Getting Over Charlie Miller

Prologue

The phone rang again, blasting out cheerful pop music to contrast heavily against my stormy mood. It buzzed noisily against the wood of my side table, getting louder and louder. I sniffed loudly and turned over to the dry side of the pillow. Downstairs the buzz of the TV continued, just as usual, while my parents discussed how their days had been. Nobody even knew that my whole life had been turned upside down. In a phone call.

Opening my grey eyes, I realised that my view was obstructed by a large stuffed animal. Letting out a small shriek of despair, I hurled it towards the foot of my bed and listened as it hit the white carpet. Outside, the rain crashed heavily to the ground, and every so often there was a bright flash of lightning. Well, at least the weather gods knew how I was feeling.

‘Bzzz, bzzz.’ The phone cried urgently. ‘Bzzzzzzz.’

‘Oh, shutup!’ I cried in response, ripping my pillow from behind my bed and chucking it towards the phone.

There was a loud bang as the bedside lamp tumbled to the floor. I sat bolt upright.

‘Shit.’ I leaned over to inspect the damage.

‘Louise?’ Mum’s voice called up. ‘Is everything alright?’

Oh, great.

***

I padded downstairs as quietly as I could in my fluffy pink slippers. To my left, I could hear my parents’ alternating snores as they slept deeply, unaware of my misery. To my right, I could see that my brother’s light was on in his bedroom, but dared not disturb his alone time with Anna. The hallway was plunged in darkness, making it difficult for me to locate the exact region of the door knob to the kitchen.

‘There you are.’ I whispered, pushing the tall door open, carefully.

As soon as I did, I knew it had been a mistake. The barks of four young dogs echoed around the house as I tried desperately to quieten them down. The puppies leapt energetically up at my feet, delighted to see me for the first time since lunch. Impatiently, I walked over to the fridge and opened it to reveal what I had been looking for. Food.

With a plateful of re-heated pizza, and a glass of diet coke, I was ready to make my return to the room in which I had lay for the past five hours.  My parents had worked out that something was up when I hadn’t turned up to dinner, and yet I still hadn’t heard a word out of them, which was unusual. As I was reaching the top of the stairs, Anna was making ready to walk down them.

I paused and smiled up at her. ‘See you later.’

‘Goodnight, Lou.’ She returned my smile before hurrying down the stairs and slipping out of the back door.

My brother, Matthew, watched contentedly as his girlfriend made her exit. They’d been together for a whole year now, having been best friends for a good while before. Their relationship was something I wished I could have, they loved each other truly, but could have a proper argument when they needed to! I was worried when they first got together that me and Matt would grow apart, but we actually functioned pretty well as a trio, when it was appropriate. Tonight was not one of those times.

‘Night, Matt.’ I grinned, moving into my room.

Once behind the safety of a closed door, I wasn’t afraid to remove the smile from my face and to let the sinking feeling return to my chest. I was alone. After depositing the plate and glass onto my bedside table, I drew the white curtains to a close over my square window, and flopped down once more onto my bed. With my long legs crossed, I pulled the plate onto my lap and tucked in. As I scarfed down the food, the iPhone on the table re-commenced its buzzing.

This time, I was tempted enough to glance down at it. The screen was lit up, and his name flashed again and again, urgently. I reached out and picked up the phone, cradling it in my palm. His face flashed up, grinning from ear to ear, begging me to take the call. I pressed my finger onto the ‘ignore’ button.

Almost instantly, the phone started its pathetic buzzing and flashing routine once more. I rolled my eyes and let them rest on the ceiling for a moment, before returning them to the screen in order to reject the millionth call of the evening. But I was surprised. This time, it was a different face showing up. It was Adam.

***