Higher Ground
The High Life
Night time. A girl of 11 was kicking a ball in the park. She was angry. A boy walked up behind her. Grabbing the ball out of her hands.
"Hey", he said.
"give me the ball", she said not in the mood to be happy to see her best friend.
"What's up your ass", the boy asked throwing the ball back to her.
"Nothing. Mom and I just had a fight, that's all", she mellowed. "I'm fine".
"Wanna play a game? He asked. The two kicked the ball around not speaking, both enjoying the silence.
"What time is it?" the girl asked.
"About 9. Don't you find it disturbing how our parents are the only two in the neighbourhood that don't mind their kids being out on their own at 9pm at night", the boy laughed.
"Hey, my mom is just cool, all right".
"I thought you were angry at your mom?" the boy said.
"Just kick the ball", the girl said agitated. The boy started kicking as the girl tried to get control of the ball. She succeeded but instead of him chasing after her, he grabbed her, and pulled her to the ground, tickling her.
"Stop it, stop it, please", she laughed uncontrollably. "Come on". She was hitting him playfully, trying to get him away from her. As she finally managed to roll over on top of him, she grabbed his hands so he couldn't wriggle free. He didn't try.
"Now what are gonna do", she laughed playfully. Before she knew it her friend had reached up and kissed her on the mouth. Immediately she sat up.
"What was that?" she asked.
"That was a kiss. Didn't you like it", he asked innocently.
"I don't know, I guess it was ok", she said a little embarrassed.
'Do you wanna do it again?
"No way", she was adamant.
"It wasn't that bad, was it", he said a little hurt.
"Why do you want to kiss me for", she asked.
"I don't know, yur my best friend, if you cant kiss your best friend who can you kiss", he said simply.
"Ok, but no tongue", she told him. They both lent into eachother and kissed again. It lasted for about 5 seconds before the girl broke it off.
"Ok that's enough", she sat up properly. "I should go home, anyway. I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked hopefully.
"Yeah course," he said running off.
Charlie's eyes opened. How she wished things were like that again. She pulled over her bed covers and got out of bed.
It was a rare sight to see the Cliffhangers mucking around having fun like normal teenagers and as Peter looked out his office window he had to smile. He watched as Damien came up from behind theirbench and dropped a fake snake on Charlies lap.
"Oh I am gonna kill you", she jumped up after she'd realised Damiens prank.
"You'll have to catch me first", he grinned as he started to run. Charlie gave into the chase but just as she was about to catch him he turned back and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder.
"Put me down", she laughed playfully. Damien walked back to the Cliffhangers table, putting her down carefully. As he did she punched him on the shoulder. "Jerk".
"Whered you get a fake snake anyway", kat asked picking up the novelty toy.
"Oh I found him in my pillow when I woke up this morning, but no one would know anything about that would they?" he teased looking at Patrick. "How long have you been hiding him Patrick?"
"Oh nice, of course the Irish guy did it", Patrick defended himself.
"Well the initials PM sorta give it away", Shayne examined the snake.
Peter laughed to himself as he heard the phone ring. It was Ezra's adopted parents. He hated disrupting the Cliffhangers in the mood that they were in, but it had been a sore point with Ezra for a few days now, and he had to speak to his parents eventually.
"You are so full of it", Shayne threw the snake at Patrick as Peter appeared.
"Ezra, phone call for you", Peter said". Ezra knew who it was. His mother had been trying to call him for a couple of days now. He stood up and followed Peter into his office.
"So how are you doing, honey", the voice on the other end of the phone asked.
Peter had left the room giving Ezra some privacy.
"Super", he said facetiously. "How about you?"
"Theres no need for sarcsm, Ezra", his mother said in a disapproving voice. 'what have been up to?"
"Oh you mean besides meeting my real parents and finding out they never wanted me, that I was a mistake", Ezra said.
"Yu're not a mistake, Ezra. Look what you did for me and you're father".
"Uh, prolonged the inevitable divorce", Ezra quipped, "Look I gotta go alright. I'll talk to you later".
"OK honey", his mother said dissapointedly. "I'll talk to you soon. I love you".
