I have to tell you that I’m prepping the newsletter for tomorrow’s release and I’ve lost a major part of Charlotte’s story. It was…somewhere and now I can’t find it. You’ll still get a scene but it might be truncated. \u00a0The next couple weeks are from Charlotte’s POV.<\/p>\n
I loosely grouped the released story into chapters which you can access via the menu bar above. Hover over the “Woodlands” tab.<\/p>\n
Nathan<\/em><\/p>\n I bust into Nick\u2019s room.\u00a0\u201cGet up, asshole. We\u2019re working out.\u201d<\/p>\n He moans and rolls over.\u00a0\u201cNo and fuck you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNice language there, little man.\u201d Nick is about two inches shorter than I am. He\u2019ll probably be taller than me by the time we both stop growing. I have to get my jabs in while I can. I climb on top of him and start punching him lightly over the blankets. He kicks out with his legs but any force is stayed by the blankets. I roll off, laughing.<\/p>\n \u201cAsshole,\u201d he mutters, untangling himself and stumbling\u00a0into the bathroom. Nick is not a morning person but I am. I\u2019ve been getting up and lifting for two years. Not for basketball or football though. School sports hold no real interest for me. I have other plans\u2014ones that I haven\u2019t shared with anyone. Nick, on the other hand, has real skill with the ball. Everyone around us knows it but he doesn\u2019t appreciate his gift yet.<\/p>\n One day when he\u2019s playing pro ball he\u2019ll thank me for getting him up at the ass crack of dawn to lift. And I think he knows it because after the initial resistance, he always gets up and spends an hour with me in the weight room.<\/p>\n It\u2019s leg day today which makes it easy for us to talk and ordinarily I enjoy it but this morning Nick is feeling extra cranky because he starts in on my right away.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you get laid last night?\u201d<\/p>\n My leg slips off the riser and I nearly tumble forward on my face in the middle of a split squat. Did he know I had slept in Charlotte\u2019s room? I hadn\u2019t even touched her! \u00a0\u201cWhat\u2019d you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re in such a friggin\u2019 good mood this morning, even more so than usual.\u201d He grunts as he begins his leg\u00a0extensions.\u00a0\u201cThought you\u2019d be pissed off about Charlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n I right myself and start methodically lowering myself, working my\u00a0quads.\u00a0\u201cNothing we can do, right? Not like we can kidnap her and stash her somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n He examines me and whatever he sees doesn\u2019t satisfy his\u00a0curiosity\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHuh, you\u2019re sounding rational and calm. What gives?\u201d<\/p>\n I might have one secret from Nick but that\u2019s about it and he deserves to know what is going on with Charlotte and I. Plus, I need to make sure that he\u2019s okay with it. I mean, I think he is but I have to know for sure because Nick\u2019s my brother and means just as much to me as almost anyone. Grabbing a towel from the stack by the water cooler, I throw one toward Nick. He catches it and drapes it around his neck. Neither of us have worked up enough sweat necessitating a towel. I\u2019m just using it as a ploy to gain some time and gather my thoughts. Nick sees this and waits me out.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know that Charlotte and I spent\u2014\u201c I stop talking when he covers his face and a pained moan comes out of his throat. Christ, I\u2019d never thought that Nick had feelings for Charlotte. My heart sinks to my feet and I can\u2019t stand upright anymore. Charlotte and Nick had always been brother and sister and I\u2014I guess everyone could say the same thing about Charlotte and me. Heart heavy, I stumble over to the weight bench.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m sorry, man, I\u00a0never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKnew what?\u201d Nick\u2019s hand falls away. He doesn\u2019t look heartbroken but would I even know what that looked like? I think hard to the last time I saw Nick disappointed about something. When our dog Hobo died, Nick was sad but he never loved Hobo like I did. Hobo was my dog just like I thought Charlotte was my girl. There was the one time when Nick was ten and I broke his vintage Marvel Superman. He\u2019d cried like a baby for at least a half hour until Mom found a\u00a0replacement on eBay but he doesn\u2019t look like he\u2019s on the verge of tears. He just looks like he needs to take a shit or something. Pained\u2014that\u2019s his expression.<\/p>\n \u201cIs it Superman bad?\u201d I ask tentatively.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you drink last night? Because you aren\u2019t making any sense.\u201d He half rises from the weight machine. “Wait, did you break my Superman action figure again?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d I raised both hands in an innocent gesture. \u201cHaven\u2019t touched the replacement.\u201d<\/p>\n Nick sits back down.\u00a0\u201cThen what\u2019s with the weird act and the threat about Superman? Because I\u2019ll kick your ass if you touch that again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou could try, but then you\u2019d run to momma because I made you weep like a little girl.\u201d I shoot back. We are\u00a0straying from the\u00a0original topic and I need to make sure everything is okay between Nick and me. The best way to do this is just to be straightforward, even if the responses are something that I don\u2019t want to hear.\u00a0\u201cYou okay with Charlotte and me being together?\u201d<\/p>\n He gives me another\u00a0weird look.\u00a0\u201cLike I said, did you drink last night?\u201d At my negative head shake he continues,\u00a0\u201cEveryone knows that you and Charlotte are together. She never gets even one invite at school to parties or shit because you\u2019ve already made it clear that any one even looks wrong at her, they\u2019re going to lose a finger or five.\u201d<\/p>\n I don\u2019t realize that I am that obvious.\u00a0\u201cBut I\u2019ve never said anything,\u201d I protest.<\/p>\n Nick throws his towel at me but it falls harmlessly between us.\u00a0\u201cYou didn\u2019t have to. Your glares are enough. Plus, bringing her into the locker room? You might as well have pissed on her leg.\u201d<\/p>\n I probably should be sorry but I\u2019m not. Not at all. I pat my subconscious self on the\u00a0back. Hadn\u2019t even realized I was doing it.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s with the moaning and covering your face then?