Charlie (UNREVISED)

Chapter 1

You are reading the unrevised version of this book. The revised version will be coming soon.

August 16th, 2017

2:00am. That's what my alarm states on my nightstand, right next to my bed. 2:00am. And there is no way i'm going to sleep. Not now, not when my brain feels like it's on overdrive, telling me what all could go wrong in only a couple of hours.

My mother always said to me that staying up late won't help you escape tomorrow.

But i'm not a person that stops trying.

I grimace at my alarm like it holds all my problems as I bring my knees to my chest, turning my head away from the red numbers to the star filled black sky instead. I sit on my window seat that's covered in fluffy blankets and pillows, facing the way the sun will rise.

I always loved the sunrise. Just like my father does.

I yawn, setting my head against the window with a groan. School starts tomorrow. I will be enrolling as a sophomore, and going into high school for the first time in my life. I've been homeschooled ever since I could talk. Me and my family lived in the middle of nowhere, away from people and gossip, engulfed in nature. A haven.

But when my parents thought I was the right age, we moved into a very small town. This town. A town where everyone and their kids knew each other, and all their secrets and scandals. But it's small.

"One step at a time, Charlie. Tiny steps," my mother would reassure me when we opened the door to our new house.

It's nice, very nice. Definitely not what we had in the past which was a small log cabin in the middle of the forest.

I had a much bigger room to mess around in, having more space to store my belongings and things I found by the river.

A lot more room to think and grow.

My father told me that the best thing that comes from a house is the memories, and I agreed. He didn't want me to be upset about leaving my old home, but excited. He wanted me to keep the memories, but move on to make more and new ones. Experience things a normal kid would.

That's the only luxury that I didn't have. I never experienced having friends. My parents were my best friends, and I was completely fine with that. I didn't need anyone else in my life.

"When i grow older papa, i'm not going to move out. I'm going to stay here with you and mom."

"Oh yeah? Once you turn eighteen, you better get your butt out in the world, you hear? Get your own home, make memories."

"You don't want me to stay?"

"Of course I want you to stay. I never want you to leave my arms... But that's the whole point of being a parent, babydoll. You have to let go."

"What's the whole point of being a kid then? To let you go too?"

He laughed. "No, too have fun."

I grin at the memory, chuckling to myself. I was only eight when I ranted that I would never leave my dad's arms, and he simply smiled and stated, "Whatever makes you happy. And if that's staying here with us, then do it."

A knock at the door jumped me back into reality, and I turn to look at the man himself.

I got all my physical traits from my father. His pale white hair, skin and light gray/blue eyes that seem to turn pink in the sun. We're both albino, and my dad joked about how he met my mother, stating how there was no way their kid could look like him.