Call Me Viccy

Chapter 3: Goldilocks and the three Blondes

*WARNING EXPLICIT LANGUAGE*

Four years ago today I never thought that I would be here. In a car with Charlotte Rivers the meanest b- I mean the meanest person I’ve ever met. She had made my life a living nightmare. Now when people say they’ve been to hell and back I can say “Really? Me too!”. Who would’ve thought me Victoria Foster would have to live a life with Charlotte Rivers. Her hair is so blonde and yellow it’s almost blinding. And her eyes. There’s real evil in them. But sometimes that can be mistaken for instead of the true feeling behind the mask. Pain. I don’t know anything about her life. Not that I want to. But now I do. I have to know every little detail. Not only to survive in the Rivers’ house but because her dad keeps blabbering so much. I need to think about something else. Not that there’s really anything to think about. Other than that… I don’t want to think about it but eventually, I’ll have to. Death. I’m terrified. My dad was too. He lost his parents when he was 10 and has been in and foster care ever since. Suits my name doesn’t it? Not only that but he lost mom too. Both mom and dad were only kids so I don’t have any cousins, aunts, or uncles that I know of. My mother lost her parents too. Her dad was a raging alcoholic and d**g addict. He’s been in jail ever since his meth lab blew up and killed a couple that was walking past his building. He wasn’t there at the time though. And my grandmother passed of Lung cancer. She died respectfully. Crazy thing is, my grandmother never smoked a day in her life. Nor did she drink. She was a perfectly healthy woman and then cancer, which is just a big bully in disguise, got to her. And she lost. That just shows that life isn’t perfect. You can do everything right, just for everything to go wrong. I’m not gonna lie, I hate people who say “Stay positive, it’ll get better!” I mean come on! Just because your life is happy and stress-free doesn’t mean that everybody else’s is. Great, I just pissed myself off and all I did was think. What  “positive” thing do I have to think of now? I noticed Charlotte glancing at me. I thought she was asleep. I watched as she reached into her jean jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of tissues. She handed them to me. Why is she giving this to me? I don’t need tissues. 

“Why are you giving me these? I don’t need these, my nose isn’t runny.”

She rolled her eyes and sighed. 

“Well, you don’t have to be so mea-”

She unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over. After grabbing a tissue from the pack she graced my cheek with her right hand and wiped under my eyes using the same tissue. That’s weird I felt my heart stop for a second. This is the same feeling I had with Finn. Do I like Charlotte? Woah. Why am I even thinking about this?! I hate Charlotte and her stupid Kleenex tissues. I need to start calling her a b***h in my head again. But, before I had another second to think. I saw a smile form on Charlotte’s face. Or at least I thought I did.

“You were crying. I’m assuming that it was about your dad. I haven’t said this yet so I’m gonna say this now and only this time. I’m sorry for your loss. I know how much you loved your dad. I’ve seen you at school talk to people about how cool your dad was. He seemed like a nice enough guy for me to say that.”

Wow, Charlotte Rivers actually cares about something for once. Wait. I was crying? I didn’t even feel any tears. Well, it makes sense It just seems that nowadays I could be bleeding from my mouth or something and not even notice. I wonder why she’s being so nice to me. With her dad being in the car that probably has something to do with it. Hold on. Her dad wasn’t even in the car. What the hell?

“Where’s your dad?”

“Oh, the car needed some gas so we had to stop for a bit while he fills it up. My dad’s car needs a specific kind of gas, so we have to go to this certain spot, but he made an exception this one time so we could go home early,” she said as she leaned back to her side of the car.

I didn’t even notice that the car had stopped let alone her dad wasn’t even in it. Seems like I’m missing a lot these days.

“Look, Goth Girl-”

“My name is Victoria.”

“Whatever. Look just because I said that stuff and wiped away your tears like you’re a crusty, white dog with eye boogers doesn’t mean I’m playing house. I’m not your friend. Were not sisters. We’re nothing. I only did that because all of those whining and sniffling, which really makes you look and sound even more like a mutt, was bothering the hell out of me. Now, I’m gonna pretend to fall asleep so I don’t have to be any nicer to you than I already am in front of my dad. Capisce?”

