See You at Harry's(28)

As I walk down the hallway, I pause at his room and look inside. His curly hair is sticking out from under his blankets. I think about knocking on his door and whispering, Up, up, up, Char-Char! but I know he’ll tell my parents I woke him up and they’ll be upset about missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sleep in, even if it’s only an extra fifteen minutes.

After my shower, I go back to my room and gather my stuff for school, then head downstairs. It feels so strange to be the only one up. I go to the kitchen and put an English muffin in the toaster, then pour myself some orange juice. By the time my muffin is ready, I check the clock again. It’s almost seven. I can’t believe I’m still the only one awake. There is definitely going to be a fight for the shower.

I put my dishes in the dishwasher and go back upstairs. The bathroom is still open, so I go in and brush my teeth. When I turn the water off, I hear the distinct sound of an angry Sara.

“Hey! Why didn’t anyone wake me up!”

I step into the hallway. She’s standing in the door to her bedroom.

“Charlie decided to sleep in,” I say.

“And you didn’t think to get me up? If you want a ride, you have to help out!”

“Sorry! I didn’t —”

Holden opens his own door. “Don’t even think about going in next,” he says.

They both dash for the bathroom, but Holden gets in first.

“MOM!” Sara runs down the hall and slams her fist on my parents’ door.

My mom finally opens it, hugging her bathrobe to her chest. “Where’s Charlie?” she asks.

“He’s still asleep. Fern got up but didn’t bother to wake anyone else, and now we’re all going to be late.”

My mom sighs. “I think we’ll all survive.”

Wow. She didn’t blame me for something. She pads down the hall to Charlie’s room in her bare feet and peeks in. “It’s a miracle he’s sleeping through all this,” she says, coming back out to the hall.

“I’m not going to be able to drive them to school,” Sara says.

“Why not?”

“I haven’t showered!”

“But you’ve taken us before without showering.”

“Well, not today.”

“Just relax,” my mom says. “I can manage. Though why they can’t take the bus I still don’t understand.”

Sara shoots me a look.

I follow my mom back downstairs. She gets the coffee going and starts cutting up some orange slices for Charlie’s breakfast. They look good. Soon my dad comes bounding down the stairs in a T-shirt and enormous sweatpants with a gym bag. He kisses my mom on the cheek and says he’ll shower at the gym. The gym is a new experience for my dad. He discovered it’s a great place to give his sales pitch to local businessmen. Holden joked that seeing my dad naked in the sauna was sure to be a business turnoff, but no one but me saw the humor.

“Guess we better wake Charlie if I’m going to take you to school,” my mom says, downing the rest of her coffee. I put my books in my backpack and sit in the living room to wait. I hear the water in the bathroom shut off and start again, meaning Holden is out and Sara is in.

And then I hear the strangest sound I’ve ever heard. It sounds like no and help at the same time. It sounds like an animal trying to speak human. It sounds like it is dying.

I stand up.

“Mom?”

I hear it again.

It’s her.

I run up the stairs.

“Mom?”

Holden is in the hallway, his hair still wet.

“What was that noise?” he asks.

I run past him and stop at the door to Charlie’s room.

My mom is on Charlie’s bed, rocking him.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. But already I can feel something. Something squeezing my heart into a stone. Charlie doesn’t look right. He’s gray and still. His brown curls hang dully over my mom’s arm. Her face is buried in his hair. She’s saying something, but I can’t make out the words.

“Oh, my God,” Holden says behind me. “I’m calling 911.” He runs back down the hall.

I don’t move. I just stare at my mom holding Charlie. Rocking him and making that strange, awful noise.

The water in the shower stops. Holden’s voice is back in the hallway. “Sara, get out here! Something’s wrong with Charlie!”

He pushes past me and runs to my mom and Charlie, but stops when he touches him and pulls his hand away.

“Oh, my God,” he says. “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!”

My mom is sobbing into Charlie’s head.

My heart is twisting, twisting, twisting inside my chest and up into my throat. I can’t move. I can’t move.

Sara comes up behind me wrapped in a towel.

“What’s going on?”

Holden stands up and staggers as if he’s lost his balance. I hold on to the door frame to keep myself from falling. Sara rushes to my mom and Charlie and has the same reaction as Holden. She collapses at my mom’s feet and puts her arms around Charlie and my mom, as if she is holding them together.

“He’s so cold,” she sobs.

“Oh my God, oh my God,” Holden keeps saying.

“Mom!” Sara yells.