Falling Helplessly episode 1

🔥 FALLING
HELPLESSLY 👠

( For his brother’s friend …. 😇 )
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Written by:- Williams Kendall____✍🏽
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🏈 CHAPTER ONE 🏈

Two years later—May

I laughed softly at Brit and Kayla while they screeched out T-Swift at the top of their lungs. Instead of joining in, I just tapped my fingers on my steering wheel to the beat. As I looked in my rear-view mirror I could see my cheeks were flushed pink from unwanted attention.

I pulled out of the Senior’s parking lot were many many students lulled around. More than a few heads turned towards my car to check out the loud commotion. I ducked my head slightly in embarrassment but I still smiled at my friends. They were crazy together pretty much on a regular basis, but that’s why I loved them. Well, that and the fact that they never forced me to partake in the crazy. They were perfectly content to let me sit back pretending I didn’t know them every time they started causing too much of a scene.

A small pang of sadness filled my heart as I drove home. Everything was about to change. High school would be over in a month and then the three of us were parting ways. For four years now I had leant on Brit and Kayla more than I probably should have. Despite all my dreams of flourishing like a butterfly after Sophomore year… it never really happened. I just never felt like I could break out of my shy shell.

I tried so many times to be outgoing like the two girls singing next to me, but it just wasn’t possible. I always ended up overthinking what I was saying or doing, and then I’d make a fool of myself by blurting out something awkward. It became easier to float to the background and let Brit and Kayla take the attention away from me.

I honestly appreciated that they were so accepting of my shyness, but now I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to survive without them—at least socially. They were always the buffer to take attention away from the fact that I was an awkward little duckling. Without them, I was sure that I would get branded a wackadoo in college.

“Okay, you both need to calm down before my Dad rips the stereo out my car.” That was a threat I got pretty often. It was usually around the lines of… Lotty, I love you, but if I hear that shitty pop blasting in my driveway one more time…

“Yeah yeah… Poppa Avery loves us too much to break our hearts like that,” Kayla quipped back. I turned the stereo down anyways as I parked the car and shut it off. Streamers peaked through the window at us as we walked up the driveway towards my family’s suburban home. Great Mom is going all out for this dinner tonight.

“Family! I am home!” Brit shouted the second we were through the front door.

“Uhhh uh! Nope! We are not your family… Go home ya moochers,” My dad shouted back from his office off the foyer.

My mom’s voice drifted from the kitchen, “Don’t listen to the grump ladies! You know you’re always welcome.” It was immediately followed by the clang of metal bowls. As I rounded the corner and saw the mess she had made, my heart sunk a little. She is really going all out for this dinner tonight.

“Mom! I told you not to make a big deal about this!”

“Oh Hunny, I’m not! It’s just a few decorations and a little cake for dessert.”

I couldn’t help it as I rolled my eyes at her. Bless her heart, my mom didn’t do anything “little”. She lived for being over-the-top. Normally, I didn’t blame her, it’s how she showed her love. The only problem was that she’s always shot for the Martha Stewart stars. If I let her have free reign then we’d end up with a life-sized cake of my face or something. I gave her one last pleading look as I silently hoped that she listened when I told her I wanted tonight to be small and low key.

The girls and I grabbed some snacks then ran upstairs to my bedroom until dinner time. As usual, Kayla begged me to let her straighten my hair. I managed to sway her away by promising that she could pick out my outfit. For as long as I could remember my hair has been a point of pride for me. I knew I wasn’t ugly per se… but I also knew that I wasn’t a knockout.

But my hair has always been something I got compliments on. It was dark and curly and went down to about midway down my spine. I usually wore it half pulled up with wispy curls around my face and the rest falling down my back.

The thing I loved most about it was that I didn’t have to do too much to it. I rarely got haircuts because I was terrified one wrong cut could ruin it. It would get a little frizzy and messy for sure, but I think it just added to the overall look. I usually just threw a scrunchy in it and called it a day. Kayla always told me it would look better smooth and chic, but it just never felt like me. I’m a little messy and a little frazzled so my hair should be too. At least that’s my philosophy.

