Chuck grew up in a bright and colorful home in Coeur d'Coeurs, next-door to Ned. The two were good friends and would often play together.

When Chuck was eight years old, her father suddenly and inexplicably died in the front yard of their home, while Chuck was inside. Unbeknownst to Chuck, his death was caused by Ned bringing his mother back to life and failing to return her to death within one minute, a fact that would be kept secret until twenty years later. During the funerals of their respective parents, Chuck and Ned, who were "dizzy with grief, curiosity and hormones" according to the Narrator, exchanged a kiss, the first for both of them. They were soon separated when Ned was sent off to boarding school.

After she was put into the custody of her aunts, she could not sleep a wink without thinking about Ned. Every night, she would wear her Godzilla costume that she wore on her playdate with Ned before her father died in hope. Unbeknownst to Chuck, at the same time, at the Longborough School for Boys, Ned was also wearing his Rodan costume that he wore at the same playdate.

Chuck was put into the custody of her Aunts Lily and Vivian. Due to their matching personality disorders and social phobias, the two aunts were rarely able to leave the house. Chuck yearned for a different life, but feared that her aunts would not survive without her, and thus she was never able to leave home. She always tried to get her aunts to leave the house, and even threatened to bake antidepressants into the food she routinely cooked for them, which, in her later life, she would actually do.

Chuck served her community by harvesting honey for the homeless, and often "read about people she could never be, on adventures she would never have," according to the Narrator. She also listened to language tapes, presumably mastering French, Swedish, German, Chinese, and Japanese. Due to her aunts' eccentricity and love of fine cheese, she grew up believing a refrigerator to be something only used for cheese, and consequently refers to the device as a "Cheese Box." She also referred to the basement as the "Cheese Floor." She also once served as a stay-at-home juror (calling in on an old-fashioned French phone) for a paraplegic judge.