AN: Here's one of the chapters that I actually like. It was almost too easy to write Chuckie as a character, except the fact that he's way different than he was in the shows. He's grown up, I guess? Anyway, enjoy.


Charlie Finster.
August 28th 2009

You know something? It feels good to be popular. Really good. I mean, who would have imagined it? Tommy and I have been friends since forever probably and even growing up we've been pretty likable. Well… Tommy has. I was kind of a nerd back then and I think that over the years, I really held Tommy back from becoming, like… top of the food chain at our school. He didn't really mind it though. So we just stayed unpopular together and that was the way it was until about… ninth grade. The upperclassmen totally liked the fact that Tommy was into film and I stayed right by his side. All thanks to my extreme makeover about two summers ago.

That's right. A complete new me. No more glasses, no more crazy red hair, no more braces, and no more disgusting nasally voice. No more Chuckie Finster. Everyone just calls me Charlie now anyways. It's great. Girls talk to me and guys dap me up instead of trying to beat me up. You wouldn't think it if we weren't close friends, but I probably get more action than any of the guys on the football team. The funny thing about that is I even fucked the senior quarterback's girlfriend in the bathrooms at a football game freshman year. I know, weird right?

What makes it even weirder is that she's at this party right now. Tommy's having this huge back-to-school bash and everybody's here. I mean EVERYONE. Good thing Tommy's mom and dad aren't even considering coming back into town anytime soon. They're on vacation in Cancun or something like that, I don't know. Oh, I forgot to mention that Tommy's family is super rich. After one of his dad's Frankenstein breed of toys actually hit the market, he got his own company and he's been making millions. You should see how much plastic surgery Tommy's mom's been getting. It's weird.

You wanna know something else? Our families used to be so close, and now they're just… not anymore. After Stu got rich, Tommy's parents became like, too good for anybody else. My dad opened his own coffee chain statewide, so you can imagine the competition going on between those two. Phil and Lily's parents got divorced after their dad found out his wife was actually a lesbian (as if it wasn't obvious or anything…) and Angelica's mom and dad got divorced forever ago because Angelica's mom has been cheating on her dad with her assistant Jonathan for like, ever.

Speaking of Angelica, she's nowhere to be seen right now. She normally doesn't come over for Tommy's parties anyway, and if she does decide to show up, she's in the corner with a bunch of rough guys with unkempt facial hair and tattoos. They're mostly all in bands. And they mostly all do drugs.

That's another thing about high school. It introduced me to what everyone was trying to keep us from in grades below – the wonderful world of drugs and alcohol. Ironic, huh? How no matter how much our teachers and parents try to keep us away from things like that, we end up involved with them anyway? Look at me, for example. A few years ago, I was terrified of a lit cigarette. And now?

Well, I'm part of the business. Go ahead, think what you want. I might look like a bad guy because I'm dealing. But listen. It's good money, and with the high school crowd, there's always some kid looking for a new connect. I've got the best shit in town, too. My supplier keeps it coming constantly and he's a close friend of mine, so I have it set up pretty well here.

It's pretty much because of me that everyone's having such a good time here anyways. Take a good look around Tommy's mom and dad's recently purchased abode and you see beer cans and red plastic cups scattered everywhere. In the dining room, people are hitting up the beer pong table that me and Tommy set up earlier. Outside, there are naked bitches dancing around the pool, people making out in the Jacuzzi.

Couples making out on the staircase. I'm pretty sure Dil's up in the theatre with all the stoners because he stole all the rest of the beer when he thought no one saw him. He also bought a little bit of weed off of me earlier. There's a girl passed out in the middle of the living room floor and some girl is throwing up in the kitchen sink while two lesbo chicks are pretty much having sex on the counter with a lot of people watching them.

There's hip-hop music pulsing through each and every room and it's crowded as hell, but a camera flashes close by and I know that Tommy's around somewhere.

I felt someone grab my shoulder and whip me around. Suddenly, a bright, blinding flash goes off in front of my face.

"Ow! Shit, Tommy, warn me when you wanna take a picture, man!" I laugh while I wiped at my eyes, slowly adjusting to the darkness of the room. I look over at my best friend, and roll my eyes when I notice he hadn't heard me. He's too busy scrolling through the countless pictures that he took tonight; pictures of the naked girls by the pool doped up on ecstasy, a few punk looking chicks and a hipster guy doing lines off a Kings of Leon vinyl, some freshman drinking from a beer bong, his little brother Dil smoking a fat blunt. Pictures of one night that could probably ruin someone's life someday.

Finally, he stops on a picture of this skinny blonde who looks slightly familiar to me. She's sitting on Tommy's bed naked with a busted lip, blood running down her chin. Her makeup is smeared and there are these gross ass hickies blistering her pale skin. I notice a bit of white residue around her nose and this gnarly black and blue bruise around her neck. She has a fresh shiner too, like someone tried to knock her lights out. Despite her battered appearance, she's grinning like tonight's the best night of her life. I look up from Tommy's fucked up picture to see the same elated grin on his face.

"What's this?" I ask him, trying to ignore the way my voice faltered.

"It's art, Chuck! She was sleepin' in my bed so I woke her up and asked her if I could get a picture before she got her ass the fuck out." Then he starts laughing.

