Warning: This contains bits of the lauguage naughty, and will contain bits of the naughty, couple of chapters later.
Note: Please leave constructive critism including (but not limited to) your favorite scene and least favorite scene. And I'm sorry for the wierd formatting. hates me.
Chapter One: Charlie Rose
Charlie was never one for skirts and Mary Janes. In fact, she was never one for boarding schools. Something about arrogant rich kids made her skin crawl. But here she was, pleated navy skirt, white blouse, and navy sweater with her Connecticut boarding school's crest embroidered on it. "And once more he is sent to hell," she looked at her nails. Perfect.
There were times she loved her father. Her new cars in Los Angeles and New York, her gold cards, and extensive wardrobe could tell anyone that. Then of course there were the times she damned him to the seven levels of hell. He was damned so many times he probably had a special place set aside for him. And only parents who sent off their teenagers to boarding school against their will for company.
Sometimes she wondered if she was bitter. But then she bought herself a cute outfit or got a manicure.
The usual cause of his damnation was Haywood Prep. Filled with politicians children, the offspring of successful businessmen, the spawn of celebrities, and sometimes the celebrities themselves populated the school. Charlie knew she was one of them, it didn't mean she had to like it.
"Damning your father again?" her best friend, Adele, asked, sitting down. Her friend was everything Charlie was not. Tall, blonde, and blue-eyed, Adele fit every stereotype of the classic Californian beauty. Charlie just had to settle with brown hair and grey eyes that looked like stone, and she was short. Her father, Jack, was just over six foot, why the hell did Charlie get stuck with the short genes?
"Yes." Pulling out The Old Man and the Sea from her bag, she began to flip through the first fifty pages.
"You're actually reading that? It's two weeks until the final banquet. No one is expecting anyone to do anything."
Grey eyes didn't flicker away from the page. "Did it occur to you I enjoy reading?"
"Ugh." Adele shook her head. "It was about 127 pages too long. I swear, it was the perfect, non addictive, cure for insomnia."
"You have no taste for literature." Charlie closed the book, stuffing it back into her bag. "Have you started to pack yet?"
Adele shrugged. "I'm thinking I should wait a week. You?"
"Four boxes already done." Charlie stood, shouldering her bag. "I have an angry phone call to make."
Walking to her dormitory, someone grabbed her wrist. "I have to talk to you." It was her boyfriend, Theo.
She smiled at him. "I really do have to go. I'm going to call my father then I'm off to Contemporary Literature. We'll talk later." Kissing his cheek, she was off.
Karlei picked up a brown rabbit baby. "Hello my sweet," she crooned; she stroked the she-bunny's fur. "You're a special one, aren't you?" She looked into its grey eyes. "Yes you are." Putting it down in a pen, she picked up another brown furred rabbit, with blue eyes. Larger than the first, it was definitely male. "You protect her," the goddess said, putting it down.
The male rabbit hopped over to the female and began to nuzzle the other rabbit. Oh yes, Karlei had chosen perfectly.
Charlie looked at herself in the mirror. Her mousy brown hair was up, off her neck. Smiling, she looked at herself. Not bad, but not perfect either. It looked as if she had a little bump on her nose, and her eyes were too wide apart. Stepping away from the mirror, she sighed. Smoothing the black dress, she couldn't wait for the final banquet. Actually, she could care less about the banquet; it was after the banquet she was worried about.
A knock at the door, going to open it, she found Adele standing there. "You're bra's showing," she said as soon as the door was closed. "Black bra? I bet you're wearing black panties. Someone's getting lucky tonight."
She choked out a laugh. "Excuse me?"
Adele rolled her eyes. "No one wears black negligee without wanting to get some." She put an arm around her best friend, "I wont tell if you wont. Now lets get some food, it's going to be the only time they serve decent food all year."
"So what are you doing for your summer break?" Charlie asked Adele as they waited in the airport. Both dressed in jeans, in what felt like the first time in forever. Both were more relaxed than they'd been in a long time.
"What any senator's daughter would do. DC for a week to hob knob with the president's daughter and the vice-president's son. Then it's off to California for photo-ops and the such. At least Joe, the vice-president's son, is eye candy, not a total waste." Adele shrugged. "What about you?" She didn't mention Theo.
"Tour as usual," Charlie's tone was blasé. "Stuff will be shipped to New York for the summer while I fly out to LA. Have the usual meetings with lawyers and management. Then it's off to do the US tour. For once I wish they'd do Asia or Europe when I'm around." She rolled her eyes. "There are only so many times you can see New York, Chicago, Boston, or Los Angeles. Though I can't complain about is the shopping."
