Behind the Veil
a fanfiction by Emma

Chapter Seven

November
Thanksgiving

I was starting to get sick of my job. It was always a long and boring day of putting things in a bag over and over again, or swiping things over a shiny light over and over again. And, of course, I had Kreg to deal with, telling me what I was doing wrong, how I was doing it wrong. Et cetera, et cetera.

I was happy that today I was just putting things away, while Kreg was counting inventory, (To which I would steal one or two things off the shelf that he was counting, then after he was done I would put them back on and say, "Hey Kreg, you missed a couple.")

Oh glorious day.

Yet it sucked as well. ...

I shuffled myself into Charlotte's and collapsed at a table.

Charlotte came over to me and sat down, "Hiya Cooper.

"Adams." I said in response.

"The usual dinner meal?" she asked.

"Yep." I said, making the "p" pop.

"Rough day, huh?" she asked, quickly scribbling down my order and standing up.

I got up and followed her behind the counter, as she went and started to re-fill everyone's coffee.

"When do I not have a rough day?" I said.

"Touché," she said, "But was it 'rougher' than usual?"

"Eh ... not really. Kreg hardly talked to me, so that was nice." I said.

"Oh, c'mon! Kreg's nice!"

"Barely." I scoffed.

"What is your problem with him anyway?" she asked, as we finally made it back to my table.

"Well, he just is always ... I don't know ... well ... I uh ... – I just don't really like him okay!"

Charlotte smirked, "Exactly, but whatever. He's your friend."

I shrugged, "Not really ... I don't really have anyone here that I could actually call a 'friend.'"

Charlotte's face fell slightly, "Oh ... really? A-are you okay?"

"Psh, yeah I'm fine. Just ... fine."

"Yeah, because that's totally believable." she said sarcastically.

"It is." I said with a smirk.

"Hey, guess what's this weekend?" Charlotte asked.

"What?" I asked with fake-enthusiasm.

She caught it and sent me a glare, "Haha, funny Cooper. – Thanksgiving is this weekend!"

"Oh, um ... yay?" I asked, pumping my hand into the air slightly.

Another holiday I felt was pointless to celebrate. What did I have to give thanks to? A world where I have no friends? A world where I feel very sad? Yeah, because that's soo worth "giving thanks" to.

"Try and be a little excited, for me." she said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"I usually go to ... um ... Hartford to see my parents, but they – um – they went to visit my ... cousins in ... Canada. So I have no one to spend Thanksgiving with this year. So I was thinking, you could come by this Friday and I could cook us a turkey dinner."

I eyed her, "Come by ... where? Here?"

"No, stupid, my house." Charlotte scoffed.

"And where is this 'house' I'm just currently hearing about?" I asked.

She pointed above to the ceiling.

"You live in heaven!?" I cried jokingly.

She rolled her eyes, "No, I live above my diner. It's like a little apartment."

"I see."

"Yes – well, not really but you've heard of."

"Uh-huh." I said.

"So, do you want to come?"

I licked my lips in though, then shrugged, "Sure, I guess. Why not?"

"Okay then."

"Thanksgiving."

"Yes."

"With the turkeys and crap, and the weird pioneer people with the weird hat's with belt buckles. Fun!"

"Oh, just shut it." Charlotte laughed, hitting me in the arm.

Then she got up and went to get my burger.

I pulled my grey sweater over my head, and slipped on my shoes. This was going to be an interesting night.

I grabbed my blue coat and I started to walk to Charlotte's.

The sign on the door said "Closed" but I just walked in, because I was supposed to. I went into the back and found a staircase and followed that up, into a small one room apartment, where Charlotte was standing at the stove.

"Hey Charlotte." I said coming through the door, slipping my coat off.

"Just keep your shoes on, I keep them on all the time." she said.

I nodded as she turned to look at me, she was wearing black pants, a blue cardigan and a yellow shirt underneath, and black and white flat shoes. She was wearing her glasses, thank you! She did look great.

"You look great Charlotte." I said, rubbing my hand on the back of my neck.

A small blush appeared on her cheeks, "Thanks. Um ... so do you."

"Thanks." I said quietly looking around her small room, "So, this is where you live?"

"Yeah, it's small and stuff, but it's easier than paying mortgage for two places, y'know?"

"Yeah, I get it. It's nice, for a small one room little thing." I said.

"So, dinner's ready if you just want to sit down." she said.

I sat down at the table as Charlotte set the turkey down.

"Did you make all this?" I asked, as she set down mashed potatoes, gravy, apple cider, water.

"Yeah, I did. I do run a diner." she said with a small laugh.

"So, I can just dig in?"

She laughed a bit more, "Yeah, you can 'dig in' or whatever."

The food was amazing! Well, I knew it would be, but it was still great. We just talked, and hung out and ate, and ate, and ate.

After supper I helped her with the dishes, and then we just stood in the kitchen talking some more.

"I feel all bloat-y." Charlotte whined.

"Well, Thanksgiving kinda does that to you." I pointed out.

"Yeah, true." she said.

There was a slight moment of silence as I cleared my throat.

"Hey, Chad ... you know when you said you didn't have any friends?" Charlotte said quietly.

"Oh, yeah. What about it?" I asked.

"I thought ... we were friends. Aren't we?"

"Oh ... yeah. Yeah we are." I said.

"Good." she said.

"Charlotte?"

"Yeah."

I exhaled, "I think you're my best friend."

A smile spread across her lips and she brought me into a hug.

Then I felt the corners of my lips curve, and I smiled. I mean I actually smiled. Not a fake smile to make myself look happy, a real, sincere smile. And it felt great, it felt amazing to smile after eight years of heartbreak.

I had something to be thankful for.

Authors Note
And there was the next chapter! I hope you guys liked it! ^_^

I don't think I've told you guys about this, but a friend of mine here on fanfiction (HeCalledHerCass - go check out her fanfictions!) has made a trailer for Behind the Veil! So if you could go check that out that'd be awesome!

Here's the link, don't forget to take out the spaces!
http:// www. youtube. com/watch? v=TvI hn38 YJf8

the links to Chad and Charlotte's outfits are not my profile. :)

Yeaah ... so ... just review.

kthxbi