I knew it was too good to be true.

“You know Charlotte I thought that finally for once that you could be kind. Maybe share a little grief even. But you know what? You have been and always will be a b***h.  And you will never change my mind.”

“Well good then!”, she yelled.

“Great!”, I yelled.

Her dad was walking back to the car. Charlotte immediately put her head to the side of the car before her dad opened the door.

“Sorry about that kids. Had to grab another pack of cigarettes before we left. I’m out at home. Are you doing both ok? Oh, Charlotte’s asleep. Well, I guess it’s just me and you Victoria. You ok back there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine Daniel I just wanna get some sleep.”

“Well, you know what the doctor said. You can’t fall asleep for 2 hours. Oh gosh, it’s almost midnight. Sorry about that kid. You have another hour left. We should be at my house in about 5 minutes. So just keep yourself busy so that you can stay awake for another 55 minutes, alright?”

‘Ok.”

And just like that, we were on our way to the Rivers. As we were driving down the street I realized I was suffering from some “Deja Vu”. Daniel was driving on the exact same street where my dad was murdered. I felt sick to my stomach. I sat straight up and yelled.

“STOP!”

Both Daniel and Charlotte looked at me as surprised as ever. I couldn’t breathe. I put my head in between my legs, with my hands on my ears. I couldn’t feel anything. I understood what was happening. I was in shock. At least that’s what I think. I’m not a doctor or anything. How the hell should I know? I felt the car come to a halt. Daniel pulled the car over.

“Victoria? Are you ok?”

“S-stop…”

“The car stopped, it’s ok. You’re ok.”

I put my head up. I noticed that Daniel's voice sounded different. That’s because it wasn’t Daniel. It was Charlotte? She put her hand on my shoulder and started rubbing it. She then leaned on me. Doesn’t she have a boyfriend? Why is she doing this? She must only feel the obligation of being nice to me this time because her dad’s in the car. 

“Victoria, look at me. Victoria.”

“I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

“You’re in shock.”

Oh, so I was right.

“But it’s ok now. You’re safe with me and my dad. And if we’re being honest...I thought about on;y saying this to look good in front of my dad. But now I can see that you’re in pain. You lost someone that you love. And I understand that. I lost someone a while back too. You feel like that there was something that you should’ve done to save them. But in reality, there was nothing we could do. There was nothing anyone could do. It’s not your fault. It’s the person who killed your dad who’s at fault, Victoria.”

I looked at her with tears in my eyes. I thought she was really saying all that to look good. But she admitted it, so it’s not true anymore. I couldn’t help myself. I began to sob. I let it all out. I hugged her. Sharing the embrace of another human being whether or not I despise them didn’t matter. She was there for me and that’s all I need or could ever ask for.

“Charlotte.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“Your welcome, Victoria. You’re welcome.”

Daniel started to put the car in motion. He drove fast down the street of which my dad was murdered, and began to slow down when the street faded. Same as the street I thought that my grief would fade the more we began to drive away. But the feeling was still there if not more. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Why can’t I stop? Why?! I just want...I just want my dad back. I noticed we were pulling up on a steep driveway. There were 2 more cars parked. They were all white and had the same design. Small with one door that seats two. There was a large garage too, so I’m assuming that there’s even more. Behind the garage, there was this big golden brown house. It looked like it was made out of wooden planks. It did look very homely and cozy. Daniel stopped the car. There was a man wearing a black suit. He had light brown hair and a beard. Look to be in his 30’s. 

“Hello, Mr. Rivers. Did you pick up Henry’s kid?”

“Yes I did, Scott. She’s in the backseat. Be a gentleman and open the door for her and my Charlotte. Oh, and you can have the night off. I can take it from here.”

“Sure thing boss. Thank you.”

“Yeah, no problem. One more thing Scott. Take this around the back and park it in the second garage would ya?”

“No problem Mr. Rivers.”

