Flashbacks

Chapter 13: I don't want space

It’s been a few weeks since the whole thing happened. Turns out, I was imagining the whole thing. I

thought my dad was him. It’s a form of PTSD, I was told. I was prescribed medicine to help me with it. I

also had a therapist I went to see every now and then.

Ever since what happened, Noah’s been distancing himself from me. I don’t know why - I’ve tried

apologizing to him numerous times but he always shrugged it off and said it was fine, said I wasn’t in Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

the right state of mind. Still, I knew he was hurt. Every time he and I lock eyes with each other, I see

pity. There’s also a weird tension in the room with us. It’s unbearable. I plan to speak to him when I gain

the confidence.

“Elle!” I heard Norma scream.

“Norma!” I screamed back as she ran into my arms, giving me a big hug.

“How was school today? And where’s Dominic?”

“Today was fun! We went on a field trip. And Dominic’s at school doing sports,” she answered, twirling

her hair around. I lifted a brow up at her strange behavior.

“I can keep a secret…Did anything happen on this school trip?”

Her cheeks turned bright red. “You can’t tell mommy,” she says whilst holding out her pinky.

“I promise.” I linked out pinky’s together.

“My crush kissed me on the cheek today. We held hands, too,” she whispered out, grinning.

I coed. “Is he cute? Tell me everything!”

“He’s really pretty. I got shy so I didn’t want him to hold my hands.”

“Aww, that’s adorable -”

“What are you guys whispering about here, huh?” Arthur asked.

We both giggled. “No,” we said in usion.

He lifted up a brow. “You guys up to something?”

“Maybe,” Norma answered whilst shrugging.

“Mhm, interesting.” He pretended to think before looking over at me. “Norma, honey, I think you have a

room to clean. I need to speak to Elle.”

“I don’t want to clean my room,” she complained.

“Well, you have to. Go on now.”

“Fine.” She pouted then walked away.

I chuckled. “Children, am I right?”

He grinned. “Yeah. How have you been?”

“I’ve been good, Arthur. Again, I wanted to apologize to you for what happened - I can’t believe I

thought you were him then I thought you worked for him -”

“Stop blaming yourself,” he cut me off. “You weren’t in control nor were you in the right state of mind.

You shouldn’t be apologizing to me, either. I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

I nodded. “What does Celeste think about this? I mean, she did talk to me and she’s been a real bi help

these past few weeks, but how does she really feel about this?” I asked, using one hand to gesture

towards myself.

“She loves you like her own daughter. She knows you’re going through things, and although she

doesn’t fully understand, she knows you need time to adjust and things as such. She doesn’t feel

anything negative towards you if that’s what you’re asking,” he answered.

I smiled. “Thanks for being honest with me, then. I appreciate it.”

We sat in silence for a bit. I realized then and there that he looked more tired. The eye bags under his

eyes were becoming more noticeable and he looked drained.

“You okay?”

He looked at me, a bit shocked looking. “I’m well, just dealing with a lot of stress because of work.

Word of advice, don’t become the CEO of a company,” he jokingly said.

“I’m sure everything’ll be fine. You should rest though, you look exhausted. And don’t worry. I don’t plan

on becoming a CEO,” I said. “I think we should have dinner. All of us - as a family. I can cook,” I

nervously suggested.

He grinned. “That sounds like a great idea. I can go with you to buy the things we need, if you want me

to.”

“No, it’s fine. Noah can go with me. I need to speak to him anyway.” He took the hint and nodded.

“He’s out in the car, I’m pretty sure. Here, take my card.” He handed me a card from his wallet.

“I don’t need your card. I have my own money.”

“Take it just in case.”

I sighed. “Okay.” I took the card then ran out of the house and to the car. I knocked on the window,

causing Noah to roll it down. “Yes?” he asked with a blank face.

“We’re going shopping. I’m cooking tonight.”

“You look happy.”

“Because I am! Now can you unlock the door?”

“Yeah, sorry. Hop in.”

