Chasing Charlie

Chapter Nine | Nurturing A Bruise

After a while, the other girls came into the room and I realised I should’ve probably already gotten changed. I quickly changed out of my school uniform and into something more comfortable. I went downstairs not wanting to debate about this hopeless life anymore.

I ate a banana that I found in the fridge and went outside, towards the park.

Friday ended up being like Thursday, except this time I didn’t see Chase at all. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him after what happened. We both seemed to be avoiding each other and I was fine with that.

When the weekend came around I was happy. I could sleep in once again and I didn’t have to go anywhere. I woke up around ten o’clock and I felt a bit less tired than the previous two days. I changed, and went downstairs to get something to eat.

I wasn’t expecting to see Chase, talking to Miss Lancy in blue shorts. He was on his wheelchair, near the bin. His slightly muscled abdomen was visible and his hair was a disheleved mess. He had an expressionless look on his face while Miss Lancy was talking to him.

I walked in heading to the fridge, ignoring their gazes that were on me. I grabbed an apple and headed straight pass them without saying a word. I went into the living room, and sat down on the couch. Some kids were watching the TV show that was playing while others played with toys.

I ate the apple whilst watching. The apple wasn’t filling enough but it was the quickest thing to grab and go. I felt it was too awkward to stay in there for too long. They seemed to be talking about something important.

After the show ended I went upstairs and grabbed my phone. I put my converses on and headed downstairs, towards the door. I left without a word.

I spent the rest of my day at the park, hanging around the boys who played soccer. When the sun was starting to set, I checked my phone seeing various texts and missed phone calls, most of them from Miss Lancy and a few from my old friends. They still continued to call me on a regular basis. I ignored every phone call.

It was 8:30 pm and I thought it was time to head home, but not without a quick stop at the bench in front of the pond.

“Bye guys, see ya tomorrow,” I called out.

I headed over to the bench near the pond. I looked over the pond, seeing the light pinks and oranges that were dancing through the sky reflecting into the calm waters of the pond. It was a beautiful sunset. When the sky was finally dark, I headed back to the orphanage.

I walked through the door and was greeted by a worried Miss Lancy sitting on the couch. She looked up when I walked in and sighed in relief, coming towards me.

“Charlie, where were you? I was so worried about you. Why didn’t you tell me you were heading out?” She asked worriedly.

“I was at the park. You were busy so I didn’t want to disturb you. I’m sorry,” I apologised.

She sighed, “I was so worried, I thought you ran away,” she cried as she hugged me tightly.

I felt guilty I didn’t tell her.

“I wouldn’t run away,” I told her.

I was hoping I wouldn’t run anymore. But I wasn’t sure if I was telling the truth. If something did get too hard to handle I would run away from the situation. It was a cowardly thing to do but I couldn’t help it. When I found out I was left an orphan all I could think of was to run. Run and never come back. Run away from all my problems or run until I had no more energy and I would just collapse, without breath.