I gave Andy the middle name "Leanna" in an earlier chapter I believe, so we're going with it. Now I'm giving Vic one...
Also... enjoy
thirteen days later...
She needed a change, something different, something that would match her personality, but still be slightly out of her comfort zone but also something she was comfortable with. Most importantly she needed a distraction. Blue? No. Purple? No? She would leave it gold as it already was, but that would defeat the purpose... or would it? Change, Andy wasn't the biggest fan of, but she wanted to do this... or it was just out of boredom, either way it was getting done.
"You're leaving in a few months... do you think it's necessary to remodel your room?" Maya asked and Andy shrugged dropping down the sketch book she had in her hand, rising from her spot on the floor. Maya rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "You're seriously still upset about what happened two days ago?" Andy said nothing, walking into her closet before getting her colored pencils from the bottom shelf. "It was her fault, Andy..."
"It was your fault and you know it, you can't say shady things and expect her to stay quiet."
"So you're taking her side?"
"Yes." Maya scoffed and walked out of the room and Andy sat back on her floor. Continuing to draw out her future bedroom plan, she felt the wind of her door opening.
"Leanna."
"Aaliyah" Andy responded back using her middle name, never taking her eyes from the paper. She wasn't the thrillest to be in her presence either. "What happened to meeting me at the library today?"
"Uhm..." Victoria paused for a second, sitting down on the bed. "Something came up...I just came to bring you these waivers for the Charity thing."
She chuckled and nodded. "Everyone has had things come up lately." Andy mumbled under her breath.
"I heard that."
"Great."
Victoria instantly picked up on her attitude and rolled her eyes, laying full out on the bed.
"You're being bitchy." Victoria said.
"And you are a bitch." She heard Victoria giggled and Andy sighed, tucking her hair being her ear. "You started it."
"What's up with you?"
She grabbed a different color, shading in her sketch. "Nothing..."
"Andy."
"It's nothing..." She shrugged. "It's just when you haven't seen your boyfriend in fifteen days, even at school, when you used to be with him every day. Then you find out he's been in New Jersey and just didn't bother to let you know until the day after he stood you up for your date with him and is still there as we speak planning his future college career at an Ivy League that he got into this past fall. Which causes you to be mad at him and not pick up his phone calls or reply to his texts at all because who just up and leaves town and not tell their girlfriend? Assholes...Oh and your bestfriend and your former bestfriend, who is currently your housemate, are at each other's throats whenever they are within ten feet of each other, then your very close friend who you consider to be your brother won't pick up your calls because 'he and Robert have some kind of bromance thing' whatever the hell that means and he avoids you everytime you spot him in the hallway, so you haven't spoken to him either. And then you go visit your ma in the psych ward and she tells you that once she is discharged, she is moving her law firm to New York to 'expand the possibilities' and again I say, whatever the hell that means. Then you try to do what any other person would do. You try to talk her out of that, so you spend about thirty minutes arguing with her and trying to convince her to you know... not leave you on the west coast alone, which didn't work by the way... and the people you care most about will be on one side of the country while you are stranded in California, on the other side... alone with no one close to you." She took another deep breath. "And to put the icing on the cake... She asked me was I having sex because of the glow to my skin... I have the right to be bitchy today. Plus I've been off my meds for a couple of weeks."
Vic stared at her blankly. Absorbing everything she confessed and doing it slowly. "Do you feel better with letting that all out?" She asked slowly chewing on whatever snack she had.
"No... perhaps you missed the part where I said my mother is moving to New York when she gets from that hell hole she is in... and you may have zoned out when I said I missed my boyfriend whom I haven't seen in two weeks." She snapped. "Then you... you and Maya have to stop whatever you two have going on."
"I don't like her."
"I'm not asking you to like her Victoria... I barely like her... I'm just asking you both to have a civilized conversation for once instead of behaving like children."
"Tell her the same thing then..."
