Disclaimer: I do not own Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I do own Charlene. And if you ppls steal her, you will die!

Charlene rolled over and blinked in the morning light. The house was still mostly quiet, no one had risen yet. She sat up slowly and furrowed her brow at the distant sounds of people making a lot of noise. She grabbed her work clothes and donned them beneath her blankets before casting them aside and standing.

She grabbed a comb that was missing half its teeth and pulled it through her tangled mass of hair. She grimaced as it pulled painfully at her scalp before she tied her hair back in a pony-tail.

"Leaving already?" a voice questioned, surprisingly nearby.

Charlene jumped slightly and turned to her mother, wincing as she thought of how bad she had acted scant hours previous. "Yeah. I got to get there earlier or Mr. Frankish will fire me. Um…" Her voice trailed off as her mother walked by her.

"What about breakfast?" Her mom asked. "No time?" She added when her daughter shook her head. "Alright then. Be careful and I'll see you when you get home." She hugged a rather mystified Charlene and smiled. "No. I haven't forgotten about last night. We'll talk about it later." She finished quickly as a half-asleep Charlie climbed down from the loft.

Charlene nodded and headed for the door. "See you all when I get home. Mornin' Charlie." And with that she left heading for the grocery store at a brisk walk.

The streets were crowded. People were flocking around phone poles and street lights, yammering about something to each other in excited tones. Charlene made her way over and tried to see what had captured everyone's attention. There was a sign posted on the streetlight. Charlene leaned forward, realizing that it was probably what she had seen the motorcyclists posting last night. "Dear people of the world, I Willy Wonka…" Her voice trailed off, her eyes losing their spark of excitement already.

"Can you believe it! He's giving out tickets to visit his factory to five people! Wow!" Someone said as Charlene started to turn away.

"And what about that special prize at the end? I'm going to go get some Wonka Bars now!"

Charlene shook her head ruefully and continued to the grocery store. It was so packed and there was a line to get in that extended far down the sidewalk so she had to go around through the back door to get inside. Once inside she saw all the employees bustling around, trying to supply the demand for chocolate. Mr. Frankish stood at the counter and was staring open mouthed at all his sudden customers.

"I'd like three cases of Wonka bars!" a man shouted so that he would be heard over the racket. Charlene was standing only a few feet away, and even she could barely hear his words.

"Right away!" Mr. Frankish seemed to have broken out of his amazement and he snapped his fingers at Charlene. "You! You heard the man, get three cases right now and help him carry them! Don't stand around gawking!"

Charlene's head snapped and she nodded, hurrying to the back and putting three boxes of the chocolate in the crate she had been carrying the day before. She groaned as she strained to lift it, cursing Willy Wonka and his damn chocolate under her breath as she struggled with it. Who know chocolate could weigh that much.

"Hurry up you!" Mr. Frankish snapped, glaring at her.

Charlene bit back an angry reply and hefted the crate, walking over to the customer with wavering steps. "Where to sir?" She asked, gritting her teeth.

"I don't live far from here, come on." He replied with no compassion at all in his voice. He tapped a foot impatiently, waiting for her to catch up as he headed down the sidewalk outside. "I feel sorry for Mr. Frankish if all his workers are as weak as this one." He grumbled.

Charlene glared coldly at the man's back and almost threw the crate at him, if it wouldn't have cost her so much energy and a job. She settled to glare and continued on, lifting the crate so that it rested on her shoulder. It was a little easier to carry now and she walked faster, catching up to the man.

When he said "I don't live far from here" He must have the impression that living in Japan wouldn't have been far from America. Charlene panted as the man kept walking, on and on. She would have been ok with it, except he was setting a blazing pace and looked extremely unhappy that she could not keep up.

But at last he slowed down and walking up the porch steps of a house, he pulled out keys. He opened the door without a word and led her inside a well-furnished house to a kitchen area where he coldly instructed her to put the boxes. Then he rudely pushed her in the direction of the door and slammed it in her face once she was outside.

Charlene clenched her fists to keep from attacking the door. Instead she scowled at it and spit on his welcome mat before striding away and back to the grocery store empty handed, save for the crate. It was still just as crowded when she got back, if not more so.

