A year after losing her older sister in a tragic accident, Charlie's Mom marries the father of the most popular boys in school. Still grieving, Charlie struggles to accept her new family and gets involved with her stepbrothers worst enemy, the capta...
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AFTER A WEEK HAD GONE BY, the arrangements had been made for me to leave.
I reluctantly stayed at my parent's house during this time, and let's say it wasn't the best of times.
Peter told me a hundred times that my opinion mattered and that I didn't have to see him as my father, but he wanted to be there for me. Yet, in each conversation he tried to have with me, I could only see the similarities in our faces.
Every time it made me feel uneasy.
Despite supporting my decision, he clarified he didn't want me to go. I realised he was going along with it because he was trying to put what I wanted first. It made sense to me he didn't want me to go. It was consistent with his initial opinion of the whole situation. He had made clear to my parents that he didn't think they should send me away after the crash and was pissed off that they weren't considering his feelings.
Only now did it make sense why he felt his opinion should hold some weight. Yet, somehow, I still thought he was weak.
My stepbrother's were a different thing entirely. None of them was happy with me for leaving. So much so they ignored me the whole week.
Most days after school, they were out. I quickly realised they were doing this on purpose. My frustration turned into hurt when my Mom told me my Dad would pick me up on Sunday, and then we'd leave. Yet, even though they were present for the conversation at dinner, they didn't say anything. Instead, their polite chatter diminished, and an awkward silence fell upon us at the dinner table.
It was Sunday morning when I finally had enough of their behaviour. They'd been forbidden to leave the house by Peter, probably aware of what was going on, so the three of them sat round the pool to kill time. While packing, I could hear them trying to get on each other's nerves from my bedroom window, and suddenly I had enough.
I headed to the pool and stood before the three sun beds, my arms folded like I was another version of my mother. They ignored me like I wasn't even standing there; all it did was make me want to scream.
"You know this isn't fair, right?" I snapped, pushing my sunglasses on top of my head so I could look at them properly.
The three of them ignored me like they hadn't heard me. Tommy continued throwing a basketball into the air, catching it from where he was lying on the sun bed. Beside him, Sebastian lay with his sunglasses on, staring up at the sky like he wasn't even aware of my presence. And below me, Harry was sat dangling his legs into the pool. He even dared to reach for the speaker beside him, playing some Kanye West song, turning it up.
Again, I was on the sidelines, and they were centre stage. Three against one. This wasn't fair. And after everything, it hurt.
"You guys can't just ignore me like this," I said, squinting my eyes. "I'm leaving tonight."
