Overflow (Part Two)

"Oh my God, Char, your suit is sooo cute!" Madi squealed, giggling with her friend over the purple suit with white polka dots. Charlotte spun in a full circle, showing off the bathing suit her mother had bought for her for only ten dollars. She soaked in the admiration and then dropped onto her towel, pulling out her sunscreen.
"So, get your schedule for school yet?"
Madi's smile drooped into a pout. "Ew. Yes. Guess who I have for homeroom?"
Charlotte grinned knowingly. "Ms. Jones."
"Yes!" They dove into a deep conversation about their upcoming sophomore year, oblivious to the rapidly changing weather.
A raindrop plopped onto Charlotte's wrist, and she glanced at the sky, dismayed. "Madi, look up."
---
My hair fell in clumps around my blotchy face and my eyes looked bloodshot from my crying, but it would have to do. I glimpsed once more into the mirror, winced, and then slowly turned for the door. An hour had passed since my "incident," and only God knew what lame excuses Mom and Dad had mustered up this time.
The distant acquaintance of my parents never suspected anything, and even their closer friends back home either chose to ignore our odd outbursts and breakdowns, or simply accepted it as normal for our family's condition. The Travis's, however, were another story. Mom had been friends with Jen back in high school, and every summer since I could remember, our two families went on a month-long camping trip in Pennsylvania, sort of the midpoint between Massachusetts and Colorado. The two women were chronic gossipers and shared nearly everything with each other, so there was no escaping this topic. I knew as soon as I returned to that table, I would receive The Look.
But I had loitered in the bathroom long enough, and if I stayed much longer, someone would be sent after me. Taking a deep breath in, I felt my lungs expand and then pushed the door open, narrowing my eyes from the sudden sunlight.
Too late. Braden leaned against a nearby post, studying the door I had just staggered through. My heart plummeted and I tried to avoid his evaluating gaze.
One corner of his mouth pulled up into a smirk, and a wave of irritation washed through me. He sauntered over to my suddenly frozen self and halted only two feet away, his murky brown eyes piercing mine. I couldn't break the startlingly fierce gaze, and for a moment my world spun to a stop, but it quickly faded as he blinked and his eyes causally darted away for a second. "Your parents are lookin' for you," he mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets and studying his shoes, scuffing the ground.
"Right." It came out as a squeak.
Amused, Braden's glance returned to my face, but it was with an averted gaze that he murmured under his breath, "Want to see something?"
Again, I felt a rush of astonishment flood me, and then shoved it away, disliking it. I had become so accustomed to my slow-paced world that any surprise felt eerie and unwanted. "Sure," I replied, absently twisting a lock of my hair around my fingers.
Without responding, Braden headed off into the opposite direction of our campsite at a quick pace, and I hastily moved forward to follow. The brisk walk lasted for only two minutes, and before I knew it, I was sitting cross-legged on a wooden bench, overlooking the "Scenic Spot" featured by the park's brochures. "I know sunsets are overrated, but...," he trailed off, gazing over the scenery. Tall, majestic trees dotted into the distance and the sky was lined with beautiful hues of magenta, sapphire, gold, and lavender. My interest only lingered for a second on the masterpiece, though, for my breath had been taken away once too many that day. I found my eyes edging away from the sunset and over to the figure next to me, who was eagerly absorbing the scene. "No," I replied, curiously watching his face. "They're not."
The fading light washed over his face, giving his brown skin a strange glow to it. His skin tone fell between the dark chocolate color of his mother's and the olive complexion of his father's, an atypical combination that seemed to fit perfectly with Braden. Transforming his eyes to have a golden glimmer at the edge of his caramel-colored irises, the light made my breath catch for a nanosecond, my own eyes transfixed. Suddenly aware of my obvious stare, I shifted my eyes on a more innocent subject, and landed on his hands, resting casually on his knees. With amazement, I marveled at his fingernails, which were healthy, clipped, and perfectly rounding with each finger. Envy shot through me. My nails would never come close to such perfection.
