Carter packs her things from the motel and takes a cab all the way home. The entire ride home gave her time to process everything. To think about what she was feeling. To decide if everything with her dad was even worth telling her mom.
Once she arrived back home, the house was empty. Her mom was working a night shift at the hospital, again. Being a nurse took over her mom's life. She was always at work, rarely ever home. And for some reason, Carter was okay with that. She enjoyed the peace and the quiet. But sometimes, it was too much. She'd get in her head, think too much, and shut down. She felt lonely.
Carter goes straight to her room and plops on the bed. She looks up at the ceiling for quite a while. Not sure what to feel anymore. Should she be angry? Sad? Happy? Seeing her dad and hearing him say the things he said to her. She wants to feel relieved to finally know the truth. But a huge part of her broke when she saw him walk away. Knowing that he was okay with never seeing his daughter again.
Tears began to roll down her cheek. A soft whimper escapes her mouth, and all at once, she crumbles. Her cries were loud, and it brought her more pain. She shoves her face into her pillow, letting it all out. Thankful for an empty house, otherwise her screams would send her mom into a panic.
She crawls to her closet and pulls out her box and digs for the picture of her and her dad. She took the picture down to the fireplace. Grabbing a match, she got the fire going, waiting for the flames to grow. Holding up the picture of her dad, the tears still flowing, she whispers, "I hate you." The sound of those words escaping her mouth made her sound empty. Any feelings she had for her father, any hope of his return, they were gone, just like he was, for good.
Carter rips the picture to pieces and throws it into the fire, watching as the last thing she had of her father burned to ash, burning until there was nothing left.
***
The rest of the weekend flew by and Carter managed to put her brave face on while around her mom. Tuesday rolled around, the long weekend was over and the kids returned to school.
"How are you feeling?" Maria asks Carter while at their lockers.
"I'm okay. How was the rest of the trip?" Carter asks
"It was good. Would have been better had you stayed." Maria smiles
"Doubt it would have made a difference." Carter rolls her eyes before laughing.
***
Charlie, Erick, and Liam were sitting together in the cove, waiting for their coach to arrive to commence practice.
Damon, a team member, sits down in front of the boys. "Hey guys." he says
"Hey." Erick responds
Charlie and Liam give him a quick head nod.
"So I was wondering, is it cool with you guys if I ask out your homegirl?" Damon asks
"Which one?" Charlie asks
"Ayyy!" Damon teases, clearly not getting a reaction from them. "I'm just playin' I know you got three, good lookin' smokin' hot, fine female best friends. But I want to ask out the cute shy one. What's her name? Carson? Carly?" he snaps his fingers, trying to think of her name.
"Carter?" Liam says, emphasizing her name.
"Yeah!" Damon says
"I don't know man. You're so out there, and she's, well, she's not." Erick says
"Even better! They say the shy ones are always the freakiest. Thanks, guys!" Damon gets up and goes to sit with his friends on the other side of the cove.
"He's an idiot, hot, but a total idiot." Liam says
"But, maybe it'll be good for Carter to go out with someone who isn't us." Erick says
"Does it have to be him though?" Charlie asks, motioning to where Damon is.
***
Later on that day, Damon left his last class early to look for Carter before she left the school. Finding her at her locker, he swiftly rests his arm on her door.
"Hey." he says, turning on his charm.
"Hi?" she responds, looking at him suspiciously, given that he's never talked to her before.
"So, I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me Friday night after the game." he smiles
"I think you have me mistaken for someone else." she says, more confused than she was before.
"You are Carter Morales, aren't you?" he winks at her
"Yeah..." she answers
"Then I'm not mistaken. So, what do you say?" he asks, tilting his head slightly, his gaze ever so gentle.
"Oh, um, I don't know. I'd have to see if-" she tries to come up with an excuse but he stops her mid-sentence.
"I already talked to your friends. Maria and Samantha said you'd be free, and your boys gave me the green light." he says
"Oh... they did?" she did her best to push down the fact that she was upset with them, they didn't even think to ask her.
"So you can't use them as an excuse not to go out and have fun with me." he smiles at her. "Let me take you out, somewhere nice." he scoots closer to her.
Carter's silent for a moment then sighs and finally says, "Okay, fine."
Damon's face lights up, "Sweet! After the game, I'll quickly shower and I'll meet you on the bleachers!" he smiles and begins to walk away. He's halfway down the hall when he turns around and shouts to her, "You won't regret this, Carter Morales!"
Carter looked around, hoping no one was paying attention. Thankfully for her, there were only a few prying eyes.
***
"I'm pretty sure I passed that calculus test today." Samantha says to her group of friends as they sit out on the lawn for lunch.
"I don't, I feel like I might have missed quite a few." Erick says
"I'm so happy I don't have to take that class." Liam adds
They turn to look at Carter who was poking at her food with her fork.
"Carter, you okay?" Maria asks Carter.
Carter doesn't look up from her plate, but she speaks clearly enough for them to hear, "You guys told Damon I'd be free Friday night?" she says, finally looking up at them.
"So he did ask you out!" Samantha says and she and Maria squeal in excitement.
"What if I had plans with my mom?" Carter slams her fork down.
"Do you?" Liam asks
"No... but still. I don't go on dates. I'm not social like that, and you all know that." Carter's voice cracks, trying to hide her panic.
"C'mon Carter, it'll be fun!" Liam says, trying to encourage her.
"You're the only one out of all of us who isn't dating anyone. We could go on group dates!" Maria says, pulling Charlie closer to her, he plants a kiss on her cheek.
Carter's eyes began to sting, her heart dropped to her stomach. She looks down at her plate before deciding to grab her stuff and leave the table. She didn't want to continue this conversation.
YOU ARE READING
We Go On
General FictionAlmost everybody in the world has gone through some pretty tough times in their life. People have different ways of coping; whether it be seeking professional help, turning to friends and family, or they simply go on, living their lives under a cons...
