When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see everyone else hugging Petals from different sides; she hadn't even heard them move. Charlie looked at who was next to her and saw it was Beth and Hannah. She waited until everyone was done hugging Petals and related what the conversation was about.
"So, do you think maybe it was the Heart of the Forest that called to you and had you walk to where it was until you saw it?" Hannah asked, as she walked back to the spot she had been sitting in.
Charlie shook her head. "I don't know. I just know how it felt." Charlie took a few steps away from Petals as she considered the idea.
"Well, whatever it was, at least we know where a Heart of the Forest is, but we can't be sure they took the Heart of the Forest from this forest," Beth commented.
"What makes you think there's more than one forest like this?" Tim asked, as everyone else started going back to where they had been.
"How do you know there isn't?" Ralph challenged, a smirk on his face telling everyone else that he might know more about this than he's letting on but isn't going to tell all he knows.
"Maybe a Heart of the Forest is all we need to get back in," Tim suggested.
"If that's what it was, why wouldn't Petals know about that," Wes said, sitting down on the ground, by where they entered this bush a couple days ago.
"Petals doesn't know everything," Tim replied.
While Charlie agreed with that sentiment, she couldn't help but consider that Petals still knew more about it than they did. After all, she wasn't stupid. Just inexperienced dealing with others and situations like this. "Even if that's the case," Charlie ventured, thinking about a class she had in biology earlier in the school year. "Who's to say that the Heart of the Forest I found would be compatible with this forest if it came from a different forest. It might be like an organ that is put in someone else who needs it. The organ might get rejected by the person's body, despite it being an important element it needs to survive."
Tim glared at Charlie, which Charlie couldn't help but find amusing for some reason. "Regardless about this, maybe we should see if anyone can think of a way that can get us into the forest without having the Heart of the Forest. After all, even if we had it, it might not be what we need to enter," Amelia suggested, looking at where the blocked entrance to the forest is.
_
"I think it's about time we wrapped this up," Beth suggested as the sun was going down. Charlie couldn't believe she'd been out here this long. Normally she'd work in her garden, then go inside to her room, work on her homework, then read a book, usually about growing something. When she'd thought about this time coming up, she'd thought that it would feel like time was dragging on, not go by without her realizing it.
"Did we really accomplish anything?" Wes asked as he stood up, brushing dirt of his pants.
"We at least learned about the Heart of the Forest," Hannah replied as she stretched her legs during the process of standing up.
"Aside from that, I don't think much else was done," Amelia said, not showing any indications of wanting to move just yet.
"At least I think we helped Petals feel not alone in this," Charlie found herself mentioning, surprising herself in the process.
Beth pulled Charlie into a side-hug. "And that's worth all the time we spent here, right?"
Charlie pushed Beth away from her, surprised, and pleased, that Beth wasn't as hard to dislodge as she had been previously when Charlie tried to end physical contact. "It depends on if we're able to do something that will get us in her forest to see if there is anything that needs to be done to help it or if the crisis is otherwise over."
"Well, I'll see you guys later," Ralph said as he quickly left.
As Charlie watched him go, she realized he hadn't said anything the entire day while he was there. She didn't know him well enough to know if that was unusual or not, but she suddenly had a strong urge to see if he had any thoughts that he just hadn't felt like sharing with everyone earlier, despite her better judgment.
"Ralph, hold up!" she called after him, making him to stop and turn around. Then ignoring the surprised looks everyone else was giving her, she posed her question. "Was there anything that you thought of today? I noticed you haven't really said anything since you got here about what we came to discuss in the first place. You've only responded to anything anyone said, aside from what you said just now."
Ralph laughed, and Charlie wasn't sure if this was going to be as bad of an idea as she'd experienced with Ralph in the past. "I certainly didn't expect you to notice. If anyone noticed and said something, I'd expect it of our resident reporter," Ralph said after a moment, indicating Beth as the 'resident reporter.'
"Well, was there anything that came to mind?" Charlie asked, not letting him bait her into talking about something else.
Ralph seemed to be debating something with himself, and Charlie wasn't sure that he'd actually give her a clear answer, but after a minute, he did. "Exactly where is your forest? I mean in regards to us," he asked, turning to Petals.