"Someone mentioned I should try out hand modeling. What do you think?" a voice broke into my observation, causing my head to snap up, my senses disconcerted. Braden's eyes were fixed onto my face and a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. My cheeks burst into flame, and heat poured into my face despite the coolness of the night air.
"Um...sure. If you think...so...," I stuttered, my mind whirling. Breathlessly I giggled, the first time in a while. My eyes returned to the now fading last rays of light and watched Braden's reaction from the corner of my eye. He relaxed against the frame of the bench and indifferently draped his arm over the back of it. A flurry of butterflies swarmed in my stomach, and I turned away, disgusted by my obvious attraction.
"I heard."
Desperately, I shoved away my sparked curiosity and tried to casually respond with, "About what?"
"Jeff."
That one word sent my carefully rebuilt wall crashing to the ground again. My shoulders and back involuntarily stiffened, and tears sprang up to my eyes again. I swiped them away with my fingers and kept my gaze on the blurring trees ahead of us. Drawing in a ragged breath and waiting for my emotions to untangle, a wave of calmness spread over me and my world eventually slowed from its whirl back to homeostasis.
"And you were there," Braden continued, as if he hadn't noticed my immediately reaction.
"Y-yes. But I don't remember...anything." I answered, my voice quivering.
"I'm sorry."
For a split second, my eyes flickered over to him again, but instead of glimpsing The Look, they captivated a completely different response. I found myself imbibing his self-assurance and compassion, at the same instant questioning the unreal situation. Braden had never shown anything but apathy, and in the past twenty minutes I had peeked in on a myriad of fluctuating emotions flooding from him.
I nodded. "Thanks."
"Charlotte! Braden!" a relieved voice shouted, shattering my complacency in a moment. My head swiveled around to see my dad stumbling towards us, incoherently waving his flashlight beam over our faces. I grimaced at the light and only then realized that darkness had settled over the campsite. A few early stars glinted in the sky, hinting at how long I had actually been gone. A wave of sheepishness washed over me, and I stood, brushing off my shorts.
"Hey, Dad," I greeted. "Sorry, the time sorta flew."
"Charlotte, it's been an hour and a half," Dad complained, finally finding his way over to the overlook. "You should have checked in." His face softened at my disheveled appearance, and he reached his thumb up to rub a smudge off of my cheek. "Are you all right? We were so worried..."
Concern filtered through me. "Dad, it was only 90 minutes. I think I can take care of myself for that long," I assured him, discerning a hint of fear in his eyes. "Besides, you sent Braden."
A light dawned in his face and his gaze rested on Braden. "Son, you better get back to your mom. She needs to tell you something."
As Braden meandered back to our site, questions bubbled up to my lips. "Dad, wh-,"
He shushed me with a shake of his head. "Let's not talk about it. No harm was done."
"But why would-,"
Again I was interrupted, and this time I let my father take over, left to sort out the unanswered questions circulating in my head by myself.
---
Madi scowled at the dark clouds rolling in rapidly, covering the last rays of sunlight peeking from the once blue sky. "Ugh. Guess we'll have to wait."
The two girls hastily packed up their beach bags and half-ran for cover from the steadily falling rain. Charlotte reached up and pulled the hood of her jacket over her hair before ducking under the roof of the lifeguard station. Jeff smirked from behind the counter, mumbling something under his breath, too low for her to hear. The girl next to him burst into a laugh and flashed him a smile.
She glowered at her brother, then turned back to Madi, who was buying a hot pretzel from the snack bar. Her friend offered her a weak smile, then split her pretzel down the middle and handed her half. "You owe me fifty cents," she smugly announced as Charlotte bit into her half.
Her perfect day was slowly melting into a dreary mess.
---
The cliff was millions of feet high, and as I peered down into the darkness, I couldn't make out the bottom. Quickly I scooped up a pebble and dropped it into the abyss, waiting to her it plink at the bottom. No sound came.
