Next chapter yay!
Getting out of bed is the hardest thing on the planet, but even more so when you're mom loves to open the blinds and curtains to wake you up in the morning. I pulled the comforter over my head and groaned as she did. "Come on Ellie. Breakfast is ready! It's going to get cold! We have to finish unpacking today and I was thinking that the two of us could go school supply shopping since we didn't really bring much with us other than the necessities," she rambled on and then walked over, pulling the covers off of me.
"Mom…" I whined and tried to pull them back up. "Can't I just have five more minutes?"
"Five more minutes? That's two hours in your time, Ellie. Come on! Up, up, up!" She said. "Anyways, a lady came by this morning and she's cleaning up the house. Her name is Moira and she said that she's been the maid here for a long time. So come on get up. She'll want to clean your room."
"I can clean my own room," I retorted.
"I told her we could clean our own house, but she insisted that she stayed…" Mom shrugged.
She walked out of the room and I stood up, going to get dressed. I pulled on a sweater and some leggings and found my favorite pair of boots before layering my wrists with my bracelets. Mom had asked me before why I wore so many bracelets and I just said that "each of them held a memory" not wanting her to get suspicious. Anyways, it wasn't a complete lie. Many were from concerts, from my friends before I left, and then some were gifts from my parents or other family members back home for special occasions like Christmas or birthdays. I walked down the stairs and sat on one of the stools that were at the island and started to eat some of the pancakes that were on the plate. A lady with red hair who looked very old and was in a maid's outfit passed through and she glanced in my direction. "Are you Moira?" I asked after swallowing a bite of pancake.
"Yes. And you must be the daughter. Elouise, correct? How did your parents come up with that name? It's old fashioned," she stated.
"Oh, it was my grandmother's name," I answered, taking another bite of food. "Thank you for cleaning our house."
"No need for thanks. There's nothing more that I can do anymore really."
I nodded and continued eating as dad walked in and grabbed a plate, leaning against the counter by the sink and eating. "Sleep well last night, Ellie?" He asked me.
"Yep," I said and smiled. "Is there any coffee left in the pot?"
"Uh…" He set his plate down and checked. "Yeah, probably about two cups worth." He picked his plate up and began eating again.
"Good, I'm going to need it. Mom wants to finish unpacking and go shopping for school supplies…" I sighed softly and took my last bite of food.
"Yeah, she was telling me about it. Don't worry, she'll let you alone once you start school up. Are you excited?" He asked jokingly.
"For school?" I laughed. "As excited as any teenage girl could be about starting school in a whole new place…"
"Oh, you'll be fine. You always do great," he said and smiled at me encouragingly.
Yeah… Great, dad. That's why I do what I do and I'm the way that I am. See, my parents see me as a perfect child. I put on that act for them so they don't worry about me too much. It's not like I go out and party or anything. It's the exact opposite actually. I had my friends back home in Oregon, but I was always the odd one out. My parents were always strict about grades and what not, so school was always my main focus. It caused ruts in my relationships, but school had been important to me. That was until I got my first F and I flipped out. I got more into art and more creative stuff. I still kept pretty good grades, I didn't need to try all that hard, but school didn't mean as much as it had. I started procrastinating more and more. That was around the same time that my two best friends were killed in a freak accident. They had been driving down an icy road and they slid into some trees, completely totaling the car. I was supposed to be with them that night. I was going to be driving too because I had been driving the longest and it was just logical, but I had a paper due the next day and—
"Ellie, you okay?" Dad asked.
I was snapped out of my train of thought and I looked up at him. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just, uh, zoned out…" I said softly.
"Okay," he said and looked at me a minute before eating the last bit of his breakfast. "I have a little request, Ellie."
"What's that?" I stood and took my plate to the sink and looked at him.
"Tate, you remember my patient from yesterday? He has an appointment at four this afternoon, but I don't get out of the office until about 4:30. I tried my best to get off, but I can't. Do you think that you could keep him company until I got home? I know that it's kind of a lot to ask, but I wouldn't be able to fit him in any other time," he explained before putting his plate in the sink as well.
