Chapter One
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Another Morning, Another Home
�It happens every time when I see you. It happens every time when I,� Charity hummed along to her radio alarm while lying in bed, �think of you!� Charity rammed out of bed, shaking her hips to It Happens Every Time. She slipped on some old jeans and a halter-top she bought the other day from Aeropostale. She wrapped a denim pullover around her waist to complete the outfit. She slyly stared at herself in the mirror and turned in different angles. Every time Charity turned, she�d shake her bon bon along to the song on the radio alarm. Charity had huge marble shaped eyes the color of caramel. She had tan skin that was the color of a Macy�s plastic bag. �Lookin� hot!� Charity shouted, jokingly, �Haha!� She quickly glanced at all the pictures of her and her friends back at home that were taped to her mirror. Charity stared at one picture particularly, Cameron�s school picture. Cameron was Charity�s ex-boyfriend back at home. He chucked Charity once summer came just so he could be free for summer. Ever since, Charity�s been trying to get over Cameron, but she couldn�t help it when a thought of him came to mind. But today, Charity was feeling lucky and decided to kick Cameron out of her head. �Bye bye Cam,� Charity said to herself as she smiled. Then she kissed his picture and ripped it into pieces. Charity ran down the flight of stairs to the kitchen, smelling of eggs and bacon. �Mmmmm! Dad that smells good!� Charity stated to her father that was sitting sloppily in his chair. �Mornin�! Tell that to Brendan�he�s the one who made them,� Mr. Teeting replied. Mr. Teeting was reading his daily newspaper while sitting at the breakfast table. Brendan was Charity�s older brother who lived with their Dad. Charity is 15 years old and her brother is 17. Charity lives with her mother in New Jersey during the school year. When summer comes, Charity goes to her Dad�s house with her brother to enjoy her vacation. Since her parents divorced just this past year, this was her first time visiting her Dad in New York. Charity�s brother promised her that he would take her ice-skating today. Charity anxiously looked forward to it. She loved ice-skating. Back at home Charity would practice ice-skating almost every day after school. Her mother would pay at least $1,000 every year so Charity could take ice-skating lessons. �Somebody�s anxious to go somewhere today,� Mr. Teeting eyed Charity. �Brendan promised to take me ice skating,� Charity grinned. Brendan came running down the stairs. �We gotta run now. Bye dad!� Brendan said. �Have fun and don�t beat each other up, you hear?� Mr. Teeting joked. Charity and Brendan ran out the door and went out to Brendan�s new Mercedes convertible. The Mercedes was Brendan�s birthday present from their Father. Charity stared back at their huge house. Back in New Jersey, Charity lived in an apartment and had no experience living in a house almost the size of a mansion. Although, she liked coming to her father�s house. She liked the fact that her room was roomy and that her privacy was private. Charity was practically spoiled at her Dad�s house. She didn�t know how she could go back to living in an apartment after staying in a huge house the size of a mansion. �Sooooo, is there anyone my age going ice skating with us?� Charity questioned. �Oh, you�ll see,� Brendan said evilly. Once they arrived at the ice skating rink, Charity searched around for anyone her age. She spotted a couple girls, but they all dressed too old for their age. Most of the girls were revealing too much skin. �Yek! I hope all girls around here don�t dress like THAT,� Charity thought to herself. After walking around the ice skating rink a zillion times looking for Brendan�s friend, they finally spotted them. �Hey Jerry!� Brendan slapped Jerry high five. Brendan and Jerry greeted each other in their �boyish� ways. �Where�s your brother?� Brendan whispered to Jerry. �He�s coming. He said he�d walk here.� Charity was disappointed to see no one of her liking around the rink. She put on her ice skates and when out on the ice. She started skating alone while her brother and his friend just talked outside the rink. Charity noticed her skates were untied; so she bent down to tie them. She heard screams from behind her, so she turned around to see what was happening. Charity could just make out the shape of a person knocking into almost everyone on the rink. Everywhere people were falling on their butts because of this person. Before Charity could move herself, that same person knocked right smack into her. Both her and the clumsy person fell over. �Whoa! What do you think you�re doing?� Charity snapped. Charity became face to face with the boy when he landed right on top of her. The boy quickly got on both his feet. With shock, her mouth dropped open. She couldn�t help but notice how good-looking he was. The boy was about her height. His brown, spiked hair with blonde tips beamed with the sunlight. His light brown eyes stared deeply into hers. This boy looked awfully familiar. �S-s-orry,� The boy hesitated. His face looked like a bowl of fresh cherries. He grabbed both of Charity�s arms and pulled her up. She pushed her black hair with blonde highlights away from her face. �That�s okay. I�m Charity,� she wiped off her hands on her pants and reached out a hand to shake. The boy shook her hand and smiled, �I�m Chris.� Instantly, Charity realized who this mystery boy was. �Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Y-y-y-you�re f-f-rom Dream Street! Y-y-y-you�re Christopher Ryan Trousdale!� Charity hesitated. Never in her dreams would she dare dream of knocking into Chris. She knew if she ever did, her hopes would just be let down. Apparently at this moment, she was completely wrong. �Yep that�s me,� Chris sighed. �My friend Melanie is a HUGE fan of you! She talks about you everyday. Plus, she kept a picture of you in her locker.� �Haha! Really? I never knew a fan like that. Speaking of fans, are you one?� �Me? Not a huge one, but if I had to pick between you guys and Barney, I�d pick you guys.� Chris smiled. It wasn�t everyday he�d knock into a person at the ice skating rink who wasn�t crazy about his own boy band. �I take it that you don�t ice skate much, do you?� Charity giggled. �How could you tell? Aha! Naa, I like roller blading better,� Chris said. �Oh cool. I usually ice skate back at home. I take lessons.� �Ohh�back at home?� �Yeah. I live with my mom in New Jersey. I�m staying with my Dad over the summer. He lives here.� Just then, Jerry and Brendan skated over to where Charity and Chris were standing in the rink. �Hey you two. Charity-looks like you met Jerry�s brother,� Brendan explained slyly. Charity squinted her eyes and looked at Chris, �Y-y-you�re Jerry�s brother?� �Yep again. And you�re Brendan�s sister?� Charity laughed inside and thought that this was perfect! She met the cutest guy on Earth and he was her brother�s best friend�s brother. (What a coincidence!) �Charity, come on. We have to get home. Dee said she�d be at our house!� Brendan exclaimed. Dee was Brendan�s girlfriend. They�ve been going out for only 3 weeks, but they seemed to be hitting it off pretty quickly. Charity groaned and said, �Alright, alright.� �So I�ll see you later?� Charity questioned. �Not if I see you first,� Chris replied with a grin. Charity waved back at Chris before she left. Brendan pushed Charity into his Mercedes and drove off. Charity hardly realized it when they arrived at home because her mind was driving off to LaLa land. Brendan even noticed that she had that dreamy look in her eyes. �I bet you�re thinking about Chris right now,� Brendan said. �No,� Charity replied after a while, �Thinking about Cameron. Don�t get me wrong; Chris is pretty cute. But Cameron�s just been on my mind lately.� * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
