Spoiler
Austin, Charlie Black's friend, is responsible for accidentally stabbing and killing Aimee Cardle. A few weeks had passed after the stabbing when the boys met Zoey Cardle and her best friend, Beth. Aimee Cardle was Zoey's sister. Zoey, Austin and Charlie met up again some time later, and Charlie is now going to be homeschooled by Zoey's mum, Sophie.
Charlie took Zoey to the cliff-side, and there, they kissed. This resulted in Zoey telling Charlie about her sister's death, and Charlie realised that the girl Austin killed was Aimee Cardle. Charlie then ran off after cruelly telling Zoey that he wasn't interested in her. During a lesson with Sophie the next day, Charlie spotted Zoey and is now trying to apologise to her.
Charlie took Zoey to the cliff-side, and there, they kissed. This resulted in Zoey telling Charlie about her sister's death, and Charlie realised that the girl Austin killed was Aimee Cardle. Charlie then ran off after cruelly telling Zoey that he wasn't interested in her. During a lesson with Sophie the next day, Charlie spotted Zoey and is now trying to apologise to her.
Stop and Stare ~ Part Twenty
Charlie
Through some miraculous pot of luck, making myself look like a complete douche in front of Zoey actually seemed to have worked. Who knew Rick Astley could have come in handy at a time like this? Zoey was still giggling when I began fiddling with my pockets.
“Seriously though, Zo, I know I acted like a complete prick. I don’t want me being an idiot to wreck everything.” I paused. “I really like you.”
It surprised me how much that last sentence actually rang true. I’d been so determined not to let myself get all bothered about Zoey since I met her, but now that I was saying all of this, I realised that I was, in fact, very attracted to her. I knew this was a bad idea because I was supposed to be getting Zoey interested in Will, but I simply couldn’t. Will was such a dimwit, to begin with, and I hardly wanted to let Zoey go out with a guy like that. Not only that, but I had selfish intentions. Even if it had taken me way too long to admit it, I liked Zoey a lot. The consequences of admitting it, especially to her, were probably fatal, but quite frankly, I didn’t even give a crap anymore.
Zoey was silent for a while, and the longer that silence lasted, the more twisted my gut became. I had a feeling I’d softened her after serenading her in a creepy fashion, but she still could have wanted my head on a pole for all I knew. After a while, I decided that I should try speaking again.
“I know I’m not perfect. Far from bloody perfect, in fact, but when I say I’m sorry, I mean it.” I began picking at the wood on Mum’s guitar. “I’m not saying we have to be best mates or anything, but please just don’t be angry at me. That’s all I ask.”
Zoey bit her lip, and I damn well wished I knew what was going through her mind. Sophie would have been back soon--she’d gone into the house to find some papers to show me or something--and I hardly wanted her to see me begging her daughter not to despise me. I began fiddling with Mum’s guitar again as though it was the most intriguing thing in the world, and I was tempted to start singing to her again, but decided that wasn’t the best thing to do. Before Zoey could say anything, the sound of heels pattering against concrete could be heard behind me. When I turned around, I saw that Sophie was now standing beside the table and chairs. Damn.
“Oh, Zoey, I thought you were inside,” she said before regarding me.
Without saying another word to Zoey, I ambled back towards the patio until I reached where Sophie was now sitting. It wasn’t a struggle to hear Zoey following behind. To my surprise, instead of shooting me a glare and going back inside the house, Zoey hesitated beside the table. Was she going to say something?
“Oh, actually, Zo, can you sit down for a couple of minutes? You said you were planning on going to the Vertigo gig I’ve organised, didn’t you?” Sophie nodded at me. “You’ll probably be able to describe the whole shenanigan to Charlie better than I can, and probably make it sound more interesting too.”
Once again, Zoey hesitated, but it wasn’t long until she had taken a seat beside Sophie, who rather annoyingly seemed entirely oblivious to the atmosphere between her daughter and I. Sophie went on to show me a piece of paper that had the names of people I didn’t know in the slightest--her other students, apparently--scribbled across it, which followed by her describing something about a few gigs she organised every now and then. They were held in a couple of teenage nightclubs, including Vertigo, and it involved her students performing in them or something. I wasn’t really listening as conscientiously as I should have been because every corner of my concentration was locked onto Zoey. When Sophie finished speaking, Zoey smiled at me. I stiffened. That was a good sign, right? It was her turn to speak now, and this time, I latched onto every word.
“I go to more or less all of them because I organise them half of the time considering my mum doesn’t have any organisation skills whatsoever.” I chuckled slightly as Zoey continued. “It’s good fun if you’re into that kind of thing, which I’m guessing you are. Sometimes my mum, or me rather, organises it so that you’re put into groups to perform, but the next one coming up involves individual performances, if I remember correctly.” Zoey sounded as though she’d said this plenty of times before, which I’m sure she had, but her tone soon became casual again. “Even if you don’t like getting sweaty and risk dirtying your clothes, it’s okay because you can just wait backstage and watch... like I do.”
