Blue walked down the familiar street, all completely quiet except for the gentle click the heals of her boots made on the sidewalk every time she took a step. Her old neighborhood was so still and quiet in the mornings, even after she had gone. The fact that things had remained the same once she'd moved away didn't entirely surprise her, but Blue wondered if Pops had just continued on with his life as if she'd never been around either.
As Blue walked up the old walk way of the house where she used to live, butterflies began to jump in her stomach. Would Pops be angry that she had come back? Would he even be awake? Blue could feel her palms become damp as she prepared to ring the doorbell, her arms shaking from nerves. Why was she so afraid?
Just do it, Blue, she thought to herself. Just push the stupid doorbell and everything will be okay.
Blue's arms continued to shake, her finger just inches from the doorbell. Finally she let out an exhasperated sigh and dropped her arm to her side. She couldn't ring the doorbell to what used to be her home. Pops would probably hate her. Blue turned to walk away, but stopped when she heard the door open.
"Blue? What are you doing here?"
Pops stood behind the screen door, obviously very tired. His hair was a mess and it appeared as if he had been drinking before he'd fallen asleep the night before, but Blue had never been so happy to see someone in her life.
"Pops!" Blue set aside her bags and ran up to the only adult figure she'd ever known, embracing him in a massive hug. "I'm so sorry I left!" Blue had tears streaming down her cheeks, not caring that they soaked into Quent's jacket.
"Blue, what happened to you? Come inside right now, and I'll get you something warm."
Blue nodded and grabbed her things, Hitomi still, surprisingly, asleep in her small cage. She walked into her old house, finding it exactly as it had been when she left. Her room even appeared to be the same, as if she'd never truly moved out. Blue set down her things next to the sofa and sat down. Quent returned with a cup of steaming hot coffee, handed it to Blue and sat down on the smaller sofa.
"So what happened to you, Blue? How have you been?" he asked. Blue sighed, finally feeling the stress and the toll it was taking on her body and her ability to keep herself awake.
"Well, college is going well," she said with a weak smile. "I still have my scholarship, and I work at a library. They're closed for right now because the lady who runs it is in the hospital with a broken leg and work won't start again until next week, but other than that nothing has been crazy."
"Are you still seeing that boy you left home with?" Quent asked. Blue felt a shiver run up her spine. It was so obvious that Pops knew what had happened.
"Well, that's a funny story," Blue chuckled, trying to make light of the situation. "You see, we did break up, but we're still friends and we work well together, so we decided to keep living together. But we've been getting into silly arguements lately, so I decided that I should come home for a week, then I'd go back and we could talk it out." Blue said it all with a grin, trying so hard not to cry.
"Right," said Quent. "Well, you're welcome to stay here until things work out again. It will be nice to have you home. I don't have anyone to leave notes to when I leave, so it feels lonely around here."
"Thanks, Pops."
"No problem, Blue. And I see you have a new friend."
"Oh." Blue looked down at Hitomi's cage. "Miko died a while ago and I decided a few weeks ago that I should get another cat. Her name is Hitomi."
"Cute," replied Quent. "Well, I'm sorry to leave when you've just gotten back, but you know my work hours."
"Yeah," laughed Blue. "Morning until morning, with two hours in between. I don't mind. I think I'll sleep."
"Alright. Have a good rest."
Blue nodded and made her way to her room in a stupor, completely exhausted. She opened the door, finding everything the same way that it had been, put her things down, and collapsed on her bed, falling into a deep sleep the minute her head hit the pillow.
Blue awoke some hours later due to a strange vibration in her jeans pocket. She shoved her hand into her jeans and pulled her phone out by the little keychain she had tied to it. Blue recognized the number as Tsume's and debated on answering it or not. She flipped open the cover.
"Hey," she said with a yawn.
"Blue, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"
"Well," Tsume began, a little uneasy. "Christie had IM'd me this morning. She said something about you leaving Hige for good."
