Prologue "Roxy! Roxy! Please don't leave!" Charlie sobbed. The rain pounded down on the couples' faces, as she hesitated, and turned to look into his eyes. "Please," Charlie whispered, gently reaching out a hand. "I'm sorry," she replied softly, touching his cheek with her fingertips. Then she was gone. *** ~1 year later~ Sam was...well...bedraggled to say the least . His feet were aching and his forehead was slick with sweat. But he almost enjoyed the pain. This was a basketball match, the semi-final of the rounds for the Regional Cup. "Defenders! Get down there!" He shouted hoarsly. Not only was he the captian, but also their coach for that day, as their trainer couldn't make that match. Half the team sprinted down to the opposite end of the court. Sam snatched the ball off someone, and they were off again. *** "32-12. Boys, that's a good score, and you won, but you can do better. Extra training tomorrow lunch." "But Sir!" Two boys moaned. "I've got football tomorrow!" "Well, you'll just have to tell Mr. Beaumont that you can't make it then, won't you?" Sam sighed, and rolled his eyes at Noah. Apparently, basketball was more important than football. "Okay." Noah muttered, glaring at the floor. "Right boys, off you go. I don't want you late for first period!" *** "She's back!" "Oh my gosh, it's her!" "What's she doing here?" "I've missed her so much!" "Where's she been all this year?" Roxanne Brown, or Roxy, strutted down the hallway, ignoring all of the comments around her. She was the 'it' girl before she left. Who were they to put her down? Luckily, as she strolled into the cafeteria, conversation only died down a little bit. Only Roxy noticed this. She cast her eye around the room. When she saw her normal lunch table, her heart sped up, and she practically ran to her friends. Roxy snuck up behind them, and tapped Tia on the shoulder. "What do you wa-ROXY!" Tia practically screamed when she realised it wasn't just some nobody. Tia jumped up, and gave Roxy a huge hug. Once they had finished, Roxy went around the table, and hugged all of the 'in' girls; (Tia), Annabelle, Katie, Rosie and Niamh. "Girls, I've missed you all so much! Wanna come round mine after school?" "Yeah should be good." "I'll just check that I can!" "Definitely!" "Think it's fine" "YES! I can't wait!" Tia had a huge smile plastered on her face. Nothing was better than getting her Roxy back. "Girls; one question." "Yeah, anything!" "Okay...well...what's been happening with Charlie?" ------------ Well this is my new story! Hope you like it!
"Charlie?" Came a soft voice. Charlie sighed deeply. Here she was again. "Alana?! How many times?" He moaned internally at the clingyness of this God damn girl, as he slowly pivoted to face her. "I'm coming round next..." As soon as he caught sight of her face, everything seemed to grind to a halt. Only his heart continued to beat. "It's not Alana." She smiled slightly, gently. "Roxy?" Charlie was stunned; she was back? She slowly began to walk towards him. "It's me." She grinned this time, showing perfectly straight teeth. "Where did you go? Why did you leave? Why are you back? Who have you been with? What happened to us?" He reeled off a long list of questions. "All in due time." What had happened to her? She had changed; this wasn't the Roxanne Brown that he had once known and loved. "You've changed." He stated flatly. "So have you." She smirked. That was the only expression she seemed to wear these days. Charlie looked her up and down. She was definitely as attractive as before though. She had golden, caramel skin, and almost black hair, which was delicately curled, and the ringlets were very loose, creating a natural effect. Roxy had full lips, and dark eyes. She was petite too, with the tiniest waist. All round, she was stunning. "You see Charlie," she carried on, slowly making her way towards him. "I'm not easy like I was before." By now, she was almost touching him, looking into his eyes. She stretched up, as if she were about to kiss him. Just at the last moment, she moved her lips to his ear. "Now I'm different. Now; I like the chase." Roxy broke away, and strolled over to one of the windows. "You don't know how much it hurt me that day, Rox, when you left me out in that street." Charlie felt like he was pouring out the contents of his heart to her. "I like that." She smiled gently. "I like how you still call me Rox." Charlie was