Sophie interrupted. “Yeah, if you want to, you can just watch, lovely, but I’d definitely like for you to actually join in. Get some experience, I suppose.” She straightened in her seat. “So do you want me to put your name down so I know that you’re happy to perform?”
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was happy for her to do that. The first half of today had involved Sophie describing the practical music course, which followed by her asking me to play and sing a couple of songs, and that was awkward enough. I felt like a lemon. I’d hardly ever been complimented by my dad about my musical abilities, and my brother hadn’t even heard me sing or play an instrument since Mum died. That pretty much hinted at, you’re shit, Charlie, give up. Nonetheless, as I looked between Sophie and her daughter, I mechanically nodded for some obscene reason. With a grin, Sophie dashed my name down onto the paper in her hands. I guess curiosity had gotten the better of me. I’d never performed in any kind of way during my life, so in the end, I couldn’t help but be interested.
“Okay, well it’s about a month or so away, so you’ll have plenty of time to prepare. I’ll obviously be able to help you with it as well.” She glanced down at her watch. “Gosh, we’re running a little late. Sorry about that, lovely.”
“It’s alright,” I replied, taking that as a signal to stand up. “Thanks for the help and stuff. I’ll see you on... Tuesday then, I guess.” I paused as a thought hit me. “What time do you want me round ‘cause I’m supposed to be helping you with the garden and stuff, ain’t I? Or do you want me to do that on separate days?”
“Oh, yes! I forgot about that.” Sophie began smoothing down her wavy hair as she thought. “It’ll definitely be easier for you to do that on the days of your lessons, otherwise you’ll more or less be living here.” That didn’t sound too bad. “Ummm... How about you come round at about two in the afternoon? Is that okay?”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said in return.
When Sophie said goodbye to me, it looked as though she wanted to embrace me into a gleeful hug or something, but if she was tempted, she managed to resist doing so. We still hadn’t had the catch up she so desperately wanted and I so desperately avoided, but I couldn’t blame myself; what was I supposed to say? As far as she was aware, Mum would have been waiting for me with open arms when I got home. In my dreams. I should have just told her that Mum was... gone the moment I met Sophie. That would have meant explaining what happened though, it would have meant explaining what I did. No way would she have been so kind to me then.
While stepping through the doorway that led to her office, Sophie caught my attention, then nodded at my hand that held Mum’s guitar. “She loved that thing.” It didn’t take a genius to figure out who she was talking about. “She never even dreamed of replacing it, although I doubt she feels any different about it now, does she?”
It was odd to hear Mum being spoken about as though she’d never gone anywhere. Heck, it felt unusual for someone to actually speak about Mum without it seeming like the mere mention of her would cause their tongue to burn off. Unusual... but nice. As a response to Sophie, I nodded slowly and entered the house. As I was putting my shoes on to leave via the front door, I felt a soft tap on my back. I turned around. Zoey.
“So long as you promise never to sing Rick Astley to me again,” she said quietly with a quirky smile on her lips. “I forgive you.”
Zoey herself seemed unsure of the words she’d spoken, but it was damn well good enough for me. I must have thanked her so many times, any word similar to thank and you ended up sounding foreign.
“And... sorry about your sister,” I muttered before I left. “I was too busy being a prick to ever actually say that.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, really... I’m sorry about what happened. Really sorry...” Part of me wished she was aware of the hidden meaning behind my words. “Sorry...” I more or less whispered.
She stepped closer towards me, and the smell of berries dulled my senses for a moment. I couldn’t force a grin off my face. She used that perfume to wake me up when she knocked me unconscious outside Vertigo. It smelt better on her.
“Honestly, Charlie, it’s fine. Things like this happen to everyone. You’ve just got to suck it up, not think about it, and keep going, even if it is harder said than done.”
This time, I inched closer. I lifted my hand up before hesitating, but when I noticed that Zoey’s blue eyes were warm and bright, I let my fingers run through her loose hair. She smiled with her lips parted slightly as I leaned in. We couldn’t have been kissing for more than five seconds when I pulled away, turned around, and left the house after a goodbye, but God, it had felt much longer. As I was strolling along the driveway, my lips were buzzing as though electrified. If I wasn’t aware that a number of people could have been watching me from their house windows right now, I would have danced my arse off all the way home.
#
“Since when were you ever happy?”
Will shot me a dirty look as he lifted his gaze from the laptop he had rested on the living room table. In response, I winked at him, then carried on with my whistling. I couldn’t believe it. Zoey actually forgave me... she genuinely didn’t see me for the waster I was. In some sense that was a bad thing, but right now, it felt bloody amazing. I honestly didn’t care that I’d done the complete opposite of getting her interested in Will today.