I watched as Daniel tossed his keys over the car to the so-called Scott. I can’t believe they have a butler, Are these people related to Batman or something? Well if I’m being honest I'm not that surprised. I mean Charlotte’s dad is the most powerful man in town. Scott went to the left side of the car, my side, and opened the door for me. I didn’t really have any bags to carry except my backpack, but he grabbed it for me. I was about to stand up and get out of the car, but before I could I felt a dizzy-like sensation run up and down my body. Oh no. I felt faint.

“I’m about to pass ou…”

I fainted before I could finish my sentence, but I’m pretty sure that everyone knew what I was going to say. Scott dropped my backpack to the ground, hopefully not too hard though my laptop was in there, and caught me in just enough time right before my body hit the ground. I started to open my eyes. Everyone was standing over me. Daniel, Charlotte, Scott, and...Wait that’s new. Am I seeing double? There was another person standing over me. They didn’t look exactly like anyone from the crowd standing over me so I wasn’t seeing double. It was dark, but there were street lights on, so I could make out their features. They had what looked like short dirty blonde hair and big bright blue eyes. And they’re lips were very thin that goes along well with their big nose.

“Carter go grab the wheelchair from the trunk for Victoria”, Daniel yelled.

“Ok dad.”

I wanted to get up but my body was sore, so I knew that I shouldn’t. Carter, who I’m assuming is Charlotte’s brother, came around with the wheelchair. Wait Daniel said that he has 3 kids so Charlotte should have another brother or sister. I’m guessing that their name is gonna start with ‘C’ like in the old sitcoms where the siblings all share the same first letter of their name. Everyone helped me up into the wheelchair. Carter started pushing me towards their front door. 

“That was one nasty fall. You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks by the way.”

“Yeah, no problem. I'm Carter by the way. I’m Charlotte’s brother, but I don’t prefer being labeled that way. Just Carter.”

“Haha ok. Just Carter.”

“So you’re Victoria?”

“The one and only. Why?”

“Oh, nothing. Just heard a lot about you.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah someone’s got a serious crush on you.”

“Wait what? Who?”

“Charlotte duh. Who else? She talks about you every day. Every time she comes home she blabbers about how annoying you are, but that’s how every girl talks about someone that they like.”

“I thought you heard ‘a lot’ about me from my dad being murdered.”

“Oh, s**t. I’m sorry. I knew that. I assumed that you wouldn’t want another person feeling sorry for you. Also, your old man just passed so you probably wouldn’t wanna talk about that right?”

“No yeah you’re right, Carter. But wait, hold up. Charlotte talks about me? Doesn’t she date Tyler?”

“Yeah, that’s what you and everyone else thinks.”

Charlotte caught up with me and Carter in time to hear what I said. She glared at Carter like she was kill him. Wait, poor choice of words.

“And that is my cue to leave. You two ladies enjoy yourselves.”

“Ugh shut up Carter!” Charlotte said as she slapped him. 

Carter ran inside laughing while rubbing his cheek with his hand. Charlotte began wheeling me up a ramp that they had instead of stairs. There’s no way that they built this for me. Especially in one day. There must be an older person living here, or just someone who’s handicapped.

“Don’t listen to a word that my brother said. Carter is the youngest, 16, so he tends to be more playful than everyone. He’s just lying to mess with the both of us. Ok?”

“Um... ok.”

We were finally inside. Scott was behind me and dropped off my bag by the front door. Charlotte wheeled me by this large green couch, the was in an L shape with some white throw pillows on it before heading upstairs... I looked around. There was a big ceiling fan at the tip of the high roof. They had a TV that was on the wall with LED light surrounding it. There were many more objects. Some of which were a bit hard to explain. Like the white ceramic statue of a soldier riding a flamingo. Yeah seemed like they were being blackmailed into that one. Charlotte came back down with folded clothes in her hands. 

“Here these are old hand-me-downs. You can wear this to sleep tonight.”

She laid them on the couch for me to see. There was a white shirt that had a lace-like neck along with some navy blue shorts made out of cotton.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Charlotte I wanted to ask you something.”

She looked like she had to brace herself like I was gonna ask her if she was in love with me or something based on what Carter said. Though her blushing did give her away. Haha, I’m kidding. Like Charlotte Rivers likes ‘me’. She hates my guts underneath all that golden blonde hair, no matter how nice she is to me on the surface. It’s all fake.

