Falling Too Far

Chapter 52- Angry Blonde Devil

a/n: i won't be updating this story for a while, so if you want to see some of my better writing (that i will be updating) check out my new story "of planets and playlists"!

Dedication: this chapter is for all of you <3

Emma and I lay splayed over my bed, limbs hanging off the sides as we watch the movie playing in front of us. Emma is fully immersed in the romance playing in front of her, but I am too involved in dealing with the romance of my own. We were an hour into the movie, and I had been texting Harper the whole time.

Finally, Emma spun her head round to notice and groaned. "Can you stop? I didn't force you two together for you to ignore me completely!" She aimed a clean shot to my head with the pillow.

"But, Emma," I groaned like a little child, purposely winding her up. "He loves me."

"I don't care," Emma groaned. "This is best friend time. We don't need boys to ruin best friend time, too."

"Alright, alright," I laughed, settling back into the covers. Just as I did so, I heard the telltale sound of my mom coming home, the click of the lock of the door, her heels clacking against the floor. Not a few moments later was there a little squeal.

"Noelle!" She yelled, voice brimming with excitement. "Are you home? Noelle!"

I shared a quick glance with Emma, who shrugged.

"Yes?" I called out, slipping out of the bed, Emma trailing after me.

"You have to come down here, Noelle!" Mom repeated herself.

I sped up, reaching the landing with a slight stumble. Emma reached the landing a few steps after me, but with the momentum she had been racing down the stairs, she fell straight into me, leaving us sprawled on the floor. I groaned, pushing her hair out of my mouth.

"Ouch," she groaned. "I've been wounded."

"No joking," I muttered teasingly. "You fell into me! I braced your landing!"

"Yeah, well maybe if you— "

"Stop bickering, the pair of you," my mom said, and I noticed her for the first time. She was still wearing her clean-cut office clothes, a few strands falling out of place in her immaculate bun. She hadn't looked up the entire time, eyes set on a stack of smooth paper envelopes clutched in between the confines of her fingers. I looked up curiously.

Who sends letters anymore?

"Who are they from?" I asked, pulling myself to my feet. "What do they say?"

"I don't know, I haven't opened them," she whispered, stroking the envelope slightly with her thumb. "But, Noelle, they're college letters."

Immediately, my breath caught in my throat. College letters— papers I had been waiting for for months. The mere slips of paper that would define my future. Emma had already received hers, and she had no problem getting into UCLA. It had been one of my applications, but the acceptance I really yearned for wasn't in California, or even the west coast.

I wanted to go to New York.

New York University- where my mother went, where I had been yearning to go to for years.

"Holy shit," Emma murmured, standing up beside me. She grabbed onto my hand for support, clutching it tightly. "You've got this," she whispered. "I know you do."

My mom looked up at me. "Would you like to open them?"

I parted my lips to say yes, but I caught myself. Mom, who had been there since the very beginning. Mom, who had been spurring me on in all aspects of life, who I often took for granted and hurt, who in no way deserved it. Mom, who had supported me until now, and would support me for the rest of my life.