–I'm not sure how to say this,– Petals replied, shifting her weight uncomfortably. –I guess you could say that it's like it's not anywhere, but somewhere in the air?–
Charlie wasn't sure what to make of that, but Ralph seemed to understand more of that response than Charlie did. Though, she did relay what Petals said for everyone else's benefit. "Thanks, I might have something I can try, but I'll need to wait until Monday before I can."
–Why do we need to wait?– Petals asked, with what Charlie could only call a whiny tone, much like a child who couldn't get what they really wanted, but didn't understand why they couldn't. However, she could understand why in this circumstance.
"I think it's because he might need to look into what he's thinking before he's ready to try it," Beth told Petals, walking over to Petals and putting her hands on either side of Petals' face. "I'm sure that he'll tell us when he's figured out what that idea is."
Charlie could sense a whirl of emotions from Petals, from panic to depression, which she couldn't even begin to decipher as she thought about what Beth had said. –Alright. I'll trust that Ralph will come up with something.–
As Charlie finished relaying what Petals said, Beth turned to Charlie, walked over to her and pulled her into a tight hug. Charlie was so surprised that she didn't even react for a moment. Then as she started to struggle to get out of the embrace, Beth spoke. "Thank you, Charlie. I'm not sure we'd be able to keep focused on coming up with ideas of what we could do if you didn't tell us what Petals was saying. I know Ralph wouldn't think of relaying what Petals said, it probably doesn't even occur to him that it might be good to do so."
Charlie felt her will to get out of the embrace diminish as Beth spoke, until she found herself returning the embrace, albeit very lightly. However, as soon as she felt Beth's grip loosening, she was quick to break the embrace. "I guess then I should head home then," she stammered awkwardly, unsure if she was blushing or not. Especially since she wasn't fully sure if what she was feeling was affected by how she could feel how Petals was feeling. All she knew was that she felt like a seed in a twister. Everything seeming like it was happening so fast that there wasn't a possible way to get anything steady again.
With that, not knowing if anyone said anything to her after that, she quickly made her way to her home, barely aware of her sister watching TV again as she made her way to her room. Then inside her room, she removed her clothes and slid into her bed. She couldn't help but wonder why she felt like she was shaking apart. What was it that shook her so much to her core that it was like she was in a twister, unable to know when, where, or how she might land.
It was hours before she felt steady enough to get out of bed and go downstairs to see if there was any dinner left or if it was a 'leftovers' night.
_
Monday morning seemed like it promised to be like any other to Charlie, but she wasn't believing that it would. Ever since she had been hugged by Beth and she returned the hug, her emotions had pretty much been in turmoil. At times she felt like running and hiding under her covers in her bed while at other times she just wanted to laugh. Even her family had noticed that something was off with her, but whenever they'd asked, she could only shake her head. After all, how could she articulate what was going on with her to them when she couldn't explain it to herself.
Fortunately, her family had been willing to give her space to work it out on her own. However, school was another matter. While she'd gotten all of her homework done, she couldn't be sure that everything would be fine. Especially with how she could only determine that her emotional whirlwind was in relation to Beth and she wasn't sure if that would be a good thing, given how Beth was likely to approach Charlie, regardless of how Charlie felt about that. Especially with how she still hadn't sorted out her emotions from last Friday afternoon.
Fortunately for Charlie, her first class was par for the course. English class was always her worst subject, so scoring poorly on the homework she'd turned in last Friday wasn't anything that would cause anyone to take notice. Though, she did have to endure more threats of her parents being contacted if she didn't improve her grades. Charlie didn't care about that, given she'd always shown her parents her grades, and they were used to her below average scores in English and had stopped long ago trying to pressure her to improve it. They'd resigned themselves that she wasn't going to get as good grades as they'd like. Not that she didn't have to endure a lecture here or there about it, but she could tell that their heart wasn't in it when they did anymore.