Ezra could hear the sadness in her voice and softened. "I love you too, mom".
It was the end of the day as Kat, Damien and Cristina walked towards their rooms. Over on the field Damien spotted Charlie, kicking around a ball.
"So anybody heard about this MORP?' kat asked.
"Only what Ezra and David have been saying. Seems kinda weird to me, a backwards Prom. The only good thing is theres no hassle with dates", Damien commented.
"Whats so bad about having dates?", Cristina asked.
"Well, how would I choose", Damien smiled charmingly at both.
"Something tells me you've already chosen", Kat laughed as she watched Damien watching Charlie. "Even if there are no dates". Before he could respond Charlie's kick of the ball interrupted them as they watched the ball shoot between them, narrowly missing Cristina's head. Charlie raced up to them.
"Sorry about that", she apologised as Damien picked the ball up for her.
"No problem. Its only more proof that I'm better than you", he handed the ball back.
"No problem? That ball could have hit my head", Cristina said.
"Or something vital", Charlie joked as Damien and Kat chuckled.
"Are you trying to be funny, I cant tell", cristina asked confused.
"Honestly cristina, you do my job for me", Charlie quipped.
"Whatever, I don't even understand what you're saying", Cristina left exasperated.
The 3 she had left smiled. "I'll see you guys later", Charlie said running back to the oval.
"See ya"
Not far away, david was sitting in the gazebo by himself, watching the incident.
"Hey Ruxton", Shayne's voice came from behind him.
"Shayne", he greeted back.
"Whats going on over there?" she asked.
"Nothing", he said turning to her. The two sat in silence for a bit.
"You'e an idiot you know", Shayne said unexpextedly.
"Well thankyou, normally I know why people are calling me an idiot though", david joked, "Care to fill me in?"
"You have a chance to get away from your father and you wont even take it", she continued. David sighed. People had pretty much avoided talking to him about his father but lately it seemed that everybody wanted to know what was going on.
"Look, its complicated ok", David began.
"No its not. He beats you, that's not complicated, "she interrupted. How did she know? Did everybody know?
"What? Where did you get that from, he doesn't beat…"
"Yeah, other people might be blind around here but I'm not", Shayne cut him off again.
"Its complicated…"
"Stop saying that. Its not complicated", Shayne said.
"Yes it is", David yelled. "My father… he's the general. People respect him in my town ok. I'm just his wayward son".
"That doesn't give him anymore right than anyone else to beat their kids", Shaynesaid wisely. David couldn't do this now. He wanted to get away. Why was she so interested anyway?
""Yeah but it does give him the upper hand. Why do you care so much", David said a little less angry.
"You really want to know?"
"Yes I really want to know", David said. Shayne sighed. It had been a while since anyone had asked about her story.
"My father had this belt. It was one of those wide balck ones with the metal studs all over them. He didn't need much of a reason to hit me. If I left the lid of the jam, or if I accidently broke a glass. That was enough", Shayne was pensive.
"So what? You want to help me?"
"You're my friend David. And what happened to me was unfair. I know whats it like. I hate seeing a friend going through the same thing that I did and not having the guts to stop it from happening", Shayne explained.
The next morning the Cliffhangers were up early, sitting on their bench, waiting for their classes to begin. Each of them were talking about something, nobody really listening to anyone. Mindless chatter.
"So whats the deal with MORP anyway", Cristina asked getting everybody's attention.
"Basically its just a backwards prom", Ezra replied simply. He remembered the last MORP he went to, the year before. He remembered the crush he had on Daisy and he remembered the hate he had for David, knowing that Daisy had a thing for his newfound friend. A lot had happened since then. He had heard that Daisy lived with her father, still trying to patch up the relationship, slowly succeeding. Shelby and Scott were still together, living closely, doing well. Scott lived with his mother now and was happy playing football in a pack ten school. Shelby, after trying hard to settle things with her mother, had moved away finding a small flat, not far away from Scott. She still kept in regular contact with her mother and her sister Jess, but found it easier not living with them. Juliet was at college. Her mother hadn't changed but she had, and she knew that she could never be the daughter her mother wanted, but strangely that was ok with her now. Auggie was also at college. The two were trying a long distance relationship and so far it was going well. Kat was also doing well at college. Most weekends she spent with her parents. Things seemed to be looking up for her. Ezra thought about the fact sheet he had read last year. 1 out of 6 students would fail to get better in an at-risk school and end up coming back. He guessed that was David. Ezra had not yet finished his stint at the teenage screw up facility.
