|9|

•Charlotte•

"You took more than two hours to make a cake?" Lizzie asked as she parked her car in the parking lot for the mall. 

Yesterday was a bizarre day. I had spent hours with Ramon Vitali without melting in a puddle or wanting to kill him. He was nice, all of his friends were. They offered me food but I politely declined and texted Lizzie to come and pick me up. Calvin had walked me out of the door saying he had to talk to Lizzie. He didn't talk to her. He smiled and said hi with a little wave. 

"Yes. So I told him yesterday that I would get the baking part done but he would sort out the decorations. He actually did well when I asked him to make the roses." I chuckled to myself as we got out of the car. She locked her door and we walked towards the mall. 

"Who would have thought, huh? A day would come where you would see Ramon making roses out of fondant." She laughed to herself. "The cake did taste amazing though."

I smiled as we walked into the mall, the heat pushed out by the fans on the walls. It was a really hot day today, the sun burning our backs as we headed to the elevators. 

Lizzie wanted to shop. Her mom had given her money to buy a whole new look for herself for looking after Daniel but she also had to buy Daniel a toy as well. She had come knocking on my door, just before lunch as I was in the kitchen making it, and demanded that I go shopping with her. I told her I didn't need anything and she said I could window shop. I agreed and wanted to go out. I took some cash out from my secret stash and joined her after giving lunch to Mary and my dad. 

"I'm thinking we can get you a nice dress to wear tomorrow to school. Let's look hot." Lizzie said as we stood in the empty elevator and the doors closed, taking us to the top floor. 

"You already look hot." I said to her and she shook her head, facing me. 

"We want to look hot. Drop dead gorgeous and just sexy and stunning but not like a hoe but still smoking hot." She said excitedly as the doors opened and she pulled me out of the elevator. 

I followed her with a smile on her face. Her anxiety wasn't overwhelming her and I loved it. She was happy and she looked happy. 

"Okay but I don't want anything colourful. I want a black dress." I told her as we walked into the first store. 

"Deal." She grinned as she walked to a rack full of black dresses. Just perfect. "Do we want a low back? Or something that says hey bitch, I'm a nun but a hoe in the bed?" 

I laughed at her as she pulled out two dresses. "Definitely the nun one." I pointed to the black skater dress. It was a short dress, with sleeves reaching the elbow. A high neckline which was perfect. The only problem was that it would reach my thighs, showing my legs. 

"You'll have to shave your legs for this dress." She held it out to me as I held it in my hand. "Do we want boots or heels?" 

"Are we making every guy drop to his knees tomorrow?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Just Ramon for you. I think Calvin is whipped." She blushed a little and I grinned at her. 

"He definitely is. Also I think purple is his favourite colour on you. I might have asked.." I pretended to look somewhere else and tried not to smile as she walked towards me. 

"Purple? You talked to him about me? Fell me what he said." She asked, as people entered the shop and walked past us. 

"When we were walking to the car, I asked him what he thought about you and not to play you around-" 

"You threatened him?" She hissed at me with wide eyes and I shook my head, laughing. 

"No no no." Yes yes yes. "He mentioned he likes you and he is hoping you like him too. I didn't tell him you did." I explained to her and she nodded as she walked back to the black dresses. 

"So purple? Did he mention what type of purple he liked?" She asked as I followed her to the other racks of dresses. 

Calvin had said he liked that she was such a bright person every day. That she didn't care what the school thought about her and came wearing her colourful dresses. I had asked what colour dress was his favourite? It was supposed to be a joke. He answered with purple. 

"Just purple but I think maybe a dark purple would look better." I said to her as I walked to the dress I could see hanging. I pulled it out and showed her it. 

It was a beautiful purple lace dress that would go well with her the black jacket that she never took off. 

"I like it." She said holding it against herself and looking at the mirror. "I want gold jewellery. Something that's going to make the dress pop and maybe I can pull it up a bit to make it a little shorter." She started talking to herself as she stared at the mirror with a thoughtful look. 

"Let's get some jewellery and then food." 

***

Shopping for hours with a friend that loved it and wanted to try and change the style of every dress she bought, was extremely tiring. 

Lizzie and I had shopped for hours, she was trying on a different dress because she didn't like the cut on the lace one. She had settled for another purple dress that was shorter, similar to the skater dress I had bought but just a bit more revealing which she liked. She had bought gold jewellery for herself, necklaces and earrings with a pair of gold boots. 