Problems in her day first started in her second class: Math. First Mr. Samuels returned her homework from Friday, expressing how disappointed he was at her poor performance. Charlie even felt shock. Compared to her English homework, this was abysmal. Looking over her work, she could tell what mistakes she'd made and couldn't remember why she thought those would be correct answers. However, that wasn't all that happened in class. Part way through the class, during Mr. Samuels explanation of how to work another math equation, Charlie had a folded piece of paper slapped down on her desk with such volume that Mr. Samuels noticed it at the same time as Charlie.
"Miss Rivers, would you bring that up to me?" He asked, which Charlie always found rhetorical. He certainly wasn't going to let Charlie put the note away and move on with class. She could either bring the note up and let him read it aloud or she could let him come to her and read the note at her desk and endure detention. Was there really a choice?
She took the note up to Mr. Samuels and was a little surprised to find she wasn't dreading him reading it. For one, she had absolutely no idea what the note could contain. For another, she didn't know anyone in the class well enough to expect anything that would make her embarrassed to have it read to the class. It was common knowledge among the student body that most teachers, Mr. Samuels included, enjoyed reading any notes they noticed being passed during class to the entire class for the sheer discomfort this caused the various students either named in the note or the unlucky one caught with the note.
As she handed the note to Mr. Samuels, she merely waited patiently for him to read the note. It also seemed that because she didn't show any immediate signs of discomfort, the wind in Mr. Samuels' sails seemed to diminish a little. Not that it stopped him from reading the note. "Charlie – You may not feel this class is important, but if you keep at it like you are, I will deal with you. Mr. Samuels is a great man and should be treated as such" Mr. Samuels started reading the note, his eyes keeping Charlie in view, but as the body of the note became apparent, Charlie seemed to become background to him. "Miss Rivers, please take your seat," He said distractedly, moving back to his desk.
Charlie made her way back to her desk, hearing Mr. Samuels talk softly to someone on the phone at his desk, not sure what to make of these developments in her day. The only real consolation about it was the fact that it didn't have anything to do about her emotional maelstrom. Charlie also noticed that Mr. Samuels had more attention from the class at one time now than he ever did during the entire school year.
Besides, who writes a note like that? Charlie wondered. Teacher's Pets were a likely suspect, but still, that would be weird even for them. It would be one thing to try and intimidate her about it, but a note? What did they think that would accomplish?
As he hung up the phone, he turned his attention back to the class. "While I appreciate the positive comments about me in the note, it is clearly a threat against a student in my class, and as such I will follow the school policy about unclear threats. Which means ALL of you will remain after class so the principal can address you. Each of you will be given a note excusing you from being late to your next class should that be necessary, and it probably will. In regards to whoever wrote that note all I can say is that I am disappointed in you. If you really think that I am a 'great man,' then you should first start by respecting your fellow classmates. Part of that respect should include NOT threatening them. All this is doing is taking away time that you could be learning something that could potentially improve your own lives," Mr. Samuels said, matter-of-factly while his eyes scanned the entire class, taking note of more than he ever had during the year, or at least that's how Charlie felt about his piercing gaze at that moment. "If any of you have anything to say about the matter, you will need to hold those thoughts until you can address the principal about it. Now, lets get back to the subject at hand."
Charlie wasn't sure if she was in trouble or not. She didn't think she was, but this was new territory for her. Not only could she not think of who might have sent it, she also couldn't figure out why. As of all the students in the class, Charlie was nowhere near the most disruptive. Others seemed to take turns being disruptive, almost as a game, but even when she fell asleep in class the previous Thursday, that was no more of a blip on the disruptive behavior than some of the others had caused during the school year. In some cases, others had been more disruptive. Charlie couldn't figure out who would find her so disruptive that they felt it necessary to pass her a note in the class of the person they found so exemplary and Charlie couldn't help but wonder again: Why a note? Which brought to mind the one who at times seemed to worship the ground Mr. Samuels walked on: Alex Richardson. The resident teacher's pet of this particular class.
While listening to Mr. Samuels explain the mathematical process, she glanced a few times in Alex's direction. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary about him, but couldn't say whether it was likely him or not. All she could think of was that if it wasn't Alex, he probably was the perfect patsy to take the fall, given he wasn't very popular in this class. Especially with how quick he was to act like he was put in charge of the class on the occasional times Mr. Samuels had to leave the room during class.
