[OPEN] Thought there was nothing to it

[Charlie Parker]

Well... the peace and quiet hadn't lasted long. Under the strong advisory of everyone who knew him, Charlie was still working double shifts Monday through Thursday, but now working only the morning shift on Friday, the evening shift on Saturday, and was taking every Sunday off. He needed to provide for his family... but he also needed to be there for them, and he couldn't do that if he was constantly working. Plus he was on the verge of reaching the end of his fuse and just snapping under the pressure and stress of it all. Being a full time cop and a single dad of two was a lot harder than it sounded, and all things considered he had been handling it quite well... until now. Work was running him down so much he was finding it increasingly difficult to get up every day much less carry out day to day tasks on his job... and Chuck had started asking him more and more when his next day off was... even little Melody had taken up the habit of crying for half an hour every time he would leave. So they convinced him... he needed more time off to spend with his family.

He had gotten up early this morning, knowing that if he didn't it wouldn't be long before Chuck came flying into his room and started begging him to get up, and from that point on he would have no peace and quiet. He loved Chuck, don't get me wrong, but he was like the energizer bunny on 12 energy drinks... he just kept going and going and going at such a fast pace, Charlie was certain there was no one alive who could keep up with that kid all day long... except Brody... but Brody was like a kid in an adult body, so he didn't really count. Anyway, Charlie got up at about 6:00, and got himself ready for the day, then headed down to the kitchen and made a pot of coffee, knowing he would need the caffeine to survive the morning.

About 8:00 Chuck got up, and very shortly after that Melody was crying in her room. So he got up and trudged up the stairs, knowing that the second he walked through that door he wasn't an "eligible bachelor" anymore... he was a dad. His two best friends were both already married...oddly enough. Everyone always said that of the three Charlie would be the first to get married, and Sebastian would be the last. Charlie was a lady's man. Unlike Sebastian he actually wasn't a total jerk... sure he could be a bit of a jackass at times, but he was a guy.. it was only natural. Anyway, Anthony was too crazy and too focused on racing to be getting married, and Sebastian was too... Sebastian to get married. Now here they were, Sebastian had been married for a year, Anthony was approaching his one year anniversary shortly, and Charlie was still single. Funny how that works isn't it?

Once Charlie had gotten the baby and Chuck both fed and ready for the day it was off to the stable to take care of the horses. Even though it was Charlie's day off, his police horse still needed feeding and all that good stuff. Once the stable chores were done, Charlie asked Chuck what he wanted to do today, and of course, Chuck's answer was that he wanted to get ice cream. Charlie couldn't help but chuckle at that... it was only 10:00 and the seven year old wanted ice cream... he should have guessed. Anyhow, Charlie of course told Chuck it was much too early for ice cream, so Chuck settled for the second best option. Football in the park. Now, considering Melody was only a year old, and Brody had the day off from the kids, football was sort of out of the question. Babies and football didn't mix. So Charlie came up with a compromise. They would take the dog to the park and Chuck could throw the ball for him and play on the playground. That always kept him busy for a good long time. And when the baby was sleeping later they could play football at home.

So after going back home and getting the dog and a few tennis balls, the trio turned quartet headed for the park. Charlie's police dog, Jigsaw, was essentially Chuck's best friend. If the dog could come, you bet he would be right along side Chuck's heels. Charlie knew the German Shepherd would take care of the kid, he'd done it several times before when Hayley had still been with Charlie and had hosted a party at their house when Charlie was gone at work. One of her "friends" who was high and probably drunk, went into the kids room where Chuck had taken the dog and the baby and was hiding, and attempted to take the baby for God knows what reason. Leave it to Jigsaw though... who had been trained as a drug dog as part of his police work. The animal wasn't about to let this stranger who wreaked of drugs to go touching his family and lit into that guy like there was no tomorrow. He was just lucky Charlie got home when he did or the dog probably would have killed him.