"So what, nobody dances, everybody's bored to death and there are no fights at all?" Shayne asked.
"Well everybpdy dances at the same time, theres no dates, you know, that kinda thing", Ezra snapped back into his reality.
"well I get what they mean about the no dates thing", Cristina commented. "I mean, it must really be hard when nobody asks you, not that I'd have any experience with that, I'm way to cute".
"Oh that's not true, you're not that cute", Binna retorted.
"A prom is a waste of time anyway", Ryder was always the cynic. "You dance, someone always gets drunk, makes an idiot out of himself, theres always a fight, you go home feeling completely dissapoointed".
"Oh Ryder, we finally agree on something", Charlie said.
"You really think proms a waste of time", Damien said particularly to Charlie.
"Like Ryder said, you're always disappointed, nothing ever happens like you want it to", Charlie told him. Damien didn't know why he was surprised by the fact that Charlie thought that. She was never one to follow the crowd and she was sceptical about practically everything.
"Ah, Charlie, I feel we've reached a new stage in our relationship", Ryder sighed, laughing at the fact they had something in common. The truth was they had quite a lot in common. Both were cynics, both hated to lose, and they both loved to surprise people by doing something out of the ordinary. Maybe that's why they clashed.
"I think you've felt way too much", Charlie quipped.
"And still the girls keep letting me", Ryder said in a dream like state. The group had to smile. At this point, Crstina had pulled out a mirror and had started refreshing herself.
"Oh god would you put that thing away, Princess the sun gleams off you're face, you're perfect", Shayne tried to reassure her.
"Well thankyou, but perfection is hard to attain", Cristina replied.
"You're implying that you're not perfect?' Damien asked.
"I am simply saying that to get as gorgeous as me takes time", cristina brushed her hair away from her face and pouted her mouth in front of the mirror.
"You're not too complicated are you, Cristina", Charlie joked.
"Try not to be", Cristina said. "Wait, are you trying to confuse me again?"
"Trust me, I'm not trying to confuse you", Charlie said, "Its not enough of a challenge".
"You are aren't you?"
"I sware, I don't know what your talking about", Charlie smiled.
"Ugh, I'm gonna kill the next person who confuses me", Cristina stood up in passion.
"Oh come on Cristina, suicides not the answer", Charlie laughed. Cristina huffed forcelfully and walked off. With all the jokes, Damien had noticed a car pull up in the drive way that he recognized.
"Oh my god", he exclaimed standing up.
"What?" kat asked.
"Its my father", Damien told them in disbelief. "Whats he doing here". Immediately Charlie jumped up.
"Uh, we should leave you to chat", Charlie said urgently. As the Cliffhangers left, Damien grabbed Charlie's arm. He was the only one she'd told about his father and he wanted her to be there.
"No Charlie, please stay', he begged, "I cant do it by mysef".
"I really think you should talk to him alone", she told him selfishly.
"Charlie please". Before she could get away Damiens father was right infront of them.
"Hello Damien", Mr Bretones said stiffly.
"Why are you here?" Damien
"Damien, I said hello, its curtesy to greet me back", His father said strictly.
"Hello father, how are you", Damien said coldly.
"Who's your friend", Mr Bretones asked staring at Charlie. Charlie kept her face down to the ground.
"This is Charlie", Damien stared icily at his father.
"Charlie you look very familiar, are you from California?" Mr Bretones asked.
Charlie was worried. Her worst fears were about to come true. Immediately Damien looked at her, his eyes focusing on her fearful face. This wasn't the time. She had to go.
"I guess I just have a familiar face", her voice shaked. "I have to go study". Damien watched her bolt away. He didn't care that his father was standing in front of him, all he cared about was finding out the truth from Charlie. She'd always looked familiar to him, and when he'd ask her about, she was so secretive. Now his father thought the same thing. Something was definitely going on that Damien was intent to find out.
