{"id":454,"date":"2013-11-22T03:49:48","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T03:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jenfrederick.com\/?p=454"},"modified":"2013-11-22T03:49:48","modified_gmt":"2013-11-22T03:49:48","slug":"charlotte-chronicles-v","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/charlotte-chronicles-v\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlotte Chronicles, V"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charlotte Chronicles V<\/h2>\n
\n

Nathan<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cOh Nate! What\u2019re you doing here?\u201d Aunt AM comes around Charlotte\u2019s empty hospital bed. I hold out my books and give her a confused look. I\u2019d been coming every night after football practice for the past week. What does she think I\u2019m doing here?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here to study,\u201d I say. \u201cAnd hang out. Where is everyone?\u201d I look around but don\u2019t see Nick or Charlotte. Aunt AM places a hand on my elbow and starts moving out of the room, but I pull back. \u201cWhere\u2019s everyone?\u201d I repeat.<\/p>\n

Aunt AM doesn\u2019t give me a direct answer. Instead, she tightens the grip on my arm. For some reason she wants me to leave. I\u2019m several inches taller than Aunt AM and probably a hundred pounds heavier. My superior height and weight make it impossible for most people to move me when I\u2019m refusing to follow them. Aunt AM is no different. She turns to me and places her hands on her hips.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were so much easier to manage when you were a child, Nate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut not as cute, right?\u201d I wink at her because even though she looks a little exasperated with me now, I know she loves me.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, you were pretty darn cute as a baby.\u201d Aunt AM sighs and then shoots a glance at the bathroom door that I just now notice is shut. A buzzing sound is coming from inside and then I hear voices. I can\u2019t make out the words, but because I\u2019ve grown up listening to these voices I know its Nick and Charlotte. I start for the door. There\u2019s no way that they need privacy.<\/p>\n

Aunt AM places her hand on my arm again and this time the tone in her voice, warning and wary, stops me. \u201cNate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d I don\u2019t understand. I hear giggles which are from Charlotte and then a lower chuckle from Nick. My body is tensing up like it does before I\u2019m about to kick the body bag in the gym. My breath is becoming more rapid and anger builds. Nick should not be in the bathroom with Charlotte. They should not be together, laughing behind closed doors. What is with the buzzing noise?\u00a0 The buzzing noise shuts off and I hear my name being repeated in low tones.<\/p>\n

\u201cNate, Nathan, Nathan Jackson.\u201d Aunt AM finally breaks through and I look down at her, wondering why she\u2019s repeating my name so many times.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah?\u201d But she doesn\u2019t have my full attention because I have to know what\u2019s going on in there. There\u2019s a silence in the room and then I hear crying. It\u2019s Charlotte. Shaking off Aunt AM\u2019s hand, I take three strides across the room and have my hand on the bathroom door. I\u2019m so close now that I can hear Nick comforting Charlotte.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fine, Charlotte. You look fine,\u201d Nick says. Charlotte replies but I don\u2019t understand her. Neither does Nick. \u201cWhat?\u201d he asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not fine.\u201d Charlotte says more clearly. \u201cLook at me. I look like a penis head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick burst out laughing. \u201cHave you even seen a penis?<\/p>\n

Aunt AM was tugging at my arm but stopped at Nick\u2019s question. I guess we both want to hear the answer to this.<\/p>\n

\u201cUm duh, pictures. Remember when Francine forwarded the picture of her brother looking at himself in the mirror.\u201d Silence reigned while we all contemplated this for a second.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that was unfortunate.\u201d Nick snickered. \u201cBut you look nothing like Francine\u2019s brother\u2019s penis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly because he had hair around his dick and I don\u2019t.\u201d Charlotte said. Aunt AM let out a tiny moan of dismay beside me. I don\u2019t know exactly how I feel that Charlotte had seen some guy\u2019s penis but it isn\u2019t pleasant.<\/p>\n

Nick makes a gagging sound. \u201cCan we never talk about Francine\u2019s brother\u2019s penis again? I\u2019m going to need some brain bleach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t be seen like this,\u201d Charlotte says unhappily. \u201cI look hideous. I\u2019m so glad we did this before Nate came.\u201d<\/p>\n

