Work Text:
chapter 1
“Mom!” I scream frantically. I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now.
“Yes, honey, what is it?” she asks me, her tone indicating she was exhausted, considering she had just finished her second shift.
“You won’t believe it, I got the role!” I shrieked, so excited I could faint.
“What?!” she exclaimed, excitement awakening her tired eyes. I guess she couldn’t believe it either.
I auditioned for this role because I was desperate to help my weary mother, who worked two jobs just to keep the lights on. She looks pale and weak every day she comes back from work, because she didn’t even have time to eat. This role will help us out a great deal.
This movie is called “Reconnection”- a romance novel. I wonder who my co-star will be, hopefully a guy who’s my type. I’m a hopeless romantic, so I’m hoping I’ll find someone.
“Earth to Charlotte!” my mother said. I didn’t realize I had zoned out.
“Yes?” I asked.
“So, what movie is this? You never told me about it.” my mother replies.
I filled her in with all the details about the movie and then she commented, “I hope your co-star is cute!”
“Mom!” I replied, giggling. My mom is so kind to me, always making me laugh.
“You should call your brother to tell him the good news.” my mother said.
“Ok, I will. Goodnight, mom.” I agreed.
“Goodnight, sweetie. I love you.”
“Love you too.” I replied with a smile.
I should call Liam and tell him the news before going to bed, I thought. I found his contact on my phone. I had saved him as “The Devil” and then a devil emoji. I’m sure he must have saved me in his phone as something similar.
“What?” he asked me, instead of greeting me.
“Hello to you, too,” I replied with a joyful tone.
“You sound awfully happy today, Char,” he said.
“I am. You won’t believe it, Liam!” I replied, filled with happiness.
“What happened?” he questioned.
“So, I auditioned for the romance movie named “Reconnection” and I got the main role!” I exclaimed.
“No way! Are you serious?”
“Well, obviously. What do you think this is, an early April’s fools joke, even though it’s mid November?”
“I don’t know, you seem like the person who might do that.”
I laughed at his reply. I never laughed at anything he said before.
“Wow, so this is really happening, I can believe it because little miss Char here actually laughed at something I said for the first time.” he said in a teasing tone.
I chuckled at his nickname, ‘little miss Char’. He’s called me that ever since I won that pageant in the fourth grade. I remember how my parents didn't even show up because my dad had gotten drunk, again. That day, when I got home since my uncle Noah had dropped me off, my dad was passed out on the couch and my mom was crying in the kitchen, bruises covering her arms entirely. I just went to my room and saw my brother. He was only four. He must have seen everything. The shouting and the hitting. I found him on the floor, rocking back and forth, his head in his hands. I sat next to him and cried next to him on the floor. Then, my mom came into my room and started apologizing profusely about why she and my dad couldn’t arrive at the pageant because “something had come up”. But she knew Liam knew what actually came up, but she thought he was too young to understand. He wasn’t. I had seen the bruises, but she didn’t know because she came in wearing a jacket so she could cover them up. I also saw the tear streaks on her face that she had tried to wash off, but failed. I accepted her apology and she left my room, leaving me to drown in my thoughts. I eventually fell asleep next to Liam, after some more crying.
“Hello? Charlotte? Are you still there?”
“Yup, sorry, I zoned out.”
“That’s okay. Anyways, congrats! Do a good job, okay? Don’t let me and mom down” he said.
“Of course I will. Remember the sixth grade play?” I asked.
“Of course I do. You were Juliet, and Damon was Romeo.” he replied
Ugh. Damon Wright. I hate him.
“Anyways, I have to go to bed now. I’m meeting the cast tomorrow.”
“Okay, bye. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, love you.”
“Love you, too,” he said. I bet he rolled his eyes when he said that.
I hung up and I decided to play some Conan Gray and decide my outfit for tomorrow. After some meticulous closet searching, I set my mind on this light pink sundress with daisies on it that will perfectly compliment my dark brown hair. Since my hair is wavy, I decided I will curl it for tomorrow’s event. I will also wear the new lipstick my mother bought for me a few days ago for my birthday.
I started to think about the sixth grade play, when I was Juliet and the disgusting creature, Damon, was unfortunately Romeo.
I loathed him since the first grade after he stole my unicorn plushie. I still laugh whenever I think about that. He used to annoy me all the time during the play rehearsals. Although, even though I hated to admit it and still do, he was an amazing actor, making him the perfect Romeo, sadly. He was also Romeo-level handsome, according to all the girls not in my class, but the entire sixth grade.
This made all the girls jealous of me because I got to play Juliet. They used to bully me constantly about how I didn’t deserve the role, and the judges only pitied me because my dad left me when I was young. I used to cry every day, eating my lunch in the bathroom just because I didn’t want to see them. Sometimes, I used to overhear them talking crap about me, which made me even sadder. I tried to talk to the teachers about it, and they said they would talk to the girls who were bullying me and tell them to stop doing it, but that never happened.
That was when I started not hating, but loathing Damon because of all the bullying that was happening to me even though it wasn't his fault. I started avoiding him everywhere. The only place where I couldn’t avoid him was during play rehearsals, when me and him had to pretend we were in love with each other, which was painfully so hard to do. Luckily, we were able to pull it off, and I knew that because everyone complimented me after the play. I also always avoided him at home, where he used to come over often, to hang out with Liam. I do remember one day, where I was avoiding eye contact with Damon and Liam when I entered the house through the front door, when I saw this giant bruise on Damon’s hand. I didn’t ask him about it. I didn’t care about him, I loathed him. I don’t know how, but after the play was over, the girls stopped bullying me. It was so great for me, but I never figured out why they stopped bullying me. Maybe they finally came to their senses and they realized that what I was doing was wrong. I find that hard to believe but whatever, I didn’t care. At least they had stopped harassing me about Damon. Although, some girls tried to get close to me because they had sadly figured out that Damon was Liam’s best friend. At first, I genuinely believed they were being friendly to me because they actually wanted to become friends with me. But then, I slowly started figuring out their motives, and I stopped talking to them.
Anyways, I thought, I should go to bed. I do have a big day tomorrow.
I laid out my outfit on a chair in my bedroom, brushed my teeth, got into my pajamas, turned the lights off, and went to bed.