Okay, I'm skipping ahead another week. Everything is pretty much back to normal, now that Raven can talk again. Raven and her mother are moving out of the Rodriguez's house and into an apartment. It's not far from where they used to live, but Raven and Jinx are both sad since they won't be neighbors anymore.
But don't worry. The apartment is temporary, and Angela is technically the one with the rights to the house, since the down payment for it is in her name. They'll get Talmon out eventually. Unfortunately that means going to court and getting a formal divorce and a restraining order to make sure he doesn't hurt either one of them.
So I guess I lied when I said everything was back to normal. Oh well. Here is the moving out/in chapter!
Raven hugged Jinx tightly, feeling tears leak out of her cheeks.
"We'll still live close together," Raven was trying to convince herself to be happy more than she was trying to convince Jinx. "We just won't be neighbors. Still, we'll get that house back."
"I know," Jinx said as they drew apart. "It's just sad. We've grown up in each other's houses."
"Raven, do you have everything?" Angela asked, walking into the room with her bag slung over her shoulder. Raven held up her duffel bag, which held her clothes and books from school that had been in her locker. "Good. Now, I was actually able to get back into the house yesterday…"
"What?" Raven dropped her duffel bag. "Was he at work or something?"
"Luckily, yes," Angela said, smiling. "I have a box of things in the trunk of the car. It's mostly old photo albums and family things. But I was able to get this for you." She dug in her bag, and pulled out a shoebox. Raven recognized it as the box in which she kept her money, journal, and other special mementos.
"Oh my gosh, Mom," she took it from Angela carefully. "Thank you!" She tucked it under her arm, already planning to put the paper admittance bracelet from ice skating into it.
"Well, we'd better get going," Angela hugged Jinx as Raven picked up her duffel bag, and the two headed out for the car. Jinx followed.
"I was talking to Wally yesterday," Jinx began, and Raven turned to see her friend's face turn the lightest shade of pink, "and he says the place you'll be living is right next to the neighborhood he and Kole live in."
"Awesome," Raven said, smiling. "I'll actually know someone."
"Promise me you'll still come over every day," Jinx caught Raven by the arm.
"As long as you promise the same," Raven said, smiling. Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad, now that she and Jinx had agreed to still see each other everyday. Sure, the driving here and there would be an issue, but they'd figure something out.
"Come on, Raven," Angela was already in the driver's seat. Raven quickly opened the backseat door and pushed her duffel bag in. Still holding her shoebox, she closed the back door and opened the front door. She climbed into the passenger seat and put her shoebox on her lap.
"Bye, Jinx!" she called out the open window, waving. "See you soon!" Jinx waved back, trying to smile.
Angela pulled out of the Rodriguez's driveway and drove down their street. She drove slower almost automatically when they passed their house. Raven stared at it, wondering when she would ever be allowed inside again.
"Don't worry," Angela's voice interrupted Raven's thoughts. "We'll see it again."
"I know," Raven slumped in her seat. "It's just hard to believe we're actually leaving. I mean, I've grown up there. Jinx and I have been next door neighbors forever and practically lived at each other's houses. It's just hard to be positive right now."
"I know it is. But believe me when I say we will be back. It's my name on the down payment, not his. He has absolutely no right to the house."
"Why didn't he help pay for the house?"
"He was unemployed when we bought it." Angela rolled her eyes. "So once everything is settled, we'll be back there."
"You mean, after we go to court," Raven argued.
"Well, yes," Angela hesitated before continuing. "We will obviously have to get everything settled legally. We'll have to get a proper divorce, I'll have to get the house back, and make sure he never comes near you again."
"How are you going to do that?"
"Well, when the court sees what he did to you, and me," Angela's voice began to shake, "they'll make sure he doesn't get any kind of custody. I'll get a restraining order if I have too." Angela paused before continuing. "I just wish we had your notebook."
"What?" Raven was completely taken aback by this comment. "Why do we need my notebook?"
"It's proof of the harm he did. Without it, we have no way of proving that you couldn't talk for a week. It's just our word against his."
"But all my friends would–"
"Raven, the court gives one adult testimony more credit than a hundred teenagers," Angela interrupted. "Even if the entire school vouched for you, they'd believe Talmon. Now if I go up there and tell them, and maybe get a teacher to do the same, then they'd believe us."
"That's stupid."
"I know it is, hon. I know."
The rest of the drive passed in silence, as neither of them felt much like talking and the radio was not on.
They soon pulled into their new home.
"It's red," Raven commented as her mother pulled into a parking spot.
Her observation was a slight understatement. This building seemed to be having a festival of red going on. It was a red-bricked building with red window frames, a red door, red curtains, and red flowers lining the red walkway to the door.
"The inside's not like that, is it?" Raven cast a wary glance at her mother. "I don't want to live in a furnace."
"Don't worry about it," Angela assured her. "There's a whole new color scheme going on inside. It's not much better, though."
"That makes me feel so much better," Raven said sarcastically. She shook her head as the two of them exited the car and took their bags out.
"I'm leaving this box here," Angela pointed to the trunk. "I'll get it once we've put everything else down."
The two walked up the incredibly red walkway and entered the apartment building.
"Now I'm in a room full of toothpaste," Raven looked around at the walls, grimacing. A mint green colored wallpaper with squiggle lines that looked like toothpaste covered the wall from ceiling to floor. The ceiling was painted a matching mint green, and the floor tiles were light blue.
(A/N: You think I'm crazy for making it look like that? Well, believe it or not, our entrance hallway looked like that when we first moved in. I was really little, so I just called it the 'toothpaste hallway.' It was officially the ugliest wallpaper ever.)
"I know it looks bad," Angela muttered as they walked over to the elevator, "but believe me when I say it's not that bad. The owner of this place has a brother who works with home design, so you're allowed to do whatever you want with the inside of your apartment because they can put it back the way it was really cheap."
"Then why don't they fix it for real?"
"I have no idea," Angela shook her head. She pushed the up arrow, and the elevator opened a second later. A man stepped out.
"Hello," he greeted them instantly. "Are you two new here?"
"Yes, we're just moving in," Angela smiled as he held the elevator doors open so they could walk in.
"Let me know if you need help," the man smiled back. "I'm up on the fourth floor, room 411."
"Really?" Angela looked surprised. "Our room in 412!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," the man pushed the elevator doors open as they began to close. "I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Ryan."
"I'm Angela, and this is my daughter, Raven." Raven smiled politely at Ryan. She didn't know why, but she thought she had seen him before; he looked extremely familiar.
"How old are you?" Ryan posed his question to Raven, frowning slightly as he seemed to size her up.
"I'm fifteen," Raven thought this question odd. Why would Ryan need to know how old she was?
"I thought so," Ryan nodded, his frown ebbing away. "My son is the same age. I assume you two know each other; his name is Malchior."