A/N: So, sorry for the long wait. I had writers block for a very long time and a lot of things have popped up. But still please review!
"Rocky"
(Four months later: November 22nd)
Rocky sits at the edge of her well made bed and closes her eyes. She tries to ignore the way the cold air hits her when Sasha opens her room door. She says something about getting all her bags in the car for the ride to the airport.
She only gets up after Sasha has to come and shake her. Her twiggy fingers wrapping around Rocky's elbows. Rocky blinks for a second or two before coming back to life. She picks up her suitcase and small duffle bag before heading for her door, turning out her light, and saying goodbye to her room for a week.
Thanksgiving was right around the corner. He aunt thought making a surprise visit back to Chicago would be great since she has only been talking with her family through phone and sometimes skype messages when she got the chance. She had been so busy the past few month with more and more photoshoots and more and more of avoiding Luke and more and more of homeschooling to stay caught up.
She had purposely avoided talking with her family for a week following the visit. She was always so tired after work and school and trying so hard to stop her heart from skipping beats when Luke was around. She could have just told him how she felt but she didn't know how she felt. She had never liked someone this way so it caught her by surprise.
The only thing she seemed to have time for, however, is the lonely scale that called for her under her bed (which was now taking resident in her suitcase) that told her of the haunting numbers of pride she so looked for. At the moment her body was shamefully on the edge of dropping to 78 but bouncing back to 79 every other day.
She feared what this meant to her but she still looked forward to her weigh ins.
She feared what would happen if she didn't weigh in.
Her legs were clad in three layers of leggings and sweatpants because New York knew how to get cold. Her jean jacket pulled tightly over a black hoodie that hung a loosely on her now fragile frame. She loved this though, her close not fitting. Having to get refitted ever so often at work because she was constantly slimming down. Some models gave her compliments, some didn't say nothing at all, Luke gave her snarls and angry glares which she just rolled her eyes at.
She sat buckled up in the backseat of her aunts car while Sasha took resident in the front. Rocky closed her eyes from time to time but didn't want to fall asleep. It took an hour to drive to the airport because of traffic. When they go there, it was not as packed as she would expect it to be. Good thing she was travelling a few days earlier because she hated crowded airports.
Next stop: Chicago.
- (3:00 chicago time)
The first thing Rocky noticed about Chicago was the smell. New York smelled of busy rainy days and subway cars, but Chicago smelled of something a lot more raw to her.
Rocky couldn't help but smile brightly when they were out of the airport. Her fingers trembled as she held onto her phone but that was expected. She hadn't seen any of her friends and family in (what CeCe put it) in a thousand and one years! She wanted to hug them and kiss them and talk about New York and how crowded it always was. She wanted CeCe to talk of her new boyfriend and when she was going to meet him and talk her brothers ear off about college plans. Her leg started shaking on their own accord.
"You excited?" Aunt Marie had caught on to the soft vibrations behind her seat and looked at Rocky through her rearview mirror. Her hair tied perfectly in a high bun, matching Sasha's.
"Yea, very! And a little nervous." She replied before Aunt Marie gave her a mini lecture on how she shouldn't be nervous and blah-blah-blah.
She stayed silent the rest of the ride, slightly nodding to anything and going over her lines in her head.
Yes, mom.
Of course, daddy, school is fine.
I'm fine.
It's ok.
I'm really not hungry.
When they arrived outside of her (used to be) home she almost stops breathing. Her body shaked uncomfortably before she forces herself to open her door and expose herself to Chicago's wind.
They gathered everything they needed from the trunk of the car. Entering the apartment building sent a cold wave down Rocky's spine. It was a nervous-excited wave. She wanted to shake that feeling. She didn't want to greet her friends and family with a half-hearted guilty I-missed-you-so-much-hug. She wanted them to feel the same warmth she will soon be feeling in her chest.
When they arrived in front of the apartment her aunt knocked the door in four rhythmic beats. There was shuffling on the other side and she heard Ty screaming he'd get it. Her brothers voice boomed through her ears and she couldn't help her smile. Sasha looked back at her and smirked. She had seen Ty in a few pictures and had talked to him when Rocky did her video chats before Rocky told her it was completely creepy to have a crush on her older cousin.
The door flew open and the lights of her eyes hit Rocky's brown eyes, causing her to blink rapidly. When her eyes adjusted she could see her brothers wide smile. His dimples seem so much more deeper than they were the day she left. He opened up the door to let everyone in. Helping Aunt Marie with her one suitcase while Sasha and Rocky followed. He put the bag down and gave his aunt a hug. He ruffled Sasha's head to which she laughed heartily at. He then set his eyes on his little sister. She looked at lot more different than she was the last time he seen her. He scoops her up in a tight hug and her feet lifted up from the ground. She wrapped her arms around his shoulder for a few seconds before telling him it was OK to break free now.
