FicWad

Charlie Thornquist moved away from Des Moines when she was just a little girl. Her parents divorced when she was eight and she was forced to move with her mother. That life proved to be one of nothing but hardship and strife, for it was not long after they arrived in Sunny Los Angeles that her mother started drinking and drugging her pain away. So there were many years of hunger and sorrow. But yet a light shone through all the darkness enshrouding Charlie... Her father called and invited her to move back to Des Moines with him. She was nearing her eighteenth birthday and she would be free to go back to her real home. Charlie was ecstatic, but as she ran out into the living room she saw a something that would scar her mind for years to come; Her mother laying prone upon the couch, covered in her own blood, which had poured from a vicious, self inflicted wound to her neck. The serrated kitchen knife still clenched in her hand. Charlie called the ambulance, and then fell to her knees. For even though the woman on the couch put her through hell, she was still her mother.


*Fast forward three days*

Charlie stepped off the plane, her very few belongings clutched tightly to her chest within her messenger bag. She spotted a familiar face, and walked towards it. "Dad?" She murmered quietly as she gingerly placed a pale hand upon hid arm. The man turned and recognition sparked in his green eyes. "Oh Charlotte! I'm so glad you are alright." He said, tearing up as he pulled her into his arms. "I'm just glad to be home, dad." Charlotte whispered, hugging him back. "I'm sure all your old friends will be so glad to see you Char!" He smiled as he lead her out of the terminal. "I'm sure they've all forgotten me dad. It's been almost ten years." She sighed as they made their way to the old Chevrolet pickup her father had owned since before she could remember. "Don't be so sure sweetheart. The boys never forgot you, and you'll be surpised how they've grown." Her father chuckled as they took off down the parkway towards their little suburb. "Yeah, maybe they'll still want to be friends... But they are probably popular jocks." She sighed. "Charlotte, you all are still very much alike. Just wait until you see them at the party tomorrow..." He chuckled. "Wait... Party?!" She squeaked. "Yeah a party, to welcome you home." He said smiling at her. "Uh dad? I'm not really a people person." She mumbled, looking out her window at the passing houses. "Don't worry, it will just be the boys and their parents." He laughed, obviously glad to have his daughter back. They arrived at the familiar two story home that she spent her early years in she smiled. "Your room is a little boring but we can paint and decorate it sometime this week." He father said as he turned into the driveway. "She nodded and yawned. "I think I'm going to go to bed after dinner, dad." She stated as they made their way to the kitchen. "That's fine, the plane trip must have tired you out." They ate their reheated pizza in silence. Charlie excused herself shortly after, and made her way to her old bedroom, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.