My stomach twisted and chills ran up and down my spine as my foot began to slide towards the edge. Pumping faster and faster, my heart nearly gave out as my other foot precariously placed itself next to my other on the edge. Arms spreading wide in an eagle position, I breathed out and then shifted my weight onto my toes, closing my eyes at the last second when my feet lost footing and I began to fall....
Suddenly, the darkness twisted and I splashed into the water below me, immersing myself into the cool liquid. After an eternal moment, my head popped to the surface, and Madi's face formed in the air, twisted and fearful. Her lips were screaming something inaudible to my ears, and she frantically pointed to the other side...
My eyes darted over to the area, but it was blurred. Suddenly her voice echoed in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. "It's Jeff!"
A scream left my lips, and I began to flail my arms to keep me above the surface, but the water seemed to pull at me, catching me up in its arms forever and ever-
"Charlotte!" My shoulders were shaking, and my thoughts jumbled as my eyes cracked open. I felt my arms and legs trembling, and my breaths were coming out in short gasps.
"What? What?" I asked, confused. In my terror, I sat up and looked at my mother. "Where are we?"
"Camping. Are you all right? You were screaming."
My legs trembled as I shakily stood, gathering my senses. "Yeah. I'm...all right. I have to...," An excuse popped into my head as my fingers felt for the zipper of the tent. "I have to go to the bathroom, that's all," I mumbled, unzipping the door to our tent and stumbling outside. After slipping into my flip flops, I crossed my arms against the cold and began to walk towards the bathroom.
The night sky was completely dotted with stars by now, and it had to be around one or two in the morning. I fumbled for my cell phone in my pocket, and then I pulled it out, flipping it open. 0 missed calls. Well, of course. Frustrated, I glanced at the time and breathed out, relaxing. It was one o'clock. I had plenty of time before getting back to camp.
Mosquitoes buzzed by the light in the bathroom and I frowned at the damp floor as I locked myself into a stall. I sat down on the toilet and put my head into my hands, my shoulders shaking. Something wasn't right. Mother and Dad had been acting strange last night when we had returned, and Ms. Travis...
Ms. Travis, once Mrs. Murdock, had seemed the strongest of us all through the many camping trips, the one who pushed on through their hikes, and dove the furthest into deeper water in the lake. When the divorce happened, she never lost her composition once, but when Braden and I had returned, she had dissolved into tears. No one would answer her questions of what was wrong. "It's nothing. We're fine," they assured me.
We hadn't been fine since that summer day last year.
Nothing made sense, and aggravation was beginning to settle in, a new emotion for once. Sighing, I stood and unlocked the stall, making my way by habit to the mirror, ignoring the little bugs flying inconspicuously around my head. I pulled my ragged hair back into a ponytail and half-heartedly smiled into the mirror. It was all just another drop of water in the bucket, nothing to worry about.
Once again, I pushed open the bathroom door and headed outside, shivering from the cold night air, then froze for the second time that day.
Braden stood at the same post he had been at only seven hours earlier in the exact same stance. I squinted at him, not believing my eyes. "Braden?" I cautiously asked, inching towards him, incredulous.
"Charlotte."
"What the heck are you doing here?"
He slowly walked over, his hands in his pockets. "I...we have to talk."
I nodded. "Okay..."
"Something's up."
I raised my eyebrows, surprised. "No one told me anything."
Braden held his hand out silently, staring at me. Slowly I let my eyes focus on his hand, and adjusted as they caught on a white piece of paper crumpled in his hand. My own hand reached up and snatched the paper from his, then held it for a long, silent second. "What is it?" I murmured as I gradually unfolded it, bewilderment sweeping through me.
The message was written in small, cramped letters, in a handwriting I didn't recognize.
"I need to see Braden and Will."
My eyes widened and I looked up, astonished. "But, Braden-,"
"It's my father's handwriting."