"Ohhhh," Beth said, not sure how to say this to Alex. "Actually, some of the other counselors at the math camp Charlie helped at asked her to join them on a hiking trip before break ends. She'll be gone from Thursday to Sunday."
"Is Shirley going to be there?" Alex asked, her fear dripping from her words, even through the phone.
"Yeah, but don't worry. I'll keep an eye on them," Beth assured Alex. "I'll make sure Charlie keeps her eyes only for you."
"Stop that," Alex laughed. "You know I don't like when you joke like that."
"Then relax," Beth soothed. "Charlie will remain as pure as she is now until you get a chance to defile her."
When there was silence on the other end of the line, Beth started to wonder if she'd actually gone a little too far with that comment. It just seemed like the thing to say in response, but she didn't think that Alex would stop talking after it.
Finally after what felt like an hour, Alex replied. "Do you really think she'll still be interested?"
"I'm sure she will. Charlie seems like she wouldn't change her mind at the drop of a hat," Beth said as she set the cup next to the sink and started walking back to her room. "I mean, you'd have to put a magical enchantment on her to get her to change her mind to something she'd agreed to."
Alex sighed. "Thanks. I needed to hear that. I mean, since magic isn't real, what're the chances of that happening, right?"
Beth sighed, her own thoughts getting troubled at that last exchange. "Right," she said as she started to wonder if maybe something like that is what Heathcliff might be up to. She didn't know enough about him to say for certain, but it certainly wasn't outside the realm of possibility.
Maybe she should call the others and let them know what her fears about what Heathcliff might be up to are. It could be that she was imagining things, but part of her was saying that regardless of how it would be done, that's exactly what Charlie was in danger of.
Charlie opened her eyes. It was the day before the hiking trip and while she'd already gotten packed, she couldn't help but feel more than a little trepidation at the idea. Though, a part of her was glad that it wasn't this day, as it was her father's birthday.
It was also hers, but she kept hoping that her parents would forget that at some point.
After Charlie got dressed and had gotten to the dining room table with her cereal, she looked around, wondering if there was something she was forgetting. It felt like there was, but she couldn't think of anything. She and Cherie had joined together to get their father a gift and the party for the birthday was always in the evening, so there shouldn't be anything. However, that didn't stop the feeling there was.
Finally, Charlie did her best to push the thought from her mind, as she sat down and started eating. She was around halfway done when Cherie joined her. Neither said anything to the other while they ate, but they still acknowledged each other's presence.
When the doorbell rang, Charlie couldn't figure out why it tickled the back part of her mind. It felt like she should know what it was, but at the same time couldn't think what it could be.
Charlie got up from the table and started walking over to the front door. Vaguely she was aware of Cherie watching her as she left the room. The doorbell rang twice more before she got to it, merely adding to her annoyance.
As she opened it, she was less than ecstatic to see Ralph waiting. Then before she could say anything, he enthusiastically spoke.
"Ready for the party?" he asked.
"What party?" Charlie asked, though part of her said she should know what he was talking about.
"My birthday party. It's really tomorrow, but since we're heading on that hiking trip, my parents agreed to move it to today," Ralph said.
Charlie felt like she'd been hit in her stomach. It took her a moment before she felt like she could breathe again and even then, could only breath shallowly. Her mind however was still rebooting and when it finally did, she saw Ralph waving his hand in front of her face.
"Helllllooooo, Earth to Charlie," Ralph said.
"Sorry, you said the party's today?"
"Uh, yeah. Didn't Beth tell you when I texted her shortly after she texted me about the hiking trip?"
Suddenly Charlie remembered what she had been tickling the back of her mind. The conflict with her dad's birthday party and Ralph's. Suddenly she wasn't sure what to do about it.
"Uhhhh, yeah, about that," Charlie hedged, not sure how to put it, but certain she had to say something. "You see, not sure if you'll believe it or not, but you see, it's my dad's birthday today, and for my family that's always a big thing."
Charlie couldn't believe how stupid she was sounding. However, she couldn't think of how to get out of it.
Ralph merely laughed. "I see, but when do you celebrate your dad's birthday? I mean, he's gotta go to work today, right? After all, it's a weekday."