We spent the rest of the afternoon scrolling Instagram and laughing at our own lame jokes. I soaked up every moment of joy and prayed that we wouldn’t drift too far apart at college. A part of me knew that Brit and Kayla would flourish at school without me. They would make new friends easily and probably settle into their classes well.

It would be me that missed them the most. I would likely be the one trying to keep us in contact all of the time. But could I blame them? Of course not. It’s not their fault that I’m a co-dependant baby who can’t operate in the adult world on her own.

The doorbell rang, letting us know it was time to go downstairs to welcome my guests. I checked myself out in the mirror and sighed slightly. Kayla had tried to put me in short shorts and a frilly top but I put my foot down. We went back and forth for a while before finally settling on this outfit.

I wore high wa-isted, dark, ski-ny jeans that hugged my bum tighter than I would prefer and a slouchy, cropped, white-knit sweater. Kayla had made me put on a bunch of thin gold necklaces and rings that seemed excessive for a family dinner but I didn’t fight her. Honestly, the outfit was better than anything I could have done myself. I just knew it would probably look better on her or Brit.

The three of us ran down the stairs like a stampede of clumsy elephants. Choosing to ignore the exasperated look thrown at us by my mother I went to see who had arrived.

“Grandpa! Grandma!” I exclaimed as I saw my two favourite humans standing by the front door taking off their coats. They both looked up at the same time and beamed at me as I threw myself into their arms.

“Hey, sweetie congratulations!” My grandpa said as he wrapped his large arms around me for a tight squeeze. I turned my head up from its place buried in his chest to give him a soft smile. I really did not want a ton of attention tonight but my grandpa held a very special place in my heart.

He was a huge, gruff, old man but he was always so good to Oliver and I. He didn’t say too much, but he went above and beyond for us. I spent my childhood having sleepovers with my grandparents, getting breakfast in bed, and playing on these crazy contraptions that grandpa made just for us. I remember one of our favourites was a see-saw—except it had four seats instead of two—and when you pumped up and down the see-saw would spin around in circles. It was like having a carnival ride in our backyard.

After greeting my grandma too I led them into our living room where Kayla and Brit had already settled. I laughed at my dad’s exasperated face as he sat in his lazy boy—it was pretty obvious that the girls had been driving him crazy. They never seemed to be able to take a hint with him. I relaxed into the couch and looked at the people around me as they caught up jovially. Oliver wasn’t home from work yet but he would be soon.

After he graduated everyone expected him to go to college right away, but Ollie had other plans. He had declared that he refused to waste money on school when he didn’t know what he wanted to do yet. So instead he got a job working at a mechanics shop right out of high school and saved money to travel every few months. My parents were…less than pleased. But they didn’t press him too hærd. Of course, that doesn’t stop my dad from dropping comments occasionally about Oliver, “getting his life together”.

After Oliver, the only other people missing were the Johnsons. A sick feeling crept into my stomach at the thought of them. It had been more than two years since I realized how much I had embarrassed myself around Archer but sometimes it was still hærd to face his family. Thankfully, Archer was away at school right now so it would only be his parents and his five-year-old sister Annie.

Our families had always been close, but Oliver and Archer’s friendsh¡p brought us together even more. They didn’t have any relatives around that I knew of, so they always ended up at our house for events and holidays. Which of course was…super fun given my rules to never intEr×¢t more than the bare minimum with Archer. Thankfully, I was naturally quiet anyway so it’s not like it was unusual for me not to speak too much. The front door slammed open and immediately I knew it was my obnoxious brother.

“Hey hey! look who I found in the driveway!” He shouted from the foyer. I got up from my seat and peeked through the walkway to see that the Johnson’s had entered with my brother. As my brother passed by me he wrapped his arm around my neck and planted a k-ss on the side of my head before carrying on upstairs to change. I turned towards the door to thank the Johnson’s for coming and my heart dropped right to my feet.