In the end, Charlie couldn't come up with a conclusive idea of who might have sent her the note, so she did what she had so frequently in the past when confronted with things she couldn't figure out an answer to. She just let it go and let her mind focus on the task at hand.
At the end of the class, true to his word, the principal, Mrs. Garfield entered the room. She was a young woman, around her late 20's, black hair, crystal blue eyes, and was around five foot five.
She walked forward to stand in front of all the students, and began to lecture about threatening others students. Charlie acted like she was paying attention, but let her mind wander over other things that had more interest to her, much like she did during assemblies at school that she didn't have any interest in.
When the lecture was over, Charlie only knew it because everyone around her started to get up from their seats and move to leave the room, collecting a pass from the principal as they left.
As Charlie collected her pass, the principal said to Charlie, "Come see me later today when you have time, ok?"
Surprised, Charlie could only nod and murmur, "Ok."
The principal smiled at her as she left, and Charlie quickly moved out of the room and entered the room next to the one she just left. The teacher of her home ec class, Ms. Sanderson glared at her as she entered. "What excuse do you have today for being late, Miss Rivers?"
Charlie didn't say anything, despite knowing that she should be aware of what went on with the principal going into the room next to hers. Especially given Ms. Sanderson seemed to be like Beth, knowing everything that goes on before even the rumors have started their circuit. So, Charlie didn't challenge Ms. Sanderson's act but merely walked over to her and handed her the pass she'd gotten from the principal. Ms. Sanderson looked at the note and made a noise of disapproval. "We're working in teams today, so you'll be partnered with Mr. Williams."
Charlie looked to where Alex Williams was. He was the star quarterback of the school and several of the other girls in the class glared at Charlie for being partnered with him. Ms. Sanderson always chose who was partnered with whom, though she would usually allow friends to be partnered together, but Charlie tended to be passed from one group to another. Charlie assumed that was because she didn't seem to have any preference with working with anyone specific, in addition to being the 'extra' in the class when it came to needing pairs.
Alex's usual partner seemed to be absent, but Charlie didn't really care why. Though, it did make her more conscious of the girls who were glaring at her. Charlie knew full well why they were glaring at her. Most would give their right arm, eyes, feet, and hair if they could be partnered with Alex. With how little awareness Charlie had about the social aspects of school, she was still fully aware that Alex Williams was the one most of the girls in the school had a crush on. It wouldn't matter if they knew that Charlie was involved with anyone else and that Alex had someone too, they would still be upset that Charlie was paired with him.
"Hi, Charlie," Alex greeted. He had light green eyes, blond hair, and was five feet eleven inches, just shy of six feet by a hair. He had a muscular build that seemed to complement him when he played football. He also was pleasant with everyone.
"Hi," she replied, setting her bag on the ground by their station.
"What happened to make you late?" he inquired quietly. It wasn't uncommon for him to ask Charlie these things when she was partnered with him. He was always conversational and Charlie had gotten used to it. Not that she ever really contributed to the dialogue in any meaningful way.
"Everyone was held back so the principal could lecture us," Charlie quietly replied, paying more attention to the directions of what they were expected to make in class.
"Why did the principal lecture your math class?"
"Someone wrote a note to me that sounded threatening. Or at least to Mr. Samuels," Charlie said as she started pulling out the utensils they'd need from the cupboards in their station.
"Any idea who?"
Charlie shook her head. "No, I don't."
They worked quietly for a few minutes, but when it was time to start mixing the dough in the bowl, there wasn't much else to do.
"By the way, I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me with something," Alex said, holding the mixer securely.
"Why would you think I'd be able to help?" Charlie asked, a little surprised at the request. After all, no one in her life, that she could remember, had ever asked her for help in pretty much anything; not counting Petals.
"Because you're a completely neutral person in regards to my problem. Anything you'd say I know won't be slanted by any motive that would push me one way or another."
Charlie shook her head. "I guess. Though, I can't say for sure what help I'll be able to give or how good it'll be."
Alex smiled at Charlie. "That's all I can ask."
Charlie looked at the mixer to see the consistency of the dough for herself. "So, what's your problem?"
"I like a girl, but I'm not sure how to approach her. Any suggestions of what I should do?"