"Uh… sure…" I said.
"Just be careful around him okay? Like I said, he's a very dark thinker, but I feel as if there is something there that I can use to get him out of that mindset. Maybe you could help. Just… be careful with what you say and if he gets violent, call me and I'll be home right away."
"You're making me nervous…" I muttered.
"Sorry, I'm just giving you a heads up, okay?" He said.
"Okay," I said.
He smiled and kissed my forehead before fixing his tie. "I'll see you later then, Ellie. I love you."
"Love you too, dad. Bye!"
He grabbed his case from a chair and walked out the door. I took a few calming breaths and rubbed my wrists some before standing up straighter and walking out to find mom. She was in the dining room which was filled with a bunch of boxes at the moment. I started to help her unpack and smiled at her some.
We worked for probably two hours on unpacking before we were finally down to one box. I decided to take up the task because the doorbell rang. Mom answered and I peeked in. A lady who looked maybe in her mid to late sixties stood there with a small smile on her face. "Hello, you must be the new owner of this fine house, hm?" She said.
"Yes, isn't it a beautiful house? I absolutely adore it!" Mom gushed about how much she loved the house once again.
"Oh, yes, yes. Sorry, I'm forgetting my manners. My name is Constance. I live right next door." She stepped inside and mom looked at her as she glanced around the house. "I've lived next door to this beautiful house for quite a while now…" She smiled again and looked to the floor before looking back to mom. "So, how are you liking it so far. Have you heard any 'bumps in the night?'"
"Oh, no. We don't believe in any of that," mom reassured.
"Oh, well you should, honey, because they say if you don't, spirits get restless thinking that they can do whatever they want because you people will always find a logical explanation…"
"Well, there usually is and if not, well, things can't just go 'bump in the night' as you put it, unless there's a reason."
Constance laughed a bit and nodded. "I'm sure you'll come across a ghoul sooner or late or, hell! You probably already have!" She clasped her hands together and mom didn't look like she was enjoying the conversation much, but plastered a smile on her face anyways. "Well, honey, if you or your family ever need anything at all, I'm just right next door."
"Okay, thank you very much…"
"Constance."
"Right, Constance. Thank you," mom said and smiled.
Constance took one last look around the house and when she caught me listening in she gave a small smile and nod in my direction before turning and walking out. Mom looked at me and walked back in with raised eyebrows. "You might be right about these Californians. They all seem just a bit to friendly…" Mom sighed.
I laughed as I continued to unpack the last box.
Mom and I walked in the door. We had gone out and gotten a bite to eat at a small deli before going school supply shopping. We got everything that I was going to need, plus things that I probably would never even had thought of getting except for the fact that they were all on sale. I set the bags down and checked the clock. "Oh my gosh. Did we really shop for school supplies for three hours?" I asked. It was already quarter to four.
"Whoops! I guess time got away. But we did go into those couple of little boutiques for a bit and we contemplated whether or not to get some smoothies for a long time…" Mom muttered and then smiled at me.
"I have to go and wait for Tate. Dad wants me to keep him company while he's getting off work," I told her and started to walk towards the front door.
"He wants you to keep a patient company? Is that really a smart idea on his part?" She asked out loud.
I just shrugged my shoulders and went to sit on the front porch to wait for him. I was sitting on my phone, scrolling through Instagram, as per usual, and I saw pictures of my friends in front of school in dresses. Last night was homecoming. I wish we could have at least waited for homecoming to pass before moving to this town. It would have been nice, but I guess we can't always get what we want…
I sat there and when I looked up, Tate was standing there looking at me with the same expression he had come into my room with the other day, a small side smirk and a mischievous look in his eyes. I gave him a small smile back and stood. "Hey, dad isn't home from work yet and he asked me to keep you company," I said.
"Really?" He asked. "That's a surprise. Usually my doctors want me to stay away from their families."