At the park, Charlie found a bench to sit on while chuck raced about the park like a little hooligan with Jigsaw always just one step behind him. It didn't matter where the kid went, up the ladder, down the slide, across the swinging bridge... Jigsaw followed him, keeping a close eye on him. It was nice for Charlie to know that nothing would happen to Chuck if he looked away for a moment or two. Being Mr. Mom and a full time policeman was hard... harder than most people would imagine... but Charlie wouldn't trade his baby girl or Chuck for the world. Those kids meant everything to him, and the day someone managed to force Charlie to let them go would be the day that he died. He loved them, and even though it was hard, this life was better than he possibly could have imagined it being.

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[Sophie Dubois]

Today was a perfect day to go outside and do something fun, but what? Sophie had just ridden Chaz yesterday and thought it would be a good idea to give him a break today. The older gelding wasn’t crazy about being ridden too often, he got tired easily. And she wasn’t needed at the Soda Shoppe, so she had to come up with some new idea for fun. There were probably other horses in the stable who could use a brush down or good riding. But she was having second thoughts about going to the stables again today. She didn’t want anyone there to think that she had nothing better to do then to hang around the stables. But it was actually the complete truth. She only had her job and Chaz, that was the only things in her life. She didn’t have any friends really. It was probably because she was too shy to ever go up and talk to anyone. Or the fact that people probably saw her sitting in the stall with Chaz and having a conversation with the gelding. She could understand why people might think she was a bit weird for that.

She had gotten up at about 8:30 and already finished her breakfast and showered. She dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans and a plaid button up shirt. Her chestnut hair was falling in loose curls over her shoulder and she wore only a hint of makeup. Mostly she wore cover up to hide the freckles that speckled her nose and cheeks. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed by having freckles, it was just that she didn’t think they made her look attractive. Some girls could pull off the freckles, but she simply didn’t like them at all. Lucky for her the only place she had them was on her face. Other girls and guys she saw had them on their arms and sometimes legs as well. She would be pretty much screwed if she had freckles anywhere else on her body.

Sophie wandered through her apartment, simply pacing back and forth between all the rooms. She still had no idea what she was going to do for today. It would be much easier if she had a few friends that she could call to hang out with. But so far that was finding to be a lost cause. Not that she at all minded being alone, she had been used to it after growing up without any friends. But it would be nice if she could make at least one friend here. Someone who she could share things with and that she might even be able take riding. One day maybe she would get over being so shy and actually work up the nerve to talk to someone at the stables. But until then, she was a loner, stuck in her conservative ways of living and working.

Just as she walked into the kitchen, she noticed the bread on the counter and a smile curled over her lips. The park. A perfect place for her to go and spend her day. She could take the loaf of bread and feed it to the ducks at the pond, and perhaps even take a job around the track if she got bored. Sophie grabbed the bread and headed out to the living area, slipping on her sneakers and grabbing her small purse. She made her way out the door quickly, making sure to lock it behind her. She never left anything open when leaving the house. She didn’t even dare to leave the windows open for any amount of time. She simply used the air conditioning when it got hot and the heater when it got cold. She would never tell anyone this, but she had a phobia of spiders. If one ever got into her apartment she would probably never go back inside and simply find a new apartment and buy all new things. Her fear had developed when she was young, and having never addressed the situation it only grew worse.

As she got to the park, she walked along the path that led towards the pond. The park was very large and full of people on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. There were so many little kids playing on the jungle gym, and swings. Of course the children’s parents were never far from where they were. You could never be too careful, and she completely understood the protectiveness parents felt for their children. She swung the bag of bread in her hand as she wandered over to the pond, staring out at the ducks and geese. It seemed that most of the ducks were males today, and all of the geese seemed to be white. There were so many different types of birds that came to this pond, and she really enjoyed seeing them all.

Sophie sat close to the edge of the pond and began to toss pieces of bread out into the water. As soon as the bread made a splash the ducks and geese came rushing over. A soft laugh escaped her lips as she saw them all coming out of the water towards her. She knew that ducks and geese could sometimes be dangerous, but she wasn’t worried. She simply took out another few pieces of bread and tosses them down to the water. It made the birds go right back into the water and search for the bread. She had done this many times before so she knew all the tricks it took to keep yourself safe from being attacked. Her hand reached back into the bag and she tossed more bread, smiling as she watched. The birds really were rather majestic creatures with their large wings and elegant feathers. She envied the creatures, wishing that she could fly like they could. Then again she also at times envied Chaz. Being able to run as fast as he could, and looking as stunning as he did.

