Underground Angels

Chapter Fourteen | I Meet The Evil Not-Really Ex

Chapter Fourteen

I Meet the Evil Not-Really Ex

 

            “You never said you were bringing your girlfriend.” Was the first thing Lola said as Gabriel walked a shaking Noel over to them.

“She’s just a…friend, Lola.” Said Gabriel coolly, though his voice skipped on the word ‘friend’. Noel had no idea what that could mean, but she expected the worst.

“A friend.” Noel blurted “In fact, most of the time I can’t stand him and he practically kidnapped me to come on this trip.”

Stephan sniggered while Constantine gave Noel a kind look. Lola sneered at her “Well I wish he’d left you at home.”

“Enough Lola.” Gabriel said, his voice taking on a new sound; “Noel doesn’t deserve this. Treat her with respect or you can get your own ride to the festival.”

Pouting, Lola crossed her arms “Fine.”

Fidgeting, Noel tried desperately to control her verbal diarrhoea “I’m not his girlfriend. He won’t leave me alone, honest, I’ve been trying, but I mean, he’s my neighbour and…and…” she trailed off and swallowed harshly, throat suddenly dry. Constantine and Stephen had gotten up and were standing a little ways off, trying not to laugh.

Scowling, Lola’s face –which Noel could tell was actually rather pretty- seemed to sour “Yeah, I heard you the first time.”

Flushing, Noel nodded “Sorry, I-”

“Don’t care.”

Gabriel slung what Noel thought he meant to be a comforting arm over her shoulders, but all it did was make Lola look even more venomous. They all piled into the car, putting Constantine between Lola and Noel in the back, Stephan riding beside Gabriel in the front.

“Anyone have any last minute requests?” asked Gabriel “Lola, do you need to get your stuff?”

“Yeah, we’re still in the same place. Surprisingly.”

Noel didn’t know what that could mean, but Gabriel looked happy “Really?”

Shrugging, Lola picked at her nails; they were annoyingly perfect Noel noticed, unlike her own, which her bitten down to the nub. “He moved in with us this time.”

A different kind of shadow passed over Gabriel's face, a little like when he was talking about Kent and Trevor, and his mother. “Is it still Doren?”

Lola looked out the window “Yeah.”

“Don’t worry too much though Gabriel,” Constantine spoke up “Lola and the brats spend a lot of time at our house.”

Keeping quiet while the friends talked, Noel wondered who ‘the brats’ were, probably Lola’s siblings, and whether this was a usual conflict. Maybe Doren was ‘the brats’ father, or a boyfriend…though Lola had been everything but gracious to Noel since they met, she genuinely hoped that the Hughes’ situation wasn’t too bad.

All hope was lost however when they pulled up in front of a dirty and decaying old row of terraced houses, small and squat, with garbage and throwaway items littering the front lawns. There was a single pansy flower in the upper window of one of the bedrooms Noel noticed, along with a small girl that looked startlingly like Lola in the face.

“Lola!” two little figures threw themselves at Lola as she got out of the car, eyes bright as they began tugging her inside. The girl was older, maybe ten, the boy probably around seven or eight.

“I can’t stay guys,” she told them, and they immediately deflated “I’ll be back in a week though, promise.”

“But Doren will be home this weekend, and poker is cancelled!” said the girl.

Lola kneeled down and hugged her “I know Ramona, but this is my one week. I get one week to be me, you know that…” the rest of their conversation was hushed, and none of the cars inhabitants could hear.

“Are those her brother and sister?” asked Noel quietly, numbed by the heart wrenching scene in front of her.

“Yeah,” Stephan said “Ramona and Ollie; they’re dad was a nice guy actually, saved their Mum from going wayward after Lola was born. He died when Ollie was two, tried to break up a fight…it didn’t go well.”

Constantine answered the question Noel hadn’t even had the guts to ask “Mrs. Hughes spent all their money trying to find Lola’s dad, which obviously didn’t happen; Gods are very good at avoiding their mortal partners. Ramona and Ollie’s Dad helped her for a few years, they had them…after he died they all went downhill.”

Noel felt suddenly guilty about her own parents, nice home and cozy room with high speed internet. Maybe Lola had a reason for being prickly after all.

Lola came out of the house looking grim, a duffel bag thrown over one shoulder. Ramona and Ollie held onto her, begging her not to go. A woman watched from the living room window, a cigarette dangling from her pale lips. She looked a lot like Lola; she guessed that the woman was Nala. She had the sort of features that you could tell had once been stunning, and her face was one that clung to her youth, but had wasted away after years of waiting for someone to come back who ultimately wouldn’t.

Getting into the back seat, Lola waved one last time to her siblings before turning to them, the grin slipping off her face, green eyes guarded.

“Drive.”

 A/N: I know I keep forgetting to update, but its because I'm several chapters ahead of what I post and I forget...sorry about that.

Question: What do you think of Lola?

And I'm going to have a little christmas present for you guys; the first being a book of christmas one-shots from my collection of stories, and the second a video! I decided to go with both. Let me know what you'd like to see in the video!

Please let me know!

Rose<3