confused. One moment, she was teasing him. The next, it was like they were old friends, bringing up happy memories to the surface. "And I do know. You have no idea how much it hurt me to leave you. I should of just ripped out my heart there and then, at least I wouldn't feel any pain after that night." The bell went, signalling the end of period 3. She cast one more glance at Charlie, before she strutted away. He groaned, and lay his head in his hands. Charlie had realised that he still had feelings for her. Strong feelings. ---------------- "Hey babe." Katie grinned up at her boyfriend. "Hey gorgeous." He pecked her quickly on the lips. "I just need to go speak to coach, and then we can go, okay?" Sam quickly walked off to find Mr. Larner. "Sure!" Katie sat down quickly, and pulled out her Blackberry to text Tia. 'Not sure what's been happening to Roxy since she has been gone, but she has definitely changed. Come round mine later?xxx' She got a reply almost instantly. 'Yep, I feel the same. Okay, see you then!xxxx' "Ready?" Katie looked up with a start. "Yeah." She grabbed Sams hand, and they walked out to his car together. They quickly reached Katies house. Once they were there, they made their way to Katies bedroom, as no one else was in. Sam and Katie lay hugging each other, whilst Katie talked to him about Roxy. "I'm not sure; she's just different to what she was like before, but I don't know how." "Mmm, I know what you mean." He replied, not really listening. "It's just depressing, I guess." She sighed. That he did hear. "Want me to cheer you up?" He grinned at her, as she laughed at his eagerness. "Sure." She smiled. He put his hand on the back of her neck, and brought his lips to hers. At first, it was just a soft kiss. But soon, she got a bit more into the mood. His arms were around her waist, and hers were around his neck. By now, they were full-on making out Sam ran his hands up and down her sides. After about five minutes, they stopped, and began to chat again. After about one hour, the couple were both asleep. Luckily, Tia had forgot to come anyway. -------------- "There's nothing to do in this crappy house!" moaned Roxy to her mum. "Language." She commented sharply. "And why don't you go and play with your sister? You know she hates it when she's on her own." "Fine." Roxy trudged off to find her sister, Dana. She was seven six years old, and cute, but sometimes all Roxy felt she did was play with her. "Hey Dana." Roxy strolled into the games room. "Want me to play too, little sis?" She ruffled Dana's hair. "Yeahh!" She ran to get another Wii remote. Soon, Roxy was lost in the world of Mario Kart, too oblivious to hear the doorbell. "Roxy! There's a boy at the door for you!" Roxys mum walked into the games room. "I recognise him somehow?" Roxy huffed, and put down the Wii wheel. "Sorry Dana, I'll play in a little bit, okay?" She walled to the front door, and gasped when she realised who it was, but soon regained herself. "Go away." She said sharply and non-emotionally. "I just want to talk to you. Please, Rox?" Charlie almost begged. "Fine." She began to walk up the stairs. "Close the door behind you." Soon enough, they were both in her bedroom, with the door shut. "What do you want?" Roxy asked, not meeting Charlies green eyes. "I just want to know what's happened to you, Rox. Why did you leave, and what's been happening to you? Roxy hesitated. "I shouldn't be telling you this but...I guess I kind of still trust you. So here goes; "My mum began to drink a lot, just before we left. I still don't really know why. Then, one day, she found a guy. "By then, I well and truly hated my mum. She had abused and hit me a couple of times too. "Soon, she made me and my sister pack up, and move to Australia. God knows why. Then the drugs started. "By this point, I was even considering ringing some sort of child abuse line, to report her, if not for my sake, then for my sisters. "But, thankfully, she began to recover. She stopped drugs altogether, and we flew back home. That guy tht she met is still out there. Right now, she's still recovering from the achohol. Shes just like she was before all of this happened." "Wow..." Charlie was stunned. All of this had happened to her in the space of a year? "Roxy, I'm so sorry; I never thought that all this could've happened to you." A couple of tears had leaked out of Roxys eyes, but she did not care enough to brush them away. Charlie stepped forward and wiped the tears off her face. He had always absolutely hated to see her cry. For a moment, Roxy looked up at him, with watery eyes. But then, she looked down and stepped away. "Anything else?" She whispered. "No," he replied hoarsely. There was an awkward silence. "I think you should go now." She said. "Same." Charlie agreed. He opened her door, slipped outside, and closed it again. As soon as she heard the front door shut, Roxy sank to the floor, weeping and sobbing. Had that really just happened?
