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calgarysnow · 6 years ago

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Breakaway Ch. 1

Chapter 1 - Girls and Boys

Charlie wakes up to the sound of her phone vibrating, she sees several texts, two missed calls, and a voicemail. All came in with in minutes of each other, around midnight. Rubbing her eyes Charlie sees she’s only just missed the last message. She opens the first one, annoyed with the sender. “I think we made a mistake some where along the way, I regret not trying to figure this out.”

“Charlie, just text me back. I need to talk to you.”

“I’m a little drunk and reckless, I’ll come to you, please I wanna talk.”

“I want to give us another shot.”

“2 missed calls from That asshole who broke your heart”

“Charlie what’s happening babe?” her companion asks, the insistent messages drawing him too from sleep.

“Nothing that I can’t deal with in the morning,” she smiles. She turns her phone off as another call starts to come through and turns to face her bed mate. She presses a kiss to his lips, her fingers glide through his hair. She smiles into the kiss, still amazed that she’s here with this man. Never thinking he’d be the person she would end up with.

As he hums and snakes his arms around her pulling her close she realizes she’s never been happier.

Charlie and Barry have been friends since anyone could remember. They were inseparable from the moment Charlie’s family moved next door. It was the 3rd grade and Charlie’s dad had just gotten a new job and had to move to live closer to the company. Charlie remembers the fit her sisters threw when they found out. She didn’t really care, she didn’t really like any of the people who her mom made her go to playdates with anyways. She just knew her mom was friends with the other moms. So she didn’t really have any friends to leave behind. She only misses hockey, she doesn’t know if there will hockey in her new town.

It was their second day in the new house, Charlie was meant to be unpacking. Instead she had snuck out to the backyard, she’s swinging contented. He old house never had one of these. She’s startled when a voice says “Hey,” from behind the broken fence slat. Looking over she sees a bright eyed boy with wild curls waving to her. She smiles and jumps off the swing, “I’m Barry,” he tells her happily.

“I’m Charlie,” she says approaching the boy.

He sticks his hand through the fence, they shake hands. Then Barry disappears for a moment, but then makes an appearance climbing over the top of the fence. He drops down in front of her, “I was hoping for boys, but you’ll do,” Barry says with a smile.

Charlie doesn’t know what to say, “Do you like hockey?” He asks a second later.

“Yeah! I played in my old town.” The smile on her face is wide, she likes the curly haired boy already.

Hockey is what sparks the conversation, but it does turn out that they’re fast friends. Charlie’s mother finds them both laying in the grass watching the clouds float by hours later. Both giggling and already thick as thieves. Barry’s mom had come by wondering if they had seen her youngest. She’s relieved to see both of them getting along.

Charlie and Barry are friends for the long haul after that day looking at clouds. They’re friends through when Charlie’s parents get divorced and her dad moves back to his home town deep in the mountains. They are friends when Barry’s mom get’s cancer and through her recovery. Friends even when they don’t get to play on the same hockey team anymore.

They are especially friends when it’s the summer before sophomore year and they’re sitting under the stars when Barry tells Charlie he’s gay. “Yeah and?” Charlie asked when he finished stumbling over his words.

“That’s it? I spent weeks trying to figure out how to tell you and that’s all you have to say?” Barry squealed a look of shock on his face.

“What did you want me to say? I kind of already had a feeling,”

“I donno, ‘wow Barry thank you for sharing such an intimate detail of your life with me, I know how hard this was for you to tell me’,”

“Shut up,” she shoved him lightly, “But thank you, for telling me.”

“Yeah what ever,” Barry smiles despite his eye roll.

“I love you too,” Charlie kisses his hair. Barry mumbles his response, it sounds vaguely like I love you too.

They go back to stargazing in silence, though now they both have wide smiles on their face.

Charlie loves a lot of things in life, not just Barry. Her family, hockey, dogs and on occasion a good party. She’s pretty in like with her boyfriend too. She’s not sure she loves him yet, she feels like she should by now. Something nags at the back of her mind every time she she thinks of telling him.

