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There were always kids on Nathan Gardner’s radar. Having been a History teacher turned Principal, he knew there was always someone he should be looking out for. Whether he thought the kid needed a little extra help, or he simply thought the person was worth paying a little closer attention to, too keep them under control.
And, this year, it just so happened to be Charlie Bartlett.
At first, he’d thought he’d need to check in with the boy when on his first day, the boy was gifted a swirly by the school bully, Murphy Bivens- whom he knew very well at this point. Then, the kid showed up with a black eye, which he was sure was another gift from the bully.
But, then, it seemed Charlie befriended said bully, and took a downward spiral into rebelling.
Then, of course, there was the fact that the teenage boy was getting awfully close to his daughter. And that, put anyone who got a little too close to comfort to his little girl on his radar.
He wasn’t sure what to do with Charlie Bartlett. Suspension for three days did nothing for the boy- he continued to run whatever he was doing with basically the whole student body in the boy’s washroom. Not a word was spoken about it in the hallways and students protected him and looked up to him like he was some sort of savior.
And then, then things only seemed to get worse.
A student, attempted to overdose on prescribed pills that were not prescribed to him. Prescription pills were popping up everywhere, and it just so happened that these pills were showing up after the arrival of school’s newest student.
But after sitting down and talking to the boy in the teen’s home, the man is at a complete loss once again. The kid had been trying to help his fellow students out. Albeit in the wrong, he was trying. So, he was stumped once more.
The superintendent wanted the boy expelled, but he knew as much as he wanted too, Charlie didn’t deserve expulsion. His heart was in the right place, but his tactic was pretty shit. The boy was trying to help the students, and it was noble, but he was doing something illegal as he was trying.
After Kip’s almost death, Charlie was trying to be good, he could see it. In the way Charlie tried to help Kip get his screen play performed.
But he still held so much power over the students. He still had access to the prescribed pills. He was still a threat, and of course, the boy was still a little to close to Susan then he’d like.
He could almost look past the teen shutting down the petition to get the cameras removed- but he drew the line as that little shit handed his daughter a pharmacy bag. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the teen was corrupting his daughter into prescription drugs.
He was already still pissed off about how little control he had over the students at his high school, and just how much power Charlie had. And then, Charlie Bartlett shows up at his house with a present of something that could only be prescribed drugs for his little girl.
So, he loses himself.
Makes an ass of himself in front of his daughter.
Basically, tells her that he doesn’t trust her- and screams it loud and clear that he has zero trust for Charlie. Anger swirls in him as he tried to grab his daughter away, and to his surprise takes one hell of a right hook from the gangly looking teenaged boy.
Susan gets in the car with Charlie, the boy apologizing profusely, a genuinely sorry look on his face but he can barely hear it over the intense anger within him.
He tears into the bag his daughter had tossed at him, and is instantly filled with guilt. Charlie had gotten her no nicotine gum to use instead of cigarettes. Susan had been trying to quit and he’d basically called her out for doing something bad.
He was pissed off at the teenaged boy, and did the only thing he could think of to get back at the kid. He had him arrested under charges of assault. It was mostly spite. The teen, as good as his punch was, had barely left a mark, but it was more than enough to have the boy taken into custody. Taken in, and away from his daughter. He thought it would make himself feel a bit better, but it only made himself sick with self-loathing.
Then, of course, he was fired from the principal job he really didn’t want, because what fucking else could go wrong in his life. The kids trashed the cameras they’d been petitioning against, then proceeded to demolish their hangout. But none of that even came close to the regret he was feeling as his eyes instantly fell to Susan in the crowd.
His daughter looked at him with a glare of hate, turning and marching away from the car.
He’d really fucked up this time.
He heard practically nothing from her the days following his own dischargement. She turned away from him, refused to open her bedroom door and was out of the house for each meal.
Until, finally the day of the play came. That stupid thing he’d practically been blackmailed into letting the kids do; by Kip and good ol’ Charlie Bartlett. It was no longer his ass on the line, but he couldn’t help but feel sad that he wasn’t there to see his little girl up on the stage. She’d gotten the main role, like he knew she would’ve.