Charlie shrugged. "Usually, we celebrate it in the evening," she said, not sure where this was going.
"Then we'll just make sure you're back for that," Ralph said. "After all, my party being moved was because of unexpected circumstances. So, let your parents know where you're going and let's get out of here and don't forget your swimsuit."
Charlie sighed in defeat. The worst part is that Ralph was right. Then there was how he was maddeningly logical about it and she couldn't find any holes in his reasoning. "Fine, I'll be back in a minute," she said, turning away from the door, leaving it open in the event Ralph wanted to step inside.
Charlie returned to the dining room so she could finish her cereal, which was merely to drink the remaining milk, before she rinsed it out at the sink. Then she started to go upstairs.
She had planned on knocking on her parent's door but was saved from doing that when she saw her father as he was about to head downstairs as she started leaving her room with her swimsuit. "Something the matter?" he asked as she came up to him at a jog.
"Kinda," Charlie hedged. "Apparently Ralph's birthday is tomorrow, so because of the trip, his party has been moved to today. And it's your birthday, today."
"Don't forget it's yours too," he said, clapping his hand on her shoulder.
"Please dad," Charlie groaned. "You know I don't like to pay attention to it."
Her father laughed. "Still haven't changed about that, huh? Well, if you can't make it to my party then don't worry about it. We'll still save you some cake and you can open your presents before you go on your trip tomorrow. Though, sooner or later your friends are probably going to give you a party, even if they have to make it a surprise party."
Charlie pulled her father into a hug. "Well, happy birthday dad," she said, ignoring the comment about her possibly getting a birthday party. She didn't want to even think about that.
"Happy birthday, Charlie," he replied.
Then as Charlie started to head back downstairs, she added, "I'll try to be back for your party anyway."
"Have fun," he called after her.
As Charlie left the house, she closed the front door behind her and didn't pause to say anything to Ralph, merely said it as she passed by him, forcing him to catch up to her. "My dad said it's okay," she said.
"Well then, let's get going. Next stop is Tim's. My dad already went to pick up Hannah and Amelia, and he'll probably get Wes and Beth too, so after Tim we can head to my house and start the fun!"
Charlie could only see that the day was going to be a bigger pain than she was used to when dealing with Ralph. Though, for some reason it didn't seem to be giving her as much of a headache as it had in the past.
Charlie sighed as she returned home. The difference between Ralph's birthday party and Amelia's were vast. While Amelia had her party primarily inside with electronic activities, Ralph had his party mostly outside. Though it seemed like they'd expected it to last longer, they were understanding about why Charlie needed to leave earlier than they were and were fine with the cake and everything occurring mid-afternoon.
The biggest activity was a water balloon fight. Everyone changed into their swimsuits and while there weren't any official teams, it was rather clear it was girls vs. boys. Hannah had a floral bikini on, Amelia had a watermelon-style tankini, Beth had on a purple bikini, Wes wore a shirt with his swimsuit, while Ralph and Tim only wore their swim trunks. The water balloons stung when they broke on impact, and Charlie was hit more than a few times. A couple on her butt, but mostly on her back or chest. Once she was hit in the face, but that was because Amelia missed her target and accidentally hit Charlie instead.
Charlie rubbed her face where the balloon hit absently as she walked up the driveway. She had her swimsuit hung over her arm, where occasionally another drop of water would fall from it. Even though she'd rather not, she had to admit she'd had fun. A lot more than she had at Amelia's. It was something she wasn't sure she'd want to tell any of her friends, not only to try to spare Amelia's feelings, but because she'd rather not give any credit to Ralph. Though, she might have to eventually.
As Charlie entered the house, she was about to start going up the stairs so she could get her swimsuit hung up where it could finish drying, then find the rest of her family. However, as she stepped on the first step, she heard her mother call out to her.
"Charlie? Could you come here for a minute? There's something we need to talk about."
Charlie went towards the kitchen, where it sounded like her mother was.
"Yeah? What is it? I was just about to go put my-" Charlie started to say when as she turned into the kitchen, she saw all of her friends and family in the kitchen.