I cringe. My best friend is completely wasted. I'm a little relieved it's just beer though. Tommy usually doesn't mess around with drugs, so that was one thing I don't have to worry about with him. He smokes a little herb now and again, but I don't think I saw him smoke tonight. What I did see him do was throw back two bottles of Jack Daniels in an hour and a half. That was earlier today. And, I mean... It's a little much for him, but not a limit. Still, he's plastered. "Wha'dya think?!" He shouts and I almost stumble back a little bit.

He's got this look on his face; wide eyed, grinning from ear to ear. In truth, I want to tell him it was the sickest shit I've ever seen, but that's definitely a lie. I've seen worse. I want to tell him to delete that fucking picture… but he just looks so proud of it and everything… so I shrug and pat his shoulder. "It's great, man. Awesome."

"Thanks, Chuck… That means a lot," Tommy's still looking all wild, but his words were pretty genuine. "Hey man. I'm fucked up." He smiles and I rub the back of my head, looking away. Tommy must of caught how offbeat I was by the sober look on my face because suddenly, a deep frown creased his lips.

"And you're not." He says blandly, almost like he's disappointed in me. "Damn, Chuck. Something up with you tonight?" Tommy always knows when something's up. To show him, I turn to the side and jiggle my drawstring bag from left to right. The familiar sound of countless baggies of drugs smacking into one another catches Tommy's attention right away. "I see. Business as usual."

I laugh to myself. "Yeah, man. As usual."

Tommy is quick to protest. "But dude, this is all you do nowadays! Even at school. Even when you're hanging out with me and Dil, man. Now that's wrong."

"I know…" I say to him, trying to tune out his words.

"No, Chuck, you don't know," Tommy snaps, quickly cutting me off. "Look. Here's how it is. This is the last party of the fucking summer and people are losing their fucking minds, having a good time."

He waves his arm slowly across the scene of everything that was going on at that point. It's like watching a really fucked movie or a king introducing a slowly crumbling empire. I really do want to be a part of this and it's like I just couldn't turn away.

Tommy's voice suddenly brings me back from my thoughts. He says, "As my best friend, I want you to do the same thing! So, go home, drop off your shit, then come back here and get fucking smashed with us, dude. Live a little." Next thing I know, Tommy's leading me toward the door. "Promise me you'll come back, man! Promise!"

The door is slammed shut right behind me before being opened back up by some drunk girl yelling to her friends about some show coming to town and how stoked she was to go. I'm in such a daze, I could barely hear her.

I walk off the porch and back to my own car like some sort of zombie. I could really use a joint right now. Something to calm me down.

Looking at all those kids, smoking and snorting and popping and boozing it up in that house… the musty air around me while I watched everything take place. A crowded living room of sweaty people dancing with glow sticks that someone must of brought in, someone slipping a capsule into a drink, a girl choking on some football jock's dick in plain sight…. It was a lot of sick shit going down in that place. Did I really want to be a part of that scene?

This is the last party of the fucking summer and people are losing their fucking minds…

Overanalyzing the situation starts to make my head pound. Shit. I need to relax. Maybe a little drive is exactly what I need.

I hop into my sleek black Chevy Camero, bought and paid for on my 16th birthday by Mr. Chaz Finster himself, and pull out of Tommy's driveway. Driving down the hill is pretty cool. The winding roads lead you down into the city's lights like an airport runway; like I'm coming back to reality from a whole different planet. I crank down the windows and the sunroof and take a deep breath of fresh air. It's enough to make my chest explode, but it's refreshing.

Grinning now, I toss the drawstring from the front seat straight into the back. It's starting to feel like the night could get better somehow. Maybe Tommy's right, if I just drop my shit off at home and go back to his house not looking to sell anything, I could finally have a good time.

When I get home, my sister's just heading out with Suzie. I turn and look at her as she fumbles for her keys. "Where're you going?" I ask, and she's just about stepped out and around me. I turn to look at Suzie, not even saying a word and she shrugs.

"To Tommy's," Kimi says hurriedly, flicking her head around to glare at me. "And keep it down, would you? Dad's asleep."

I shrug. She's not wrong. It doesn't take much to wake the old Chaz man up, so I apologize. "Sorry. Do you guys need a ride? I'm heading back there in a minute. I just need to…" I suddenly, I stop myself.

Kimi's probably the only one in our close knit circle who doesn't know I'm dealing, and she's my own sister. I would tell her and everything, but I just have this feeling that if she finds out about me selling drugs, she'll think I'm doing them, and then she'd tell dad. All that unnecessary drama.

I look up at Kimi and Suzie's faces. They're waiting for me to continue. "Drop a couple things off here…" I finish.

Suzie gives me a look because of the way I'd faltered in my words, but Kimi hasn't caught on. She's still looking like she's ready to bolt out the door. I can't help but laugh as I shake my head at her.

I hear Suzie say, "Actually, Chuck, how about we just give you a ride there? Guaranteed that neither of us are gonna be drinking, so we can be the designated drivers." At this, I smile. Suzie's always keeping an eye on someone.

"Alright, thanks Suze," I bend down and give her a kiss on the forehead, and then I say. "Give me five minutes."