I rested Mum’s guitar against the wall as I jumped onto the sofa. I was still there when my dad prodded into the room with a smile on his unshaven face. When he glanced at me, it instantly vanished and he grunted something, but his happiness returned when he put his concentration back onto Will. Those two needed to make out or something already.
“Hey, I’ve found the photos of Versailles,” Will said as my dad sat down beside him so that he could see the laptop screen. Oh, how riveting. “That’s when we went to The Palace of Versailles,” Will continued as he pointed at the screen.
“Wow, that place looks fancy. I bet you fit in perfectly,” my dad said with a hint of pride in his voice. Will beamed a smile in response. I struggled not to both laugh and gag.
My dad pointed at the screen. “You look handsome there, son.”
This time, I actually did laugh. Bad idea. Why was I so mindless when I was in a decently happy mood? My dad’s head turned so fast, I was shocked that I didn’t receive any kind of whiplash.
“You’ve been here, what? Not even two minutes and you’re already pissing me off. Bog off, I’m busy with your brother.”
As if on cue, the doorbell rang, which was a rare occurrence considering everyone in the neighbourhood knew our door would open with a hard nudge, whether it was locked or not. If we had anything worth stealing, we’d be screwed, that was for sure. When I opened the front door, I was even more astounded. Standing there was some youngish guy wearing a monkey suit who stuck out like a dance anthem being played at a funeral wake.
He shook my hand while he spoke. “Hello, my name is Aaron Carter.” He held up his wallet for me to glance at some badge inside of it. By now, my dad and brother were standing in the hallway. “I’m here to make some inquiries that concern a murder or possible manslaughter that occurred in this neighbourhood during the month of July, this year. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.”
Shit. I gawked at the man in silence. Oh, God. He knew? How did he know? I was dead. Dead as a leaf in the bitter Autumn. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Had someone confessed something? Austin? No... Lee? Heck no. Jax...? That one, I wasn’t quite so sure. All I knew was that I damn well hadn’t said a word to anyone. Maybe it was evidence. Had they uncovered new evidence? What kind?
The man continued. “Don’t worry, this is just basic procedure. I’m asking everyone in the street.”
Like a bolt of lightning, my guts melted into goo. Wait, so he didn’t know? Bloody hell, I was so confused right now. What if he did? What if he was just saying that so he could get me to speak to him? Aaron Carter turned to my father, clearly noticing that he was the adult of the house, although I begged to differ. I stepped aside.
“I’m working for the family of the victim, and I’d basically like to know if any of you saw anything that night. The date of the occurrence was... July the twenty-fourth.”
“No.” I was the first to answer, and I did so far too hastily. I tried to settle my raging heart by clearing my throat. “Uh, no, I was over my mate’s house all night.”
“What’s your friend’s name?”
Oh, shit. I ran my mind back to the day after the incident. What had Austin told me to say? Remember, you idiot. Remember! I had to say I was over someone’s house all night... Austin’s? Or was it Jax’s? I had to take a chance.
“Err, Austin.” I cleared my throat. “Austin McCormack.” Merely saying his name to a detective dried out my throat.
“Does he live on this street?”
I shook my head, and then the man asked for Austin’s street. Way to go, Charlie. After I gave him Austin’s house number, he moved on to my dad. I swore that was what Austin said: if anyone asks, say you were over my house all night. Something like that, anyway. Besides, it was Austin I was talking about. Even if this detective guy turned up and completely shocked him, Austin would have been able to come up with something, and fast. That settled my thoughts a little. Just a little.
By the time the detective was questioning my brother, my dad had returned into the living room. The hallway seemed to be closing in on me. What if I’d said something stupid? Something that could have risked us getting caught? I’d given the man Austin’s name and address, for God’s sake. I should have just said I was in the house all night. Why the hell didn’t common sense kick in when the guy had asked me? The only air entering the house was doing so through the front door, and the detective was blocking half of it anyway. My throat was dry, my head sore. It was almost funny how my mood could change so drastically in the matter of minutes.
“Thank you. I apologise for taking up your time,” I finally heard Aaron Carter say.
Wait, was that it? That was all he wanted to ask? Maybe he didn’t suspect me of anything then... The detective looked over Will’s shoulder, who had now replaced me by the front door, as though he was expecting to see my dad before turning around and leaving the house.
“What’s up with you?” Will questioned me as he shut the door. “Did you bang your head or something when I was away? I’ve only been back a day or so, but you’re acting really weird.”
Why is everyone saying that?
____________________
Click here to read STOP AND STARE (PART TWENTY-ONE)
Either way, congrats on writing a piece that flowed and made sense.
