The Muse Wars. Episode 2.

This is a fictional piece for The Muse Wars, which I will be playing along with over on RRSAHM.
Please join in! It will be a lot of fun.
Even if you don't, let me know what you think. I haven't written a fictional piece since I was in high school, so it's been a while. Need to oil the rusty hinges.
Please take the time to read the first installment to this story or it probably won't make much sense. Or maybe it will anyway?

Charlotte pondered about her daughter.

Gemmie was young at heart. So innocent. She still had a lot to learn about life. She could see from Lennie's demeanour that this girl had lived a little more. Still Charlotte did not want to be quick to judge as had been done to her all those years ago. She trusted Gemmie and knew her daughter was strong in her values and that a good friend for Lennie, one that could help guide her morally would be ever so important.

Charlotte felt a little sad remembering her own struggle growing up. How being a part of the popular kid group had it's downfalls. Of the party once thrown at her house, and finding her beloved dog who was fiercely loyal and protective of her, in the oven the next morning.
She had been so jilted upon that discovery she had lost her usual bubbly exterior and couldn't wait to graduate and go off to college away from all her friends. A fresh start.

The next morning Charlotte arrived to pick up Gemmie at 11. A woman similar to her own age answered the door. She was very pretty with long soft waves falling to her bosom and bright eyes which looked tired and hungover. She stared at Charlotte in confusion.
"Hi, I'm Gemmie's mum, Charlotte." She smiled as she extended her hand.
"Melinda" the other woman replied extending her hand in return.
Both their eyes fall on a dark bruise on Melinda wrist as they shake hands. Melinda tugged at her sleeve and the bruise is no longer in sight.
Charlotte wants to say something but Gemmie bursts from the front door at that very moment squawking her goodbyes. Instead Charlotte smiled and thanked Melinda for allowing her daughter to stay before meekly retreating to the car.

On the drive home Gemmie babbled incessantly about her new friends. Charlotte couldn't seem to stop her thoughts from straying from the beautiful woman who had answered the door marked with such an ugliness. That bruise did not look accidental and something about the way Melinda tugged at her sleeve made Charlotte uneasy.
Still it was not her place to do anything. She knew this. She knew that interfering would only bring about trouble, and yet she felt all kinds of wrong about leaving it alone.

Gemmie could not believe the night she had had. The Dawls had been more than nice to her, especially after the makeover they had given her, and Lennie and the girls had told her they would take her on a shopping spree this afternoon for an all new wardrobe to go with her look.
This was the kind of thing that only happened on those movies.