Chapter Eleven
Charlotte
"Hurry up, Char!" Karla called out behind her. She was speed walking down the steps that lead to the harbour, and I was desperately trying to keep up with her. Her legs were much longer than mine, but apparently, she never took that into consideration.
I was walking a little slower than usual because my back still ached and every step I took, I could feel a sharp pain shoot up my spine. When I woke up this morning, I looked at my back in the mirror and, as I expected, there was a large black and purple bruise in the shape of a whiskey bottle.
My parents and their friends were still passed out when I left the house, which I counted as a blessing. I wasn't in the mood to hear my parents' apologies. That is if they even remembered what happened - sometimes they were too messed up to recall the night before. I actually preferred it that way, because the guilt they felt was usually so strong it would force them to drink even more.
"Where are we even going?" I asked.
She glanced back at me and she had that look in her eyes that I loathed so much - once again she was up to something, and I knew it wasn't good. "You said you were mine for the weekend, so just follow me and don't ask questions."
In all my years of friendship with Karla, I never told her about my parents. She knew I was neglected, but not abused. In all honesty, I never told anyone. Sure, everyone in Bridgewalk knew they liked to party, but no one knew about the violence except for my dad's friends and me. There were times when I wanted to confide in Karla, but I couldn't get the words out. I was afraid she would look down on them, and no matter how bad it got, I still loved my parents.
"I'm not getting on that," I said, pushing the thought of my parents to the back of my mind.
We were now standing at the end of a dock, and floating on the lake in front of us was a very expensive looking yacht. It was pearl white and had more windows then I was willing to count. From where I was standing it looked like it had about three separate floors, and on the second floor there was a big deck with a build in pool and Jacuzzi.
I didn't need to ask Karla whose yacht it was, because only one family in Bridgewalk was rich enough to afford a boat that nice, and it was her cousins. Karla and Christian's parents were well off, but their dad's brother was unbelievably wealthy. The Steele brothers, Kale, Adrian, and Nathaniel, were the very definition of trust fund kids. According to the rumors, their trust funds were so large that they could probably live very luxurious lives solely on them without ever having to work a day in their lives.
"Why not, it's my uncle's boat," Karla said dismissively and started to climb up the ladder that lead to the deck. "Remember what you said, Char - anything I want, now get up here before anyone sees us."
I almost took a step forward until her words made me falter. "What?" I looked around nervously. "You mean you don't even have permission to be up there?"
"Technically? No." She giggled and then said, "But it's okay, we - Crap! They're coming, hurry up." She reached down the ladder, grabbed my hand and forced me to climb up to the deck. It was either go up, or have my arm pulled out of the socket.
"Who's coming?" I looked over my shoulder and saw a group of people walking down the steps to the harbour. I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose, and from such a far distance I could recognize Christian. He had a very unique posture - his shoulders were squared and they were slightly raised because of his muscular frame. He also walked with confident strides and his strong chin held high.
Next to him I could see the large, bulky frame of Kale Steele. There was no way anyone could miss him because not only did he resemble a younger version of Vin Diesel, but he was absolutely terrifying. Looking a little closer I could recognize the strikingly black hair of Adrian Steele, and the bright smile of Nate. Everyone referred to them as the Steele boys - Christian and his three cousins, and every one of them was drop dead gorgeous depending on what type of man you were interested in.
There were ten other people with the Steele boys that I didn't recognize - six of them were girls wearing short skirts or short shorts and bikini tops, and the other four were guys. Every one of them most likely went to the University of Bridgewalk.
"Stop staring, dingdong! They're going to see you." Karla grabbed my wrist and pulled me across the deck to a door the led downstairs.
"Kare, what are we doing here?" I asked with anguish. I still followed her through the door and down below deck because as much as I didn't like what she was doing, I was more scared to come face to face with Christian.
She didn't answer me until we got to the very end of the hallway. "We're going on an adventure," she said with a devilish glint in her eyes. She opened a small door to the left of us and shoved me into the dark room. The door was only open for a second before she pushed her way in and shut it behind her, but within that time I was able to identify the small space as a storage closet.
I could hear people laughing above us on the deck, and a few seconds later I heard the sound of the engine come to life. The closet was engulfed in darkness so I couldn't see Karla, but I knew she was smiling when she said, "Get comfy, Char - we're going to be in here for a while."