Scant seconds after getting back inside she had to go back out with another several cases of chocolate. Thankfully the buyers were honest when they said they lived nearby and she had only to walk as far as the end of the street, the drawback was that she was carrying multiple deliveries, which turned out to be six cases of chocolate.

She groaned as she walked back to the store and saw Mr. Frankish waiting for her impatiently. "C'mon girl! You got work to do, don't stand around."

"Yes sir." She panted and got a drink out of the water fountain in the back before picking up yet another crate full. She heard her back crack as she stooped to pick it up and she winced at the pain that surged through her. But under the watchful eye of Mr. Frankish, she uttered no sound and doggedly carried the crate out of the store to deliver the chocolate.

And so her entire day dragged on. She rarely got more than a five minute break, or a chance to slow down either. She managed to gobble down a quick snack on the way back from a delivery or grab a drink. The streets were as busy as the stores, with people running around trying to get as much chocolate as possible. Charlene shook her head in disgust. These people, all going mad over a chance to see some…

She shivered unconsciously as the shadow from the factory fell over her. She glared at it coolly for making her work so hard. "Stupid factory." She grumbled. "I bet he's inside laughing at everyone because it's just a ruse to boost sales." She considered sending an obscene gesture in its direction. "Well those fools can waste their money on that crap. They'll be crying when they're as poor as us."

Charlene returned the crate to the grocery store, which was starting to die down because they were running out of chocolate. She headed for the door again, arms limp. For a moment she had the absurd fear that she wouldn't even be able to open the door with them.

"Where're you goin' girl!" Mr. Frankish bellowed.

Charlene turned coolly. "You're right. I'm sorry, it's Friday. I get paid today." She turned and walked back over to him.

"You get paid when I say you get paid, girl!" He roared raising a hand as if going to slap her. "You don't go nowhere until I say you go somewhere. We're not closed yet and I might get more orders."

Charlene's shoulder's slumped for a moment before she raised her head defiantly and looked the middle-aged man in the eyes. "I signed a contract. It said when I get paid and when I'm off from work. I get paid on Fridays and I get off at 7:00p.m."

Mr. Frankish's eyes narrowed. "Don't back talk girl!" He brought his hand back before plunging it forward to smack her face, right in the eye. "You do as I say or you'll be looking for another job! I took you in 'cause I felt sorry for you. And you've caused me nothing but problems from the start with your attitude!"

He stopped abruptly and stepped away as the bell that rand when ever the door opened dinged. "How may I he-" he stopped abruptly.

"I'm here to pick up my sister, she's late for dinner." A soft childish voice said.

Relief flooded Charlene's face at the sight of Charlie standing by the door. She almost ran up and hugged him, but dignity stopped her. She blinked back the pain in her eye, which only added to her numerous other aches and held out a hand. "I do believe today's payday sir."

He scowled at her back pulled out her weekly wages and nearly threw it at her. "Go on, get outta my store." He paused. "But you'd better be back early tomorrow and ready to work."

"Yes sir." Charlene said evenly and walked out with Charlie in tow. Once outside she pocketed the money. "Cabbage soup?" She questioned her brother.

"Yes." Charlie looked up at her. "Um. What happened? You're eye's starting to look bruised."

"It's nothing." Charlene tried to smile to convince him. "Hey, what'd you say that we bring home something special since I got paid?"

"I…like what?"

"I don't know. How about…." Charlene paused and walked into one of the smaller and cheaper stores. "Hmm…" She mused looking over her choices. "I think some beef will do, since we haven't had that in a while." She shelled out the cash to buy a pound of almost questionable looking beef. "Not so easy come, but it sure goes fast." She sighed and picked up the beef and carrying out of the store in a bag. It was light, but her throbbing muscles protested the weight. Charlene didn't show her discomfort to Charlie, instead she smiled cheerfully. "Thanks for stopping by, but did Mom and Dad really send you out to get me?"

Charlie kicked a stone and put his hands in his pockets. "Well…no. I…I was wondering why you walked out last night."

The color drained from Charlene's face before coming back as a slight red shade. "Well…I guess I just wanted some time to myself Charlie. You know, I had to figure some stuff out. Don't worry about me though; you focus on your studies." She smiled at him, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

He nodded slowly, looking into her eyes searchingly. "Yeah. Ok. I was just wondering." He looked back at the road. "You seemed pretty upset. And since you're my sister, I guess I was worried."

