Charlie's Angel

Charlie's POV History

Tears blurred my vision and threatened to spill over onto my frost bitten cheeks. I must've looked like hell, hair a mess, cheeks red from the cold, ripped pajama bottoms and a stained oversized T-Shirt. I was five when my dad died, a car accident out in New Hampshire. He was out there on business, and December sixth was the last time I saw him.

Flashback

"Don't leave me with her daddy," I whined, talking about the middle aged woman, passed out on my bed.

"I'll be back soon kiddo, and when I get back, we'll go to the Dingo for dinner." My father told me, and he blew raspberries onto my stomach, even though I was five that always made me giggle.

"Be good for your mother… she's got a lot on her mind." My father warned me, rumpling my hair.

"Tell her to be good for me!" I protested stubbornly, crossing my arms and stomping my foot.

My dad gave me a look and kissed my forehead, "Keep the locket on, and when you squeeze it, I'll feel it. I'll miss you Munchkin."

And that was the last time I saw him.

And my locket…

End Flashback

I soon found myself at the park, so I walked towards the swings, but I collapsed before I got there.

The tears spilled over and soaked my cold cheeks, my body was racking with sobs that I had held in for the past five blocks. It's hard to believe a five year old could feel such emotion, but I didn't want to cry in front of all the people at my house, saying how sorry they were. People I didn't know where pinching my cheeks and saying how much I'd grown.

The tears had dried on my face, more like froze, and my face felt extremely hot.

"Hey look!" I heard coming from behind me, I realized how late it was, around eight thirty, so I sniffled and turned around.

Ponyboy's POV

I saw a girl, probably about two or so years older then me, laying on the ground. She was crying, really hard, and she looked dirty.

"Daddy can we keep her?" I asked, tugging on my dad's sleeve. I said this as if she were a dog or a cat. The girl was facing us now, and she looked like she was going to cry some more.

"Don't cry." I said, walking towards her, more like wobbling, I was three. She sat up, her lip started quivering, I sat cross legged next to her, "Whatsa matter?" I asked.

My dad raised both of his eyebrows in surprise as the girl opened her mouth and let out a hiccupping sob. Soda was 6, he cocked his head to the side, and sat down beside her, "Are you okay?"

Still, the girl said nothing, only sat there, watching us all with wary expressions, looking extremely miserable.

"Daddy, can she come to Dairy Queen with us?" I asked, and looked at him pleadingly.

Dad paused, and bit his lip, something he did when he was thinking something over, then shrugged, "Sure, why not." He said finally.

Darry's POV

The girl was five and her name was Charlotte, and that's all we could get out of her. When Ponyboy asked where her parents were, she just started bawling again. We just sort of watched her, what else could four guys have done? I'm 10, Dad's 35, Sodapop's 6, and Ponyboy's 3, yet we had no idea what to say to comfort her. I awkwardly patted her on the shoulder, but that's the only action we took.

We asked her more questions, but she stayed silent, not saying anything more. She didn't even tell us where she lived, so we just drove home where mom could fuss over her.

"Who's your friend?" Mom asked, once all of us had walked through the front door, I had Charlotte by the hand and I was leading her into the house.

"Charlotte, we found her at the park!" Ponyboy said excitedly, handing his coat to mom.

"Come on Charlotte, have some cocoa." Mom said happily, taking Charlotte's hand from mine and leading her into the kitchen.

Once the cocoa was done, we all sat in the living room, Charlotte had soon fallen asleep between me and Soda on the couch.

"Darry honey, would you wake her up?" Mom asked me, walking out of the kitchen, "I called her mother, she wants her home." She pulled the sleeve of her jacket over her arm.

"How'd you get her phone number?" Soda asked incredulously, "We couldn't get two words out of the kid!"

"She told me her last name, Woods, and I looked it up in the phone book." Mom replied, smiling slightly, "She just needs someone to talk to, her father just died."

"She doesn't have a daddy?" Ponyboy asked, looking surprised.

"No sweetie, she doesn't." Mom replied sadly, nodding.

I nodded a bit also, I knew something was wrong, so I wasn't surprised. I shook Charlotte's tiny shoulder, "Wake up Charlotte." I said.

Charlotte's eyes fluttered open and she slowly picked her head up off my shoulder, she was a cute little kid, long blond hair, bright blue eyes, when she saw mom she stood up.

"It's time to go Charlotte, your mother wants you home." Mom said, leading Charlie towards the door.

"Hey Charlie." Soda said, and the newly dubbed Charlie turned to face him, "Come back soon… okay?"

I thought I saw the trace of a smile on the little girl's lips, and she was gone, just as fast as she had appeared.