I didn't need anything else, I had black boots at home that I wore every day. They were perfect. 

We bought pizza and ate it in the car, just talking about how she wanted us to walk like we owned the school. She was feeling confident and I was here for it. It was going to be a beautiful day tomorrow as well, her weather app claimed so she was happy. 

"You want to come inside?" I asked her as I got out of the car with my bag. 

"I'm thirsty." She laughed as she pulled the keys out of her car. "I can't stay long, I'll have to go home to finish my homework." She said and followed me up the stairs. 

I opened the door with my keys and walked inside. "I'm home." I called out in the house as Lizzie headed towards the kitchen and I closed the door. 

Lizzie screamed and I ran to the kitchen to see dad holding a plate and throwing it at her. She moved out of the way quickly, the plate smashing against the door. 

"Charlotte, call the police!" Dad hissed at me, as he picked up another plate and was about to throw it at her again. I ran in front of Lizzie and dad held the plate above his head, staring at me confused. 

"She's my friend. Lizzie, dad. She's Lizzie." I said to him slowly, and I heard Mary opening the bathroom door upstairs. Dad looked at me confused as he placed the  plate on the counter again, mumbling something to himself. 

"I'm going to go home." Lizzie mumbled to him from behind. She hugged me tightly, telling me she knew he didn't mean it but she walked out of the kitchen. 

"Do you want to go out with me? We could go to the park?" I asked as I walked towards him. 

Dad shook his head. "I'm not fit to go out." He mumbled. "I want to stay inside." He walked away from me and towards Mary who opened the kitchen door. I watched as dad walked out of the kitchen slowly. 

"Is he getting worse?" I asked Mary softly.

Mary sighed. "I don't want to lie to you, Charlotte but he's not getting any better. I have to constantly remind him it's me even after five minutes of not seeing me. He forgets what he's watching and he honestly needs to go to the hospital. He needs professional help, sweetie." She walked into the kitchen, letting the door close behind her. 

"I'm working on it." I told her quietly as I bent down and picked up the big pieces of the broken plate. 

She didn't answer me as she walked out of the kitchen. Quietly, I cleaned the broken glass and threw it in the bin. I walked out of the kitchen and picked up the bag before heading upstairs. Mary and dad were sitting in the living room watching a show. 

I headed upstairs to my room and threw the bag on the bed before closing the door softly. I leaned my head against and sighed softly. 

I was trying so hard not to break down, to scream to everyone to understand what I was going through. I wanted to help him, to get him the help he deserved. It wasn't easy. I couldn't do it alone but I was trying.  I would spend every day in the gym if it meant he would be in the hospital getting the treatment he deserved. 

Logan. He was the one stopping everything, wanting me to join. I knew the moment I joined their gang, I would lose every drop of remorse I had. I would be a ruthless killer, they would force me, threaten me. I didn't want that. I didn't want any of that. 

I wanted to be with my dad. I prayed to the God above to help me, to save him, to help him get better, so he didn't leave me alone in the world. 

I had lost my mom. I couldn't lose him. I would lose myself and I wasn't ready for that. I would never be. 

Pushing myself away from the door, I wiped under my eyes, getting rid of the tears. I couldn't cry. Someone had to be strong but sometimes I forgot I was seventeen and didn't need to have a thousand burdens on my shoulders. I couldn't be weak. 

I missed my mom. The feeling of having someone close to you disappear in an instant without a proper goodbye, left an aching hole in your heart. I had tried to get rid of it, everyday was a struggle but I ignored it. I pushed the sadness deep inside of me and bottled it up. I couldn't afford to waste my time crying about it. I needed to work harder, to push myself further into the underground fighting world, to get myself recognized more so I could earn more. 

To send him to a private hospital. A hospital Logan had no idea about. They followed me everywhere, his people, I could feel their eyes in me. Constantly watching where I went, who I talked to. I never went to the private hospital. It was always by a phone call, under my mom's name, just in case Logan had my name scanned everywhere. Rebecca Woods. 

They would accept my dad into the hospital, if I paid the deposit. I was ten thousand dollars short but I was going to earn it so my dad could get better. 

I dropped down on my bed and let out a sigh into the duvet. 

Everything was going to be okay one day. I would make it okay. 

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I don't know what to say...

Question- Favourite genre to read?