Blue groaned and rolled over to look at her clock. The neon numbers flashed two p.m. "That's not true," she sighed. "I've just left for a week. I need time to think things through."
"Oh, is that all?"
"Yeah. What crazy story did Christie feed you?"
"She said that you'd left Hige for good, but maybe she just twisted things. Christie's been a little pissed since Hige broke up with her."
"Well that's her problem, not mine."
"Christie said Hige left her for you, but that you turned him down."
"That's definately not true!" Blue was greatful that Tsume wasn't there to see her blush. True, she'd wished that Hige had left Christie for her, and that was a very mean thought to think, but an honest one. "I didn't even know they had broken up."
Tsume was silent on the other end. "Well, I suppose that you and Hige will be getting back together though."
"Why would you think that?"
"It's obvious you love him, Blue. That's probably the only reason you're still single now."
Blue was just silent. She didn't know how to respond to a statement like that! Actually, Blue had hoped that something might happen with her and Tsume. He was a really nice guy, not too bad looking, and she had a lot more in common with him than she did with Hige...maybe.
"You just have this...aura," continued Tsume. "There's this aura around you that tells every guy who might be interested that you're already in love with someone really important."
"No offense, but most guys seem to be pretty dense," Blue said, rolling over onto her stomach and looking at her bed sheets. "I know that you're a pretty observant guy, but I doubt most guys would notice."
"Trust me, they do. And it intimidates them. Since those guys have no idea what sort of standards they have to live up to in order to just try to win your affections, they just back off and look for easier girls."
So I'm not easy. Thanks, buddy, Blue thought, rather irritated. "Well, let's say that Hige did ask me back out. What do you think I should say?"
Tsume sounded rather taken a-back. "Me? Well, I guess it depends on what you think would be best. I don't know how your relationship was, so I don't have much place to say. But if you really love him, then you should take him back."
Blue nodded. "Thanks, Tsume. I think I know what I'm going to do at the end of this week."
"No problem. Well, I have to leave for work now. I'll talk to you later, Blue."
"Bye." Blue snapped her cell phone shut, burying her face in her blankets with a sigh. She turned her head to the side and stared at the charm on her phone. It was a miniature bowl of miso pork ramen, crafted with great detail. Ramen actually sounded very appetizing at the moment.
Fifteen minutes and two bowls of ramen later, Blue was sitting on her sofa, tv remote in her hand. If she was going to take a week to relax and clear her head, she should try to do just that. A Disney movie marathon was the best way to relax, other than hours of your typical Saturday morning cartoons. Suddenly her pocket began vibrating again.
"Gosh, I can't get any time to myself," Blue huffed at her phone. She looked at the number and recognized it as Hige's. With a sigh, Blue muted the tv and answered her phone. "Hey."
"Hey. How's it going?"
"Fine, how about yourself?" Blue replied cooly. Hige was silent on the other end of the line for a few seconds.
"Did I do something wrong?" he asked. "I mean, I got your note and everything, but I just don't understand why you left."
"I need time to myself for now, Hige. I heard you broke up with Christie. When did that happen?" Blue felt her stomach drop. This answer would determine everything she would do from here.
"What? Who told you about that?"
"Tsume. He called me to see if the stories were true. Apparently Christie is telling people that you broke up with her for me."
"Well, that's not exactly it..."
Hey everyone! Sorry to cut this chapter so short, but I just felt like a cliff hanger. Don't you love me! Also, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update! I've been stressed, stressed, stressed! Also I've had horrid writers block. TT Evil evil evil. But I promise the next chapter will be nice, long, and contemplative.
I got a lot of comments about Blue's cutting. Well, you see, I've been there, done that, so I thought that I would write that in. Of course, Blue won't do it again, so don't worry. I just like stirring things up a bit, making it like reality. But I thank everyone who commented on that, positive or negative. I love comments. Please keep reviewing! I love you peoples!
Aeorith