Sorry for the delay... I took a short and absolutely spontaneous holiday. Hope you enjoy the next chapter!
Chapter 4
"Lux you stay here!" Cate yells for the second time. Lux turns around looking to Cate who's standing in the living room while Lux is in the hallway. "No, I wanna see Tasha. She feels like crap after what happened this morning. She needs me." Turning back Lux races out of the door before Cate can say anything else to stop her from leaving. Lux keeps walking fast even after she's around the corner from Cate's. It's not Tasha who feels like crap, it's her. How can she make up to her best friend for what Tasha did for her this morning? Lux knew that Cate would be upset but that she would punish Tasha as hard as she did still surprises her.
There she goes, Cate thinks. At the moment everyone seems to leave her or betray her. Now even Lux. Cate goes to the fridge and takes out a bottle of white wine. Pouring herself a glass she thinks about the therapy session of today. Would some time apart help her and Ryan to overcome their issues? She really isn't sure. During all these years it had been them being together that had helped her deal with her problems. Her screwed up family, finding Lux, even with Baze. But for the first time she now feels like having Ryan around her stops her from fighting because she has fought too much already. How long will this separation take? And will she get him back? This thought makes her suddenly realise that that's what she wants. In the end she wants to have him back. Not like he is now but how he used to be. A hero who's strong enough for the both of them. She would fight for what they had if he's willing to fight as well. Just not right now. Now she has to deal with feeling like a crappy mum and a bad guardian. She didn't even mind that Lux went to Tasha, she just tried to be strict. The truth is she feels guilty about her reaction this morning. Tasha really isn't a bad kid. But with everything else going on she couldn't stand another betrayal. Hopefully Lux could make up for it and the whole affair would be forgotten soon.
"Tasha it's me, please open the door." For the third time Lux knocks on the apartment door. She's sure that Tasha's in there. Unlike her Tasha follows all the rules Cate comes up with and makes every effort to fit in this new world. "What do you want?" Finally Tasha opens the door and Lux goes in as fast as possible not sure if her friend might otherwise change her mind and slap the door right in her face. "Tash…" Lux tries to embrace her friend but Tasha turns away. "Tash listen to me. I'm so sorry about today. You shouldn't have to suffer because of me. But believe me I would do the same for you." – "Yeah maybe you would. But I will never be dating a teacher so I guess you will never have to." Tasha emphasizes 'a teacher' in a way that shows how much she disapproves of Lux's relationship.
Lux looks at her friend and tries to read her mind. Despite her disapproval she had lied for her and Eric. Why? Because she cares – at least about Lux. This tension between them had to come to an end, after all they are best friends. "Well you know maybe you and Jones want to have some private time after homecoming. I could tell Cate that I'm sleeping here while you two sneak out to Estoria. You never know when you'll need an island!" Tasha allows a small smile on her face, she seems to be giving in. "Yeah you know, Jones and I don't need Estoria. I think I heard that it is actually okay for Highschool students to go to a hotel near by at homecoming. I mean, that's what normal kids do." She could never be angry at Lux for a long time. And Lux talking about Jones reminded her of how Lux had to deal with her being with him. "Peace?" Lux asks. "Yeah, peace." Finally the two friends embrace each other.
"You know Tash, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about…" They're now sitting on the couch flipping through some old magazines. The seriousness in Lux's voice makes Tasha look over to her friend. "I know you don't like it when I'm talking about it but… You're the only one who knows about me and Eric and you clearly don't like the idea of us being together but I could really use someone to talk to, so would you –" "No!" Lux lifts her head surprised at the strong reaction of her friend. "No Lux, I won't listen to your problems with Mr. Daniels. You made your bed there." Why on earth is Tasha so upset about her and Eric? "Ok, you won't talk with me about him, that's okay. But could we, um, meet in your apartment again? I need to talk to him soon. As you refuse to listen to me I can't tell you why but please can he come here?" Tasha stands up from the couch and walks over to the kitchen. From there she looks to Lux then takes a look around her whole apartment. With a sad look in her eyes she says. "Fine. He can come. When?" – "I don't know yet. But I'll text him and tell you. " Tasha nods. "You better go now or Cate will ground you as well." She says still staying in the kitchen while Lux takes her bag and leaves. No more words spoken between them. "That didn't go too well" Lux says to herself.