The High Life
Hello, there. Well another chapter eh?
Thanks for all the reviews.
I own no characters you recognize.
Chapter 8: Broken
Charlie had woken up early the morning after everything happened. It was a windy day and she could here the trees rustling outside. She thought about last night. She thought about her self destructive measures that, by now, everybody would know about.
And she thought about Damien. She wondered what he was thinking; if he was regretting what had happened between them. Or if he was as happy as she was. But amongst all this she had forgotten one thing. Brian. She couldn't be with Damien when she was obligated to meet with him every single night. And Brian would already be angry with her as she had forgotten to meet up last night. She knew what she had to do.
Outside students were walking in every direction. As she walked, alone, to the cafeteria for breakfast she heard her name being called. She looked behind and saw Damien running to catch up to her.
"Hey, wait up", he called. "Didn't you here me, I called about 4 times".
"I guess not", she said nervously. This was her chance. She had to take it.
"Come to the shed with me, I gotta put this back", Damien showed her a football.
"Uh, I'm really hungry…" she said in the same nervous tone.
"It'll take like, two seconds", Damien almost dragged her along. "The food will be there when we get back". Charlie walked along with him. Maybe this was a good thing. They could talk in the shed.
They got to the shed and Damien put the football back in its rightful place.
"Hey, how's this?" Damien said. "Peter's giving me my own key to the shed so I can come in whenever I want".
"Hmmm, ok, in the time that I've been here, I don't think the sheds ever been closed", Charlie said unenthusiastically.
"Is something up here", Damien asked. "I'm kinda picking up on something".
Charlie said nothing.
"Come here", Damien pulled her to him and kissed her lips. She shut her eyes afraid of what she was about to tell him.
"What's up?"
"I just…" she couldn't do it. She saw his face, his eyes. He was so happy. "Nothing, I'm just being an idiot".
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure".
"Good", Damien said. "Cos if I have to quote any more television shows I think I'm gonna be sick".
Charlie smiled. He kissed her again.
The cafeteria was full of chatter as hungry people queued for the food. The Cliffhangers already had there's and were sitting down at their usual table when Damien and Charlie came in.
"Hey guys", Damien greeted them all as he and Charlie sat down.
"Joanie and Chachi, hello there", Ezra mused, "A little lat aren't we".
"Shut up E.Z", Charlie said.
"So, what's on the menu today", Damien changed the subject.
"Well, you see, it looks like bacon and eggs, doesn't really taste like bacon and eggs", Patrick told them with his thick Irish accent.
"Yay, something to look forward to", Charlie joked.
"Hello, cell buddies", and English accent behind them sang out. "How are we this morning"?
"We were fine up until a second ago", Mac said dryly.
"You know, I can't understand why we aren't all mates. Personally, I think you're jealous of me. My knowledge, my good looks, my wealth…"
"You arrogance, your selfishness, your egotistical nature", Charlie added to his list. "Yeah, I have no idea why I'm not green with envy".
"Oh, you can try and deny it, but we all know the real truth", Ryder continued to flatter himself.
"What planet are you from", Shane asked.
"Wherever it is, I'm glad I'm never gonna be there", Charlie said.
Walking back to her dorm, Charlie was not in a good mood. She was angry at herself for not breaking things off with Damien. Out of nowhere, a hand poked out from the bushes and grabbed her, pulling her into the green shrubbery. She knew who it was. It was the guy who had owned her for over five years. Brian.
"I didn't see you last night", he pinned her up with his arm against a tree.
"I fell asleep", she muttered.
"Aw, you fell asleep", he said faking his sympathy. "Well, that's not good enough, you know why, Charlie? Because I was out at that dock at 1:00 last night, waiting for you. And I don't like that." He throws her on the ground. She falls back bruising her arm.
"Get up", he said angrily. "GET UP". She stood up and he pushed her back against the tree. "I always get what I want", he said as he kissed her. She cried.