By three glasses of scotch he was wrecking his office. Angry, and sad, and just... disappointed in himself. He found his gun through his tantrum and thought of nothing better to do then take his gun and bottle of liquor out onto the deck and sink his stupid RC boat.
He was up to a little more than half the bottle of scotch when the man of the hour showed up at his house. On his deck. Talking worddss at him. Trying to talk him down. Just what he fucking needed.
So, he blew up on him. Let out all the anger he had holed up in himself. Showed the kid just how pissed off he was. How Charlie Bartlett single handedly took everything from him.
“Alright! Then what am I supposed to do in this situation? I mean, I’m just a kid! I-I'm just a stupid kid.” And the man paused. He’d been wanting to hear those words from the teenager since he met him. He turned slowly; eyes trained on the boy.
“Stop the fucking presses,” Nathan shouted, exasperated; eyes hard on the anxious body sitting tensely in one of his deck chairs, “run that by me again, you’re a what?”
“I’m just a kid.” Charlie stuttered, breaths quick and uneven. Had the man been more in his own head, and less wasted, he’d have seen just how close the teenager was to a panic attack. But he was, and he wasn’t looking for the signs.
It was nice to hear the boy finally admit what he was. Not some shrink in a toilet stall, dealing out prescription drugs. Not some preacher that the students listen to wholeheartedly, but the kid he was. A stupid, underaged, child.
“I get it,” Nathan curled his lip, evening his voice as best as he could considering just how much alcohol he had coursing through his veins, “it’s tough, I was a kid once too.”
He watched Charlie, as the boy dragged his hands down his face. Wiping away the tears of fear. He knew the boy was scared. He was waving a gun around, and shooting his boat- and he had accidentally fired into the sky. Charlie cursed, voice cracking and displaying just how uneasy he was about the situation, but the kid stayed where he was. Ass planted in the seat and eyes watching the man with the gun consideringly.
Nathan refused to acknowledge the clear fear in Charlie’s eyes, or just how concerned the teenager looked.
It made him a little sad that this was what it took to get Charlie Bartlett to see he was just a kid. That he was no better than the other billions of kids spread around the world. He turned his back to the teenager, lifting his hand to scratch at his head- gun completely forgotten.
It had been quick. Charlie had charged at him, screaming a feared ‘no’ as he ran into his outstretched arm. Nathan could barely get a word in as Charlie flipped off the deck, dropping into the diving board and then sinking down; unmoving.
It took three seconds for reality to sink in, and then he too was launching himself off the deck to drag the boy up. The boy left a trail of dark water as he sunk, so he had to of hit the diving board harder than the man had assumed.
He moved quickly, the cool crisp shock of the water sobering him up almost immediately- as well as the sheer adrenaline quickly replacing the alcohol coursing in his veins.
Charlie coughed, gasping for breath, hand raising to pressed against the back of his head. The man couldn’t tell if it was just the pool water on his face or if the boy was crying, but just seeing a kid in distress like this was bringing out his own parental mindset.
He saw nothing more than a scared child- nothing more than his little Susan as he stared at Charlie; gasps and coughs shaking his small frame.
In the following seconds, his adrenaline calmed slightly, and he felt he could talk enough to utter a huffed out, “what the hell’d you do that for?”
Charlie stared at him for a second, hand pulling away from his head as he let out a cautious gasp and another rattling cough before speaking quietly, “I-I thought you were gonna kill yourself...”
That was... a surprise. He hadn’t really thought about how the topic of suicide would still be on the kid’s mind. Even if no one admitted to it, he knew very well that Charlie had been the prescription drugs dealer. He’d given Kip the drugs the boy had tried to use to end his own life, and that had to be weighing in on the teen.
It was the perfect build up to a suicide. The alcohol, his depressive mood, the gun; but, “I can’t kill myself, I've got too many responsibilities.”
The man’s eyes stared ahead, before he glanced back at Charlie. This kid.