A small sigh escaped her lips and she tossed the rest of the bread into the pond before leaning back on her hands. She was very glad that she had decided to come here today. Her soft green eyes closed for a minute, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her face and arms. She was completely relaxed at the moment, listening to the ducks and geese. That is until she heard barking somewhere behind her. Her muscles tightened instantly and she jumped to her feet, her head turning to seek out the vicious canine. Vicious? To her all canines were vicious these days, after seeing her beloved pet cat mauled to death by a stray. You could see the fear in her eyes as she finally spotted to large canine following a small child around the playground. Her first instinct would have been to rush over and rescue the child, but the dog was so close. She was terrified and instead she took a few small steps backwards. The pond water swayed and washed up around her sneakers, making a sloshing noise. She gasped and then jumped out of the water, looking down at her now wet sneakers. "Darn it" she mumbled under her breath. She had been so busy thinking about the dog she hadn't realized she had walked backwards into the pond. Now she felt like a complete idiot on top of fearing for her life and the life of the child whom the dog was with.

OOC: 1,250 WORDS!! WOOHOO =D

[Charlie Parker]

Telling Chuck that his mom wasn't coming home again was the hardest thing Charlie had ever done. He had already legally adopted the kid, but had only been in his life for a year. He hadn't really known how to tell him that Hayley was gone for good, but when he did, Chuck seemed fine with it. At first Charlie was a little worried about why the six year old didn't seem to care that his only consistent parent was now gone as well, but as time went on little things Chuck said started the clue him in. Slowly but surely he started to piece together what Chuck's life had been like before Charlie came along. Hayley was a drug addict, Charlie knew that, but what he hadn't known was that Hayley used on a regular basis at home when Chuck was around with no babysitter, and would often pass out drunk leaving him to fend for himself. She told him that she loved her drugs more than him, and she paid so little attention to him that he essentially raised himself.

When Charlie came along, everything changed. There was never, under any circumstances, any drug use in his house, he refused to have anyone drink even so much as a can of lite beer in the presence of his kids, and God help you if you ever uttered a curse word where little ears could hear. He took pains to see to it that Chuck was well taken care of, and he was always careful to make sure and spend time with him, tuck him into bed every night, and tell him he loved him. Charlie saved Chuck from the horrible life his mom was making him live in, and for that reason, Chuck became quite attached to Charlie. When Hayley left, he didn't really mind, because he still had Charlie. Although he hadn't been in his life all that long, it was better with him than he ever could have imagined it being with Hayley, thus earning Charlie the "dad" title.

They hadn't been there for more than a half hour when something other than the playground and chasing squirrels caught Chuck's eye. Charlie often swore that he just had to be at least somewhat ADHD. How else could he possibly be entertained ten times longer in on place and have ten times as much energy as every other kid on the planet? What caught his attention this time was a girl walking backwards into the pond. Now this was extremely peculiar to the six year old, and he hadn't the slightest idea as to why someone would do such a thing. So, naturally, he decided to go find out. Shy was not a concept Chuck understood, and he could carry on a "conversation" with a complete stranger for as long as they would stick around to listen. Someday, he was probably going to be very well off because of his unending ability to interest people.

He sauntered over towards the girl with the soggy shoes, still followed closely by the German Shepherd. There was no telling why that dog had gotten so attached to Chuck like he had, but he would rarely let the kid out of his sight so long as he could help it, and there was no telling what he would do to anyone who even so much as thought about hurting the kid. For a while there had been concern that he might randomly go after people in public who had been either around or taking drugs when he had first retired from police work, but it seemed almost as if he had never been trained to take down drug users... as long as they stayed away from Chuck. How come you walked in the pond?