He started driving as soon as I closed the door, surprisingly. He really didn’t want to waste time, huh?

“We need to talk,” I stated suddenly.

“About what, Elle?”

“About what happened two weeks ago. I apologized, but I know you’re still hurt. I can’t stand the way

you look at me now. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. How many times do I have to tell you that? I just think we need space, that’s all. It’s

better for you that way,” he stated. I didn’t want space though. I wanted us to become closer.

“I don’t want space,” I voice my thoughts.

The car came to an immediate stop.

“What did you say?” he asked, looking at me.

“I said I don’t want space…”

“Shit, Elle.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t do this right now.” Then he resumed driving as if

nothing happened at all. Well, this is awkward.

When we reached the store, I quickly rushed out of the car and went inside the store. I began looking

for all the things I needed as I thought about what happened in the car. I couldn’t believe that I

confessed and he told me he couldn’t deal with it. I mean, I didn’t even have feelings. I’m sure of it.

As I picked up steak from one of the fridges, someone bumped into me. I looked up, frightened.

“Sorry, I didn’t -”

He paused. “Ellenora? Is that really you?”

I start shifting uncomfortably. “I’m sorry, I don’t know you.”

“It’s me, Angel. We went to the same school together. We rode on the bus everyday and sat next to

each other each time, remember? We used to talk all the time. How can you not remember this

beautiful face?”

I chuckled as I finally realized why he looked familiar. “You’re not that hot, Angel.”

I couldn’t believe I forgot about him. He was the only person who made going to school bearable. Not

once did I tell him about what was going on in my life, though. He looked so different now. He gained

more muscle. Back then, he was pretty skinny. Now he was big and buff. He was around six feet tall

and way hotter than the last time I saw him. His eyes were still that beautiful shade of hazel.

“I guess you like the view,” he laughed. I looked away from him, blushing. “No, keep looking. I enjoy it.”

I smacked his arm. “I hate you.”

“On a more serious note, I miss you, Elle. You literally fell out of the earth or something though. I tried

contacting you but your phone didn’t work anymore.”

“Honestly, a lot of things have happened so I had to change quite a bit of things. And I changed my

number. And sort of forgot about you due to everything going on.”

“You’re telling me you forgot someone as handsome as me?” He looked genuinely offended.

“What’s stopping me from punching you right now?”

“I don’t know, but let’s not do that mhm.”

I laughed. “Let’s exchange numbers so we can keep in touch and hangout.” We exchanged numbers

but kept talking as we shopped together. He even helped me bring the bags of groceries to the car.

“Thanks, Angel.”

“No problem. But who’s that scary guy glaring at me from inside the car?”

I looked over at Noah and shrugged. His problems aren’t mine. “He’s my bodyguard, sadly. I have to go

now though. See you soon!”

“See you, Elle. Text me sometime!” He winked at me as he walked away and went to his own car. I got

into the car and let out a sigh.

“Who was that?”

“A friend. But I don’t know why that concerns you,” I said with a glare.

“You’re right, it doesn’t.”

The rest of the car ride was filled with tension. He confused me to no end. I never wanted to feel like

this. When we reached the house, neither of us moved. We sat in the car in silence.

“I don’t want us to have space either,” he said and I froze. I turned to see he was already staring back

at me.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

We both stared at each other as we leaned closer and closer to each other.

“You’re really beautiful, you know that?” he softly whispered whilst holding my cheek in his hand.

“Mm,” I responded, not knowing what to say. I felt his hot breath fanning against my face and I really

wanted him to kiss me.

At last, his lips connected to mine. His lips felt so soft and welcoming, I felt a surge of emotions all at

once. My heartbeat quickened and I was so sure he could hear it. We pulled away before things could

get out of hand though. I was panting softly. He was a really good kisser.

“That just happened,” he said, chuckling a bit.

“Yeah, it did.” I let out a small laugh. “Bring the groceries inside. I have to start cooking.”

“Okay.”

He got out of the car and I stayed there thinking: Noah just kissed me.

Shit is about to go down.