My back bristles. I don\u2019t get why I was shut out of this. Charlotte had talked about shaving off her hair, but I thought it was just that, talk. I\u2019d have done it with her. I wanted to do it. I was her rock, not Nick.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well, you know I\u2019m standing behind you when he comes because he\u2019s going to be pissed off you did this without talking to him first.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not the boss of me,\u201d declares Charlotte. \u201cI\u2019ve already got two parents. I don\u2019t need a third one.\u201d Is that what she thought? That I was trying to be her parent? Disheartened, I allowed Aunt AM to lead me away out into the hallway.<\/p>\n

\u201cNate, honey,\u201d she said, reaching up to brush my hair out of my face. Hair I shouldn\u2019t have. Hair I should\u2019ve shaved off with Charlotte so she could see we\u2019d all be penis heads together if that was really what she looked like. \u201cCharlotte is at a delicate stage. She\u2019s fifteen. She\u2019s starting to notice guys and have guys notice her.\u201d This statement makes me ball my hands into fists which Aunt AM notices because she hurries on, \u201cAnd not that she likes anyone but she\u2019s very conscious of how she looks. Her emotions are all over the place because of the medications and the surgeries and just all the unknowns of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unknowns? \u201cWhat\u2019re you saying?\u201d I ask sharply. \u201cShe\u2019s going to be okay, right?\u201d I thought after they\u2019d taken the tumor out of her head, it was all good from there. \u201cThe radiation is just precautionary, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Aunt AM\u2019s smile is a little watery. \u201cWe hope so, Nathan. We hope so.\u201d Aunt AM pulls me in for a hug. \u201cBe patient with her, will you?\u201d<\/p>\n

I nod. I can be patient. I can. Aunt AM releases me. A nurse catches her attention and Aunt Am follows her to the nurses\u2019 station and I take the opportunity to head back to Charlotte\u2019s room.\u00a0 The bathroom door is still closed. I decide to employ some of that patience and drop into the arm chair next to the empty hospital bed. My forbearance is rewarded when a second later, the bathroom door flies open and out walks Nick and Charlotte, looking like to freshly shorn peas. I cast Nick a dark look and he slides behind Charlotte, all six feet two of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee, told ya he\u2019d be pissed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not pissed.\u201d Rising up, I position Charlotte directly in front of me and pretend to examine her carefully. I don\u2019t really care what Charlotte looks like without hair. She could be bald for the rest of her life and she\u2019d still be the prettiest girl around but I figure out pretty quick that she\u2019s not going to believe that. I draw a finger down the middle of her face, from the top of her forehead to the tip of her chin. Then I bisect that imaginary vertical line with a horizontal one. I trace another line from her eyes to the sides of her mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019d you learn in biology about symmetry, Charlotte,\u201d I ask her. My voice is a little husky and her eyes widen. She\u2019s trembling a bit under my hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat nature loves symmetry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight.\u201d She\u2019s caught on quickly. \u201cYour face is pretty damn symmetrical. You\u2019re the type who\u2019s gonna look good with long hair, short hair, and no hair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her lips are shaking a bit and she presses them tight to hold back her tears but a couple slip out of her eyes anyway. I swipe them away with my thumbs but behind the surface sheen of tears, I see comprehension. She believes me. I give her a slow wink and that draws out a beautiful smile. At about the moment I\u2019m going to draw her into my arms, Nick slaps me on the back, \u201cSmooth, big brother. Very nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick\u2019s words make mine look like a joke and the look in Charlotte\u2019s eyes turn from appreciation to bleakness like that. I reach over and cuff Nick harder than he expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cOw goddammit, that hurt.\u201d Nick rubs the back of his head but it\u2019s too late. No amount of head slaps is going to bring confidence back into Charlotte\u2019s eyes tonight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Want more Charlotte? Sign up for the newsletter and you’ll get the Charlotte Chronicles delivered to your inbox a week early! The next installment is due tomorrow morning.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charlotte Chronicles V Nathan \u201cOh Nate! What\u2019re you doing here?\u201d Aunt AM comes around Charlotte\u2019s empty hospital bed. I hold…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-charlotte-chronicles","tag-charlotte-chronicles","charlotte-chronicles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jenfrederick.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}