Archer.
Archer Johnson standing in the doorway of my house.
Great…

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Years of practice allowed me to swallow my surprise and remain cool on the outside when I moved forward to hug Mrs. Johnson. “Thank you all for coming,” I said softly as Mrs. Johnson released me from the hug but kept me planted in front of her.

“Oh sweet pea, look at you! Every time I see you I forget how darn pretty you are.” Her words made me blush slightly even though I knew she was just being nice. I think Mrs. Johnson is a pretty keen lady and she knew more than she let on. She always gave me a lot of compliments and love and I couldn’t help but wonder if she saw how tortured I had been for years over her son.

Mr. Johnson gave me a stiff nod as he moved around us to go find my dad. He never seemed especially happy to come here but I suppose that is just how the men in their family acted. Quiet, brooding, and kind of stiff.

Annie’s face was pressed into an iPad so I gave her a head pat and left her to wander blindly into the living room. Finally, I turned towards Archer. He stood just in,side the door in all of his 6’4 glory, with his fists shoved into his pockets. College football was obviously doing him wonders—it was impossible not to notice how much muscle he had packed on recently. His face as usual was set in a slightly grumpy, slightly bored grimace. We made eye contact and he briefly nodded his head in greeting.

“Oliver is upstairs in his room if you want to head up,” is all I spared him before turning around to take Mrs. Johnson into the kitchen with my mom.

Later, we were dishing up our plates and heading to the dining room to eat. My dad sat at the head of the table and before I could take my usual seat next to him my mom shuffled me to the other end. The adults all congregated around my dad leaving Brit, Kayla, and Annie to sit to my left. Archer and Oliver were the last to join us and took the two remaining seats to my right. A sharp scraping sound came from Oliver’s chair as he plunked himself down.

I turned to give him a look and noticed how red his cheeks were. I raised an eyebrow at him in silent question, but his only response was a cheeky grin. My dad cleared his throat at the end of the table, and I looked up in time to see him shoot Oliver a warning glare. Once he had everyone’s attention he lifted his glass. Oh no…

“As you all know we have invited you here tonight to celebrate our little Lotty’s huge accomplishment” he began. “It’s hærd to believe my baby girl is somehow old enough to be graduating high school but yet… here we are.” Everyone at the table listened to my dad with smiles on their faces. Pink spread across my nose, as they all took turns looking over at me with proud faces. The emotion evident in my dad’s voice was not helping matters.

“Not only is she graduating soon, but we just got word last week that she has been accepted and will be going to USC! So cheers to Lotty, congratulations baby, we are all so proud of you!” Cheers of congratulations soared around the table and I took my time smiling at each and every face—except one. I did not want to look at Archer and potentially see the accusation in his eyes.

I’m sure if I had looked at him, his eyes would have said, did you purposely choose the same school as me…? Did I? No gosh of course not. In fact, I really wanted to choose any school but the University of Southern California—where Archer was about to start his Junior year. But there was just too much going for it. It’s a great school, and it’s one of only a few that I wasn’t waitlisted for.

Plus it’s only a four-hour drive from home so I would be able to come back more often when I inevitably got homesick. So no Archer… I am not still some lovesick puppy that is chasing you to college. If I had my way we wouldn’t ever even see each other.

Everyone spent the rest of the evening eating and laughing. I tried my hærdest to enjoy the festivities, but anxiety slowly crept up on me as I watched Oliver. My mom had put out her Sangria for the adults and I lost count of how many times Ollie went to refill his cup. For a casual family dinner, he seemed to be pounding quite a few back. I knew Oliver liked to party, he’d been going out every Saturday since he turned 15. But recently, it had become a point of contention in our family.

Oliver just always overdid it. Numerous times, he had come home late at night—knocking stuff over and waking us all up. It became a pattern. My dad yelled, my mom took care of him, then he would wake up the next day and not understand why we were all stressed out.