[/s] Chuck asked with that innocent six-year-old curiosity when he stopped a short distance away from her. The dog stopped right beside Chuck as if the two of them were attached at the hip, and sat next to him silently and obediently, ever faithful.

Although Charlie was preoccupied with Melody, he was keeping one eye on Chuck at the same time. Even though he trusted Jigsaw to take care of the little boy, he was a dad, and constantly worrying about his children was just something that came naturally with the job. When he noticed Chuck standing over by a somewhat flustered looking girl, he had a feeling he should go rescue her from the chatterbox that was Chuck. He picked up the little blonde, curly haired, baby girl who was currently preoccupied with his keys, and headed in the direction of Chuck and the other girl. Charlie was never concerned about the little boy talking to strangers. Seeing as Charlie was "the face of the Pinewood Police Department" and did all of the interviews, he was very well known as a policeman, and no one would ever think even once about messing with his children.

Sorry about them, he said with a smile upon reaching her, Chuck just has to meet everyone he sees. Charlie could definitely see a lot of Chuck's dad in him, and he knew it was going to be hard to keep him from going down that same road as his dad had once he got older. These kids were both going to be a lot of trouble for him when they got into high school. Charlie would be lucky if he lived to be 50 without having a heart attack, especially when Melody brought her first boyfriend home or when Chuck got his first car. Yes, Charlie was definitely not the same carefree easygoing guy he was two years ago. Responsibility had hit him hard in a short time, and once it came it wasn't ever going to go away again. That was life.[/center][/size]

[Sophie Dubois]

Sophie took very good care of her apartment, being somewhat of a neat freak. Everything had its place and if there was anything wrong she simply had to fix it. Perhaps it was her upbringing that had made her so paranoid, or perhaps she had obsessive compulsive disorder. Or she could even have another type of phobia. She already had a serious case of arachnophobia so another phobia wouldn’t make much difference. But it wasn’t like she was so clean to the point where she carried a can of Lysol spray everywhere she went. She actually very much enjoyed nature, she simply liked things neat. There was never a time where her apartment was messy, and if anyone disturbed that there was a good chance they would never enter her home again. Being the oldest child, she had always caught her little brother in her room messing things up. But that was probably the one thing she could stand, was children messing things about. After all, children couldn’t understand completely the importance of being neat.

She was certainly however, very glad when she had been able to move from her parents home. She no longer had to worry about her brother snooping about in her belongings. Nor did she have to worry about her parents controlling her any longer. She was finally free, and took great advantage of that fact. Or at least, she thought that she did. Sophie was still trying to figure her life out, to figure out what she wanted to do. She didn’t have much idea how to react with other people, which sometimes made her socially awkward. That is probably why she doesn’t really have any friends just yet. Though one day, hopefully, she would make lots of friends or maybe even meet a nice man.

But that day seemed far off, and she didn’t even bother to think of it any more as she sat alone in the park. She was okay being alone she had been this way for her life after all. If it was her fate to live her life alone, then so be it. She could be perfectly happy by herself, spending her years acting or raising horses. Though, it would be nice to have someone to share it all with one day. There was always the thought of adopting a child from another country, there were loads that needed to be taken in. But she was only twenty-one, so she had plenty of time to figure things out. No need to rush her life or jump into things.

After seeing the dog following so closely, she hadn’t noticed herself step into the pond and now her sneakers were soaked. Her attention had been taken off the young boy and his dog as she knelt down and untied her shoes. She slipped the sneakers and socks off her feet and laid them on the grass to dry. She didn’t mind being barefoot in the park, she had actually done it a time or two before. But as she finished laying her socks down a small voice hit her ears drums and she lifted her head. There before her stood the little boy she had been watching, and right beside him was the large canine. Her muscles tensed and she very slowly backed up, forgetting to answer the young boy. At one point she had absolutely loved all animals, but when a large black dog had mauled her cat before her eyes she felt fear. She didn’t trust any dog after that day, not even small ones. She could just picture them tearing into her flesh, or the flesh of something small.

