Lies 1-50

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"Auntie CHARLOTTE!!!"

"What?"

"Um..."

"Natz, speak like a HUMAN."

"I am."

"Really, because all I'm hearing is APE."

She rolled her eyes at me and took my hands in hers. "Charlotte, you're going to be an aunt!!!"

My brain couldn't comprehend it fast enough. The water that I had just poured into my throat was suddenly all over her face. "Sorry... but WHAT THE FREAK?"

"You heard me."

She crossed her arms over her chest and stood up, walking over to Levi. I wanted to beat him with something. There was this violent tendancy in my veins and it showed its ugly head in my heart. It wasn't like I was upset with either of them, I was jealous.

"Levi..."

The single name came out in a puff of smoke intstead of the fire I was expecting to come from the vicious dragon inside.

"Charlotte."

I took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Congratulations."

Natz raced over and wrapped her arms around me. "Thank you!"

"Have you told the guys?"

My false happiness went unnoticed in their joy. I was sick to my stomach, the bathroom wasn't close enough to reach without being quuestioned as to why I was running off. It was one of those days I wished I was a fly on the wall instead of being Charlotte, the girl everyone pitied.

"No, we wanted to tell you first."

"Oh, well, thanks," I said awkwardly.

I mean, they had only known each other for a few days and they were married. I guess that vegas honeymoon was the cause of their recent announcement to me, their one person audience.

"Oh Charlotte! Is this how you felt when..." Abruptly her eyes lost their glossy sheen.

"Yes. Exactly." I knew her thoughts too well, as she knew mine the same way. "Excuse me."

I walked out to find Noah and use the bathroom I so longed to get to.

"Charlotte, come back!"

Levi's call was the furthest thing from my mind while I walked away. I just wanted my Noah. I found him asleep on the tiny couch in the back room where Natz and Levi were sleeping.

"Noah wake up."

"Urm."

"Please?"

I was close to tears at that point. Nothing in my life was going right. Levi and Natz were happy and distant from the rest of us, Skinner was suddenly distant too, and now the only thing that was right in my life was in a sleeping heap of man meat on the couch where the first mentioned slept at night.

"Huhh."

"Noah, please!"

I was getting angry at him, though I didn't mean too.

"Alright, what is it thaht's so important?"

"Levi and Natz are having a baby..."

I didn't want to cry, but the tears just sort of slipped. I was so sick of being strong for everyone else, I just needed a moment of my own personal weakness.

"So...?"

"I miss Alexander."

And I was eight again. My parents were screaming about something but all I wanted was to sleep. My mother lifted me up by the wrist and I cried for my father, but she just slapped me across the face and yelled at me to shut up. Natz sat there with a horrified face on, Markus laughed. they wouldn't let me sleep for days after that. My mother kept me awake every minute of every hour of every day. If I even closed my eyes longer than necessary to blink, she'd slap me.

Noah kept me close to him while I cried, for fear of letting myself be that young at heart again.