“I hope she’s okay,” he says in an unsteady voice. Charlie hasn’t been around that long, but she’s one of us, and we aren’t going to let her go through whatever this is alone. Trent’s phone starts ringing as we start to pull away. “It’s Abbs. Hey Abbs, any news?” he asks as he puts her on speaker phone. I’ve never heard Abby’s voice sound so depressed. She’s had the hardest time of all of us to find her place in the world. Now that she’s found a girl she really likes, she doesn’t want to lose her either.
“Sophia just called me. I guess I was the first name in Charlie’s contacts. They have no clue where she is. I told her we would be looking, and her social worker is too. They told Sophia to stay home in case Charlie ends up there. Guys, she doesn’t have a phone on her and is in a town she isn’t completely familiar with yet. Cole has my car, so I’m heading on foot to the shops. Maybe she’s hiding out somewhere there.” She hangs up, and I take a deep breath.
Now I’m even more anxious with the idea of her being out there without a phone. Trent and I continue our slow drive through town, scanning our eyes over everything. We start at the school and go to all of the places we think Charlie can reach on foot. We get honked at more than once, but I don’t care. I’ll drive as slow as we need to scan our surroundings. Charlie deserves our extra focus and I want our girl back.
Cole
Come on, Charlie, where are you?
I keep whispering the words to myself as I circle the town. Eventually, I just call Alice and ask her to wait at the library in case she shows up there. Adam and Trent are checking the main roads and Abby has the shopping district.
I’m at a loss of where else to look, so I try to think of the more relaxing spots she could have ended up at. Secluded, too. She clearly wanted to be alone.
It feels like hours of no fucking luck, when I spot the park. It seems like a good place and not terribly far from where Adam saw her, so I turn in and drive around the road that runs through the park. It makes a circle, so I should be able to spot her if she’s here.
About halfway through I do a double take. If it wasn’t for the setting sun glinting off of her pink tinted hair, I would have missed her. Pulling into the next lot, I park and try my best not to run over to her like a fool. I don’t want to panic her more and I’m not sure where she’s at mentally.
Charlie doesn’t even look over as I sit down, not even a flicker of a reaction. The look on her face is blank, but tears are steadily streaming down her face. My poor Charlie girl. I take her hand in mine, and she jumps, just now noticing that I’m here. Her eyes are wide as she stares at me, blinking slowly. She takes a quick look around, as if wondering where I'd come from.
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you, Charlie girl,” I say quietly. “What’s wrong?” She starts shaking her head no, and I see panic creep into her eyes. I can’t resist anymore and pull her into my lap. I need to feel her in my arms to convince myself she’s safe. After I hold her for several minutes, I pull out my phone to tell the others.
Me: I’ve got her guys. She’s at the park by the fountain. Don’t let her social worker come get her, but Abbs let her foster mom know we’ll bring her home when she’s ready.
Abbs: Okay, someone come get me. She clearly needs us. God I’m going to cry too now.
Trent: Thank God she’s ok. We got you, Abbs.
Me: I didn’t say she was ok, she’s not doing so hot.
Alice: I’m at the library, pick me up too?
Trent: Coming.
Seeing their responses roll in, I smile. This is what we do best. If one of us falls, we pick them back up and smother them with group time.
And our Charlie definitely needs us now.
She doesn't talk, but she also doesn’t pull away, so I sit there and hold her while I
wait for our friends to arrive. It only takes about fifteen minutes until I hear the car doors. When I look up, the others are walking over.
Adam immediately picks Charlie up from my arms and sits on the grass with her. I start to feel a twinge of jealousy but push it away. She needs this, and I think he does too. I could see the panic in his face when he arrived. He’s the protective type and clearly hates that he can’t protect her from whatever her demons are. Plus, he likes her as much as I do. I’ve never seen him look at a girl the way he looks at her.
We all sit in a circle around them. Abby reaches out and takes Charlie’s hand, and the tears that have been a steady stream start to slow at the contact. Her eyes are closed, but her face has that awful broken look she tries to hide. I can feel my heart fracturing at seeing her like this.
What happened to our girl?
It’s a question I’ve asked myself a lot lately.
A few minutes later, she opens her eyes and looks up, giving the others a watery smile. Her brows furrow as she glances around.
I realize she can’t see me, so I lean around Adam. “You doing a little better, Charlie girl?”
Her face relaxes when she sees me and gives Adam one more squeeze before crawling over to sit back in my lap again. It’s more bold than she generally is, but I can’t help but enjoy it. A part of me feels smug at the thought she wants me to be her safe place. I want that too.
“What’s going on, Charlie?” Alice asks quietly. Charlie takes a deep breath but doesn’t move. We know she isn’t ignoring us, she just isn’t ready. Finally, she leans back to look up at me, holding her hand out. She doesn’t have to do anything else for me to know she wants my phone. She pulls up the notes app and types that she will message us later. Then asks for a ride home. Turning my head toward Abby, I raise a questioning brow.
“Let’s take my car,” Abby offers, standing from her spot and pulling Charlie up to envelope her into a snug embrace. Each of our friends gives her a tight hug before we head to our cars. Abby, Charlie, and I all climb into the front seat, no one willing to separate.