Charlie walked back to the dorm, crying. She didn't care if people saw her, she was just so angry at everything. Brian, herself, life. She was just angry. She got to her dorm and slammed the door. Nobody was in there. Crying forcefully, she picked up a photo of her mom and threw it across the room, the glass frame, smashing all over the floor. She grabbed her bed covers and tossed them in a heap by her bed. But she wasn't finished. She picked up the chair from under the desk and threw it against the wall. She hated this. Being so angry that she wanted to hurt somebody so they would be as hurt as she was. She went into the bathroom and closed the door. She looked for anything that would cut through her skin. But it was no use. Peter had removed anything that could be used. She opened the bathroom door and realized that she had just smashed the glass frame. She picked a piece up and went back into the bathroom. She cautiously held it to her arm. But something was stopping her. She thought about the past night, when Damien had tried to make her feel better. He had succeeded too, but it had only lasted the night. She couldn't do it. She slouched down and just sat there, hating herself, wanting to end it all, but knowing she couldn't. Then she remembered the day when she first came, when she had gone into the woods before Peter had searched through her stuff, and buried a bag of drugs.
She ran out of the dorm, still crying. Straight into the woods, she got to the spot and started burrowing with her hands. She pulled out a bag. In the bag, was a packet of cigarettes, a lighter, some rollies, weed and some painkillers. She took the weed and the rollies and rolled the weed into a cigarette. She grabbed the lighter and lit up. She took a draw before digging into the bag again and reaching for the pain killers. She stared at the packet before pulling out 3 tablets. She took them without another thought. Then she sat there, leaning against the tree, staring at the sky.
"You know we're gonna win, right", Damien told Patrick and Ezra as he kicked the ball to Binna. The guys were playing a nice afternoon game of football.
"You know Bretones, your getting way to cocky" Patrick stated.
"Confident", Damien corrected him. He took hold of the ball again and took the chance to get a goal. He kicked it, but instead of going through the goal, it went the entire opposite direction and into the woods. Patrick and Ezra laughed as Ezra went to go get it.
"Your heads too big Bretones", Patrick laughed. "It's not agreeing with ya anymore".
"Hey guys, I can't find it anywhere", Ezra came out from the bushes.
"You're just not looking", Binna said. The four boys wandered into the bush, looking for the ball.
Patrick looked around, searching through every shrub. Then he saw something in the bushes. He couldn't quite make out what it was, but to him, it looked like a body.
"Hey, guys come over here", Patrick yelled, "There's something by this tree".
Ezra crawled out from a bush. "What are you talking about?"
"Look", Patrick pointed as the other guys showed their faces.
The four of them walked closer, moving slowly towards the tree.
"Oh my…"Patrick was the first one to realize. "Quick guys, its Charlie".
Damien and Patrick ran up to the tree while Binna and Ezra stayed back.
"Is she ok", Damien asked. Patrick picked up the packet of painkillers and the bag of weed.
"Jesus", Patrick said. Damien was hysterical.
"Oh, Charlie, come on, wake up, come on, please", he was almost crying. He picked her up and carried her out into the clearing. The others followed. As they came out Peter was walking past. He saw Damien carrying Charlie and ran over.
"What wrong, what happened", Peter asked worried.
"She was passed out in the woods, we just found her…with these", Patrick showed him the pills and weed.
"I don't understand this", Peter said at the hospital, ":She was doing so well, first she's cutting and now this, I just, I don't get it".
"Well, she's definitely covering something up. She wouldn't do this if she didn't have a reason", Sophie told Peter. "God, I just hope she's alright".
"I just wish she would tell us what's going on", Peter said.
"Hey Peter, is there any news", Damien asked worriedly.
"No, Damien, nothing yet. Listen, why don't I get Soph to take you guys back, you don't need to be here", Peter said.
"No", Damien answered quickly, "I'm staying".
"Ok, ok", Peter said and Damien walked back to the group.
"Well, I guess this is it. I'm gonna have to send her to juvie", Peter told Sophie.
"That's if she pulls through. And Juvie, come on peter that's too much", Sophie said.
"Soph, she's breached too many rules here. This is supposed to be a sanctuary for kids who want to recover. Even if they don't show it. Its pretty clear that she doesn't want to.
Sophie sighed at Peter's decision. "Well, I guess that's it, then".
Another long chapter. It seems I'm on a role.
Hope you liked it. Please review.