{{Charlotte's POV}}
I knew something was wrong with him, but he didn't want to tell me. I wasn't going to demand he tell me, either. He would when he was ready, I suppose. I just hoped it worked out.
"Charlotte? What's wrong?" Jessi shook my shoulder.
"Oh, it's nothing." I shut the front door and sat on the couch with my legs folded under me.
"Something's bothering you." Carla sat on the floor while Jessi sat on the couch next to me.
"I'm worried about Seth. Something's off about him. I don't know what, but it's something really important."
"We could leave and let you two talk for a while," Carla suggested.
"No no. It's fine. I'll just talk to him later. Besides, you guys came all this way just for my birthday. You could have just mailed me my presents."
"You act like you just met us," Carla laughed.
"Exactly. We couldn't just mail your presents. There were too many."
"It would cost us more to mail them than to just drive."
"Just how many did you bring?" I asked slowly.
"You'll just have to wait," they said together.
We stayed in the living room until dinner. We ordered pizza. My dad came in an hour later.
"Jessi. Carla. You finally made it." They waved.
"You knew they were coming?"
"It wasn't hard to keep from you." He sat at the table. "Did you guys save me some?"
"A few slices. We're going upstairs."
"Wait a second Charlotte. I want to ask you something."
"Okay..." Jessi and Carla ran to my room. "What's up?"
"Where's Seth?"
I shrugged. "He left. He said he was going to talk to Sam about something. Where were you? You left your truck and disappeared."
"I was taking a walk in the woods." He looked so guilty...like he had something to hide. Everyone was keeping secrets from me. "Well, you better go have fun with your friends."
"Hey Dad?" I stopped in the doorway. "Seth said something about my mother. Do you know anything about her? You never exactly told me how she died." He choked on his pizza. "Sorry. It must be hard talking about her. You don't have to tell me now." I ran upstairs.