Chapter Twelve
January 2002
The Jukebox was busy and the music was loud. Charlie could hardly believe that it was her last night living in her hometown for almost whole year. She would be back for holidays of course, but from tomorrow, she and Jack would be heading to the police academy to start their training and the next stage of their lives. She was grateful at least to have a friend to take with her. At least she wouldn't be alone. She glanced over at him, sitting in the corner with Martha who had barely stopped crying all night. She had barely stopped crying all week. It had been such a strange year for everybody. Aden had moved out from his Dad's house and was living with the Holden's while his father attempted to recover from his alcohol addiction, Joey was gay, hiding in the closet and in love with Zoe, Charlie, Martha, Jack, Leah and Rachel had all finished school and were heading in different directions and Ruby was growing up too quickly. Everything was changing and Charlie wasn't sure that she liked it.
Martha clung onto Jack. She never wanted to let him go. Even though she knew he would be home every holiday and hopefully for the odd weekend and he had promised to call every day, she had an awful feeling of being left behind. She was afraid of him slipping away from her, of him getting swept away with some beautiful police officer in training. She was grateful at least that Charlie was going to be with him. She trusted her friend to keep an eye on her boyfriend and report back if there was anything to be worried about.
Rachel observed her friends and was glad yet again that she could stay at home to study. Maybe she was being a baby but she didn't want to leave her family and her friends and Chris, who she'd been dating for the last year. She could study at the local University and would be able to do her placements in the local hospital. Everything seemed perfectly moulded around her. Life was good.
Joey had been following Charlie round all evening. She could hardly contain her despair over the fact that her best friend would be gone from now until December. They had barely gone a day apart since the day she was born. This was a world away from everything she knew and she hated it. She felt like she was being destroyed from the inside. Glancing over at Zoe who was making small talk with Aden and Lucas, Joey suddenly felt terrible. She'd been neglecting her girlfriend all night. Then she reminded herself that she had the rest of her life to be with Zoe. She had one night left to spend time with Charlie. Surely it was okay to hang out with her tonight? Feeling torn, she sighed and headed back over to Zoe, carefully slipping an arm around her waist.
"You remember who I am then?" Zoe asked bitterly.
"Sorry," Joey apologised. "I'm just going to miss her."
"I get that."
"Sorry," Joey said again.
Zoe sighed. She did understand. It just made her insecure.
"I do know where you're coming from. I just miss you, that's all."
"Want to sneak away for a few minutes?" Joey grinned.
Zoe giggled and headed towards the exit immediately.
The following morning, Charlie was up early. Her father helped her pack her stuff into the car. Elsie had been tearfully fussing around her all morning and Ruby looked forlorn. She had offered up a picture of the family – Ross, Elsie, Charlie, Joey and Ruby – for her to take with her to the academy. Charlie had fought tears and hugged her sister close. Now, with her Dad, who finally seemed proud of her, waiting in the car, it was time to say goodbye to Joey and she didn't want to. They stood just out of view of the car, inches apart from each other.
"I can't believe you're actually leaving," Joey said in a small voice.
"I'll be back at Easter," Charlie offered.
"That's ages away!"
Charlie smiled and reached out to stroke Joey's hair.
"I promise I will call all the time," Charlie said.
She kept her hand cupping Joey's face, unable to hide the fact that she was just as sad as Joey was.
"You'd better. I don't want you going off and forgetting about me, Charlie Buckton," Joey said, pouting.
Charlie giggled.
"I promise," she said. "And hey, you can always come and visit."
"I'd like that."
A tear escaped Joey's eye without permission. Charlie caught it and brushed it away.
"Hey, come here," she said softly, pulling her friend into a hug.
"I love you," Joey said into Charlie's chest.
"I love you too," Charlie whispered back.
They pulled apart and Charlie bent down, kissing Joey ever so gently on the lips. They lingered there just for a second before pulling away.
"Call me when you arrive, okay?" Joey said.
"I will," Charlie said.
She turned and headed towards the car, climbing in beside her Dad. Joey joined Elsie and Ruby at the front door. All three waved until the car was out of sight.
After a long drive, heavy lifting and a prolonged but polite goodbye to her father, Charlie sat down on the end of her bed looking around at her room. She jumped when the door opened and a girl her age appeared, breathless and carrying more bags than was humanly possible. Behind her came who Charlie presumed were her parents, carrying more bags.
"Hi!" the girl said cheerfully.
Charlie waved nervously and busied herself with unpacking while the girl settled and said goodbye to her family. Once they were alone, the girl turned back to her.
"I'm Georgina Watson," she said.
"Hi Georgina," Charlie said.
"Just call me Watson," the other girl said. "Everyone does except my family. Georgina and any variations thereof just don't suit me."
Charlie giggled. She was right. It didn't.
"Well, I'm Charlie. It's short for Charlotte and that really doesn't suit me either so I guess you're in good company," she said.
They shook hands.
"So, do you fancy skipping the whole unpacking stuff and finding the bar?" Watson suggested.
Charlie was surprised but the twinkle in Watson's eye made her laugh and want to say yes. Grinning, the girls left their room and their boxes behind.
"Oh, hey, I'm here with a friend from home. He's starting training too," Charlie said on the way out. "Shall we invite him too?"