Charlie didn't know what to think as he stepped out of the door. When she had looked up with those wide, dark eyes, he saw vulnerability and liability strewn across her features. His heart had practically melted there and then. But there was no way that he could ever except to have her back. She had said herself that she likes the chase. If Charlie had any chance of ever having her back, he would have to run after her. -------------- "And that is Henrietta Lacks became as famous as she is today. Now..." Tia's science teacher droned on and on. Eventually, Tia's gaze made it's way out of the classroom, and around the school ground. This had to be one of the most mundane science lessons in history. After what seemed like ten years, finally the lunch bell rang. Everyone practically ran for the door. Tia was in a hurry too, she had basketball training. She quickly pulled out her Blackberry to remind Roxy that coach expected to see her there, when someone yelled "FIGHT!" Everybody stopped for a second, and then it was like a stampede, everyone wanting to get a good look. Tia thought she might as well go check it out. She'll just say she got let out of class late. She hurried along, still clutching her Blackberry, however, she stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she saw it. Roxy was one of the girls. Tia ran over, and shoved through the crowd. She was popular, no one would dare push her back. "Roxy!" She called, but either Roxy ignored Tia, or just didn't hear her. "You really think I'm scared of you, little girl?" Roxy sneered, twisting the girls arm back painfully. "Yes." Replied the girl smugly, quickly jerking her elbow up, and hitting Roxy square in the jaw. They got into a proper fight, and, although it was quite fair, you could see that Roxy was the stronger girl. Soon, she had the girl lying on the floor, face down, with her arms twisted behind her back so she couldn't really move. "It's a shame, Alana." Roxy smiled, sickly sweet. "I really thought you had more ambition." Without another word, Roxy walked away, the crowd parting easily for her. She had a swollen eye, a bleeding lip, and a red cheek. But, boy, did she love the attention and stares she was getting. Only one person stood in her way. "Move," she looked up at him. And then her gaze hardened. "What do you want?" "Why did you fight with Alana?" He asked softly. "Well, maybe because she's a selfish *****? That good enough?" "That's not true..." he trailed off. "Well how about this then? How about she thinks that your all hers? That she thinks that the first thing you do in the morning, and the last thing you do at night, is think about her. She thinks she's popular, and shes really not. I just DON'T get what you see in her!" By now, another crowd had formed, only around her and Charlie this time, not her and Alana. By now, Tia had given up, and was just watching. Everyone was anticipating his answer, because they all wanted to see Roxy and Charlie get back together. They were the 'hot' couple before Roxy left. It would be nice to see them together again. "I don't see anything in her, I don't even like her, Rox! You don't know anything about me anymore! You DID, before you left!" The crowd gasped, that was a low blow. "You're just not worth it, Charlie. I can't believe I actualy went out with you as well." She laughed, a short, humorless laugh, before she walked away. Only once she was away from the crowd did she let her tears fall. -------------- Charlie ran over to Alana and helped her up. "Are you alright?" He asked her, not too bothered, but he felt like he had to. "Well, yeah, basically. I'm not any worse than her, at least." Charlie wiped away the mud that was smeared across her cheeks, and pulled her in for a hug. "Want to come to mine after school, and we can talk about it then?" He asked. "Yeah, I'd like that." Alana closed her