I'm Half A Heart Without You

Chapter 1

Noelle's POV

The bell rang. That was it. My very last day of school. Ever. I, along with everyone else in the classroom, jumped up out of my seat and rushed to my locker. 

"Guess who!" I heard an excited voice from behind me. I immediately knew it was my best friend Rosy. 

"Hmmm... it's definitely not Rosy...." I said sarcastically. 

"Shut up and get your bag so we can leave!!" she yelled at me. 

I grabbed my bag and slammed the metal door shut. We walked to the stairwell and continued down 2 flights of stairs to the main lobby. We walked towards the exit, but there were kids everywhere. From grades 9 to 12, students flooded the lobby. Pushing and shoving our way out, we eventually got to the sidewalk.

Once we finally reached my street, we parted and walked our separate ways. I walked down to my house, but did not walk to the door. I continued down the long, narrow street. 

"Noelle?" I stopped and turned to see my neighbor Judy and her husband Bill sitting on their front porch. 

"Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Bailey," I said politely. They've lived here since before I was born. We moved into this house when I was only 3 months old. They don't have kids of their own, so whenever my mother went out, they would babysit my sister and I. 

"Today was your last day, right?" asked Bill. 

"Yep. I've officially finished grade school," I answered with a smile. 

Judy smiled as well, "I bet you're over-joyed about that." 

I nodded in response and continued my short expedition down the street. Once I arrived at my destination, I smiled. The playground at which I walked to was the very location where I met my best friends, Rosaleigh (Rosy) and her brother Matthew (Matt). Matt is older than Rosy and I. He had already graduated and has been enlisted into the military. Rosy already informed me that she wasn't going to attend university. 

I walked over to the slide and peeked under it. When Rosy and I first met, we wrote our middle names on the bottom of the slide. I have no clue why, but we did. 

When I finished looking at the writing under the slide, I walked over to a small bench and sat down. As soon as I did so, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and read the caller ID. It was my mother. 

"Hello?"

"Noelle? Where are you? I've been looking all over for you!" She yelled into the phone. 

"I'm just down the street. Why are you so panicked?" I replied. 

"We have new neighbors."