Jody woke up the next day with a monstrous headache and quickly came to the unfortunate realisation that her plans to spend the majority of the day at the gym would have to be scrapped. She groaned, clutching at her pounding head. What was she to do now? She could hardly stay inside her room all day just to avoid one member of the household. After their mad row in the kitchen last night, she didn't want to be around Tyler any more than she had to, even though a tiny voice in the back of her head urged her to spend as much time with him as she could before he left her forever. It was a real conundrum.
Fighting the pain in her temples, she reached out towards the bedside for her mobile and sent May-Li a quick text asking for some painkillers. After sending the message, she saw that she had two unread messages: one from Sasha and the other from Tyler. She opened the one from Sasha first, ignoring the twinge between her eyes, and it took a little time for the words to register in her mind.
R u ok? Tyler told me ure mad at him. Wanna talk?
It sort of rankled her that her two closest friends had discussed her behind her back but, nonetheless, she started to compose a reply, lethargically typing 'No' when May-Li burst into the room.
"Oh, I don't think so, Jody Gray," she said sternly, gently prying Jody's phone out of her hands and placing it on her desk. A pathetic noise of protest escaped her lips but, nevertheless, she accepted May-Li's decision and raised her head, taking the painkiller she'd asked for with a glass of milk. "Right, you need to rest until it starts to kick in. Come straight down to breakfast after that and do not go on your phone. Understood?"
"Yeah," she slurred, dropping her head on her pillow again. "Okay..."
She let out a sigh as she heard the soft click of the door closing. Without her phone, the (at least) half hour wait was going to be a long and boring one. Within seconds, she was proven right; with nothing to keep her mind occupied, she found herself recalling the terse words she and Tyler had exchanged last night. A considerable amount of shame and regret crept up on her. She'd realised she'd gone a little too far during the argument itself, especially when she'd accused him of spitting in the faces of everyone who couldn't go back to their mums even if they wanted to, but he'd certainly given it right back to her, telling her to pull her head out of the clouds because she was not the only one who had suffered. She had to admit, his statement had stung a little bit, not least because she'd genuinely thought that he hadn't experienced as much pain as she had just because their circumstances were different.
Since he hadn't really tried to explain himself, or rather, she hadn't given him the chance to, she still had trouble understanding why he didn't want to move back in with his mother. Wasn't going back to live with her what he'd wanted for the longest time? Sure, he was attached to Mike, May-Li, the fellow residents and possibly Ashdene Ridge itself but it was hardly a plausible reason to give up a lifelong dream. Thirteen-year-old Tyler had been ecstatic at the prospect of going back home—she promptly ignored the pang in her heart at the thought of him calling somewhere else 'home'—but why was the fifteen-year-old having second thoughts? Was the problem really Kamal? It had to be because she could see no other major cause; nothing else had changed significantly between now and two years ago, at least in Sally's life. In Tyler's life, though? She could think of one thing...
Given that she'd already made a couple of incorrect assumptions that'd offended him, she was hesitant to speculate further and jump to yet another conclusion but couldn't shake the idea that she was somehow responsible for his indecisiveness. After all, two years ago, her mother had still been alive and Luke hadn't been twisted around some woman's little finger so Tyler hadn't had to worry about her being alone in the world as much as she knew he did now. Did it worry him enough for him to decide to stay at Ashdene Ridge, though? She sure hoped not. She couldn't have spent all that precious training time talking herself into accepting his imminent departure if he wasn't even going to leave, and because of her at that, though she couldn't deny that the idea of him giving up his chance at a normal life just to be with her was romantic. In the eyes of someone like Candi-Rose, of course. Just because Jody Gray now believed in love, didn't mean she was a total mushy idiot.
Realising that the pain between her eyes had subsided a little, she sat up and looked around her room, only for her gaze to fall directly on two identical photos of her and Tyler on the wall to her right. She had no idea why she'd printed that particular selfie twice but supposed she could give the spare to the other person in the photo to remember her by when it came time for him to leave. If he was ever going to leave at all, that was. She swung her legs over the side of the bed. Maybe it was time to find out.
.:. QK .:.
Following a quick shower and visit to the office to let May-Li know she was feeling better, Jody traipsed into the garden, blinking rapidly against the ice-cold breeze that hit her square in the face. Spending time outdoors all year round, even during subzero temperatures, was normal at Ashdene Ridge but she couldn't help but wonder if it made her and her housemates weird compared to kids who weren't in care. Drawing closer to the make-shift football pitch, she was surprised to see Kamal and Sally there; the former was playing football with Bird and Jay, against Tyler, Finn and Alex, and the latter was watching on from the green garden bench.