eyes. "Okay! Break it up, break it up!" The crowd all ran as two senior members of staff walked over. No-one wanted to be caught around the area of fight. "Let's go." Charlie murmered in her ear, and they ran together. *** They both walked into the threshold. Luckily, there was no-one else home. "Go and and sit in the living room, I'll bring in some wipes and stuff." Eventually, he came through with some band aids and baby wipes. Soon, all the cuts on Alanas arms and legs were covered up, and the wounds on her face were clean. "Are you sure you're alright?" He asked, running a hand up and down her upper arm. "Yeah, I'm fine, just really tired." Just to prove her point, Alana yawned. "Okay, you can come sleep in the guest room then." Charlie took her hand, and together they walked upstairs to his guest room. They lay down underneath the covers together. Alana had her back pressed up against his front, and he had his arms around her waist. They fell asleep in eachothers arms. --------------- "Roxy? What happened to you?" Ms. Brown asked worridly. "Nothing, mum." Roxy began to wlak up the stairs to her bedroom. "Roxanne-Faye Brown! You come back down her now, and tell me what the hell is going on!" "You know what, mum?" Roxy whirled around to face her mother. "Screw it. Screw THIS. We both know that you couldn't give one about what's happening to me. You didn't a year ago, why should you now?" With that, she stalked up the stairs, ignoring everything that was behind her. Once she was safely in her bedroom, Roxy stripped herself of clothing. She then put on an off-the-shoulder t-shirt, some shorts and a jumper. Finally, she slipped a cap onto her head, hut making it sonny and crooked. She slipped on some pumps, and she was out of the house as fast as lightning. As soon as she was outside, Roxy got in her car, and drove to the club called 'Lightning Rush'. Once she pulled up, this particular teenager jumped out, and slammed the door behind her. Roxy loved this place. She always came here when she felt low, before she left. They were a gang, sort of. It was a streetdance crew; these people were like family to her. Roxy hurried through the door, and soon she was enveloped in a warm blanket of friendliness. "Roxanne-Faye Brown! Where have you been all this time?" Leandro came over. She ruffled up her hair. "Long story." "Right." Leandro walked off again. "Hey everybody; guess who's here?" There were gasps and 'ahh's as they all recognised the crews 'baby'. She was the youngest there, and practically everyone loved her. But, she was also the most talented. Roxy was bombarded with people hugging her and touching her shoulder, waving and trying to get her attention. "Okay, okay people, lets calm it down a notch. You'll get a chance to speak to Roxy later. Right now, let's just focus on the actual routine, yeah? I don't want us losing this competition just because a certain someone is back." Leandro winked at Roxy, and she smiled. "Well, I might as well make myself useful. Show me what you've got so far, guys?" Everyone got into place, and began to perform their routine. Meanwhile, Leandro walked over to stand beside Roxy whilst she intently watched their performance. "What do you want? If it's not important, ask later." She snapped, looking up briefly. "You know what I want, Roxy." He breathed in her ear. "You do realise that all I said when you walked in, didn't really mean it. You know I know what's been happening." He whispered huskily. She struggled to focus on the dance. "Can we talk later?" She murmered. "Sure." He responded, and walked off smoothly, as if nothing had ever happened. Just at that moment, they finished. "Okay, that was good. Only thing I would say is that, in this part, I think it should go more like this." She demonstrated. There were mumurs of agreement and approval. 'Oh yes. It's good to be back.' *** "Bye guys. "See you. "Bye Chris!" Roxanne said bye to everybody, before shutting the door behind them. "Right. What did you want to talk to me about?" She crossed her arms, and looked up at him. "Well, I think I said it well enough earlier." Leandro smirked cockily. She raised her eyerbrow. "So...what are you saying, exactly?" "I'm saying, I guess, are we still together? I mean, after what happened when we went out to Australia." He asked hopefully. When Roxy went to Australia with her mum and sister, Leandro had come too. He really thought that Roxy had a future in streetdancing, and was hoping to set her up with some famous dancers. Slowly, a romantic relationship began to grow, but Roxys mum had never really liked him too much. He was forced to go back to England and leave them behind. "I don't really know." Roxy half whispered. "I guess that it would be okay for us to date here but..." That was all the answer that Leandro needed. In seconds, he was across the room, and they were passionately kissing. Once they broke apart, they leant their foreheads together, and Leandro's hand was behind her neck. "I'll take that as a yes."j