Everything else felt like a blur to her. From when her parents came and welcomed the visitors (she had to keep reminding herself that she was just a visitor so she wouldn't have any conflicted feeling when she left at the end of the week). She answered the many questions her parents asked and in just being their for an hour her and Ty were already fighting over stupid things.
Sasha sat on the couch and stayed there until Rocky invited her to see her room. Her parents had left everything the way it was the day she left. They placed their bags in the closet and took off their shoes. Rocky ran to her bed and laid in the soft sheets. They were a little cold due to non-use in such a long time.
She couldn't help but wonder if CeCe ever came into her room and laid in her bed because she missed her. She turned her head and stuffed the pillow into the side of cheek, loving how cold it was.
"So, this is Chicago?" Sasha said breaking Rocky out of her little world.
"Yea," she said. "This is home." She got up from her spit in the bed and dangled her sock claud foot over the edge. "You wanna meet my best friend?"
"Is this the CeCe you're so fond of?" Sasha said, pulling her hair out of it's previous up-do.
Rocky smiled, "Yea, CeCe. C'mon!"
There was a loud, irritating tapping on the window but Flynn was too busy playing his game to bother with it. He assumed CeCe would eventually come out of her room to investigate.
After what seemed like eternity Rocky pulled the window from the bottom and started to crawl through it. Sasha looked a bit confused at this way of entering someone's home but she didn't question it. When they both were in the house she plopped down on the couch next to Flynn.
"Hey, Flynn." She said smiling, waiting for the eight year old to notice her. Instead he muttered a zombie like 'hey' without peeling his eyes away from the blinking screen.
"It doesn't matter what happened, you shouldn't have done it! It was so embarrassing Chris!" A annoyed voice rang from the back rooms. It was progressively getting louder and Rocky wasn't sure if it was because she was yelling now or coming closer to where she was.
Rocky felt a tug at her heart when she saw the flash of red hair swinging from a loose ponytail. Cece had on baggy sweatpants and a sweatshirt that read 'Varsity Basketball'. Her pink lips were stuck in a frown and she had her cell phone pressed lightly to her ear. She turned on her heels into the kitchen before dragging out some orange juice.
"I'm still going to be mad at you though." She said as she turned around to sit the orange juice on the table, momentarily looking up to make sure Flynn was still in the living room. She turned back around to grab a glass to pour the juice in when she realized that there were two other people sitting on her couch. She turned around slowly before confirming the thoughts that she had in her head. Her best friend was sitting on her couch again!
"Rocky?!" CeCe exclaimed causing a huge smile to appear on Rocky's face as she stood up from the couch to catch her running best friend. "OMG, I missed you soooo much! Are you seriously here, is this really you?" CeCe unwrapped herself from Rocky, gave her a once over, then pulled her back into the tight embrace.
Flynn peeled his eyes away from his game long enough to say, "Oh, hey Rocky." He took off down the hallway to run to the bathroom.
"Yes, it's me! I missed you, New York is nothinglike Chicago!" Rocky told her best friend after they were done crushing each others bones. The frown that was tight on CeCe's lips were now replaced by her youthful smile.
"I bit. It's way better right?"
"As if! I never go out anywhere because it's always so crowded on the streets." Rocky explained. They sat back down on the couch and that's when CeCe noticed the brown haired girl sitting next to her best friend.
"Who's this?"
"Oh, yeah! This is Sasha, my cousin."
Sasha smiled gently towards CeCe, bringing her small hand to shake CeCe's.
"Nice to finally meet you! Rocky talked a lot about you! All good things of course," Sasha said.
"Of course, she has too!"
It was around nine before Rocky and Sasha came back. They had spent a good three hours at CeCe's and Rocky still didn't feel caught up to the Chicago way of life yet. She showed Sasha the shower before heading to her room to unpack some of her clothes.
She pulled out her purple suitcase and opened it. She began searching for the things she needed for tonight. Such as her toothbrush, towel and pajamas. She stood up to place all the items on her bed when the sudden rush sent a sharp pain towards her head. Tiny pins hit heavily onto her temples and she couldn't help the gasp that escapes her mouth. Standing became hard and she was sinking to the floor clutching her head trying to make the pounding stop.
It took a good twenty minutes of her sitting with her knees up to her chin before the pounding stopped. However she stayed still for a little while longer. She knew all too well what came after these episodic headaches. If she tried to move again too soon or too fast she'd mostly like pass out. She did not come all this way to have her family worrying about her during Thanksgiving.
She stayed put for another ten, only because Sasha had reappeared into the room all dressed in cozy pajamas for the night.
"You alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little jetlagged."
Sasha giggled, "We only flew for, like, two hours!"
Rocky glared at her, she hated when people counteracted her excuses. "So? I can still be tired."
"Right, sorry." Sasha said, turning on her heels to exit the room.
Rocky let out a sigh beforw gathering her things to go to the bathroom.