Not wanting to cut short what could potentially be Tyler's last kickabout as a care kid, she decided to wait until after the game was over to talk to him and proceeded to join Sally and make polite small talk with her. As the only girl who played football around here, sitting on the sidelines and merely watching for once was a strange experience. When Tyler's side won and started celebrating, her eyes suddenly watered up and she wasn't so sure it was because of the bitter cold. She sniffed, not daring to look at Sally as Kamal and Tyler approached them.
"I told you my son would win, didn't I?" Sally teased Kamal, standing up and engulfing a bashful Tyler in a hug. "Oh, my boy!"
"Mum, my friends are watching!" Tyler said through gritted teeth, clearly embarrassed. He played the part of disgruntled teenage son pretty well already. Maybe he'd fit right into normal society. Despite her grim musings, Jody suppressed a giggle at Sally complaining about Tyler's hair. "I was just trying something new"—he looked at Jody—"I'm not the only one!"
"Alright, alright, whatever you say," Sally acquiesced, following his line of sight. She turned to her grinning husband. "Why don't we go inside, Kam? Don't you have that business call you need to make?"
"That's right," Kamal replied, taking her by the hand. Jody smiled at the action as Tyler wordlessly sat down next to her in the spot previously occupied by his mother. "Be ready in about half an hour, yeah?"
Tyler nodded in response before the newlyweds made themselves scarce. Jody inhaled deeply. Half an hour? Was that all they had left together? Had he spent the entire morning packing while she'd lazed about in bed, agonising over him not wanting to leave? Perhaps her harsh words last night had knocked some sense into him after all.
Realising that he was expecting her to speak, she turned to him, forcing the corners of her lips to curve upwards. "Look, about last night, I didn't mean to be such a bitch. I just didn't want you second-guessing yourself over such an important decision. You do that a lot."
He shook his head. "Nah, you're alright. I needed to hear it and it was best coming from you. I don't mean to be so indecisive, it just happens. You know I overthink things a lot."
So did she, to be honest. So much and so often. "I know." She looked away from him before quietly adding, "I'm glad you ended up making the right decision."
There was a slight pause in the conversation but he picked it right up following a short exhale. "Yeah. The right decision." She pursed her lips, her gut churning at the implication that leaving her was the correct thing to do, even though he was merely echoing her words. "We all have to let go of this place one day, don't we? No matter how much we don't want to."
"Mhm," she agreed. "You would've had to leave at eighteen anyway. It's just happening a little earlier, and in a better way."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, you'll get to live in a normal family before moving out for uni and when you finish, you'll have somewhere to stay until you can afford to get your own place. You won't have to stress about having nowhere to go like Luke did and end up with a bad roommate because of it. You'll belong somewhere."
Unlike her. She and the others could say that Ashdene Ridge was home as much as they wanted to but the truth was that none of them could waltz back in years after leaving and take up on the couch like most normal people could when they returned to what they called 'home'. While Mike and May-Li were like parents to them all, the best most of them were ever going to get, they couldn't forever be. As it said in Tracy's book, they were all lost boys when they arrived at the Dumping Ground; their time in this place was a transition period, that was all, and Tyler's was up. He was found. Sasha should've given the book to him.
"A bad roommate?" he questioned, his voice sounding strange. "I thought—Jody? I know we've never really talked about it but I thought that you would be that roommate and that you had the same idea."
She quickly turned to him, blurting out, "I do!" She hadn't been thinking; whenever she pictured the future, she saw herself and Tyler moving into a big house (which suspiciously resembled Elm Tree House) after getting married. She'd never really thought about what would happen in between uni and getting married which was pretty stupid and short-sighted of her. They'd have to live somewhere during that time, wouldn't they? "Sorry." She shook her head. "My mind's all over the place. I can't think about any of this properly right now. I don't even know why I brought it up. Life after uni just feels so far away—I mean, that's the life stage Luke's at and he's six years older than me—and there are way more things going on in my life right now for me to think about like exams and college applications!"
"Jody?" he spoke calmly, the comparably quiet tone of his voice making her realise that her own voice had somehow escalated a few notches.
"Yeah?" she prompted, her heart racing. She needed to go to the gym ASAP before she started having a mental breakdown in front of him. For his sake, she couldn't let him see how upset she really was about him leaving.