Sam strolled down the stairs. "Sam! Come here a minute!" Called his mum. "What?" He asked grumpily. Today wasn't a very good day at school: all of his lessons were academic, and he also had soccer at lunch, which he didn't like too much. "Can you just go and grab Macey's school bag? It's by the front door." He trudged off again to go and find it. Sam came back ten seconds later with the bag in hand. "Thanks sweetie. Don't you think you should be going off to school now?" "Well, I was sort of planning to do that before you asked me to do something?" Sam smiled, to show that he was joking, and slipped on his shoes. "See ya." He walked out of the front door and shut it behind him. --------------- Roxy looked out of the car window, daunting the day ahead. How would she be able to tell Charlie about Leonardo? Well, she couldn't just sit in there forever. She would have to face him - and school, for that matter - eventually. Roxy hopped out of her car, and slammed the door behind her, just dreading the day ahead. *** The day passed surprisingly quickly, with Roxy successfully managing to avoid Charlie. But that was just good luck. It could never last for long. "Rox!" She closed her eyes briefly. No way. No freakin way. Roxy hurried on, pretending she hadn't heard him. Charlie caught up with her easily, and spun her round by the shoulder. "What do you want?" She asked cooly. "Why have you been avoiding me all day?" He asked gently. "I've, um, been really busy. You know, I had to go and see Miss about netball, all that stuff." Roxy stuttered, trying not to blurt anything out. Charlies green eyes burnt into hers, and, for one crazy second, Roxy had the sudden urge to kiss him. But then it vanished, just as quickly as it had appeared. Roxy looked away hastily. "I, uh," she coughe awkwardly. "I should get going." By now, there were only a few students still left on the school grounds. Just as she turned around to leave, Charlie stopped Roxy in her tracks. "Can you come to mine tonight? I swear you won't be there for long?" 'Say no, say no.' Roxy mind told her. But her heart said yes. "Um...okay fine, but REALLY quickly! I have to get home soon." Charlie smiled happily. *** Roxy stepped through the Burridge household. It felt like an age since she had been here. "Urm...wanna go upstairs?" Charlie asked hesitantly. "Sure." Roxy strolled up the stairs impassively. They both reached his room, and Charlie closed the door gently behind him. "Look, Rox, I don't really know how to say this..." He began hesitantly. "I haven't got all day." She said bluntly. "Do you wanna sit down?" Lowering themselves down onto the bed, Charlie and Roxy got comfortable, before he began. "Why did you leave me like that, Roxy?" He asked uncertainly. "We've been through this already." She stated in a bored tone. He ignored what she said, and shifted forwards a bit. "Do you know how much it hurt me? I loved you, and you just left. It felt like you didnt feel the same."He said quietly, looking straight into her eyes. However, she looked away almost instantly. "You don't realise do you? Back then, I absolutely loathed my mom; couldn't wait to get away from her. "You really think that I wanted to go?" She refused to meet his eyes. "Whatever you think about me, you're wrong. I may be different, but this experience would change anyone. "And now? Me, my mom and my sister look like a happy family. My mom may be, my sister may be, but I'm the only one who went through pain. "I can never forgive her." She concluded, her voice breaking on the last couple of words. Charlie stared at her in disbelief. All of the accusations he was ready to throw at her, all of the insults he could muster up, they all just slipped into nothing. So he did the one thing he thought he would never do. He placed his lips over hers.