Chain Reaction 3.2: Friends

Jarvis Watanabe

     That girl! I was doing nothing but minding my own business, as usual, when she comes running up and forcing her help on me. I didn't ask for that! I don't need that. I don't need to owe anyone anything. You start owing people things and they start to own you. I much prefer a simple transaction: one person does something or offers something like an item for sale and the other person pays money. That way, when they're done with that, they can go their separate ways and no one has that nagging feeling that they owe someone something.

     I tried to explain that to her! I can't pay her! Yet she didn't let up! Does she want to be friends? I don't need friends. 'Friends' can stab you in the back and walk away laughing about it.

     Family can too.

     That's why I said goodbye to both, not that I really had any friends. I don't need anyone. I'm going to make it on my own. I'm almost a teenager, so it'll be easier then. Maybe I'll be one of those teens that looks like adult so that no one questions why I'm alone.

     But there was just something about her! She's just this stupid kid, this stupid, persistent kid, but I found myself agreeing to let her help me. Maybe it's because she said this would mean that she could escape her bossy sister. I know all about aggravating sisters. After all, I have annoying Princess Pearl for a sister. Half-sister.

     However, this still means I owe her something. She wants freedom too, but that means I have to give up some of mine. If she starts irritating me, though, she's out.

     The real thing is: I could use some help. The flea market day is coming up, and I want to have plenty of irresistible stock to sell. I only have one day to make enough money until the next time. Well, I can sell stuff to the local collector's business, but he knows I'm desperate and will only take my best stuff without giving me the full value price. He's gotta make a profit, too.

     I guess I can sacrifice a little time. So, I agree to let her help me.

     She says her name is Charlotte, but Charlotte is too serious a name for her, I think. Plus, I think it's funny that she acts confused when I call her Lottie. Doesn't she know that's a nickname for Charlotte? Little Lottie. Haha! 

     I tell her I'll meet her after school. What she doesn't know is that I quit school, too.

     After the school day ends, I go back to the same area to find her, but before I even get there, I hear her voice sounding very high-pitched. Pearl would get like that when she played, and sure enough, Lottie is sitting there playing with a toy like it's the creature chosen to pull the princess's carriage to the ball. I smile and sit down, thinking it's funny that she's so sucked-in that she doesn't know I'm here. Then, she makes the thing make the goofiest noise I've ever heard, and I can't take it! I crack up laughing.

     Her head snaps over in my direction. "Hey!" she says like she's mildly insulted I'm laughing at her.

     I hold my stomach from laughing. "You're...so...funny!"

     I expect her to get mad, but she doesn't. Instead, she smiles like she can now see how that really was funny. "Guess what?" she asks excitedly and puts the toy back in the mysterious place where everything goes.

     Before I can ask, she continues, "I snuck out last night."

     Now this surprises me. "You did what?" I remember the day I'd decided to finally leave. I hate my step-father. He's such an ass. It was better for a while when he went to prison, but he was out within a year on a stupid technicality. My mom welcomed him back. Seeing that my mom will put up with being married to a murderer just so she doesn't have to fend for herself was the last straw. I had the decency to tell her I was leaving, and she cried. That jerkface Landgraab was standing there with her and he was all like, 'Let him go, Liliana.' I knew he hated me. Mom kept trying to convince him to adopt me, but he wouldn't. I'm glad. If being a Landgraab means being like him, I don't want it. I'd rather have the last name that everyone teases me by calling me a 'wannabe,' the last name of my real dad, who also left my mom.

     Lottie starts telling me about what happened, distracting me from my more negative thoughts.

     "I couldn't sleep, so I slipped out my bedroom window." She grins. "I was just too excited about finding stuff for you to sell!" I must look concerned because she says, "Don't worry; I was careful. It was really pretty out there at night!"

     "I found some great stuff." She shoves a bunch of things into my inventory, one of them being a limited edition figurine and the other one even more uncommon.

     "You found a Morcubus?" That one sells for about seventy-five simoleans. I could buy an actual cot to sleep on instead of just my sleeping bag!

     "Yeah! Is that a good one? I remember seeing one at my grandma's. The frog one is my favorite, though."

     I smile. "You like frogs."

     "Yeah. So what?"

     "Girls don't usually like frogs." Did her face get red?

     "Well," she starts defensively, "my Aunt Em-Em would read me a story about a frog and a rabbit. I liked the frog the best because the rabbit thought he was better than everyone else." She scowls because I'm laughing again.

