Elegantly Wasted • Paxton Hall- Yoshida

Chapter eleven

Macey's feet shuffled against her hardwood floors as she made her way to the small little bathroom located at the end of the hall, right next to the guest bedroom that was directly across from her bedroom. She had lived in that small suburban neighborhood her entire life, and she longed to get away one day. Hopefully she would.

Journalism is what she dreamed of. Macey dreamed of traveling the world, writing a book, and living in some cottage far far away.

But dreams are only figments of our imagination.

She put some toothpaste on her toothbrush and began brushing her teeth. She was almost startled when she heard her phone buzz atop counter. With the toothbrush still in her mouth, she picked up the phone, reading a text from the one person that she wasn't thinking about what so ever--Devi.

Devi: I know it's like annoyingly early, but I was wondering if you wanna hang out today. Maybe Betty's Diner after school?

To Devi: that'd be great!!

Devi: cool, see ya at school! :)

Somehow Macey felt relived that it was Devi that texted her, and not Paxton. It was too early in the morning to have to deal with Paxton texting her. Her gaze then met her reflection once again, and she resumed brushing her teeth. Once she was done in the bathroom, she headed to her brother's room to wake him, since apparently "alarm clocks weren't his thing".

"Dude, get your ass up." Macey instructed rudely, shaking her brother awake after bursting into his bedroom.

"I'm good." He said with his face in his pillow, eyes screwed shut.

"You're gonna be late." The brunette mentioned to her sleepy brother, only to be met with him waving his hand in her face. She huffed, "Fine. Be like that."

She left Luke's room with an annoyed sigh, trying to mentally prepare herself for yet another day on Earth.

. . .

Macey had never been the happiest of teenagers. She only surrounded herself with people who were happy so she'd forget about how she felt like she was drowning.

But sometimes, it was exhausting being around people who were okay.

And so during her lunch period that afternoon, she sat by the pool, her feet dangling in the clear water. It was cold, but somehow it felt nice. She moved her foot around, sending ripples breaking through the surface.

It was eerily quiet, nothing heard but distant chatter from outside. It was comforting, though.

That was, until the door creaked open. Macey slowly turned revealing someone she didn't expect—Noah.

His dirty blonde hair was tucked under his usual backwards baseball cap,icy blue eyes dancing with a mixture of curiously and worry. Macey had figured he'd eventually come looking for her considering they ate lunch together everyday, yet she was still surprised to see the boy.

Once he started walking toward her, she turned back to face the pool, a deep sigh escaping her lips. She had hoped Noah wouldn't be the one to find her. She knew Noah would worry, and she also knew she didn't even have to say something to him for him to know what was wrong.

His sneakers landed on the ground, and the next thing she knew, his feet were dipped into the pool right beside hers.

"How'd you know I was here?" Macey asked softly.

"Lucky guess." He replied simply, only earning a curt nod from the brunette. Noah watched Macey intently as she gazed at the water, seeming troubled. He then sighed, "You're upset about your family reunion the other day."

"Bingo." Macey answered, sounding exhausted.

"What exactly happened?" Noah found himself wondering out loud.

She sighed, her eyes finding the ceiling, hoping that somehow up there she would find the right words. But when she didn't, her gaze finally met Noah's, "It wasn't really about embarrassing myself, if I'm honest. It was more about admitting that I'm still not over my dad. I thought I was okay, but apparently not."

"It takes time, M." Noah reasoned, his tone softer than usual.

"I guess." Macey shrugged.

Silence fell over the two teenagers, a comfortable silence. Macey and Noah had an interesting relationship. They were practically inseparable when they were young, they're parents all thought they were dating.

At one point, Noah had wished they were. He never would've admitted that, though. Especially because he had known of Macey's severe crush on Paxton.

As the two sat there, Macey decided to rest her head on his shoulder. Neither of them had expected it, but neither of them complained.

So there the two sat, feet dangling in the pool, an unspoken understanding floating in the air around them.