Charity's Storm (Charity Series Book 4) (3 page)

             
“Oh, okay.” I took off the lid and saturated my lips heavily. I rubbed my lips together and was suddenly transported into Heaven. I closed my eyes, enjoying the silky feel and amazing smell. “Oh my jolly green jelly beans! I am totally in love with this stuff. What is this called?” I looked down at the simple tube in my hand. 

             
“That one is called raspberry ice,” she answered with an almost singing in her voice.

             
And that was that. I knew I was hooked for life.

             
“I love it. Thank you so much,” I said, and I truly meant it.

             
“Oh, you are very welcome. Who knows, maybe someday my lip balms will be so popular that they stay on back order. Now wouldn’t that be nice?”

             
“Well, that’s what I’ll pray for when I go to church this Sunday,” I said to her.

             
She seemed genuinely impressed by my statement. “That would be lovely, dear. My name is Nana Butterfly, by the way.”

I was surprised by the unique name. And as I studied her, I could make out red hair under her straw hat. She had beautiful flowers in different colors wrapped around her hat. Suddenly her name seemed to fit perfectly. “Umm, Nana Butterfly? Really?”

              She laughed. “I know, but that’s what I’ve been called for years.”

“Well, Nana Butterfly, it has been a pleasure meeting you. And thank you again.” I shook her hand.

              “It was my pleasure, dear. And you are?” Her eyebrows rose in question.

              “Oh, sorry. My name is Charity.”

             
“Well, Charity,” she said, patting me on the shoulder, “I will be praying for you as well.”

             
I smiled widely. I truly liked this woman. “Thank you so much.” I left then and caught up to Ashley while she was paying at the front counter.

             
As we walked back to the car, I told her what had happened. She wanted to borrow my new lip balm, but I was sure I would never let anyone but me use it—ever.

Chapter Three

“Happy birthday, Sunshine!!” my mom and dad said as they came into my room and opened the blinds. I squinted against the blaring light of a new day, but despite my sleepiness, I bounced with excitement in my bed.

              “What did you get me?” I asked with eager anticipation, continuing to bounce. My mom always got me something special, and my dad always
made
me something special. He went into the hall and brought back with him something wrapped in a white sheet. I had a suspicion as to what it was and jerked off the sheet to reveal a breathtaking painting of a lake with a canoe and some ducks floating in it. “Oh, Dad, it’s beautiful. Thank you. I know exactly where I want to hang it.” I gave him a big hug. I always loved his paintings. He was a very talented painter in his spare time.

             
“You’re welcome, Sunshine.”

My dad always called me Sunshine because he said my smile could light up any room. And sometimes I really felt like that was true. My life was pretty perfect. I mean I couldn’t really complain about much of anything. I had the best friend anyone could ever ask for. I had great, loving parents, and I had a happy spirit. I was pretty tall for fourteen, and I didn’t have zits like Ashley and a lot of other kids my age. Yes, my life was perfect.

My mom gave me a small diamond necklace since the diamond was my birthstone. It was beautiful, and I loved it. And that night they took me and Ash to see Charlie Brown on Ice. I know it seemed like a young thing to do for my age, but I loved Snoopy. I’m not totally sure why, but then again who didn’t. Afterward, we stopped at a nice restaurant and had dinner. My mom and dad held hands on the drive back home while Ash and I took turns braiding each other’s hair—that was when she still had long hair. It was a great and memorable day.

             
At school the next day, I showed off my new necklace and Ash and I told all of our friends about our trip. Delaney teased us, of course. She always seemed to do things like that, but it didn’t bother either of us too much. Stacy seemed slightly jealous that she didn’t get to go. I had to explain that I was only allowed to take one person. She said she was okay with it, but she still seemed bummed. I felt bad. I knew I would need to plan something with her soon.

             
As I sat in my first period class, I thought again about my weekend with my parents, celebrating my birthday, and I smiled, twirling the diamond from my necklace around my fingers. It was a great weekend; one of the best we had ever had, actually.

             
“Charity?” Toby whispered from behind me.

             
I quickly turned to him, my eyes growing wide in surprise. He didn’t talk to me much, but he was friendly and kind of cute, in a dorky sort of way. His dark hair was slicked back a little, and he had a huge smile that you couldn’t help but respond to. “What?”

“Does your friend, Delaney, have a boyfriend?”

              I snickered and covered my mouth. That was the last thing I had expected him to ask. “Not one of her own.”

             
“Excuse me, Miss Bell,” Mrs. Harper said. “Do you have something to say to the class?”

             
I stiffened and could instantly feel my face turn beet red.
Why did these things always happen to me?
“Um, no ma’am. I’m sorry.”

“Very good.” She continued with the lesson.

Dang it!
I stirred uncomfortably in my seat, sure the entire class was studying me. Last time I checked it wasn’t me that started these conversations to begin with. I huffed and blew my overgrown bangs out of my face.

             
At lunch, my friends ragged me about getting called out in class. Ashley had told them, of course.

             
“So, what did Toby ask you?” Stacey asked as she shoved another bite of chocolate pudding into her mouth.

             
I shrugged as I took a sip my soda. “Oh, he just wanted to know if Delaney had a boyfriend.”