I shrugged. "My dad is different and he thinks differently," I said.
"Hm…" Tate muttered and stepped closer. "So… we're supposed to just hang out?"
"Yep," I said and shrugged. "Do whatever."
"Can we go up to your studio?" He asked.
"Um… yeah sure," I said and gestured for him to go first. He walked past me and as he did, I caught that smirk on his face again and he looked at me from the corner of his eyes. I started to follow him in, but was stopped by someone grabbing my arm. I turned and Violet was there. "What are you doing Violet?"
"Stopping you. Don't go up there with him," she said sternly.
"Why?" I asked and furrowed my eyebrows. "He's not going to do anything. I've stuck around with my dad before while he was with a patient."
"Elouise, trust me," Violet said lowly.
"Violet, trust me. I can handle him… Why are you so against Tate?" I asked.
"Elouise! Are you coming?!" I heard Tate call.
"Yeah one second!" I called back. "Violet, I'll be fine…"
Violet pursed her lips together tightly and sighed before letting my arm go. "If you need anything, I know how to handle him," she said slowly. "You just… just call me. Run outside and call me. I'll hear."
"Violet, you're scaring me…" I muttered and furrowed my eyebrows. "Why are you afraid of him?"
"I'm not afraid of him. I have no reason to be anymore. I have my past and I have let him know how I feel and that I will never… never be that way again, but Elouise… Please…"
"Okay, I'll be okay, Violet. I promise, but we're going to have a talk about all of this…" I said and walked inside quickly. Where had she come from anyways?
Tate was standing in the hallway looking at me with a solemn expression on his face. "Was that Violet?" He asked. "What is she telling you, Elouise?" He asked.
"Nothing, Tate. It's okay. Let's go up to my studio, okay? We can hang out and listen to some music. What do you like?" I asked and started to walk up the stairs.
He grabbed my arm and tugged me back. I looked at him with wide eyes and my heart started to beat faster as I looked into his eyes. He looked lost and unsure. "What did she tell you?" He asked again. His voice lowered and his hand gripping my upper arms tighter.
I bit down on my lip. "Tate… Let's go upstairs and we can talk up there, okay?" I said trying to stay calm.
He looked at me, his lips pressing into a thin line, and he slowly let me go and looked down. He took my hand and started to pull me up the stairs. We went into my studio and he closed the door. "Whatever she's telling you… don't listen. That's not me anymore. I'm not like that anymore. I swear," he said and started to pace back and forth, running a hand through his hair.
I took a deep breath and walked over, grabbing his hand. "She just told me to be careful. Her dad is a doctor like my dad and—"
"Yeah, I know," he said sternly cutting me off. "He was my doctor once and… he was the best doctor I had. He was starting to help me… I didn't want to hurt people anymore." His last sentence made me suck in a breath and I swallowed thickly. "I started to think clearer and then… Then it all went to shit."
He turned away from me again and started to pace back and forth. "What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I was starting to get better, I wanted to be better for Violet. I did things, tried to do things, to make her life better. At first she accepted it and-and we were both happy. Very happy… I had other obligations too though, Elouise… And…" He shook his head.
"And what Tate?" I prompted.
He looked up at me, his eyes watery and red. The door to my room opened and my dad was standing in the doorway. "Tate… Elouise," he said.
I looked over at him and stepped away from Tate, looking down. "Hi, dad," I said.
"Tate, let's get to your session now, okay?" He said.
Tate didn't say a word as he led him out of the room. I looked up at Tate was glancing back at me. I sat down on the couch and threaded my fingers through my hair sighing heavily. What was Tate talking about? Were these other obligations the reason why Violet wanted me to be careful around him? And did Tate and Violet have a thing before? Why was I so confused? There were things going on that I wanted to know about.
So both Violet and Tate are trying to make Elouise see their side but which will she choose if she chooses, hm? Well, we'll just have to see! Thank you so much for reading!
xxKellyn