Being pretty in like with him is the only reason she let him bring May along to party with them. “Jeez Charlie why is May here again?” Denny complains coming into the kitchen. He’s gesturing to where May is sitting primly on the couch sipping what Charlie assumes is just soda or water. May is too goody-goody to drink underage, or take part in any of the other activities at the party. She’s sat on that couch since almost the moment she arrived. Only Taylor stopping by to bring her a new drink or for a quick chat.

No one else has gone out of their way to talk to her, most every one seems to be avoiding that half of the room entirely. The other attendants of the party aren’t exactly a part of May’s social circle. It’s not exactly a secret that May isn’t exactly well liked outside of her friend group either.

Charlie wonders why May even wants to come to these parties. She never tries to talk to anyone, never drinks, and always unintentionally makes everyone miserable. May’s presence always results in Charlie and Taylor catching a lot of flack. They try to laugh it off, even when it hurts a little more each time.

Charlie sighs and turns back to Denny. They’re all in the kitchen of this random classmates house. Charlie perched on the counter sipping a mostly flat and slightly warm beer. Berry leans next to her with Denny coming to lean on the other side that Taylor had recently vacated. He has a new round of flat beer for him self and Barry. “I don’t want her here just as much you guys,” Charlie tells them. The exasperation in her voice hangs between them.

A football player Charlie whose name she doesn’t recall comes over, it’s clear he was eves dropping. “When will you stop fucking inviting her to things?” he snarls in Charlie’s face.

Barry and Denny are quick to intervene coming to stand between the football player and Charlie. “Oh fuck off, what has she ever done to you?” Charlie snaps at him from behind her friends.

This makes him angry, his face goes red and his fist clenches. Charlie doesn’t care. She’s not in the mood to deal with his fit. Annoyed Charlie hops of the counter, she pushes through Denny and Barry. She shoulder checks the jock on her way past, she hears him complain loudly.

Barry is hot on her heels Charlie as pushes her way through the party. They both end up upstairs crammed into a tiny bathroom off a guest room. Charlie has her hands shoved under the freezing water and frustrated tears pricking in her eyes. It threatens to ruin the make up she’d worked so hard on, it adds to the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Barry leans on the counter closely watching over her out of the corner of his eye, arms folded over his chest. The ritual is well practiced over their years of friendship. Barry watching close as Charlie lets her hands ache under the water, until her joints lock up. He waits for one of two things, for Charlie to have enough and turn the water off him self. Or when the beds of her nails turn blue and he turns the water off for her.

It’s only a short while listening to the faucet run before it turns off. Charlie doesn’t dry her hands relishing in the cool ache. She looks up at Barry, “How is this always my fault?”

Barry doesn’t know the answer. He’ll never knows the answer. It’s painful watching the way their classmates and supposed friends rag on Charlie at these parties. This leaves him with little more to do than thumb away the tears in Charlie’s eyes and pull her close.

As senior year drags on it gets worse, there are more and more incidents like the one in the kitchen. Afterwards usually one of two things happens, May grows board and leaves alone or having convinced Taylor to go with her. The moment she’s gone all is forgiven and forgotten. But on nights like this one, where May is more stubborn and immune to comments than usual their classmates turn on Charlie. Who tolerates it longer than any other person would, or even should. Charlie will almost always end up in a bathroom trying to numb the pain.

Barry is thankful when Charlie slumps against him, her arms snaking around his chest. He presses a nose to her hair, her scent soothing his own anxieties now. He dusts her hair with soft kisses, until she starts to giggle. She pushes her face up, looking cutely up at him, “Thanks Flash.”

“I got you Kid.”

May only goes to these parties when her mother is on her case more than usual about dating and having fun in high school. “You’re never going to get a boyfriend sitting around the house like this. Why don’t you try to be more like your sister? Go to parties, have some fun make some other friends.” Her mother had read her this riot act again other night. Trying to get May to put her self out there, her mother didn’t like her friends, except Taylor. She had been nearly as devastated as May when Taylor had asked out Charlie.