"You will be alright here without me, won't you?"
She was apparently wearing her heart on her sleeves already.
"I can look after myself, Tyler," she answered haughtily, crossing her arms. "I'm fifteen, not five."
He sighed. "I know you can. That's not what I meant. I just know how hard it was for you when Sasha left, and now I'm leaving too, and to be honest, you didn't really react in the best way the last time this nearly happened."
She swallowed deeply. She knew her immature behaviour from two and a half years ago would come back to bite her in the arse one day. "I was, like, twelve! Well, nearly thirteen, since it was your thirteenth birthday an' all." She stopped, realising she was going off track. "I can handle this, Tyler," she insisted, dropping her arms and grabbing the hand he'd precariously placed on the bench in between them, "as long as you don't drop off the face of the Earth like Luke did."
"I won't," he responded instantly, drawing their joint hands into his lap and placing his other one on top of them. "I'd never do that to you. Best friends forever, remember?"
She nodded, ignoring the stinging of her nose—the tell-tale sign of oncoming tears. "Forever."
.:. QK .:.
In the end, she chose not to go outside and see Tyler off with the others, opting to watch his departure from the stained glass window above the stairs instead. Peering out of the slightly cracked open window at a certain angle, she saw Kamal and Sally waiting by the former's swanky sports car, smiling at something or someone out of her line of sight. While she couldn't see much, she could hear the excited chatter coming from down below as everyone, perhaps save for the three temporary residents, said their final goodbyes to her best friend.
She wondered if he was at all disappointed by her absence and maybe even seeking her out with his eyes, hoping she would show up at the last minute. She knew she ought to have been down there with him but wasn't quite selfless enough to stand there and smile as he left her behind nor willing to forget that up until recently, she'd expected them to leave this place in the manner they'd arrived: together.
Still, all things aside, she was determined to get on with life hereafter for her own sake, if not for his. There was no point in being melodramatic like one half of a pair of star-crossed lovers; his mother's house was well within walking distance, closer than her own mother's permanent residence, and she would continue to see him at school five days a week. It'd just take some time getting used to, that was all.
Down below, Tyler finally edged into her line of sight, receiving a clap on the back from his still relatively new stepfather as he reached for the door handle and yanked it open. He stood by as Kamal ducked into the car and adjusted what she assumed to be the seats, and just before getting into the car himself, he turned ever so slightly and peered straight up at her as if he'd known she was there all along. It was a fleeting moment and she wasn't sure if he'd even actually seen her but she knew she was forever going to regard it as their last goodbye.
All of a sudden, she heard a loud bang coming from downstairs and hastily spun around to see Floss and Freya standing outside the office.
"Mike!" Floss hollered. "Freya broke into the office!"
Jody leant against the wall, her back hitting one of the numerous framed paintings hung around the house, and proceeded to watch on as Mike and May-Li ran into the lobby.
"Right, would someone like to explain what's going on here?!" May-Li exclaimed.
Floss happily obliged. "I came inside to find Jody and I saw Freya going through the filing cabinet and Lucas looking out for her!"
Freya began to defend herself, and Jody rolled her eyes. She could always trust this place to take her mind off things.
A/N: I've hit exactly 3600 views and 50 reviews. Thanks, everyone!
So, I'm nearly done with my TDG marathon and I have to say that Series 7 is a strong one, though I did find the premiere to be a little redundant and overdone. I mean, we already saw Sasha act out in Series 6 and I found it hard to believe that anyone would believe Sasha was 'bad' after seeing how much the Dumping Ground meant to her in Series 6 Episode 5. Anyway, I found the sixth episode to be quite funny because I've always seen Tyler as the class clown type of guy and it was finally confirmed. I've also noticed that Candi-Rose seems to be a lot closer to Bird and even Jay than Chloe even though the two girls continue to be referred to as best friends.
yourfire—I'm a bit anxious as to why they're allegedly bringing Piper back for the prom episode. I didn't get the feeling that she fancied Tyler at all but others apparently did and now I'm wondering if the writers are going to break Jody and Tyler up (not that they're officially together but y'know) and get him with Piper. They could go down the whole 'we're better as friends than lovers' route which I have seen happen in other shows before, especially when it comes to childhood best friends.
Yes, Ryan would've sussed Freya out if she'd stayed longer the same way Rick would've done him if he were still around in Series 3. In the show, I think Freya was only there for two days. Thanks for the review!