"So, son, how are you doing?" Mr bretones said as Damien snapped back remembering that his father was still standing in front of him.
"Fine. Why are you here", Damien asked bluntly.
"I was doing some business up here, I thought I'd drop by", Mr bretones answerd.
"You always have business up here, you've never dropped, I have to admit I kinda liked it that way", Damien wasn't interested.
"Well, had I known you were gonna be like this, I wouldn't have come", his father told him.
"Did you seriously think that I would act differently", Damien was disbelieving.
"I am only here for another half an hour, I had hoped we could have a pleasant conversation", Mr Bretones said.
"Well, god that would be boring", Damien quipped.
"I can see I'm not going to get anywhere with you, I see things havnt changed", Mr bretones said becoming angrier "I'm beginning to think this school isn't where I want you to be"..
"Goodbye dad", Damien looked his father square in the eye.
"You would've never spoken…"
"Goodbye Dad", Damien repeated firmly. With that his father turned and left. As for Damien, he had somewhere to be.
Charlie was anxious. She knew any minute Damien would be at her dorm to confront her. What would she say to him? She didn't know. She couldn't think rationally. If he knew her secret she couldn't deny it but if he was just going to guess about it, could she continue hideing the truth. Just as she fell onto her bed there was a heavy knock on the door. Confession time. Or perhaps she'd play dumb.
"Hey, how'd it go?" she asked casually when she opened the door.
"I sent him on his way home", he told her. So far, so good. "But I don't care about that. Whats going on, what have you been hiding?"
She smiled at him innocently. "What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about" he had no time for her games.
"Sorry I'm afraid I don't", Charlie said, "Look, unless you wanna tell me what your problem is, I have to study". She tried to close the door but he was too fast for her as his foot caught the door.
"Stop playing games with me, all right", Damien yelled, pushing the door open and grabbing her, pushing her up against the wall so she couldn't escape.
"Jeez, I don't know what you're talking about ok", she yelled back.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about! I have recognized you from day one, and now my father does too and you're still playing dumb?"
"Damien, please…"
"I have told you everything, everything about my life. I've trusted you with my deepest secrets", he continued. Charlie couldn't look at him. If she looked into his eyes she would tell him everything.
"If you're right, and you did recognize me, why would it matter", Charlie said, "I mean I don't remember doing anything that horrible to anyone, I don't see why you'd care".
"Well, your so intent on keeping it a secret from me, its obviously something", he answered angrily. She kept looking away. "Look at me!" he held her chin with his hand making sure she was looking at him. His eyes were so full of anger.
"You know don't you?" he said softly, "You know everything, that night when I told you everything about myself. You know there was more to it than that, don't you? Don't you!"
Charlie was crying now. "I don't know anything more than what you told me".
"Stop lying!" he was in a blind rage. She almost felt scared of him. "Tell me the truth!"
She couldn't handle it anymore. She had to let it out. "You want the truth? The truth is I'm tired. I am so tired of you always accusing me of something", she yelled. "You're always in my face, always after something from me. Do you hear me hounding you about Denise. Do I ask why you didn't just push her off? I'm sure you could have. Or maybe that's it, maybe you didn't want to, maybe that's you're big secret. That you wanted her". Why did she say all that? She didn't believe that? Never. She couldn't look at him as he stood centermetres from her still holding her in place. He moved away and just for a second she got a glimpse of him. The pain and hurt in his eyes. He couldn't believe what she had said either. He was disgusted in her. He had trusted her and she'd thrown it in his face in just a few short minutes. He backed away slowly, not taking his eyes off her. Almost like he was memorizing her so if he ever saw her in the future he'd know to turn away. For a second she saw hatred. She had succeeded in screwing up any sort of relationship she had with the one person who truly mattered to her. He left without saying anything, leaving the door wide open.
"Damien, please…Damien", tears streamed down her face as she fell down against the wall, lifting her hands to her head and crying forcefully. Why did she say those things?
A girl runs towards a plain looking house, sobbing just after midday. She knocks on a window.