Her green eyes glanced over at the little boy, who seemed so completely relaxed with the dog standing beside him. ”It uh..was an accident” she said, finally answering his question. She kept glancing at the dog from the corner of her eye, though she was trying to give the boy her full attention. Kneeling down like this made her at a huge disadvantage if the dog decided to attack her. She felt her heart drop into her stomach and she swallowed hard, trying to control her fear. She took a deep breath and then glanced around to see where the boy’s father or mother was. ”You really shouldn’t be talking to strangers” she told him as she let her eyes fall back down on the young boy. She couldn’t help giving him a small smile, finding his enthusiasm cute. But there was still that large dog beside him, and she was still very much on edge.

Sophie hadn’t even realized that a man had come up and when he spoke she jumped, falling back on her rear. A sigh escaped her lips as she looked up at the man holding the small blonde girl. ”No it’s alright” she said softly, still sitting on her rear. She glanced nervously back towards the dog and then climbed to her feet slowly. Once she was standing she felt a bit more comfortable, though not much. She brought her attention to the family standing before her and smiled softly. ”He’s a very friendly little man” she said, glancing down at Chuck. ”Though is it really safe for him to be wandering alone with that..dog” she questioned, letting her eyes glance back to the German Shepherd. If she wasn’t so terrified of being bitten by him, she would admit that he was a very handsome creature. She turned her gaze back to the man and bit her lip, regretting even asking the question now. She hoped he didn’t feel like she was saying anything bad about his parenting skills. She really was a very socially awkward young woman.

[Charlie Parker]

They talk about irony all the time, but usually in relation to some movie or T.V show. It doesn’t really happen in real life does it? Well, occasionally it does. There are small ironies, like dreaming about something that later happens, or talking about someone and then they walk up, or meeting someone in the last place both of you ever thought you would see the other. Then there are the ironies that are rare and far between. The ironies that happen only once or twice in a life time. The ironies that change life as you know it. Such irony had been fate’s twisted sense of humor in Charlie's life, none of them had been in any way pleasant, and all of them had nearly destroyed him, until now.

Charlie had been your typical teenage guy, full of himself, thought he was invincible and all that good stuff. Graduating at the age of 16 didn’t help any of that at all. He was smart, athletic, and popular. He was the kid that everyone wanted to be, and he took it all for granted. He took it for granted that is, until fate’s first irony hit. After high school he’d trained to be a policeman. In his off time, he would hit all the clubs. Unfortunately, on the job one night, he had to go to one of the clubs he went to regularly, and make an arrest. Someone who knew him, and was exceedingly drunk, got mad at him for “betraying them.” Just as Charlie cuffed the guy he was arresting he turned around to take him out to the patrol car that had just arrived and BAM! A bullet to the chest. How was that for a thank you for arresting an armed and dangerous man who was wanted for three counts of first degree murder and possibly saving our lives?

Next irony to hit. He was deathly allergic to morphine which happened to be the only drugs the medics had on hand. Turns out it was the only drug anyone had on hand, and he would have to wait 24 hours before anyone could get anything he could actually take. Imagine getting shot and having to deal with the pain for 24 hours with no meds to ease it a bit. It was more than pain, it was like walking through hell and barely making it out alive. At one point it got so bad he wished that bullet would have been three inches down and four inches to the left…his heart. He wished he could just die so that the pain would go away.

When he had joined the mounted police, he had wanted to do something dangerous that involved horses, and this seemed like the best way to get that. Unfortunately, fate decided to turn that on him as well. While riding down the street one night on the late shift, they stopped to check out a car that had the plates pulled off. As they’d expected, it was stolen. Also as expected, the guy who’d stolen it had run out of gas, parked it on the side of the street, and was passed out on the back seat as drunk as anyone could possibly get and still be alive. While Charlie’s partner called it in, Charlie was over by the car attempting to get the guy to stand up long enough for him to get cuffs on him and keep him awake long enough to explain his rights…not an easy task. That was when he heard the screech of tires. He turned around just in time to see a van come roaring around the corner and head directly for his partner and his waiting horse. Before he could say even so much as a word, both of them were lying on the cold hard ground. The man was dead, the horse dying.