"I did." Andy looks up to the bed where she laid. "Look, I love you both and I'm not asking you two to be bestfriends. I just want to not be the referee at a boxing match every time you two are in the same room." She was about to continue her speech until a text came through before she read it. She put it down, not bothering to text back, continuing her planning. It was silent for a minute being that Andy lost her train of thought, but she said what she needed to say and deaded the conversation. Not even five minutes later, someone came bursting through the door, running towards Andy, instantly wrapping their arms around her neck as she was still sitting.
"Andy!" Novella yelled. "I missed you a lot."
Instantly putting the brightest smile on her face, bringing her in front of her to hug her properly. "Hi, Ella!"
"Hi, Vic!" She said and Victoria waved smiling at her.
"You told my mommy that I could stay the night and you would take me to school in the morning?" Her eyes still lit like a Christmas Tree as she sat in Andy's lap.
"I did because I missed you so much." Andy said beaming a smile at the little girl. She hadn't acknowledged the person that brought her in, and didn't plan to. She saw him go over to the bed, giving Vic a kiss, but diverted her attention back to Ella who had flipped the page and started her own art piece. "Are you hungry?"
She shook her head and continued drawing.
"Andy." She heard but ignored him. "Herrera..."
"Ripley." Her tone was cold.
"She's in a mood, Lucas." Victoria said.
He acted as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't quite get it out. He stands there for sixty seconds contemplating telling her the truth. Contemplating telling her why he has been avoiding her but it wasn't his truth to tell, it was Robert's. He hasn't been around because he wasn't a good liar. He couldn't lie to his friend for weeks while Robert laid at his parents' house, scratched and patched up. "I'll see y'all later, bye Ella."
"Bye Luke." She replied.
Andy sighed, rolling her eyes while hearing her door close, running her hand over Ella's hair. "We can watch movies all night long?" Novella asked never taking her eyes from the sketch book.
"Not all night long, but we can watch them until it's time for you to sleep." Andy said and she nodded. "Are you staying the night?" She then asked Vic.
Vic shook her head and Andy nodded. "I just needed to drop off those papers. Do you need anything before I leave?" She asked.
"No thank you, I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Okay, Bye Ella."
"Bye, Vic."
The door opened and closed again.
"How about you go pick out some movies and I'll go get some snacks"
"Okay." She hopped up from her lap and ran to Andy's closet causing Andy to giggle. She went downstairs to the pantry and filled a basket with snacks that she gets delivered weekly and went back upstairs. Novella had made herself comfortable on the bed, already having her pjs on when she arrived. "We are watching Brave, it just came out last year and my friend at school, she kind of has hair like her." She said as Andy climbed onto the bed.
"Really? What's her name?" She spreaded the snacks on the bed.
"Her name is Lizzy." She opened the bag of popcorn and Andy started the movie. "These right here." She pointed to a bag of cinnamon pretzels. "These are Robby's favorite."
"Yea, I know. He eats them all the time." She nodded.
"He was eating them before I came here." Her eyes were glued to the T'V as Andy looked to her.
"You saw him eating them on the phone?" She slipped a Cheez-it into her mouth and Novella shook her head and Andy grew confused. "How'd you see him then?"
"He's at my house." Funny! She just has to be confused because he is in New Jersey at Princeton University. "His stomach and shoulder has a scratch on them and my mommy wouldn't let him go home."
"What are you talking about, Ella?" Andy giggled wondering when her imagination became so... dark? Because that's all it was... her imagination. She knows that Novella has to be confused, he was definitely out of town... like he had told her. "When?" She doesn't know why she is engaging in the conversation when the child is clearly distracted by the animated movie in front of her. She had to be thinking of another time... like when he had hurt his ankle at practice last fall, that's the only time she has known him to be hurt and he would most definitely tell her.
They don't lie to one another... that's behind them. She looked over to the girl who had her cheeks filled with buttery popcorn before turning straight ahead, fiddling with the ring that was wrapped around her finger. She reached for her cellphone on the nightstand and stared at the picture that displayed the two of them.
"You aren't watching the movie Andy..." Novella wined, snapping Andy from her thoughts.