"Are you in there?" she yells. The blinds are closed and she cant see in. No answer.
She runs to the front of the house and knocks on the door. A man answers.
"You really shouldn't be here, where in the middle of something", the man says.
"I just need to talk to him, please", the girl cries.
"Whats happened?" the man asks.
"I just need to talk to him", the girl repeats.
The man lets her in. Inside he leads her to her friends room. The door is opened and her friend is lying on his bed. She squints.
"What is this?" she cries. "Whats going on?"
"Would you like to join us", the father asks.
She is pushed on the bed next to her sobbing friend.
Charlie sat up in bed. What is with these dreams? She plumped up her pillow and rested her head, falling back to sleep trying to forget.
The next morning Charlie walked into group late. She'd barely got any sleep at all and as a result had slept in. As she walked in she felt all eyes on her. Word had obviously spread around. She couldn't be bothered justifying herself or coming up with a smart coment , figuring it'd be easier to just sit down and be quiet. There was one person not looking at her, maing no comments. She didn't want to imagine what he wanted to say. As she sat down she noticed some photos spread across the floor. She noticed that one was a picture of herself in her soccer uniform after her team had just won.
"What's this?"
"As I was saying". Sophie began, "These are all photos of yourself. What I want you to do with them is pick your photos up and analyse it. Tell me what you might have been feeling that day".
"Where did you get these anyway", Patrick asked.
"You're parents sent them especially for this task", Sophie answered.
"See, that's why I love my ma so much", Patrick joked as Sophie handed him his photo. It was a picture of him licking an ice cream at the park.
"Oh that mullet is terrifying", Binna laughed.
"Patrick, think about that day. What were you doing, how did yu feel?" Sophie asked.
"I remember this. I think I was 8. My ma took me to the park down the street and we got ice cream, you know the soft served stuff that comes around in the van", Patrick smiled and let out a chuckle. "That was a good day".
"What do you think of that photo now?" Sophie crossed her arms, happy to be making progress.
Patrick lost the smile and sat pensively. "Its never gonna be like that again. I lost most of my childhood pretty soon after. I look at this and I see a child. I look at a photo taken a few months after and I don't know what I see. Something in between.A boy that had to grow up to fast".
"That's good Patrick. Its never gonna be the same again. But it could be better. If you let it", Sophie smiled. "Ok Charlie, you're next".
Charlie picked up the photo and gave a little smirk. She couldn't believe her father would send this photo.
"This is the day my Soccer team won the state premiership for under 12's", she said not willing to elaborate.
"How did you feel that day?" Sophie asked playing the shrink part nicely.
"Well, it was also the day my mother died, so sorta mixed emotions", she laughed casually. Damien looked up at her, interested and concerned.
"My father sent this to you?"
"yes".
"He's nice isn't he?" she said facetiously.
"What do you thyink about this when you see it now?" Sophie watched Charlie looking for any sign of emotion.
"I think this is the day that my world fell apart", Charlie said.
"Because of your mother", sophie had to coach her.
"That, among other things", she looked down towards the floor.
"What other things?"
"You really think she's gonna tell us about her life? Come on", Damien smirked. This got Charlie attention.
"Charlie, you know you don't have to tell us anything you don't want to", Sophie told her sympathetically. Damien scoffed. Charlie looked up at that, which encouraged her to let it out. She couldn't be bothered holding it out anymore. No matter what the consequences, she was going to tell them.
"I was 11 the day this was taken, I was so happy, I was the only girl on the team and I scored the winning goal. And it felt great. My best friend lifted me up on his shoulders. I finally felt like part of the team. Then I got home", she smiled sadly, "My happiness was stripped away, dad sat as desk crying, and he told me, she was in a car accident and she didn't make it. I couldn't handle it. I had to get outta there. So I ran, yeah, I ran and I found myself at my friends house. I knocked on his window but he wouldn't answer. I could hear him in there, but for some reason he wouldn't answer. So I decided to knock on the front door. He's dad was standing there. It was obvious he wasn't in the mood for guests. He was in the middle of something. But he saw my tears and brought me into my friends room anyway." Charlie clenched her eyes shut, she didn't want to remember this. She let a tear roll out of the corner of her eye. Damien saw this and desperately wanted to comfort her.