\u201d I ask. Offended, I snap back sharply,\u00a0\u201cLike I would say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n He grunts and this time I\u2019m not sure if it is a grunt of exertion or exasperation.\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019ve never held back before.\u201d<\/p>\n Okay, exasperation.\u00a0\u201cBut this is Charlotte.\u201d I shake my head at him.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s different.\u201d So yeah, maybe Nick and I\u2019ve shared some\u00a0information between the two of us about other girls but I\u2019d never tell him about Charlotte. Whatever I did to Charlotte\u2019s body or she did to mine was a\u00a0private thing. Not that anything is going on and I tell Nick that.\u00a0\u201cBesides, there isn\u2019t anything to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen why even bring it up?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I wanted to make sure you\u2019re okay with it.\u201d Picking up a medicine ball, I throw it up, squat and catch it.<\/p>\n Even over the clanking of the weights, I can hear Nick\u2019s\u00a0impatience.\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t know why I wouldn\u2019t be but I do care that she\u2019s going to be gone for six months. How are we going to stop that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t,\u201d I tell him.\u00a0\u201cShe wants to go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo way.\u00a0She\u2019s been against that for weeks now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI talked to her last night\u00a0and she thinks it\u2019s the best thing for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLast night, huh?\u201d He eyes me speculatively and a protective urge drives me to dispel whatever images he might be conjuring.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing happened,\u201d I say frowning so he can see that I don\u2019t want him to pursue this but Nick doesn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause you think she shouldn\u2019t be touched until she\u2019s some magical age of what? Eighteen?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEighteen?\u201d I rear back. I had thought keeping my hands off of Charlotte until she was sixteen deserved some kind of medal but Nick is thinking eighteen? I wonder if my balls would fall off by then. \u201cMan, if you could see your face right now,\u2019 he chokes out. After laughing for at least a solid minute, Nick slides off the machine and picks up his towel so he can wipe the tears out of his eyes.\u00a0\u201cShit man. Okay, sixteen then.\u201d<\/p>\n I restart my squats determined to ignore Nick now because he was pissing me off. He cheerfully ignores my mounting bad mood and barrels forward.\u00a0\u201cBet Charlotte doesn\u2019t agree with your plans.\u201d<\/p>\n At this rate I\u2019m never going to get a work out in because his words\u00a0cause me to pause again.\u00a0\u201cAnd you know this how?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Because Charlotte\u2019s always going on about how there is such a double standard, still, between girls\u00a0and guys. How you didn\u2019t wait for her but you probably expect her to wait for you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe talks about this stuff with you?\u201d I\u2019m not sure what is more\u00a0surprising\u00a0to me at the moment. That Nick is okay talking sex with Charlotte but didn\u2019t want to hear about us or that both of them have discussed my own sexual history. The latter kind of makes me feel ill. I don\u2019t want Charlotte\u00a0thinking about me with any other girls because I didn\u2019t wait for her. The night of Charlotte\u2019s surgery springs to mind. I couldn\u2019t even keep it in my pants that night. I raise my eyebrows and nod approvingly.\u00a0\u201cI hadn\u2019t but it\u2019s not a bad idea.\u201d<\/p>\n Nick shakes his head at me.\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t get why she can\u2019t have a little fun if you are as well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2019s side are you on?\u201d I ask with disgust.<\/p>\n \u201cThe side of the person not getting any, I guess.\u201d He grins at me unashamedly. It\u2019s evident that Nick\u2019s been spending too much time with the upperclass girls.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not getting any,\u201d I point out.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you did with Madeline from downstairs the night Charlotte had her tumor out.\u201d After dropping that criticism, Nick gets up from the leg machine and picks up my abandoned medicine ball. At my silence, he continues,\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t worry. I\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0said anything to Charlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you trying to say, Nick?\u201d I ask carefully. I\u2019m mad that\u00a0he\u2019s brought up Madeline again but only because it reminds me of a weak moment\u2014one that I would take back if I could. It\u2019s a moment that I\u2019m afraid will hurt Charlotte and maybe even me.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m saying that you shouldn\u2019t dictate to Charlotte when she\u2019s ready or not ready. She should be the one to make that decision. If you can fool around before you think she\u2019s ready then it should be okay that she\u2019s with other guys before whatever arbitrary date you have set in your head for when you guys can be\u00a0\u2018together.\u2019\u201d He\u00a0holds up his fingers into air quotes when he says\u00a0together.<\/em><\/p>\n A new fear creeps into my mind. Charlotte and I\u00a0won\u2019t be together at all for six months. She\u2019ll be in Switzerland at a place filled with teens just her age who are going through the same thing she\u2019s going through. They\u2019ll understand her situation\u2014get\u00a0<\/em>her\u2014in ways that I can\u2019t. And if she’s thinking about experimenting and I’ve repeatedly told her no…did I have any right to think she’d not explore those urges with someone else? Did I think that nothing could happen in six months? Suddenly I feel\u00a0having my own Superman moment.<\/p>\n
\nRolling his eyes, Nick shoves his leg under the padded lever and starts his extensions again.\u00a0\u201cI just don\u2019t want to hear any detail about that shit. Charlotte\u2019s like my sister and you\u2019re my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nMy expression of horror and dismay must be plainly evident because Nick starts laughing so hard he almost falls off the machine.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYeah, we talk about some of that shit. She is my best friend you know. \u00a0She was feeling down last year that no one asked her to the spring dance and so I told her you probably threatened the locker room with castration.\u201d<\/p>\n