It won't keep us apart

Chapter 7: Two sides

Noah's POV

A day hasn't even passed by, yet Richelle replied to my letter. I didn't expect that she'd decide so quickly, but Richelle's Richelle. I never thought she'd keep my number after all this time. Well, she can be unpredictable. I send a reply to her text.

---

Richelle

9:08 pm

Hey, I think I'm ready for this

9:15 pm

How about we meet up in 2 days at Shakes and Ladders?

Shakes and Ladders?!

---

I smile to myself. Whoops. She doesn't know that Neutral Grounds became Shakes and Ladders. My fingers tap away on my screen. After a few minutes, we end up deciding to meet up in the afternoon.

Great.

It's somewhat comforting that Richelle is ready to sort things out, but at the same time, I'm a little scared. I feel like this isn't a good idea, but my heart tells me that I should go and give it a chance.

I'll see her in two days, and nothing can change that now.

Half an hour later, I'm back in my room. I'm ready to sleep after such a long day. Gosh, so many things have happened all in this one day. It doesn't even feel like it's been a day. It feels as though everything happened within the last few days.

I lay under the covers and close my eyes.

Richelle's POV

My alarm clock jolts me awake. I blearily rub my eyes. I feel tired, yet I'm happy with the decision I made yesterday. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be meeting up with Noah. I'm curious how it'll go, but we'll see.

Even though it's six in the morning, I still am going to go for a morning jog. It's my regular routine now, ever since I was given the all clear for my hip. Usually no one else in my house is up as early as this, but my mum sometimes gets up early for work if she's called in for an earlier shift than usual. On the other hand, Abbey is always asleep at this hour; she usually gets up near seven o'clock.

I pull myself out of bed. Now, what should I wear? I skim through all my sports clothes. Shorts or leggings? Ugh deciding between two things is sometimes difficult for me. Eventually I settle on a baby blue shirt and black shorts. There we go.

Then I quickly do my hair up in a high ponytail and make my way towards the kitchen.

"Morning mum," I yawn.

She looks at me with a smile. "Morning darling!"

I note that she's in her work clothes.

"You've got an early shift today?" I ask.

My mum nods in response. "Yep. I'm leaving in fifteen minutes."

I grab a bowl and scoop yoghurt into it. Then I add some muesli over the top. Finally, I top it up with strawberries. Within ten minutes, I've finished eating. I didn't realise how hungry I was until after I finished.

"Richelle? Can you get my water bottle for me?"

I call back, "Okay I'll get it for you."

I open the fridge to see two bottles of water. One with a pink cap, and the other with a blue cap. Oh no. Which one is hers? I hurriedly take the one with the pink cap and speed off to the front door.

When my mum sees me with the bottle, her face changes into a confused expression.

"That isn't my bottle."

My eyes flicker from her face back to the bottle in my hand.

I look back at her. "How was I meant to know?" I demand, feeling irritated.

She rubs her forehead. "Look, I've told you countless times that it's the blue one, not the pink one. The pink one belongs to your sister."

Really? I don't recall that. I'm not sure when she would've told me this.

"That explains why you were so puzzled," I reply.

"Now quit standing there and get my bottle this time!" she barks. "You know that I'm meant to leave now, so get moving missy."

With a frustrated sigh, I hurry back to the kitchen to fetch the right bottle. Along the way I put Abbey's bottle back in the fridge.

In less than a minute, I manage to make it back to the front door where my impatient looking mother is standing. I hand the bottle over to her.

"Next time, you better use your brain and think," she scolds.

My mum then exits the house and slams the front door behind her.

I slump down against the wall. Why can't I do anything right? Every little thing I do wrong, she still will go on about it. I get it. I'm not perfect. That's something that she won't acknowledge.

Ever since my dad passed away three years ago, my mum has changed. She's no longer carefree and as happy as she was when he was alive. I miss him. I miss how my family was before. Unfortunately, I can't turn back time.

So here I am in the present.

Giving it my all to stay strong, although I'm still feeling broken inside.

Although I've got a brave face plastered on me when I'm outside, but at home, it's the complete opposite at home. I'm not usually the one who cracks under pressure, but she just somehow slips her way through the cracks.

"Richie, what's up?" a voice asks from behind me.

I peer up at Abbey. She's not that much younger than me. We're two and a half years apart. I bite my lip.

"I-I, she-" I try to say, but I'm too overwhelmed with my emotions.

Instead, she brings herself down onto the floor and gives me a hug. Holding me tightly in her arms like she knew what had happened. 

"You know mum only meant to tell you that for you to learn, but she was in a hurry, so her patience ran short," Abbey whispers.

I tremble in her arms, yet she still holds me.

"Sometimes I wish that things were the way they were when dad was still here," I sigh.

We never really spoke of him ever since he left us; it hurt a lot. The world turned around and things weren't ever as good as it was before. That year was so hard on me. Losing my dad, then losing the happiness we had and then losing Regionals later that year.

I pull myself out of Abbey's arms and stand up. I reach a hand out to her and she clasps my hand to pull herself up.

"Wanna go for a run?" she asks, brushing her hands off on her leggings.

I nod. "I didn't realise you got changed already."

Abbey chuckles. "Well here I am! Ready to go."

With a smile, I open the door. Together we leave the house for a morning run.

A refreshment from this morning's episode at home.

Off for a better beginning to the day. 

A/N: Next chapter, Noah and Richelle finally talk, but will it change anything?

With this chapter, I wanted to try add some sort of backstory to why Richelle is how she is. Meaning the tough outer skin she built over time from her home environment.

If you're dealing with problems at home, school or work, don't be afraid to speak up.