"I'm sorry..." She apologized and moved lower in the bed so her head was resting on a pillow. "Can I ask you a question then we can watch movies as long as you want?" Knowing that she shouldn't be bribing the child, she needed for her to clear up the thing about her brother. Even if Andy did believe that Novella was confused... she is very smart and doesn't get confused often, Andy must know.
"Promise?" She asked and Andy nodded. The little girl took the remote and pressed pause before giving her attention to Andy.
"I thought your brother went out of town the other day?" Novella shook her head, moving a loose curl from her view.
"I told you he is at my house in his old room. I think his arm hurts him too. He won't let me come in though."
"A-are you sure though be-"
"Andy..." She palms Andy's cheeks with both hands looking straight into her eyes. "I know what my brother looks like." She giggled and Andy nodded forcing a smile onto her face. Taking a deep breath in, raising up from the bed as the girl's eyes followed her, dropping the smile that was once spread across her face. "Are you okay, Andy?"
Andy stood to her feet, breathing in and out before turning back around. "Uhm... yea." She smiled. "But I think I left my iPad at your parents' house. Do you mind if we go get it?"
"Andyy..." She whined. "You said we could watch movies and eat snacks."
Andy sighed sitting back onto the bed.
"I know... I know, but I really need my tablet. It won't take long at all okay?" Novella shrugged and got down from the bed. A million thoughts racing through her mind way to quickly for her to process any of them. There is an explanation for everything, and he isn't hurt. The child definitely just misinterpreted what she saw. Once they put some warm clothes on, they left the house driving to the other side of town. At a red-light, she texted him asking him where he is... it was the first outgoing text message she had sent him in days... it felt silly. It felt like she preparing to catch him in the act of infidelities, but she was never worried about that. The lies... but again... he wouldn't keep something as big as this even if the injuries that covered him were only a few scratches to his skin. He would tell her... she knows he would.
from Sully:
still in Jersey for a couple of more days.
The gate that separated their residence and the outside world came to. One of the men that occupied the booth three days a week stood there.
"Hello, Andy." He spoke and she gave him a smile as he opened the gate. It's the only friendly gesture she could give. There was speaking, but her voice wasn't the strongest right now, so she kept it at a simple warm smile. One hand on the wheel as she drove up the lengthy driveway, she ran her other hand through her hair.
She thought this was ridiculous. She should trust him... she does trust him. That's how their friendship and relationship has blossomed over the last years... She should turn around right now, but her iPad really is in their home and wasting gas to get here would be... a waste. She picked Novella up out of the backseat, she had fallen asleep on the way there.
Going to the door, it was usually unlocked... but she decided to ring the doorbell. She didn't see any cars, but Vladena should be here. She was a live in nanny. As she was about to ring it again... it opened.
"Luke?" Her eyebrows furrowed. "Why are you here?"
"I mean... I could ask you the same thing." He said nervously laughing. He never moved from the door. He was barricading it. "Shouldn't you two be... making smores or something?" Andy gave him a questioning look.
"I left my iPad over here a few weeks ago..." She said attempting to get past him, but he moved over. "Lucas... I'm really not in the mood to play games. Please move, so I can take her back with me and put her in the bed." Again... the look of hesitation wiped over his face, but it faded as if he was... defeated? Maybe even apologetic? A look of premature sympathy.
"I am so sorry, Andy." His voice was whispered as he moved over, taking Ella from her hold as she looked at him weirdly. Kicking off her shoes for the little bit of time she would be here, she walked up the stairs and he followed her.
"What are you sorry about..." The phrase slowly faded away as she entered Robert's bedroom. Seeing his room in a complete mess. It wasn't like him, he was a compulsive neat freak... "You've been staying here?" She asked him, turning back but he kept quiet.
"I'll go put her in her bed." He said leaving from the door frame.
"Wait, I just need to g-"
"Was that the food?" She turned her head to the direction of Robert's bathroom door. There he was...a sling on his arm... possibly a cast also. He is frozen in his spot... his mouth gapped oh so sightly. He is dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie.
She takes a step back, shaking her head trying to wrap her mind around why the person on the other side of the room... was you know...on the other side of the room. She turns around to continue her steps out until she is not in his view frame any longer. Then she comes back... she's confused. They haven't exchanged words. His feet are still planted into that same spot on the ground and she... she is just... going crazy?