So the next morning to appease her mother May begged Taylor to get her an invite from Charlie to Greg Lawrence’s party. He’s the the captain of the boys soccer team and his parents are out of town. May knows everybody her mom would want her to hang out with is going to be there. She also knows that Charlie seems to know everybody and was already talking about dragging Taylor along last week.

May’s other friends are never invited, the choir and theater kids never invited to jock parties. She wonders what kind of stereotype teen movie she’s really living in. She does preen a little (read: a lot) bit when she brags about the invite to her friends. Lana and Missy looking jealous. The major down side of these parties is that she doesn’t have anyone to talk to. She and Charlie aren’t exactly friends. Barry is always stuck by Charlie’s side all night. Taylor always seems to have his own friends to talk to, only having so much time and patience with her. She ends up on the couch, feeling awkward and waiting for Taylor to swing by with more soda for her every now and then.

May doesn’t like how long the music is, she especially doesn’t like having to watch all of her more popular and better looking classmates dance. They all look like drunken fools grinding and falling all over each other. May doesn’t even bother trying to find someone to dance with, not knowing the too sloppy and drunk classmates well enough.

She doesn’t know why she’s holding out so long at this particular party. She’s still hoping Taylor remembers she’s here and comes to sit with her. He’s been bouncing between Charlie and Danny all night. May’s almost reached the the point of being desperate enough to try and talk to Charlie. At least she’d have the chance to maybe get some face time with Barry.

Deciding against groveling to Charlie she decides to find a bathroom. She finds the one on the first floor easily, but is cut off by Clair Wilson and Ryan Masterson. Scoffing May makes her way up stairs to find another bathroom. Which she does easily enough. It’s at the end of the hallway, the door is open, and Charlie and Barry are occupying the room. They’re leaned against the counter and pretty wrapped up in each other.

May is surprised, she knows they are close. That they’ve been friends for as long as anyone can remember. She remembers them showing up to Charlie’s first day at the new school holding hands. Everyone gave them hell for being boyfriend and girlfriend, neither of them seemed to care.

This is a level of intimacy May’s never seen before. She can see Barry’s lips moving as they are pressed to Charlie’s hair. It’s impossible to hear them over the noise of the party that floods the house. It’s a beat later that Charlie pushes her face up and gives Barry what May know Charlie thinks is a cute look. They grin at each other and laugh for a moment. They say something else that’s hard to hear and she watches as Charlie collects something off the counter. “Better get back out there, don’t want Taylor to come looking,” Charlie said. Barry doesn’t say anything just nods and looks annoyed.

Oh. May thinks, this is something other than friendly. She has to tell Taylor. Has to tell him that Charlie is cheating on him. Because May can’t watch another girl rip Taylor’s heart out. She won’t watch the person she’s in love with get hurt again.

When the pair finally leave the bathroom May ducks into a dark bedroom. She doesn’t know what would happen if they saw her waiting there, but she doesn’t want to find out. After they pass she follows them back down to the party.

May feels sick to her stomach as she watches as Charlie goes over to Taylor and wraps her arms around his neck. Taylor’s face lights up as a kiss is pressed to his lips. May looks for Barry, she spots him in the kitchen next to Denny. He looks less than pleased to see the display happening at the foot of the stairs.

She knows she won’t be able to get Taylor alone tonight, not with the way Charlie is hanging all over him. She decides that she’s had enough of this stupid party and Charlie’s stupid face for one night. She doesn’t bother Taylor as she slips out the back door.

It’s not long after she gets home that she gets a couple rapid fire texts from Taylor. T: I didn’t see you leave :(

T: It’s too bad, the party got really good!!

T: we’re playing spin the bottle, I had to kiss Oliver masterson *puke*

T: He’s not as cute as his older bro

May laughs for all of a second until she get’s a picture. It’s of Taylor and Charlie with their cheeks pressed together making kissy faces at the camera. May deletes the picture and ignores her phone for the rest of the night.

#Breakaway #chapter 1 #please be gentile its my first time

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