Charlie sighed. If this was the Alex that Beth mentioned, this would be a different way of telling her that he liked her, but Charlie had a feeling, partly because of how he'd mentioned why she was a good candidate to help him, that his interest was in a different girl. "I can't really say what you should do. I don't know anything about the girl you like. If she's shy, maybe an indirect approach, but if she's outgoing, the direct approach might be better."
"Why should it be indirect if she's shy?"
"Think about it. Any girl you go out with would have to contend with all the other girls who would want to be her. A shy girl probably might not withstand that as well as an outgoing girl."
Alex laughed softly. "What experience do you have on this subject?"
Charlie didn't miss a beat in her response, while putting liners in the pan to make the muffins easier to remove after baking. "None. I just know what happened to the last girl who tried to leave you a note telling you how much she liked you. Her locker was next to mine."
"What happened?"
"The usual bullying. It lasted a few months, but she acted like it wasn't occurring. Not sure if it was really an act or she was just that oblivious to it," Charlie replied, only realizing how much she was talking. Why am I talking so much? She wondered, not sure if Alex was going to take note of it or disregard it. Either way, she was talking a LOT more than she ever had before and couldn't figure out why.
"But she was also shy to the point that she had a hard time making eye contact. So, if she was aware of the bullying, I doubt she'd have said anything to anyone if she was."
"What happened to her?"
"Eventually the bullying stopped. I mean, if she wasn't going to react, she wasn't going to give the bullies what they were looking for, so I guess they got bored. However, she moved a couple months after it started and I can't say if it was because of the bullying or if it was because of the usual stuff that happens to cause people to move."
"Thanks for the advice," Alex said after taking a few minutes to consider what Charlie had said. "If you'd like, I could set you up with Jeff."
Jeff Taylor was Alex's best friend. Jeff was also one of the best players on the football team as well. The only other decent player on the team was Jeff's older brother, Elliot. Jeff played as a blocker, Charlie never knew what most positions were called, and kept Alex from getting tackled long enough for him to decide what to do with the ball. Jeff had brown eyes, jet-black hair, and had so much bulk that anyone who didn't know him would say he was fat. However, they would be mistaken. His bulk was mostly muscle. While he was obese in regards to his weight, most of that was a result from him spending so much time weight lifting, which also helped in his position on the team. He also loved it when someone would try to call him 'fat.' He would go on about how he was just bulked up and not fat. Though, he wasn't happy that the word 'fat' was not PC. He seemed to relish times when he could lecture someone on calling him fat. His brother was the same way, in fact sometimes it was difficult to tell the brothers apart.
"Sorry, but I'm not interested in him," Charlie replied, not giving his question much thought. Charlie started to put the dough in the liners, Alex holding the pan steady.
"Is there anyone you are interested in?" he asked, his tone amused.
"Not at the moment. Who knows if that'll change, but not right now," Charlie replied, wishing this topic would be done. Aside from wondering which Alex might be interested in her, she hadn't given romance any real thought. It just wasn't anything that had caught her attention at all up to this point, and she wasn't sure if she would become interested in that at all before her time in High School was done. Aside from the fact that she wasn't sure why she wasn't shutting this conversation down right now anyway.
"So, what way would you suggest to make it indirect?" Alex asked as they put the muffins in the oven.
"Maybe have Jeff or someone deliver a note from you to her or drop it in her locker when she's not going to be there, but they'd need an excuse to walk by it, in the event they get spotted by a teacher or someone," Charlie replied absently, watching the oven, despite not being able to see the muffins cooking.
"You mean like 'if you like me check yes' or something like that?," he joked, leaning against the counter of their station. Then after a minute of thinking about it he added, "Could work if I don't make the note so juvenile. Thanks."
Wish it was as simple as that to figure out my emotions, Charlie thought to herself, partly wondering if her talkativeness was due to the emotional maelstrom she had going on. Although, part of her wondered if she should be offended by his joke.
"Let me know if I can repay the favor, okay?" Alex asked, breaking Charlie from her thoughts.
"Uh, sure," she replied, not sure what favor she might ask of him in the event she actually needed one. "I'll do that."