She leaves the room again and returns... like he would just disappear into thin air and it would all make sense. She walked away in hopes that when she returns... he would be at Princeton... like he had told her several days ago... minutes ago when he replied to her text. Every time she comes back into the room... her eyes focus on the sling that held his arm and the small white bandage on the right side of his forehead. One single... solitary tear broke free from her left eye. She quickly swiped it away, letting out the air that was trapped in her lungs for what felt like forever.
"Andy." The silence was finally broken, the void of silence with the word he sighed.
"Shut up." She says almost instantly after her name left his mouth. Her eyes are fixated on the white piece of cloth that elevated his arm... it stays there. She could feel a breeze that hit her back, she knew it was Lucas.
"And-"
"Shut. Up." She said again... this time only closing her eyes for a couple of seconds before reopening. She can hear shifting in Robert's movement... he is taking steps towards her. Her eyes opened seeing him take one last step, but as he stepped forward... she stepped back holding her hand out in front of her before he could get any closer.
She looks back to Lucas whose face is just as pathetic as Robert's. He refused to make eye contact with her. "This has to be a twisted... sick... unfunny practical joke..." She giggles as she looks between the two. Only when she looks at Robert, her eyes lands on his arm. "Someone is going to jump out from behind that curtain with a camera any minute now, right?" She laughs again, not realising another tear had escaped until Robert's hand rises to wipe it away. Only he doesn't get the chance. She forcefully smacks it away, looking at his face for the first time in fifteen days. "Don't fucking touch me." She is cold, her tone is... spiteful. He sighs running his hand over his face as he takes one step eyes are piercing his as his tongue pokes the inside of his cheek.
"What happened to his arm, Lucas?" Her eyes stayed locked to his. Lucas didn't answer... he just sighed, running his fingers through his hair. She turned her gaze to Luke. "You obviously knew he was hurt... how did he do it?" She showed no emotion on her face, if the tear-stain on her left cheek wasn't there, you would think she was unworthy of sympathy.
"Ask him, Andy." He whispered. His arm... his little sister was right about his arm what else was she right about? She looked back to him. His face held this dumbfounded look, his eyes were drooped, like a sad puppy dog who has lost its owner.
"His stomach and shoulder has a scratch on them and my mommy wouldn't let him go home."
She eyed the hoodie that covered his top half, just hoping and praying to whomever that there was nothing hiding under it. Hoping that the arm was the first and last of his unwanted surprises. She stared at it... swallowing the large... painful lump that swelled into her throat. She trying to keep from letting her emotions get to her as she bites her bottom lip to stop it from quivering. Breathing in deeply, she scrunches her nose to keep whatever mucus that tried to leave, away. "Lift it up." She would have asked for him to take it off, but he only has one useful arm at this moment.
"Baby-"
"Don't!" She grits keeping her eyes locked to the shirt. "Lift the fucking shirt, Robert."
"Come on..." His voice was low as he held his hand out to her only for her to push it away.
As he is not lifting his clothing to reveal his secrets... it gives her confirmation. "Please..." She begs this time as her eyes become glassy and her lip starts to quiver... desperate to see if Novella was telling her what her brother wasn't. "Please..." It was quieter than the first as she is afraid if her voice gets loud... she will burst into tears.
He sighs in defeat, running his hand over his light stubble that barely took over his chin. Her eyes still locked with the Nike hoodie that he wore as he played with the hem of it.
As he lifts it... she was prepared for a few scratches... scratches that would heal easily if treated with hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol. She averted her sight to the door that was a few feet next to him as she seen the fresh incision sights. The oxygen left her lungs at the same as she pursed her lips, not being able to stand the sight.
They stood there... and stood there.
Andy's face flooding with the tears that had threatened to escape the moment she laid eyes on him today. She heard something behind her shift... completely forgetting about Lucas, but she didn't care. Slowly looking over to the wounds that were located just where Ella had pinpointed them, the tears came faster.
