Menagerie

Chapter 2 - Charlotte

Serena, who almost never made it up before ten, was loving the time difference in Montana. She was comfortably up at seven in the morning - nine AM, her time.

"I never knew what they meant before when they said air could be crisp!"

"Well, we are in the mountains," I pointed out.

"It's not that! I was here last night and the air didn't feel anything like this. It's the morning," Serena insisted. She was right, but the fanatical way she seemed to regard morning air was just too much this early.

We loaded up Aunt Rose's SUV. I was still shocked she was letting us borrow it. Then again, Penny was her daughter and she had a face it was hard to say no to. She was just so sweet and guileless. When Penny said or did something, you always knew she was being completely genuine. And she had been positively floating on air for the entire past four days. Between that and my nerves, it had been necessary to avoid her yesterday. I wanted to relish the quiet and calm while I still could... and some buried, unselfish part of me didn't want my negativity bringing her down just yet.

I checked, double-checked, and triple-checked that I had my laptop, my Kindle, and all of my chargers. Anything else would be less stressful to try and replace on the road. I had enough clothes to travel for two weeks straight without laundry stops, if I didn't mind wearing my jeans a few times. I'd brought every ounce of makeup I had, knowing that Penny and Serena would only nag me into buying more if they thought I was underprepared.

Truth told, I didn't mind the prospect of getting dressed up a few times while we were gone as long as they didn't go overboard. I would especially enjoy doing it with my two closest friends... and my older male cousin. If nothing else, I'd enjoy his exasperation.

The exasperation started when Jasper went to climb into the back row of the SUV and found a stack of garment bags. "Is this necessary?" he groaned. "There have to be at least nine dresses in here."

"Cocktail dresses!" Penny explained, voice full of excitement. I put on my headphones to block out her early-morning positivity, leaving the cord dangling behind me as I finished packing the car. It was a bit like playing Tetris, trying to get all of this to fit. Penny's bags alone filled half of the trunk space. Serena and I were able to wear each other's dresses- though the fit was never exactly right- so we were able to pack lighter than Penny. Thank goodness.

I heard heavy footfalls approach and turned to wrap my arms around my dad. He kissed the top of my head and gave me a squeeze before stepping back. "You have everything?" he asked.

"Dad," I groaned, pulling my headphones back off so I could hear him better.

He held up his hands. "I had to ask. Your mother's almost done packing up food for you all. Then you'll be on your way."

I thought he looked strangely misty-eyed. I blinked a few times. Dad's emotions were always contagious when he displayed them, since he was so stoic most of the time. It just meant more when he emoted.

"You're going to be fine, Charlie," he said. "Don't look like that."

A tear escaped. "I'll miss you." I hated how carried away I was getting with this goodbye, but I couldn't help it. This felt just like leaving for my freshman year of college all over again.

Mom burst through the front door, overfull totes slung over both shoulders and a cluster of bottled orange juice hugged against her chest. "I packed protein bars and bananas- you'll want to be careful not to bruise them- and dried mango. Then there are sandwiches for lunch and-"