Adele blinked. "You're the only person I know that can complain about touring around the US." Charlie just grinned. "Your father is an internationally acclaimed superstar and you complain about visiting the best shopping cities in the world. You're crazy." She changed the subject. "So when's the new video out?"
Charlie shrugged, she honestly wasn't sure. "I have a feeling I'll be stopping by MTV to premiere it, whee!" she rolled her eyes. Adele shook her head. A plane was called and she smiled. "JFK to National, that would be me. Call me when you stop in San Diego. We'll do lunch." Picking up her carry on, Adele made her way to the gate with four other students.
Beethoven's Fur Elise began to play from her pocket; pulling out the phone, she didn't even bother to check who was called. "Hello?" It was her father wanting to know when she'd be in. "Six hour flight, taking off in an hour," she confirmed. "I'm getting in at three, LA time. Gate 7B at LAX."
"I miss you." Jack Elliot didn't try to verbalize his emotions. He did it better in notes that words.
"I know Daddy." She began to play with her belt loop.
"Look, I've got to go. You choose where we go to eat tonight." And her father was gone.
Closing her phone, Charlie sighed. Couldn't they just stay in? Her dad made wicked French toast. It would be nice to settled down with him to watch a movie. She remembered when they did that all the time. Before they knew it, it would be time for touring, and there would be no time. Times like these she really did wish she lived in Any Town, USA existing as an anonymous person. That way she wouldn't be forced to spend the next seven hours with the fifteen of her schoolmates. This was hell.
She waited in the lounge, a soda in her hand. "Charlotte?" a man asked.
Looking up, she found a boy not much older than her, standing there. "Charlie actually." Sanding up, she held out her hand. He took it. "Where's Tony?" She asked about the six foot-five black man that had been her bodyguard since she was seven.
"Bags." That's all he said.
"Not much of a talker, huh?" He didn't respond.
The drive out of the airport was a silent one. Charlie was wondering how many pairs of Jimmy Choo's she could milk out of her father, or if she should just go out and get a tattoo. She was thinking about something in the small of her back or maybe on her hip. Perhaps she'd get both. It'd be fun to see her dad go all red, then she'd point out the ink on his arm.
Tony was wisely silent; he knew the teenage girl's moods. The other one said nothing.
Opening the Stewarts Root Beer that she had bought in the airport, Charlie continued her internal debate about the type of revenge she could enact on her father. She had a years worth of teenage rebellion to inflict in ten weeks. Closing her eyes, she leaned back. She was still a little angry with her father. She hadn't seen him since Christmas. She had spent Spring Break in London with a trip organized by Haywood. Surely he could beg off one meeting to meet her at the airport.
As she seethed, the song Charlie Rose, a particular hit of Denison's, came on the air. Charlie ground her teeth; Charlie Rose had been a particular nickname Theo had granted her. And he was the last person she wanted to think about. That, combined with the anger she was trying to repress about her father. "Turn it off Tony," she told the driver, keeping her eyes closed. She didn't notice how tight she was gripping the bottle. When he didn't do anything she said it again, only louder. Suddenly the glass shattered in her hand. "Fuck!"
The car swerved at the curse. "Charlie are you okay?" Tony asked as he gained back control of the wheel and turned down the radio. The other one turned too.
"No," Charlie looked down at her hands; they were all cut up. "I don't like blood." She began to cry.
She sat in a Wolfram & Hart boardroom, her hands still bloody. The other body guard, she still didn't know his name, had gone off to get a first aide kit. Charlie didn't know where Tony had gone.
Someone opened the door, she looked up, hoping it was the other bodyguard, but it wasn't. Tall and thin, he had bleached blonde hair. He smiled at her, and she repressed her own smile, he had a nice smile. "What happened pet?" he asked, sitting down in the chair next to her. He was looking at her rather intently.
Charlie found herself glaring. "Not your pet," her voice was sharp. She hid her hands under the boardroom table. The blonde haired man continued to look at her. "What?" she snapped.
"I would think you'd want someone to look at those." He nodded at her hidden hands.
She was saved from answering when Bodyguard No Name came back. "Move Spike." He shoved the wheeled chair out of his way with his foot. Putting the kit on the table, he reached for her hands.
"You must think I'm such a girl," Charlie said as he wiped away the blood. If he did think as much, he didn't say anything. "I can give a guy a broken nose without thinking about it, but I can't stand the sight of blood." She giggled suddenly. When he looked up, she smiled. "Sorry, it tickles."
He worked silently for the next couple minutes. "Connor," he said after a moment. At her confused face, he clarified. "My name is Connor. It's nice to meet you."