Charlie (UNREVISED)

Chapter 2

I feel the stares and I haven't even entered the building yet. My nerves are so high, and i'm on alert. I can feel my abilities itching to do something about it, but I hold it in. Seven hours. Come on Charlie, you can do this.

With that in mind, I keep my gaze forward and open the doors of my new school.

Nope. I can't do this.

"Papa! I can't do this!" I remember myself whining as we sat in the wooden boat in the middle of the lake.

The sun was over our heads, and the only noise I could hear for a couple of minutes was the distant rocking of the boat and the water splashing along the sides. With the absence of melanin in our bodies, it's much easier to get sunburned if we're out here for too long. But our abilities made it so that it's much harder to be completely sunburned to a crisp in under three seconds.

My father said it was a good idea to try and get me into fishing. "It's a good skill," he would say. "Very important."

I was only seven at the time, holding my little fishing rod with my patience at its end.

"What can't you do?" My dad asked lightly, looking completely content as he laid back against the boat, fishing rod in hand.

"I can't sit here any longer! And it's too silent!"

"Too silent? That's the whole point, babydoll."

I sighed loudly, frustrated. "I don't want it to be."

"Silence is what keeps the fishes from running away. You don't want to scare them, do you?"

I remember hesitating, pursing my lips. "Why aren't they taking the bait? You said they would."

"And they will with time. You just have to be calm, and silent. The fish will come to you."

With that, I was silent again. And for hours my dad and I just sat in the boat, not sharing any more words.

I don't know how long i've been standing here, right in front of the doors and too scared to move. But with that memory in mind, it helps to calm me down. I keep replaying the sound of the water, silencing my brain as I begin to move again, following the arrows that state they lead to the office.

As I go down the halls, I keep my head straight but my eyes cast down. So far, nobody has made an extravagant approach to being my friend and for some odd reason that disappoints me, but soon enough I find myself in front of double glass doors.

I open them slowly, inching my way in and the young lady at the counter glances up, looking back down at her computer, then doing a double take and looking back to me. Her eyes are wide as I walk up to the desk, my fingers fidgeting as I tap on my jeans uncomfortably. "Um... hi, i'm here for my schedule? I'm new."

The lady doesn't move or say anything for a second, before she blinks and nods quickly. She stands from her desk, turning towards a bucket of files. "Of course, can I get your last name?"

"Davis."

"First?"

"Charlie."

The lady moves through the files at lightning speed, making me stare in awe until she pulls one out. She gives me a light smile. "Charlie Davis..." She flips through some papers before taking out one, closing the file and putting back where she found it and handing the one paper to me.