In one night, the two things he had wanted most were taken from him. The danger had killed his partner, his close friend. The danger had killed his horse, his closest companion. Every time he heard a gunshot now he could see the barrel of that gun against Brigadier’s head, he could see the blood everywhere on the street. He couldn’t take it, everything he had joined for no longer brought him pride, no longer thrilled him. In fact, it only haunted him day in and day out. He left the force, never intending to return, though the possibility was still there.

Yet another irony struck him, and this irony was not one he considered one of those cruel twists of fate. This one he considered more of an act of fate to make up for all those others that life had thrown at him...but it wouldn't stay that way. Hayley had asked him several times...when she was high...to marry her, and he had always just shrugged it off. Now though, it didn't seem quite so ridiculous. Sure, nothing like that would be happen for a long while, but it was still feasible in the future. So if he thought that, why not just marry her right then? As before mentioned, Charlie was the sort of guy who wanted to make sure he had found the one. He was pretty sure he had, but only time could tell. Besides, she was still only 19, and in his opinion, that was pretty young to be getting married. Unfortunately, this is where the cruel part comes in. After two years of trying to deal with her drug addictions, her constant screaming, her eating disorders, her cutting, her bipolar disorder, the numerous break-ups, and drinking, he simply couldn't handle it anymore, and finally informed her of that. It was about the hardest thing he'd ever had to do, telling her that things weren't going to work out between them. Then she left him, and their kids and sort of disappeared for a while. Now Charlie was a single dad of two, and worked full time as a cop, not to mention the number of times he had to go help Anthony sort out issues with Sebastian.

Then his cousin moved in with him until she was 18 and could live on her own, and that became another cruel twist of fate. He was already stressed to the max, and then when she started sleeping around with Anthony's little brother, he was about ready to kill someone, and Andrew was the unfortunate one who pushed Charlie over the edge and so became the one who was the victim of his anger. Of course, Andrew deserved it, and he'd had it coming ever since he'd arrived here, he was just very unlucky that Charlie was the one who did it...and that everyone there knew better than to stand between Charlie and his prey. If Sebastian hadn't stopped him eventually though, he probably would have killed him...he was just that far gone.

Yes, fate had it in for Charlie, and he was looking forward to the day when it finally threw him something decent that wasn't going to make him want to shoot the next person that does so much as one thing to irritate him. He had taken a bit of time off, which had helped to relieve the stress a bit to the point that he had it back under control again, though most people would be smart enough to not push him. It was going to be a long while before Charlie was fully back to the carefree guy he used to be, and one wrong move just might push him over the edge again. So that was another reason behind his taking on fewer shifts than before.

When the girl questioned whether or not he should be talking to strangers, Chuck just shrugged If I never talked to anybody I didn't know, how'd I make any friends?

[/s] he asked innocently, his big blue eyes staring up into hers, clearly not afraid of talking to adults he didn't know. Chuck was definitely a special case, but not in a bad way. He wasn't afraid of anything, and he was possibly one of the smartest kids in the whole world. He picked up on things a lot faster than most kids did. He seemed to understand things kids didn't understand until they got into their teens. How he did, no one was really sure, but he did anyway. His brilliance coupled with his adorableness got him just about anything and everything he wanted. Who could say no to a little blond haired blue eyed kid like Chuck?

Charlie took no offense when she asked if it was safe for jigsaw to be with the little boy or not. He just smiled and shook his head No, Jigsaw is...was on the police force. He's perfectly well trained, I assure you. German Shepherds could certainly be dangerous if they weren't trained well, but like all police dogs this one was trained to act on command and would never harm a fly unless Charlie set him after someone. They were a perfect little family... all that was missing was a wife and mother, and though they may have been getting on just fine, Melody needed a mother to raise her. Charlie was a good dad and did everything he could for the children, but no matter how good he was at being a dad, he couldn't be a mom too.[/center][/size]

[Sophie Dubois]

Life with her parents had been a tough one, especially when she was young. She had to be smart, had to be obedient, and had to always follow the rules. At a young age, Sophie had begun walking earlier and talking earlier than most toddlers her age. Her parents made sure that she excelled at everything she did, otherwise she wouldn’t be allowed to do anything. If she didn’t get straight A’s, then they would not give her an allowance. Though she didn’t actually get the allowance herself. It actually went into a savings account her parents had set up for her when she was born. She wasn’t allowed to touch the money, at least not until she was 20 that is. So from age 2 Sophie always did her best, and when her best wasn’t enough she did better. There was no room for error, no room for mistakes. She had to be perfect, her parents demanded it of her. She always seemed to be the best student, and one of the smartest in all of her classes. In fact she got pushed up a grade level because she was too advanced for her age group.