     "Your 'Aunt Em-Em'?"

     Still scowling, she says, "I've always called her that."

     I have to remind myself that her toddler memories are more recent than mine, and I'm guessing that's what she called her aunt when she was a toddler. "Okay." I still smile, though.

     "We could find some frogs for you to sell..." She leaves the idea hanging in the air.

     "They'd die before I could sell them. I'm not good at keeping them alive." I much prefer nonperishable stock like collectibles and toys. They're easier to transport, too.

     She convinces me to go hunt for more stuff, and we get to work. I have to admit it's nice to get more inventory with half my usual effort. When night falls, I make her promise me that she'll stay in her house.

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Charlotte

     Jarvis is so cool, but he's also a little too serious sometimes. I know he's almost a teenager, but I think he's forgotten how to just be a kid. Sure, I guess it's good to know what you're gonna be when you grow up, but that doesn't mean you have to do it now.

     Today, I've convinced him to go play at the park. When I get here, Tommy Keenan is here. He's really excited to see me. Very excited. Something gives me a fluttery feeling when he smiles at me. I'm guessing that's his excitement.

     He starts telling me about something that happened at school today. He's in a different class than me for half the day, and we don't get to hear about everything because the teachers don't like us to talk too much during class.

     "And so then Britney got up and pulled his shirt up," he says, talking about a boy that likes to wear his pants too low. "He'd had his underwear just as low as his pants, so the whole class saw his butt!"

     "For real?!" I crack up laughing. So that's why Aiden wasn't at school today. He'd gotten sent home and told to wear pants the right way from now on. "Did Britney get in trouble too?"

     I hear a voice behind me. "Lottie!" It must be Jarvis. I turn around and smile at him, glad he's here, but I get confused when a wave of irritation sweeps over me from Tommy. I turn back around, wondering why.

     "Tommy? Is everything o-"

     He kisses the side of my mouth.

     "-kay?" I finish.

     He's not looking at me, watching Jarvis, who's stopped. I'm too shocked to say anything. I look at Jarvis as he walks to us.

     "Charlotte, do you know who he is?" Tommy asks me.

     "Yeah. He's Jarvis." Did Tommy kiss me?

     "You don't know his last name?" Tommy continues.

     "Um, no." Why did he kiss me?

     Jarvis closes his eyes. "It's Watanabe," he growls out.

     Tommy smirks. "I guess you're not even good enough to be a Landgraab, are you, Wannabe?" He looks at me. "He's Pearl's brother." Pearl is in our class, and I hate her. A year ago, I got sent home with a note after I gave her a black eye. Daddy was furious, but then he hugged me and cried. And I felt awful. Now Tommy is saying Jarvis, my new friend, is Pearl's older brother? I didn't even know she had an older brother.

     "Half-brother," Jarvis replies, telling me Tommy's telling the truth.

     I'm so full of my own emotions that I can't feel the others'. "You..." I feel betrayed.

     Tommy keeps going. "Did she tell you she's Charlotte Taylor?" Then, he really rubs it in. "His dad killed your mom!"

     Everything is like it's under water. There's a rushing noise in my ears, and my vision swims around me. My mom is dead, and I wonder if that will ever stop hurting. All I remember was that Mommy was gone. She went to work and never came home. Later, I learned that she was shot in the back by Malcolm Landgraab. When he got out of jail was when Pearl paraded herself around in front of me like she was something extra special. Then, she had the nerve to say that my mommy wasn't important enough for her dad to spend any more time in jail. That's when she got a black eye.

     "He is not my father," I hear Jarvis growl like he'd love to give Tommy a black eye. "And I didn't know. But since he's not my father, it shouldn't matter. It's just one more reason to hate him."

     Tommy speaks next like he's winning an argument. "It doesn't matter? Look at her! You've made her cry. It doesn't matter whether or not he's your actual father because your mom is married to him, and he buys your clothes and food and stuff." He pauses, and I start wiping my cheeks. "Don't worry, Charlotte. I doubt your mom would be upset with you since this wannabe didn't tell you who he was."

      Oh the pain! Anger! Jealousy! Fury! Rage! It all mixes in with my sorrow. I liked Jarvis.

      "Lottie!" I hear him wanting to explain. "He's not my dad! He doesn't buy me things; I won't let him. I hate him. Do you understand?" He holds my shoulders, but I throw him off.

      "Leave me alone!" I run away from both of them, not worrying about Chloe getting mad at my dirty shoes. I wanna go home.