Carter Watson, to most he was simply the new kid, clearly from out of town, but to a few he was an old friend, or a childhood classmate. It had been 10 years since he last set foot in Beryl. 10 years that had changed a lot, and put Carter into a life drastically different from the lives of those who have been in Beryl all this time. Even to those he once knew, he’d likely be little more than a stranger, even if they recognized each other. It was strange to be in the same place he was in the early years of his childhood, that time before his father was arrested and the world seemed like a place where nothing bad really ever happened. Time changes so much, which included Carter having become someone so unlike most of the residents of Beryl. While many of his classmates may find enjoyment in shopping, partying, and living a life known only to the upper class, Carter had grown used to a more simple life. He wasn’t a part of the glitz and glam of the rich, even moving back into his childhood home with his younger brother, to live with his mom and stepfather. Even having moved during the summer, it was still an adjustment period, even now a couple weeks into senior year, and just barely a week after Carter’s 18th birthday.
Carter knocked on the door to his brother’s room. “Charley, come on. Breakfast and then we have to get to school.” Carter shook his head with a sigh at his little brother’s mumbling about getting up and ready, before heading back to the kitchen to get the plates ready, where he passed by his mother, who was looking at a series of designs for new labels for the wine bottles. “Carter, your father and I are going out for dinner tonight, so we won’t be home until late.” she said, not even looking up from her work. Carter looked over to his mother, pausing in the middle of what he was doing. “He is not my father. He is your husband, but that does not make him my father.” Carter didn’t have a relationship with his dad, not having talked to him since he was a kid, but his stepfather would never be someone he considered as his father. The closest he had to a father figure for most of his life was his grandfather who actually did the work of raising him. “I’d go with the label design on the left, mom.” At that point, Carter’s mother was about to say something, but that’s when his brother came in and sat down at the countertop where Carter had the plate of pancakes sitting. Fortunately it kept an argument from ensuing while the brothers quickly ate some breakfast before driving to school. Despite Charley not even remembering much about their past in Beryl, he was not only adjusting well, but thriving with the move to Beryl. He enjoyed being at Cerulean high for his freshman year, making new friends and a new life, but for Carter it was a whole different ballgame. When the brothers got to school, they each went their own way, with Carter stopping at his locker.
Approachable