The girl next door

(8)

You're gonna catch a cold

From the ice inside your soul

Don't come back for me

Don't come back at all!

I kept hearing it over and over again. "Make it stop..." I mumbled. "Are you okay?" Arabella asked me. "I'm fine." I told her. There was a knock at my door. "Come in." I said. My mom walked in. "I heard yelling. Is everything okay in here?" she asked. I nodded. "Just...telling Arabella here that she was playing the music too loud. I told her to turn it down."

Arabella shrugged. "I like loud music."

"Well, keep it down in here." my mom said. She left the room. "You're not going to tell her?" Arabella asked. I shook my head. "Not right now. Soon, maybe, but not now."

I saw it coming

Always knew it would

And you'll have to hold on

Til you close your eyes for good

"Not again..." I said. "Not another one..."

When I think of the fame

And I think of the gain

Imma play the same game that I've always played

It's a roll of the dice and when I think twice I shouldn't have let you win

"Paige?"

"I'm fine. I promise." I told her. "I'm worried about you." she says. "I'm fine." I said again. "The police are on their way." Sebastian said. He put his phone away and sat by us at the window. "Is everything okay?" he asked. "I'm fine." I told him. "Why do people keep asking me that?"

"You have this look on your face." Sebastian said. "Is it...happening again?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

It was happening again. But I told him it was over with. "I'm sure." I told him. I looked out the window. "She's gone." I said. "Good. We should go for a walk." Sebastian said. "We need fresh air." he turned to me. "Especially you."

"I agree." Arabella said. I shook my head. "She's still around. I know her. She's still around. She won't stop until one of us is dead."

Arabella looked out the window. "The police are here. Let's go talk to them." she says. We walked outside and the police asked us questions about what happened. We answered them all truthfully.

"Is Delilah still around?" a police officer asked me. I shook my head. "I don't know." I said. "But she's probably lurking around here somewhere."

***

The police searched the area and eventually found Delilah hiding in a bush by my house. After she was taken to jail, I spoke with Arabella. 

"Since this whole Delilah thing is resolved," I said. "Maybe we could tell my parents about us..." 

I said the last part quietly. I didn't want to tell my parents about us. But it had to be done. She squeezed my hand. "Be brave." she said. "It'll be okay."

I took a deep breath. "Okay." I said. "Let's go."

***

We walked into my house, hand in hand. My mom raised an eyebrow when she saw this. My dad set down the book he was reading. "Mom, dad," I said in a shaky voice. "This is my...g-girlfriend. Arabella."

I started to shake. 

"Girlfriend?" my mom asked. I nodded. 

"Paige, can I speak to you for a moment?" my dad asked. I nodded again. "I'll be back." I told Arabella.

My dad and I walked into the kitchen. "Y-Yes dad?" I asked. "Paige, you know how your mother and I feel about you dating girls. It's not normal."

"But it's normal for me! Please! I love her!"

"Paige-"

"No. You never care about how I feel! All you care about is being a normal family. But you can't stop me from loving her."

"You know what happened last time."

"Last time was last time! It could happen to anyone! Please."

I was on the verge of tears. "I...I love her..."

"It's not normal."

I took a deep breath. "Dad, listen. Being gay is like being left-handed. Some people are, and most people aren't and nobody really knows why. It's not right, and it's not wrong. It's just the way things are."

"Paige-"

"No. Listen to me. If there was a whole room full of right-handed people, and only one left-handed person, would the left-handed person count as a human? Yes. What if those right handed people just treated the left-handed one like some kind of animal? That isn't right. That is how you're treating me. Your own daughter. It's not right!"

"Paige-"

"No! I'm tired of being treated like this. This is who I really am. If you can't accept who I really am, I don't think I fit with this family. I'm leaving."

"Paige, don't you dare leave like this."

"Don't treat me like this, and maybe I won't."

My dad was silent after that. "That's what I thought." I said. "Goodbye."

***

Arabella and her mom are letting me stay with them for a while until things cool down with my parents and I. I'm staying in their guest room.

"Good morning, Paige!" Mackenzie said as I walked into the kitchen the next day. "Hey Mackenzie." I said. "You can stay here as long as you want. I love having you here, and I'm sure Arabella does too."

I nodded. "I just hope everything will get better between the three of us. I like it here, but I feel like I'm intruding." 

"You're not intruding. We love having you here."

"Thanks for letting me stay here. I need it right now."

"If you ever need anything, you can always call me. Any friend of Arabella is a friend of mine. Especially her girlfriend."

Arabella came bouncing down the stairs. "Hi hi!" she said. "You two better get to school." Mackenzie said. "You're going to be late."

We left the house and walked to school. "I hope everything gets better with you and your parents." Arabella said. "So do I. It's not normal. Usually we would just stop talking. This is a whole other level."

She took my hand. "It'll get better." she said. "I promise."

Hellooo everyone! Sadly, this book is coming to and end, but there are still more chapters!

I'm so so sorry I haven't been updating much. Last week was very busy. The 8th graders had two field trips, so I wasn't able to update much. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will love the ending that is soon to come!