A Pair Of Pears (Completed)

Dandelions

I leave the hospital Wednesday afternoon. I had hoped that Mum would have come with Gran to pick me up, but she didn't.
'Your Mum is busy.' Is Gran's answer when I ask her why she didn't come too. I'm not sure what I'm feeling, half of me wants to see Mum I want her to see the damage she's done. I want her to hug me, say sorry, and that nothing like this will happen again. I want her to say things would change. The other half of me never wants to see her again. I go back to school Thursday, Willow arrives to pick me up in the morning with Lily and Jackson. Thankfully I haven't missed much at school which is just as well, I don't want to fall behind already as I'm new to this whole school thing. We go back to Lily's after school again and Willow cooks the tea. Tonight's meal is Dandelion soup. 
'Dandelions are mum's new obsession. 'Lily looks down at her bowl with noticeable disappointment.
'She's being making the biscuits for years, but since she found that cookbook in the used bookstore a few weeks ago, she's become obsessed.' Lily takes a slice of homemade bread off the table and starts to eat it.                    
'This is dandelion bread by the way!' She says in between mouthfuls.                                                                             'I had it with dandelion jam for breakfast, and foraging is now a nightly event for this household.'                   
Jackson isn't listening to Lily, he's too busy scoffing down huge amounts of soup and bread.                                     'I love your mums cooking Lils.'                                                                                                                                         'Ere Willow?' he calls out with a mouthful of bread.                                                                                                    'Got any of that jam I can take home with me? A few jars if you have, you know how much we all eat at home.'
Jackson walks me home again Thursday night, clutching a tote bag with several jars of Willow's dandelion jam inside. The weather has now started taking a turn for the worst, it rains all the way home and we both get drenched. Jackson stops outside again like he did on Monday, he takes a strand of my wet hair and gently places it behind my ear. He lightly traces over my healing cut with his finger and shakes his head. The familiar feeling of butterflies returns in my stomach. I'm used to it now, though. It's becoming a regular occurrence around Jackson. He moves his hand down from my face and winks
'I'll see you in the morning.'
Saturday comes and so does the knot of nerves that are building in my stomach. It's not just about working in the shop. It's about the camp out too, the feeling that I will get found out. Even though Willow is willing to cover for me if she has too. I pack everything I need for the night into my rucksack and ride my bike into town early, as I want to get out of the house before anyone else gets up, I want a good start to my morning. I lock my bike up outside the fudge shop. Lily and Jackson see me and start banging on the window of the fudge shop, pulling funny faces. I walk through the door into Incense & Peppermints and Willow is sat at the counter making jewellery. I take a deep breath; the familiar and comforting smell of the shop eases the knot of nerves in my stomach. Willow spends part of the morning teaching me how to make dreamcatchers for her to sell in the shop. The first few I make aren't fit for sale, to say the least, but by my fourth try I have the hang of it and it looks good, its rainbow coloured with blue feathers hanging from the bottom. Willow marks it with a price tag of £2.50 and hangs it in the window.                                                                                                                                            'You can take the other three you made home with you.' She says winking.
A little while later Willow asks to add some dreadlocks and hair wraps to my hair.                                                            'Suits you really, Charlie. You can definitely pull off the bohemian look.'                                                                'Not sure Mum or Gran will like it.' I say, checking myself out in the mirror. I have to admit they do look good on me. Willow places her hand on my shoulder.                                                                                                                          'Be yourself Charlie, not who they want you to be.' She whispers into my ear. At mid-morning Willow sends me upstairs for a break.                                                                                                        'Grab a book from Lily's room if you want, I'm sure she has something you might like.'                                                   
I go into Lily's room and it's more put together than the last time I was here. I go over to the dark oak bookcase and kneel scanning through the books. I pass the books on Paganism and Healing Crystals and I pull one off the shelf and look at its cover. I stand up and notice the dark blue frame with peeling stickers that I had tried to peek at a few weeks earlier. There's Willow in the photo as I had seen before. I pick up the frame, my heart racing. I can’t believe it; the other person in the photo, the man. It's my dad, a younger version of him before I was born. It can’t be, can it? But it is him, it's so obviously him. There is no doubting it. He had worked in the area, that's how he met Mum, maybe he and Willow had been friends. But if that's the case, why is there a picture of him in Lily's room? My hands start to feel clammy and I start shaking as I turn the frame over to look at the back. In Lily's gold pen, in Lily's own loopy writing are the words
'Mum and Dad'.
A wave of nausea and dizziness now overcomes me. I take several steps back but lose my footing. I drop the frame and it falls to the floor with a hard thud. Tears stream down my face, I've been living a lie. Still clutching onto the book, I back myself into the corner of the room and curl myself into a ball. I'm led like this for what feels like forever. I hear footsteps making their way up the stairs and outside of Lily's bedroom.
'Charlie, you alright.'  I hear Willows familiar voice say.                                                                                                I stay silent. I hear Willow enter the room and pick up the photo frame.                                                                  'Fuddle chocolate potatoes.' she mutters.                                                                                                                               I look up, and Willow looks down at me, our eyes meet. Hers are filled with sadness.                                        'Charlie.' she says quietly. Her own eyes now filling up with tears.                                                                                   ’I wanted you to know, really I did.'                                                                                                                                  I get up and push past Willow, I run down the stairs, through the shop and out onto the street. As I cross the road I can hear Willow opening a window upstairs and calling down to me. 'Charlie! Let's talk about this! Please?' She shouts.
With all the commotion Jackson and Lily come out of the fudge shop and into the high street. Lily looks up at her Mum and then across the road at me.                                                                                                                             'What's going on?'                                                                                                                                                   Suddenly the penny drops. If Lily and I have the same dad that means, she's my sister. I feel like I can't breathe, I feel like my throat is closing up. If I stay here I'm going to have a panic attack. I turn and run as fast as I can towards the beach. I walk along the beach front, right to the end until I come to a small mountain of rocks. Still clutching the book, I climb up to the top and stare out onto the sea. I feel lost, confused and entirely alone with no one to trust. I wonder if Mum knows. With nothing else to do I sit and cry while watching the sea. I watch a few adults swimming, and children playing, splashing each other. I see a familiar figure walking towards the rocks. Jackson climbs up beside me and wraps his arms around me tightly.
"Well, this is pretty messed up eh? You should see the shocked state Lily is in.'                                                            I feel incredibly selfish. I remember this isn't just about me. Lily is in this too.                                                                 'Does Mum know?' I ask looking at Jackson, holding back the tears.                                                                             'Is this why she hates Willow so much?'                                                                                                                  Jackson pulls my head into his chest and begins stroking my hair.                                                                             'You really need to speak to Willow, listen to what she has to say.'                                                                   Jackson plants a kiss on the top of my forehead.                                                                                                          'I'm going to take Lily to the woods early, give me half an hour and it will just be Willow at home. Talk to her, listen to what she has to say. If you want to come to the woods afterwards she'll bring you along, or you can stay there, even go home if you want. It's up to you.' Jackson rubs my cheek with his hand.                                                                                                                 'Hopefully, we'll see you later.' He says winking and giving his heart melting smile. He jumps down off the rocks and makes his way back across the beach.