CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
God know what is hiding in those weak and drunken hearts
Guess the loneliness came knocking
No one needs to be alone, oh singing
People help the people
And if you’re homesick, give me your hand and I’ll hold it.
People help the people
Nothing will drag you down- People Help the People, Birdy
Two weeks before she was due, Poppy moved into the O’Hara household. She would be staying in Will’s room, where the nursery would be when the baby was born.
Well, that was what Chelsea assumed. But when she got home from school, she found Allison standing in the kitchen with all of her suitcases packed.
“What are you doing?” she asked in confusion.
The dark haired girl jumped before looking over at Chelsea guiltily. “I… I’m leaving.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because, you know… Will and Poppy are gong to be having a baby soon,” she gulped slightly, “and there won’t be much room anymore. I know you were talking about extending the back, but it would still be a tight fit. My boyfriend, Donovan- you met him last week, has been trying o convince me to move in with him for ages. I can’t tell him no any longer.”
Chelsea frowned at the reluctant look on Allison’s face. It was like she didn’t actually want to go.
“I get what you mean, but you’ve only been dating Don for two months. Don’t you think you’re moving in a bit too soon?”
“He loves me, Chelsea. I’ve never felt so cherished in my whole life.”
She couldn’t resist the raw emotion on Allison’s big brown eyes, and reluctantly gave her blessing. “Okay. But if you feel uncomfortable at any moment, you come straight back here. Do you understand? We’ll make you fit.”
Both girls giggled before Chelsea helped her put her suitcases in the back of her car.
“I’m going to miss you,” she admitted. “It’s going to be weird not hearing you fighting with Sadie over the bathroom.”
“It’s going to be weird not fighting with her,” Allison sighed in reply. “But it’s time for me to go. You’d understand more than anyone else, Chelsea. I don’t want any messy goodbyes.”
There was something in the older girl’s face that told her that there was a certain someone she didn’t want to say goodbye to.
She’d always had her suspicions when it came to Allison and her brother’s relationship.
“Keep in touch,” she said sternly before shutting the driver’s door. Her father’s former ward waved at her half-heartedly and turned on the car. Chelsea took a step back as Allison sped off down the road.
Soon enough, she was only a speck in the distance.
“Hey Chess, where’s Ally?” Will asked her that night during dinner. Poppy was sitting next to him with a questionably blissful look on her face.
YOU ARE READING
The Art of Courting
Teen FictionChelsea O'Hara has always prided herself at being practical and confident. But when you have a dad that still can't decide what he wants to do when he grows up, a drug-addicted, screamo singing older brother and a little sister that want's to dye he...