She slung an arm around his shoulders, even though he was much shorter than her 5 feet and six inches. "That's alright. I'm touched, really. But I'm alright." She ruffled his hair. "Aren't you such a sweet little kid?" She hoped that her cheery attitude would convince him soon, her face was starting to ache from faking the smiles.

It seemed to have, plus they had arrived back at their home. Charlie jogged a head and opened the door for her, announcing their arrival in the same breath.

"I brought a gift." Charlene said as she walked inside. She smiled at her mom and handed her the meat. "I got paid today." She inhaled the scent of the house deeply and flopped down in a chair, groaning slightly as her muscles gave out.

Her mom regarded her suspiciously. "What happened to your eye? I hope you weren't fighting again. Or did you do something to offend someone?" She barely glanced at the beef, but had already taken part of it and was cooking it.

Charlene narrowed her eyes, flinching as the movement caused pain to shoot through her now black eye. "You don't even ask about my day…you just accuse me of doing something wrong." She would've slammed a fist on the table, but she just didn't have the energy to yell or be angry. "And no. I did not fight anyone. M- Well…let's say someone was a bit overworked."

Her dad say down next to her. "I'd imagine. With that contest going on, every place that sells Wonka bars will be swamped." He examined her closely. "Are you alright?"

Charlene nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'll be fine. It's nothing." She managed a small smile.

"Wouldn't it be something Charlie, to open a bar of chocolate and find a golden ticket?" Grandpa Joe was saying.

Charlie nodded, but he didn't look excited at all. "Yeah. But I only get one bar a year."

Charlene's eyebrow twitched slightly. She stared at the table as if she had to memorize every crevice and knothole on it.

Grandpa George nodded. "The kids who are going to find the golden tickets are the one that can afford to buy candy bars every day. Now Charlie only gets one a year. He doesn't have a chance. Mark my words. The kid to get the first golden ticket will be fat, fat, fat."

Charlie's face remained unreadable.

Charlene frowned and shrugged, wincing as she did so. "I doubt it's ever real. I bet he's just saying that to boost sales. I wouldn't be surprised when in a few weeks; everyone realizes that it's just a ruse."

"Why do you say that?" Grandpa Joe asked. "I worked for him and he seemed like an honest fellow." He made a noise that sounded a lot like, "Humph. And anyways, aren't you interested at all?"

Charlene shook her head violently and looked at her mom almost apologetically as the woman served the members of the family by herself, when normally Charlene would have helped. "Of course not. I wouldn't want to go into some creepy old factory. Besides, all this contest is creating for me is more work to not get sufficiently paid for. I've been lugging around deliveries all day and hardly got any extra money for my work."

Charlene ate with more of an appetite than she usually displayed. "Besides, I haven't gotte-" She stopped abruptly. "I haven't got anymore of a chance than anyone else." She said after a moment's consideration, but she was looking straight at her parents when she said that.

They said nothing, but both seemed to take notice to her sudden change of tone.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'd give anything in the world just to see that amazing factory." Grandpa Joe said with a note of finality in his voice.

Charlene hurriedly finished eating and retreated to her pile of sheets. She pulled out that same notebook and once again began to write in it at a furious pace. Is this how my days will go until I die? Working all the time? The days and nights running together, flying by at an alarming pace, running headlong to my deathbed…Will nothing ever change for me? She mentally slapped herself. "It doesn't matter."

Charlie stayed up a little bit longer, doing some homework before he went up to the loft after saying good night to everyone. Everyone except Charlene. She had seen him start to head in her direction before staring at his shoes and turning away. Her eyebrows came together for a moment while she watched him climb the ladder to his room. Does he really not trust me that much? She hung her head and rubbed her throbbing temples with one hand. Perhaps I should do something to make it up to him…

Charlene stared at her notebook blankly and didn't even react when her parents said goodnight to everyone and retreated to their bedroom. After a bit though she snapped out of her trance and felt more exhausted than usual. She couldn't concentrate on the words she tried to write, they slipped deftly out of her mental grasp. With a frustrated glare she closed the notebook and flopped down on the sheets and promptly fell asleep.