"Surprise!" They cried, interrupting not only her statement but her entire thinking ability.
Charlie wasn't sure how long she just stood there in shock. Never before had her family done this. Of course, never had she any friends for them to do it with before. Charlie wasn't even sure what to feel. Yeah, part of her was happy that they did this for her, even though she'd specifically let her family know that she didn't want a party or really much notice of her birthday. However, most of her was annoyed at this while another sizeable part was embarrassed.
As Charlie's brain began to work again, she was contemplating taking off to her room as fast as her feet could carry her and not only locking the door but barricading it so no one could get in and pull her out. However, as she was about to do that, she saw her mother start pulling out aluminum cups out of the refrigerator. The sight of those cups made Charlie pause. There was only one reason those would make an appearance and it was for root beer floats. Charlie's hands down, all-time favorite dessert.
While Charlie and her family knew she'd do almost anything for those, they'd learned there were a few things that wouldn't get her to do. Being cooperative for family pictures was not one of those, but it felt like to Charlie that staying for her birthday party was going to be one that she could be bribed with a float to attend.
"Did you actually think we wouldn't find out about your birthday today?" Beth asked as Charlie walked past her, making a beeline where the floats were being put together.
"Hoped you wouldn't until after school started," Charlie admitted.
"Well, you're going to have to wait for us to give you our presents," Amelia said. "After all, we definitely didn't have time to even look for one."
As Charlie neared where the floats were being put together, Charlie saw her sister and suddenly knew how her friends had found out. When she'd left Ralph at the front door, Cherie had to have let him know about it, then returned to the table before Charlie was done upstairs.
In all, the party for Charlie's birthday wasn't too bad, even when her friends insisted they sing her the birthday song, even when there wasn't any cake, but they all did insist on Charlie telling them how old she had just turned. Charlie delayed as long as she could on telling them, by draining the rest of the root beer soda from her cup before replying, "Fifteen."
While she'd have been just as happy to not have had to endure that party, she couldn't say that she found it completely abhorrent. Just mostly. Her parents insisted that she open the gifts from them and Cherie before her friends left for the night. As she started opening Cherie's gift first, she had to ask a question that had been bothering her once she had her float.
"How'd you guys get here before me? I mean, I know the quickest way from Ralphs and didn't see you guys at all."
Wes laughed while Tim explained. "Actually, it was Beth who called your dad and got him to wait until you left, then gave us a ride over here after we changed out of our swimsuits. We actually waited about ten minutes before you got here."
Charlie could only shake her head at that explanation. While it didn't turn out bad, Charlie wondered if a regular party would be better than a surprise party. She certainly didn't like getting startled like that. Nor was she happy that she'd been forced to put her swimsuit on the back of a chair around the table so it could finish drying.
The gift that Cherie had given Charlie was a book on caring for roses. While it wasn't the best gift she'd ever gotten, it was the best gift she'd gotten from her sister. So, when she saw what it was, she'd pulled Cherie into a hug, much to Cherie's surprise.
The gift she'd gotten from her parents was a smart phone. Certainly not the latest model, but not one that was almost obsolete either. While she didn't mind it, she hadn't even spoken to her parents about her wanting one. She still wasn't sure she wanted a phone of her own.
Charlie turned to her parents when she finished unwrapping it, not sure how to exactly react.
"This way your friends can call you directly rather than calling me or your father," Charlie's mother explained.
Charlie had to admit that her parents were getting tired of fielding Charlie's calls from her friends.
"Don't worry about anything with your phone while you're on your trip," her father said. "I'll get it activated for you while you're gone. You can give your number to your friends then."
When her friends left, she turned to her sister. "Why'd you tell them about my birthday?"
While her birthday wasn't exactly a secret, Charlie still thought that her family would respect that she didn't want a big deal made out of it.
"Maybe this will help you to remember important things then," Cherie replied.
Charlie could only stare at her sister as she walked to the stairs to go to her room. This was the first time she knew of that her sister had gotten actual revenge on her. Mostly when they'd had problems before, their parents had gotten called in for mediation by one or both of them.
Maybe her sister hadn't been so understanding of her forgetting as she'd thought.