"The more the merrier!" Watson declared.
Joey and Zoe were stretched out side by side on Zoe's bed watching a DVD. They were holding hands but Joey was distracted. Charlie had texted to say that she had arrived and everything was alright but Joey had at least been expecting a phone call. She was sad and disappointed, imagining that her friend was already off and carried away with having a good time without her. Zoe shifted beside her. She found Joey's lips. Joey kissed her back, happily losing herself in the kiss. She wanted more than anything to be with Zoe. Maybe Charlie leaving was a good thing. Without her around all the time, Joey wouldn't be so distracted. She could concentrate fully on being a good girlfriend and give Zoe everything she deserved. Joey wrapped her arms around Zoe and held her close, the movie at least momentarily forgotten.
Charlie laughed heartily and swallowed some more of her beer. She had never really drunk before and she was determined to make sure she didn't get carried away but so far, she was having a lovely time. Watson was confident and hilarious. They had found Jack and he and his roommate, Angelo Rosetta had joined them in their search for the bar. The four of them had been talking and laughing for several hours now. Angelo had also been very obviously hitting on Charlie since the first moment they met. He was handsome and charming. She didn't think dating him was a terribly good idea but she was tempted and that gave her hope that she wasn't devoid of feeling.
Zoe gave up trying to watch the film. The look of sheer misery on her girlfriend's face was infectious. Leaning over, she brushed her lips against Joey's neck and was pleased when she smiled. She shifted to kiss her lips and began to let her hands wander. They quickly forgot about the DVD.
Angelo and Jack headed to the bar to get another round.
"So, you know Charlie pretty well, do you?" Angelo asked his new roommate.
Jack glanced back at the girls and then looked at Angelo, who had made his attraction to Charlie blatantly obvious from the start.
"Yeah, we grew up together," he said.
"Do you think she'd go out with me?"
"Maybe," Jack said. "I mean, I can't think of any reason why not."
"So, she's single then?"
"Yeah."
"Has she dated many guys before?"
Angelo could barely tear his eyes away from the girl. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.
"A few," Jack said.
"So, what kind of guys does she like?" Angelo persisted.
"Um, well she dated her best friend's older brother for a bit. He's a fisherman, a couple of years older than us, bit of a jerk but nicer recently. She had a thing with an SAS guy last year. That made her Dad pretty mad. That's it really."
"So, she likes older guys?" Angelo asked, disappointed that they were the same age. Actually, he was two months younger than she was.
"I guess," Jack said uncertainly. "But I don't think that's an exclusive thing."
Angelo nodded thoughtfully.
Back at the table, Watson was busily interrogating Charlie.
"So, do you like him?" she asked, jerking her head in Angelo's direction.
"I guess," Charlie said without commitment. "He's pretty cute."
"But?"
"I don't know. I'm not in the right head space for dating at the moment."
"Are you okay?"
Watson was always in the right head space for dating.
"Yeah, I guess I'm already a little homesick," Charlie admitted.
She pictured Joey and wondered what she was doing. She was probably with Zoe. She wondered if she missed her too.
"Missing your folks?" Watson asked.
"My best friend," Charlie said with a slight blush.
"Oh, that's cute," Watson grinned.
"We never do anything apart," Charlie explained. "I've known her since she was born. We've always done everything together. She means everything to me. This is really hard!"
She laughed sadly. Watson put an arm around her. She couldn't help but wonder, even from a handful of words if there was more to it than that but she decided not to press the issue. She'd only just met Charlie and she didn't want to frighten her away.
Joey forced herself to come up for air. She and Zoe had been kissing for hours and Zoe's shirt was undone again. With Robbo only in the next room and Mr and Mrs Cruze downstairs, they were playing a risky game. Pulling back, Zoe smiled and stayed close.
"Joey, I was thinking," she ventured shyly.
"Mmm?"
"Well, maybe on my birthday, perhaps we could um…?"
Joey smiled curiously. It was Zoe's sixteenth in five weeks time.
"Take our relationship to the next level? If you feel ready. Do you feel ready?"
Joey thought about it for a few moments and then nodded.
"I'm ready."
Zoe smiled and kissed Joey again.
"Me too. I really want to be with you."
Charlie sat beside Angelo. As the night had developed, she had discovered that Watson was the life and soul of the party. It hadn't taken long for their group of four to get bigger and bolder. Most of the new students had found their way to the bar and the party was in full swing.
"So, will you let me take you out sometime?" Angelo asked, slinging his arm around the back of Charlie's chair.
"I don't know," she replied.
She didn't want to commit to a yes or no answer just yet. He was cute and very funny. She thought she could stay in his company all night but she wasn't sure she could let their friendship take on that extra complication. Plus, she had her studies to focus on. That was what she was here for. She had to concentrate. Glancing up, she looked around for Jack and Watson. Jack was playing pool in a team of doubles with some guys Charlie hadn't been introduced to yet. Watson was in the corner of the bar practically having sex with a girl. Charlie's jaw dropped. Was every girl she met gay?
"What's up?" Angelo asked, noting her expression.
Charlie shook her head.
"Nothing," she said pleasantly, turning to face him.
She focussed on his face and smiled. He smiled back.
