Charlotte All Grown Up
Chapter 2: Good Luck Charlie
As many might think, we did not have too many restrictions or cut offs from the real world. If fact most of us did have Facebooks, cell phones, iPods, and emails. Sure our computers were bought with donation money so they weren't top quality, our phones only worked with other phones in the school area, and out iPods were outdated and used, but we had them.
So it was Tuesday, ten month and three weeks till my sixteenth birthday, when I got the first email. I was in the library during free time with Emily and Jeremy when I pulled it up. It just read from your new family member, like the letter, and there was a link. I quickly called Jeremy and Em over and turned the volume up just enough for us three to hear it. Then I clicked the link. A Video screen popped up.
The first thing we saw was a pretty blond girl that looked about fourteen. You could easily tell that she was holding the camera out so we could see her. She was smiling into the camera with a big cheese smile, and big blue eyes.
"She looks like you Char," Jeremy commented, just getting a shh from Emily.
"Hi Charlie, It's your big sister Teddy here, and if you are watching these, I must be out of the house and you must be so lost. That is why I have decided to make these, so if you have any questions, you can just look here and there should be an answer. It's my video diary to you," The girl started. Then she started to move around the house, showing a room that looked like a living room. There were stairs, and a couch, a chair, and a lot of baby stuff and pink posters everywhere.
"So today is a big day," Teddy said as she stood in front of the door. "Because today is that day you come home." She shows the door as a woman walks through holding a baby in her arms.
"Is that you?" Jeremy asked.
"You're so small," Emily said squeezing my cheek. I pushed her away.
"Say hi to Charlie, Mom," Teddy said sticking the Camera in the woman's face.
"Not now, sweetie," The woman said pushing the camera away. "I'm exhausted." The camera moved to show a big man caring many bags and a baby carrier. Once in the door, he dropped everything.
"Bob, don't leave those things there," The woman said sitting down on the couch with the baby still in her arms.
"Um, Dad, do you want to say anything to Charlie?" Teddy asked putting the camera in the man's face.
Like the woman, Bob just pushed the camera away, and it panned to a point in the room. Two boys were coming down the stairs. One was blond, tall, and had on a red graphic t-shirt. He had to be about fifteen. The other was shorter, buzzed brunette hair that had a very small tent of green in the middle. He was wearing a black graphic t-shirt and looked about nine.
"Do either of you want to say something to Charlie?" Teddy asked again, doubtful.
"Sure," The small one said, pulling the camera up to his face. "Hi Charlie, when Teddy and PJ leave, it will be just the two of us, watch out. I don't like you." Then he too pushed the camera away and the two boys left, and we saw the girl's face again.
"Gabe was joking," she said doubtfully. "But I might want to say this, if you hadn't figured it out before now, this family is anything but normal. So I will leave you with this, Good Luck Charlie." Then the screen went black and a play circle popped up.
"So I guess that was your family," Emily said after the silence was lasting too long. "Intrusting people, Charlotte."
"And why was that girl, Teddy, calling you Charlie?" Jeremy asked.
I just shook my head and clicked the "x" in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Then I gathered my stuff and walked out of the library, knowing Jeremy and Emily would follow me. We walked in silence back to my room. Once the door was closed, I looked back at them.
"I might have a sister," I said as soon as I knew the door was fully shut and no one could hear us.
"Yeah a sister with a boy's name, who calls you by a boy's name, and is telling you how to survive a family that is dead," Emily reminded me with a smile.
"Yeah, but I have a sister," I said again, just getting use to the idea.
"That is more than a lot of people around here have," Jeremy reminded Em. "Think about it. How would you feel if you had just found out you had a sister, alive."
Emily looked away. I knew everyone was going to be jealous when word got around that I had some part of family that was trying to communicate with me. People were going to shut me out as they did with Ginger. That would be terrible.
"Let's not tell anyone about this," I suddenly said, pulling the both of them from some world they were in. "If people found out…."
"They would be so jealous," Emily reminded me.
"And they would hate her," Jeremy pointed out to Emily. Emily just looked away, but she knew that was right.
After a bit of silence I looked to them and asked, "Our secret."
"Our secret," They both answered simultaneously. I smiled. This was going to be a great year.