over in a few years so I can come back home." he said, faltering under her soft gaze.
" Yeah, my father says it could be a few years by the looks of it, but we can only ask God to pray for those men at this point." she answered back, with a forced grin. John took a small step closer to the girl, and gently grasped her hand. She looked at him as he held her hand. He then pulled a rose from his pocket and placed it into her hands, grasping them closed tightly. His gaze fixed on the young girl again, watching her gentle blue doe eyes. She felt his breath on her lips at this point, and noticed how much closer his face suddenly drew.
Then she was kissing him, or he was kissing her. Her eyes were wide staring at his closed eyes, before she pulled back, rather surprised at this sudden outburst. John seemed confused as to why she pulled back, but he figured that he had just suddenly kissed her it made sense.
" I have to, get inside, help my mother." she mumbled out, in a rushed hurry of words, her cheeks growing red.
" Yeah, yeah me too. Goodbye Charlotte." he said and then he was gone, with a wink back at her. Charlotte looked down at the rose in her hand, the flame in her cheeks settling.
The rose died 4 days later.
___
thanks for reading!