This fucking kid had charged at him, ready to pull the gun from his shaky alcohol infused hands because he thought he was about to kill himself. Put himself in utmost danger to keep him safe; despite the fact he’d just had the boy arrested for assault.
He was beginning to look at Charlie in a whole different light. This teenaged boy had put his own life in danger for the man who’d been a total dick to him in the past few weeks.
It was then, his eyes caught the familiar sight of red. The chlorine and the filters in the pool was clearing away the blood, but that did nothing to cover the blood oozing into the teen’s sopping wet hair.
“You okay?” he leaned over, protective of the kid who almost drowned in his pool. He moved some of the kid’s hair around, and drew in a breath at the sight of the wound. It was a deep gash and it would definitely need stitches. There was a lot of blood, and the fact that it had been a hard hit had the man worried the kid had a concussion or something.
“Yeah,” Charlie tilted his head, wiping his bloodied hand on his blazer jacket before replacing it against the wound. He winced, squeezing his eyes shut before forcing them open and looking at his ex-principal.
“You’re going to need stitches,” Nathan told the boy, knowing Charlie had probably already assumed as much, then as an afterthought added, “never, never attack a drunk guy with a gun.” His hands moved with his words; voice stern but caring, “Do you understand?”
The teen nodded, sucking in a breath of air before replying with a quiet, “yessir.”
“Good.” The man blew out a breath, refraining from leaning over to inspect the wound on the teen’s head. He started to stand, gaining the teen’s attention, “C’mon, let’s go get cleaned up.”
Charlie moved to follow him, stumbling. Nathan blew out another quiet breath before holding his hand out to help the staggering boy out of the pool, then wrapping an arm around the boy’s waist to lead him inside the house. He was a bit worried about the concussion possibility, but the sooner they were dried and dressed, the sooner he could take the boy to the hospital.
The whole ordeal was definitely enough to sober up. Infact, the though made him never want to touch a drink again. Just how close Charlie had come to severely injuring himself- or even worse, maybe winding up dead.
Inside he grabbed them both a couple towels, wrapping one around his shoulders, handing Charlie one and then holding the last to the teenager’s gushing head. Charlie let out a quiet whimper before sobering up and shooting his eyes at the man to see if he’d heard.
Nathan pretended he hadn’t, letting Charlie resume where his hand had been over the towel and moving to dry himself and grab some dry clothes.
He managed to find some clothes that would fit the smaller body, and then focused on the teen’s head while Charlie changed. He wasn’t one for modesty, apparently.
“Hey, Charlie,” the man called, grabbing a shirt from the top of the stack and holding it out. Charlie had been ruffling the towel through his hair, it coming back a little bloodied, but not as much as the one they’d had pressed against his head. “See if that fits.”
Charlie gave him a smile, and he really had to commend the kid for his will to smile, even when he was getting shit on. Charlie had given that same smile to Susan as he was forced into a police car. “Thank you.”
“Sure.” The man continued drying himself off as the boy slipped into the shirt. “How’s your head? You alright?”
Charlie gave him another little smile, nodding slowly. Of course, the man knew the boy wasn’t being honest. Even if the bleeding had slowed, it was still bleeding and he’d taken a brutal hit from the diving board. And there was the fact the boy still wasn’t touching it more than occasionally pressing the blood-stained towel to it, so it obviously hurt like hell.
Nathan watched the teen, giving the boy a knowing look as Charlie finally replied, “it’s okay.”
The ex-principal gave a little shake of his head, “you still need stitches, that’s a pretty bad gash and you bled a lot.” His eyes fell to the once white towel clutched in the teenager’s hand.
“Well, we should go,” Charlie mumbled, Nathan was ready to agree that they should head to the hospital, but Charlie continued, “because you’re going to miss the play.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but snapped it shut. “I doubt she’s going to want to see me. Besides, we should be getting you to the ER.”
“No...” Charlie shook his head, eyes watching the man carefully, “no, you’re her father. And she loves you very much.” Charlie ran his fingers through his hair, once again wincing, “and you’re totally missing it.”