By age 5 Sophie was already doing things that most of the kids her age hadn’t even thought of. She was taking dance classes, piano lessons, riding lessons, violin lessons, and gymnastics. She was young, so she thought she was so lucky that her parents had her in so many things. Her parents spent so much money on all her lessons and all of the things she needed for them. She didn’t realize then exactly what her parents were doing for her. Sure they were making her a better person, teaching her polite manners and such. She was one of the most well behaved children, it actually astounded her teachers. She didn’t throw tantrums, didn’t get angry, and was always polite. Most parents were actually envious and would always ask her parents how their daughter was so perfect.

It wasn’t until she was 12 and her mother was still forcing her into dance classes, language classes, bass lessons, and cooking classes that she began to resent her parents. She wasn’t allowed to have a social life and hang out with other girls her age. In fact if she even mentioned a boy’s name at home, she would be scolded. She wasn’t allowed to talk to boy’s, it was inappropriate as far as her parents were concerned. She couldn’t go to school dances, couldn’t go to the mall to hang out. She was far too busy with lessons and school work to have time for friends anyway. So even when she got older and prettier, and the boys wanted to talk to her, she had to give them the cold shoulder. It was completely unfair in her eyes, because her brother started dating at 14 years old.

No matter how much Sophie wanted a normal life, it seemed that it just wasn’t her destiny. Though, when she was finally old enough, she got as far away from her family as possible. She still didn’t have a normal life, being completely alone and talking to horses. Most people that ever saw her tended to stay away from her, especially when she sat in the stall with Chaz and had a conversation with him. Sure she wanted friends, but she was rather shy when it came to new people. She didn’t really know how to talk to people or socialize. But she did her very best, and was slowly beginning to come out of her shell. She had even been able to get a job as a waitress at the local ice cream parlor. It was a nice place and the owner was one of the sweetest old women she had ever met. Sophie fit in perfectly, and was slowly blooming into a great waitress. Though it would take some time before she became as good as her co-workers.

She was happy living here at Pinewood, and figured that things could only get better. Though, seeing the dog and stepping into the pond weren’t exactly looking up for her. The boy seemed to be perfectly comfortable around the dog, which made her feel rather silly. She couldn’t help smiling as the boy said something about making friends. ”Well I suppose your right. You’re a smart little guy, aren’t you?” she said, grinning at the boy. He was very cute and obviously really liked talking to people. To her it was dangerous, but then again to her a lot of things were more dangerous than they should be. Like the dog that was patiently sitting by the young boy’s side. She found the canine a dangerous threat, but the boy obviously saw him as his guardian and friend. The little blonde child was one of the cutest little boys she had ever seen, which made her wonder where his parents were. Though he had the dog acting as his guard, his parents should really be close by.

When the man had come over, she couldn’t help but first notice the little girl he held in his arms. She was just as adorable as the little boy, with beautiful blonde hair as well. When she questioned him about the boy being alone with the dog, she felt sort of silly. Normal people didn’t have her fear of dogs and considered them family members. She seemed to be the only person who saw the dangerous, aggressive side to them. Her brow raised as the man informed her that the dog was in fact a police canine. ”So are you on the police force?” she asked curiously. The man looked young, most likely very close to her age. Her brown eyes glanced down at Chuck and she gave the young boy a soft smile before returning her attention to his father. Or was the man even his father? She shouldn’t really assume that he was, which now made her even more curious. But she wasn’t sure if she should ask, after all he probably had things to do and someone to go home to.