"In the room I saw my best friend on his bed, he was crying", she lifted her arm up and rested her hand on her head, still sobbing. "He had his pants around his ankles, and his father just stood there like this was a normal thing. He was horrified, that I was there, that my father was letting me witness this. 'What are you doing here, go away' he cried. I turned to run but before I got there his father closed and locked the door". Chalrie looked at Damien. Was he catching on?
"He shoved me on the bed next to my friend and his father made us…", she swallowed making sure she wouldn't be sick, "He made us…you know. And all the while his step-mpther was just in living room, she knew everything that was going on. All my friend could say right through it, was I'm sorry. 'I'm sorry Christensen'". That fgot damiens attention.
"After that, of couse his father wanted some of the action and…"
"Shut up, god shut up!" Damien yelled, a tear running from his eye. The Cliffhangers looked at him, wondering what was with his outburst. "Don't tell them all this".
"Damien, I'm sorry" Charlie pleaded with him. It had to come out didn't it? He wanted this. Maybe not this, but he wanted her to tell him the truth, and this was the truth.
"Don't tell me your sorry", Damien stood up exasperated and walked off, leaving the Ciffhangers wondering what was going on. Charlie went after him. They were on the soccer filed by the time she had caught up with him. The group had also followed but stopped just outside the mess hall.
"Damien, willl you talk to me?"Charlie cried, pulling him around to face her.
"I have nothing to say to you", he said angrily.
"Damien…"
"That was not you're story to tell", he yelled.
"Yes it was, it happened to me to", she told him, making things worse. He broke away from her.
"You didn't have to tell all of them", he spoke softly as he turned back to her. "You knew, all this time, and you lied to me. You knew it wasn't Denise, that it was my father and you said nothing", he cried.
"I figured if you didn't want to tell me why should I make you remember", Charlie reasoned.
"You should have told me", Damien said.
"You couldn't even remember me, Damien", she yelled, "It was pretty obvious that somewhere along the line you decided you didn't want to". He came right up to and held her arms, forcelfully. She found herself getting a bit afraid of him. She looked at him, the pure anger in his piercing blue eyes.
"I would've wanted to know", he said through gritted teeth.
"Well now you do", she whispered. Then a new expression came across his face. It was of complete sadness.
"The D, on you're ankle", he said, remembering, "That was me, you hated me?"
"No, I never hated you, I loved you", she said quite loudly before becoming aware of the audience that was gathering up. Not just Cliffhangers but the whole school.
"You were my best friend", she tried to put her hand softly on his face, but he wanted nothing from her. He threw her hand away and she gasped, jumping back. He looked at her, vulnerably. Did she think he was about to hit her? She was afraid of him. He couldn't stand the fact that she was afraid of him. He put his hands to his head, still crying, closing his eyes tightly to stop the tears. He had to go. He walked away quietly, Charlie watching him leave. She noticed binna about to go after him, but peter cut in and must have told him differently. She was humiliated. She couldn't believe that after all that had happened she was humiliated by having an audience.
"Yeah, thank for coming out guys, round two's tomorrow. 6 o'clock, hope to see you there", she joked sadly, waving her hand facetiously as she walked off in the direction of the docks. It was a cover. She didnt want to joke. She wanted to crawl into a whole cry. Cry about her mother, who died way too soon. cry for her father, lost to her after using her as a punching bag way too many times. Cry about Damien. Most of all cry about damien. They had been through the worst thing possible together and now it was over. Even if her forgave her, he could never look at her again. She would remind him of his father. His disgusting excuse of a father. Even she found it hard to look at damien, a bitter reminder of his father. But she dealt with it. She had too. She loved him too much. Their friendship had technically not survived the first time, now, it was all over. years of friendship gone. "You're my best friend, I could never leave you", she heard fading in her head. Best friend? Maybe in her most cherrished dreams.
That is all for now. 1 more chapter to go, folks. Don't worry I wont be leaving you hanging for months on end this time. Adios!