             
Delaney spat out the piece of apple she had just taken a huge bite out of. It landed on the table right in front of my hand. All of us, except Delaney, burst into laughter, and it wasn’t because of the apple piece lying on the table, it was because of what was
inside
the apple piece. Stuck inside the chunk of apple, lying on the table in front of us, was a huge hunk of Delaney’s front tooth. Her eyes widened in horror and the entire table grew silent. She covered her mouth as she glanced around in shock at all of us, and then she stood and quietly exited the lunchroom, careful not to let anyone else see. We tried to hold our laughter, but it was almost impossible to do. And once she was out of the room we all burst into roaring laughter. It might not have been a nice thing to do but it was a natural one. To understand more, you would have to know Delaney. She was a snob of sorts. She stole other girls’ boyfriends, had a snarky reply to almost everything, and was purely focused only on herself. Why then were we her friends? None of us really knew the answer to that. One day Ashley invited her to sit with us in the lunchroom because she said Delaney looked lonely, and she’d been sitting with us ever since. Ashley thought everyone deserved a chance, and back then I agreed with her. 

Chapter Four

Later that day, Ash and I were walking through the hallway toward our lockers, discussing an upcoming history test, when we noticed a girl who appeared to have someone cornered against the lockers. As we approached, I recognized the girl, Bunnie. I had heard rumors that this Bunnie was a mean girl and liked to cause trouble, but until that moment I had never seen it for myself. And I had managed to keep a safe distance. She had a poor girl pushed against the lockers and was saying hateful things to her. I felt bad for the girl, who was crying, Hannah I think her name was. Ashley and I exchanged worried glances. I started to say something to Bunnie until she turned around and glared at me, daring me to intervene. I gulped, never having experienced a glare so mean, and cowed down and continued to walk. Ashley followed dutifully beside me.

              “Wow, that was intense,” Ashley said under her breath. “I thought you were gonna say something to her there for a minute.”

             
“Yeah,” I said, my voice a little shaky, “I thought so too.”

             
Ashley didn’t press the matter further, and I was thankful for it. The truth is, that Bunnie girl scared me, and I didn’t want to admit it to Ashley. She had always sort of looked up to me, like she admired me, and I didn’t want to disturb that.

             
“So, Ash,” I asked just as I finished with my combination and opened my locker. “Are you gonna get to come over and watch a movie with us on Friday night?”

             
“Oh,” she looked down, her expression sad, “I can’t come this week. My mom wants us to go to my aunt’s birthday party in Happy. I really don’t like that town. The only thing good about it is Happy’s Ice Cream Parlor, and I think we’re gonna go there after the party.”

              I frowned. “It’s okay. Maybe next week?”

             
She smiled brightly. “Definitely.”

* * * * * *

Friday after school, I hurried to finish up my homework and complete the chores my mom had left on the note by the fridge. I was actually looking forward to a night with just my parents. We hadn’t had a movie night with just the three of us in a while. Usually Ashley would join us, and sometimes even all of my friends. But tonight it was just us, and Dad was picking up the movie, his choice, along with the pizza on the way home from work.

I swept and mopped the kitchen and hall floors, vacuumed the living room, put the dirty clothes in the wash, made a gallon of fresh sweet tea, wiped down the kitchen counter, and washed the last of the dishes fro
m breakfast that morning. I had just finished putting the clothes in the dryer when I heard my mom’s car pull into the driveway. I met her at the door and helped her with the few bags of groceries she had in her arms.

             
“Hey, Annabelle. How was your day at school?” she asked, right on schedule. That was always the first thing she asked me when she saw me after work.

             
“It was good,” I answered her. “I made an A on that history test. Thank you for helping me study for it.”

             
She turned to me and smiled her brilliant, wide smile. Her eyes squinted, revealing small wrinkles just in the corners of her eyes that were barely even noticeable.  “Oh, Annabelle, that’s great. I know how much you stressed over that test. I bet it feels good to have it over with though, huh?”

             
I chuckled. “Oh yeah.”

My mom
had always called me Annabelle. She wanted to name me that, but since my last name was Bell, well let’s face it, Annabelle Bell just sounded downright stupid. Thank the maker for Charity, my grandmother’s name. I actually always liked it. And according to the tales, my grandmother was quite the character, a hoot in her own right. My mom had told me many times of how much I was like her and how naming me after her was a great decision.

“I bought you something.” She dug through her purse and then handed me a king-size Snicker
s bar. She knew they were my favorite at the moment. I was a fickle girl, and next week it would probably be something else completely.

             
“Oh, mom! Thanks!” I said, ripping the paper off and taking a huge bite. I closed my eyes and moaned. “Oh, sweet Mother Nature. I never get sick of these things.” My eyes practically rolled back into my head.

             
I heard the car door shut outside and ran to the front door, swinging it open and running into the yard to greet my dad. “Hey, Dad,” I said, giving him a giant hug and then helping him get his things from the car. I was still chewing on my Snickers when I studied the movie he’d picked. “Oh man, Star Wars Episode IV! Thanks, Dad!”  

             
He laughed. “You’re welcome, Sunshine. And don’t talk with your mouth full.”

             
“Yes, sir,” I answered with my mouth full.

             
I danced off into the house before him. “Look, Mom, Dad got us Star Wars Episode IV.”

             
“That’s great! I love that movie!” she said in response.

We had been watching the Star Wars movies ever since I could remember, and no matter how many times we watched them, they never seemed to get old.