I was so mad at Karla that I didn't say a single word to her for almost two hours. Eventually the silence got too much too bare and I could feel my resolve breaking. The fact that I could hear Christian laughing up on the deck wasn't making it any easier, especially because his laughter was usually accompanied by a more feminine one.
"So are you going to tell me why we're hiding in the closet of your cousins' Yacht?"
Karla let out of heavy breath, and said, "Finally!" I could hear her crawling closer to me. "I thought you were going to give me the silent treatment forever - gosh, and I thought us Steeles were stubborn." She sat down next to me and explained her master plan.
Apparently she heard she brother and cousins talking about taking the Yacht out to Silver Sand Island with a few friends. With the warm weather and mild winds, tonight would be the perfect night to camp out on the island, have a couple drinks and enjoy the crystal clear water. Karla was still determined to find herself a mature, college boy, and she figured this would present the best possible opportunity. It takes two hours to get to Silver Sand Island, and when her brother and cousins found us, they wouldn't have enough time to take us back before sunset.
Karla figured the six girls on the yacht would fight over the Steele boys, thus leaving their four single, attractive friends free for the picking. I was a little less optimistic because I knew that Christian and his cousins would kill any guy who so much as looked at Karla the wrong way. She was probably the only person who failed to see how overly protective those guys were with her.
"What about the preppy looking boy you were talking to last night?" I asked.
"I don't want to talk about him," she said flippantly, "he turned out to be a slut."
"And what about our parents, don't you think they'll notice we're missing?"
"I told my parents I was going to a slumber party at Cecilia's, and your parents, well-" she trailed off and let the unspoken words linger between us. We both knew my parents wouldn't notice my absence - it was Saturday, so their party will definitely continue.
"You hate Cecilia almost as much as I do."
She laughed. "Yah, but my parents don't know that."
Our conversation came to an end at the same time the boat ride did. The cheers and laughter of the people on deck grew louder as the engine was cut and the anchor was dropped. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as I realized I was going to be stuck on this Island all night with Christian. I don't know what I was more afraid of - the chance that I might run willingly into his arms again, or the chance I might have to sit back and watch him suck face with another girl. All I did know what that I didn't want to leave the security of the closet.
"Come on, let's go announce our presence." Karla stood up and opened the closet door. I was almost blinded by the bright light that spilled into the small space. "Stay behind me though, I have a feeling things are going to get a little - intense."
That was a huge understatement.
When we walked through the door that led to the deck, it took everyone a moment to notice us, but when they did everyone stopped mid-conversation. Kale was the first to break the silence, "What the fuck Kare Bear?"
After that, I just couldn't keep up with any of them. All four of the Steele boys were yelling at Karla while she was very defiantly arguing back. Karla idolized her brother and would never normally defy him, but the break up with Ben changed her. I never realized how much until that moment, and by the flustered look on Christian's face, he was just now noticing it too.
Kale and Christian were determined to drive us back to Bridgewalk, but Adrian kept insisting that they couldn't drive the yacht after nightfall without the proper boating licence. Nate on the other had cooled off the fastest and was now trying to calm everyone else down. He kept making little jokes - they were inappropriately timed, but at least he didn't think our being there was completely out of the question.
I stood very quietly behind Karla, hoping that maybe if I stayed still enough they wouldn't notice me. Their bickering went back and forth, and I could barely keep up with any of it. I deliberately tried to avoid eye contact with Christian, but I could still feel his eyes burning into me. I looked at the other people on the yacht and they looked about as uncomfortable as I felt.
"And what about your little friend behind you, Karla?" Christian's icy voice caused me to look over at him. When our eyes met, I noticed mixed emotions cross over his face, but they disappeared before I could decipher any of them. He looked back at Karla, and his facial features hardened. "We came out here to relax and enjoy ourselves, not to babysit a couple little girls!"
Ouch.
I could feel my heart constricting and an emotion I was not very familiar with washed over me. I wanted to scream, or hit someone - I felt like I needed to do something or I would literally explode. I realized I wasn't just humiliated and heartbroken, I was angry.
"You weren't calling me a little girl last night when you had your tongue shoved down my throat!"
Everyone gasped in surprise - but I swear I was more shocked by my words than anyone else. Complete silence followed and everyone looked from me to Christian.
~~~
Note: Bam! Way to standup for yourself Charlie! Girls apparently growing some lady balls. lol!
Thank you everyone for all your wonderful comments and votes so far. I love reading your comments so keep them coming!! <3 The more you comment, the more quicker I shall upload!!
8) PS this is a Charlie smile 8)