The man eyed the boy. He hated to admit it, but Charlie Bartlett had a way with words. And his tone, filled his entire being with guilt. The boy was right. He knew his daughter loved him, as much as sometimes he was sure he didn’t deserve it.
“We can’t. I have to be a responsible adult and bring you to the hospital.”
“It’s alright. It’s stopped bleeding,” Charlie gave him a smile, “and, and it doesn’t really hurt. You need to go see Susan. She’s going to want to see you there.” Charlie lifted his cheeks in a pained smile that had the man questioning what should really be priority in this situation, “it’s almost over now. How would anyone know if... if we stopped in for like ten minutes?”
“And then you’ll go to the hospital?” Nathan questioned.
“And then I will go to the hospital.” Charlie gave a nod. “She loves you,” Charlie continued, sealing the deal so the man couldn’t say anything else about where they should be going.
“Fair enough,” Nathan relented, stepping towards the teen. He leaned against the bed, arms crossing across his chest, “what about you?” It was time to finally get some answers when he had the kid to himself. Nothing to get in the way, no distractions- well, minus the head wound Charlie swears is alright.
“What about me what?” Charlie’s eyes were hesitant, unsure where the conversation was going.
“What about your father?” Nathan asked, voice soft. “You know, when I checked up on you, I was hoping to find something to make me feel justified about kicking your ass out.” He gave the teen a small smile, but Charlie gave him a distressed look, before shifting his gaze away. “Then I found out about him.”
The teen looked away fully; eyes focused on the floor. Nathan felt a pang of sadness seeing this usually so cheerful boy look so sad.
Charlie bit his lip, breathing out a slow calming breath.
“There are worse crimes than tax evasion,” he reminded.
“Yeah, but it’s not worth losing your father over.” Charlie mumbled. The man opened his mouth to reply, but Charlie beat him too it, “I was just a little kid, and my mom, she, she fell into this deep depression. I had no idea what to do— I-I had to... I had to take care of her. I had to be the man of the house because he left us. He got himself put into prison and I had to give up being a kid to take his place.”
Nathan watched Charlie swallow, “I was just... just a kid. I couldn’t do kid things, like other kids, I-I had too-” the teenager was in hysterics and the man did the only thing his fatherly brain would tell him to do; step forwards and wrap the teen in his arms.
Charlie froze; went ridged and then, relaxed completely. He hesitantly lifted his hands to wrap around the man, and maybe it was the headwound talking, but it just felt so good. Something he’d been missing for years.
The man took the in stride, lifting a hand to push aside Charlie’s hair once more and see for himself if the boy was really as okay as he said.
“It’s alright,” Nathan hushed the boy, “you’re okay.”
Charlie wasn’t crying, but his breath was quick and he could feel the teen’s rapid heartbeat.
“I... I’m okay. I’m okay now.” Charlie sniffled, pulling away, “thank you.”
“Sure,” Nathan gave him a small smile, “you know, Chuck, you’re not so bad. I’m sorry about everything. You’re good for Susan, and I wish it didn’t take you trying to fight my gun from my hand and then proceeding to swan dive into the diving board for me to see that.”
“It’s alright. And I’m sorry about punching you. And getting you fired. And, well, and almost dying in your pool. I hope the blood filters out...”
“It’s fine,” the man gave a small laugh, “forgiven and forgotten on both sides then, right?”
“Yeah,” Charlie nodded, “forgive and forget.” He gave the man a dazzling smile, “now, let’s get to that play before Susan starts singing without us there, she’s got a beautiful voice.”
“Yes, she does.” Nathan grinned, pride swelling in him, then he sobered a little, giving the boy a stern glance, “and then we’re heading to the hospital. Don’t think I forgot.”
Charlie gave him a small little half-smile before replying soft, “of course, sir.”
Charlie Bartlett was not a bad kid. In fact, he was one of the best kids, Nathan, as a history teacher and (ex)principal, had even known.