The Kissing Booth: Unavoidable

Chapter 3 - The Break-Up - Part 1

Elle's POV

When Noah and I started dating in high school, I never thought we would last forever.  For the longest time, I didn't feel like I was good enough for him and thought for sure he would go off to Harvard and find the woman of his dreams or maybe decide he wanted to start hooking up with all the hot girls there like he did in high school.  The point is, I never had the confidence in us to believe that we could last.  That caused some of our early problems that first year when we tried a long-distance relationship and he was in Boston and I was in LA.  After a bumpy start, we survived the first year and had an amazing summer together after I graduated.  I think it helped once we knew the distance was only temporary.  Once I made the decision to go to Boston College, we knew that we would only be apart for a handful of months. 

We had an amazing year together my first year in Boston.  Yes, it was hard to be so far away from my family and deal with all the changes from my first year of college, but I had my boyfriend and my best friend so close that we could hang out almost whenever we wanted to.  Lee had surprised everyone when he decided to go to Boston College with me.  Once Rachel was accepted at Brown and I had made my decision, Lee decided to re-think staying on the West Coast.  We both planned to major in Business and Marketing, and we were so excited to take Boston by storm together.  Lee and Noah even seemed to get along better in Boston than they had in LA and the three of us spent a lot of time together.  After that perfect year with all of us together, I started to believe that Noah and I may actually have a relationship that could last. 

But, when we were back in LA for Spring break, my dad sat me down for a talk. 

"Elle, honey, I have some news for you."

"Sounds serious Dad, everything okay?"  He had me a little worried with the serious expression on his face.

"It's good news.  I've been promoted at work."

"That's awesome, Dad!"  I gave him a hug, I knew he had been trying to get to this next level at work for a while now.

"It is, there's one catch, though.  They need me to move to the Chicago office.  I know how attached you and Brad are to LA and our house here, but I feel like I have to take this promotion, since it's been offered, or I don't think I'll get another chance here in LA.  It may end up being a temporary move and I could come back to LA in another year or two.  Brad and I are going to be moving to Chicago in a couple weeks so he can finish out the school year there."

"Wow, so fast!  What about our house?"

"The company is going to help me get everything packed up, we'll put a lot of stuff in storage and I'm going to rent the house out."

To say I was shocked was an understatement, but I was supportive of my dad and I knew I would be able to visit him and Brad, just as easily in Chicago as LA.  I thought we would still plan on spending our holidays and some vacations with the Flynns, like we had been doing all my life and I didn't expect this move to change much for me.

I didn't talk to my Dad often once he moved to Chicago, I mostly talked to Brad.  Dad was working all the time and Brad would call me when he was lonely.  He had started school there with just a few months left in the year and he hated it.  He missed his friends and the Flynns terribly and he hadn't made any close new friends.  By the end of the school year, he was starting to get in trouble at school.  I spent my summer break in Chicago, knowing that Brad needed some extra support and because I had missed my family while I was in Boston.  Noah had gone to LA, but it didn't seem like a big deal to spend a couple months apart before we would be back in Boston together for another school year. 

But I realized things were a lot worse than I thought once I was living there.  I didn't know it at the time, but my Dad and Matthew had gotten into a business investment together before Dad moved to Chicago.  There had been issues and it was starting to tank shortly after Dad moved.  By the summer, things were going downhill quickly.  Dad was compensating by working more and when he was home, he was drinking more than I had seen him drink before.  I had never seen my Dad do more than drink socially, a couple glasses of wine with a meal or a few beers while watching a game on tv.  Now, when he was home, he was in his office drinking the hard stuff by himself.