“So what’s up with the ramp?”

“The ramp? What ramp?”

“The one by your front door.”

“Oh, that.”

“If it’s too personal you don’t have to tell me or say anything.”

“No, it’s alright.”

“You sure?’

“Yeah.”

“That ramp out there is for my sister, Courtney. She was in a plane crash about a year ago. She lost her left leg from the knee down. Our dad has been talking about getting her some prosthetic legs and going to do some physical therapy, but she's been in a very depressed state and has been hesitant ever since. She rarely gets up and out of bed, as well as eating meals daily. She’s supposed to be in college right now. That’s actually why she took the plane. She got accepted into Harvard, and since we live in North Carolina she thought taking a plane would be the easier option. Obviously not… So now she has a wheelchair. She had a car like me and Carter but then decided to sell it. Ever since she lost her legs It’s like we lost Courtney altogether.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry Charlotte. Not to pry or anything, but when we were talking in the car earlier was she the person that you lost?”

“No.”

“Oh, I was sure that-”

“How about you stop interrogating me and just put your damn pajamas on Goth Girl?!”

“Geez, I’m sorry Charlotte. I told you that you didn’t have to say anythi-”

“And yet you keep asking me questions!!! Like I owe you the benefit of the doubt!!! Or like I owe you anything at all!!! JUST PUT YOUR DAMN PAJAMAS ON!!!

“Ok! I’m going! Where’s the f**king bathroom?!”

“Underneath the stairs…”

My body felt better and I felt less dizzy. I lifted myself up and walked to the bathroom, after giving Charlotte my best death stare of course. I took my clothes off and set them on the floor. As I did I heard footsteps running up the soft carpet stairs from what I saw. I then changed into the pajama set that Charlotte gave me. Before leaving I looked in the mirror. My big, doey, brown eyes looked so dry from me crying all day. My hair was in a ponytail. Not like a high one or anything, I have short dark brown hair that goes to my neck. I let my hair down and brushed it with my hands. There was a black brush on the sink though, but I don’t know who’s hair that’s been in. After that, I then opened the bathroom door and walked out with my clothes in my hands. Charlotte was nowhere to be found. I’m guessing that was her who was running up the staircase. I stuffed my clothes in my bag. I plopped my body onto the couch. I didn’t know what to do now. I could work on my story. But the last time I did that someone died. I hate this day. I still have about 30 minutes left before I can fall asleep, so I got up and turned the TV on. It was on this nature documentary. I hate documentaries. They make me sleepy just thinking about it. I was flipping through channels when a certain one caught my eye. It was the Oakdale News on channel 6. They were talking about my dad’s murder. Basic things like how he died, and at the end, they showed a number telling people to call if they have anything that could help solve who killed my father. Or if they’re lucky the whereabouts of a suspect. I don’t think that they have any suspects yet though. I wonder if Finn is watching this. I wish he were here right now to comfort me. I hate emotion. One minute I’m all “He’s so hot!” The next minute I’m thinking “Maybe I just like him as a friend” and now I want him to coddle me like I’m a puppy that injured its leg. In a way, I guess it’s like that. But instead of my leg, it’s my heart. I just lost my dad. He was my favorite person in the world. And now he’s gone. I switched the channel to this game show where you have to create your own skit with a partner and then a panel of 3 judges vote on a scale from 1-10 on how they did. You have to compete with 12 other contestants, so there are a total of 7 groups. The winning prize is 20,000 dollars. I bet those people are having the time of their lives right now. And I’m just here sulking. I turned the volume up, which was unnecessary because game shows are naturally loud. Especially the hosts. I figured I’d keep this on and just focus on my novel for the next 20 minutes. Hopefully, the noise in the background will keep me awake. I got up and grabbed my laptop from my bookbag. It looked undamaged from earlier, thank goodness. I found a grey blanket that was folded up on one of the couch arms. I picked it up and spread it over my body. After doing that I set my computer in my lap and I began to type away all of the pressure and trauma throughout my day.