I really didn’t like it when my family weren’t happy, and after the small exchange at dinner, I desperately wanted to avoid this escalating. So instead of spending the evening enjoying my party, I watched Oliver like a hawk. I had begun to recognize his patterns, which allowed me to intervene before anyone else noticed how drunk he was.

Everyone stood together on the front porch, waving to my grandparents as they drove away. Oliver was next to me with his arm around my shoulders. The amount of weight he put on me was a clear indicator that the time had come to step in. If not that, then the way he nuzzled the side of my head. Wine seeped out of his pores and I anxiously wondered if anyone else could smell it. As quietly as possible, I tugged on his wa-ist and pulled him back through the house and out the back door.

Once we were outside I dropped him into a nearby chair and tried to figure out the best plan of action. Brit and Kayla were currently setting up charades in the living room and I knew if Oliver went in there it could cause a scene. Which would stress out my mom and anger my dad and honestly? I just couldn’t deal with that tonight.

“Ollie c’mon what am I going to do with you? Do you want to go hang out in your room?”

“Baby sister… Baby Lotty…” He slurred. “Why are you freaking out? I’m fine! I just needed a little fresh air and I’ll be good to go.” Of course, he believed that. In Oliver’s world, everything was always, “all good”. There was never any reason to be stressed. I loved my brother but I wouldn’t mind if he cared just a little bit more, so I didn’t have to care as much. But then a new voice joined us in the darkness.

“Ollie my man, why don’t we head out? You’re already half cut so we might as well see what kind of trouble we can get into.” I turned around to see Archer leaning up again the door frame, his arms were crossed and the shadows of the porch light made his face look ridiculously chiselled. Okay Lotty… not the freaking time. When Oliver heard his best friend’s voice he jumped up and span around—almost losing his balance again.

“Hell ya, bro! Let’s go. I only got my wingman back for a bit ssso I better use that magnet you got that s-cks all the ladiesss in.” I stood up as well—cringing at my brother’s sudden excitement over the ladies. Oliver jumped at Archer and roughly tried to pull him into a headlock. I couldn’t help but smile slightly as Archer let out a big sigh and rolled his eyes at my brother’s antics. Archer curved his spine away from Oliver and successfully evaded the close contact.

Eventually, Ollie settled for slinging his arm around Archer and together they left into the garden to walk around the house. I watched them go relieved that the family drama was avoided. The anxiety lingered though as I considered what would happen when Oliver got home from their trouble.

As if I had spoken my worries out loud, Archer suddenly stopped and called back to me. “We’ll be out late so let your parents know Ollie will crash at my place.” I nodded and began to turn away to head back in,side when he continued, “and by the way Charlotte, congrats on USC.” It wasn’t much, but as far as conversations between Archer and I went it was basically the nicest he’d ever been. With a small thanks, I went back into the house to join the games with my family.

My mind stayed on that small intEr×¢tion for longer than I would like to admit. Is it possible that my plan had worked? That Archer forgot how creepy I was? Maybe he didn’t see me as some kind of stalker anymore. Pushing it from my mind, I relaxed for the rest of the evening and enjoyed time with my loved ones. But I knew that I could only let my guard down so much when it came to Archer Johnson.

My immature feelings for him were obviously long gone, but I still needed to be careful at USC. Realistically, I would probably never even see him anyways. He will be a junior and I’ll be a freshman—plus I highly doubted we would be in similar social circles. He was currently QB1 for USC’s Division 1 football team. And I was…well me.

I wouldn’t be rubbing elbows with the elites of the school. I probably wouldn’t ever get invited to parties and if I did they won’t be the kind of parties that first-string football players went to. No… I might not have been ecstatic about going to the same school as Archer, but I was confident that I could maintain the image that I had been forcing for the last two years.

I had my rules, now all I had to do was keep following them.
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TBC

Oliver is already a special character in my mind.

Anyways,your comments on Charlotte and Archery