"What.. what the hell is that?" She whispered, pointing as she stepped back once more. "Su-"
"I'm sorry." His flesh that was being forced together by nothing but thin thread had her full attention. She couldn't decide which one to focus on... the one that grazed just below his shoulder or the one just below his rib. It became visible that her chest is rising and falling rapidly as she shook her head.
"Wh-what is that?" She asks again, this time looking at the ground. The boys were silent... no one having the courage to answer her question. They stayed there for seconds... minutes with different hopes in ways of having this conversation come to an end. "I-Is it makeup?" She looks back and forth between them as the stream down her face never stopped. "I-It has to be... those aren't real incisions... they can't be."
"An-"
"Please..." She raises her voice an octave. "Those are not real... b-because you would have told me that you had gotten... gotten hurt?" Her voice breaks and his face is as soft as a shadow as it does. "Lucas, he would have told me... right? S-something as serious as surgery... his arm is in a fucking cast... a-and at any minute now... he will remove the fake bruising on his stomach a-and take the sling off and say that... that this is a prank, right?" She sees in Robert's eyes that he didn't have much in him to argue with her, but it's okay, but she would be doing all the talking. "Please... just say it's a joke. I swear on my life I will not be upset... just please."
"He was in a car accident, Andy." Lucas... he was the one to confess, shattering her heart even more than it already was. Breaking it into too many pieces there is to name. Robert's hand grazed his head as he let out a deep sigh... one mixed with shame and maybe relief?
"No..." She shook her head. "N-No he was not." Denial. She found herself moving closer to him, trying to find a tilt in his eye shape that would allow her to believe that he wanted to smile... to tell her it was a terrible excuse of a joke that had been planned out. As she got closer, she averted her eyes to take a closer look over his injuries. She shortened the distance between them and each step she took... her stomach turned a little bit more. Not even think about her actions, she helped take his unhurt arm out of the hoodie so she could look even closer. Nothing was gentle about it as he winced in pain. The scratches and bruises did exactly to her as it did to him. "Y-you're not joking are you?" To admit that to herself was saying something.
He tries to reach for her face, to once again rid her of the tears but she shied away from his hand before turning around, heading for the door.
"Andrea... ple-"
"No! Shut up! Shut. Up." She yells. She didn't mean for it to come out as loud as it did, but it was sooner or later before she bursted.
"I-"
"I love you..." She starts, running her hands over her face to wipe her tears, it did no good as another set came rushing down. "I love you so much that it physically hurts me." She cries. "Y-you say you love me... you say that there are no secrets are between us... y-you tell me that you would do anything for me..." She pauses, trying to keep herself from lashing out. "You do this to me... all the time, Sully." Her voice is lower. "You leave me in the dark on every. serious. thing in your life... it makes me question all the things you tell me. Every time you do...this... you break my heart a little further. The college thing... this. I tell you everything. Everything! T-there is nothing that you don't know about me, but you?" She scoffs as she wipes her face again turning around to the door. "I-I can't do this right now."
"Le-"
"YOU COULD HAVE DIED!" She screams facing him again, pointing her finger. She could have fell to her knees and sobbed, but she didn't. The tears that trickled down her face were of rage and betrayal. "You could have died and I would be the last the know! Deep down inside... do... do you hate me?"
If Andy didn't know any better, she would say that a single tear of his own ran down his face as she said those words. "I trusted you... I would put my life in your hands, but..." She closes her eyes in hopes that her tears would stop.
"I was trying to prote-..."
"Protect me?" She asks? "From what? You have this patronizing idea of protection... just like my dad..." She laughs disgruntledly through her tears. Her face is red and her nose is runny.
"Hey you guys... sorry it took me so lon-" Andy turned around... another thing that made her heart sink. She looked at her in disbelief as Victoria held the fast food bags in her hand.
"Y-you knew?" She scoffs.
Andy shook her head, pushing past her, not before hearing Robert throw an object across his bedroom and leaving to her car. Her entire world crashing around her and she is the only one who seemed to feel anything... or nothing or maybe even everything.
I'm logging off. I refused to be slandered lmaooðŸ˜ðŸ˜
