Addison stood in the hallway at Madison. She checked her phone. A message from Cam, she replied quickly and stashed her it back in her bag. It was stressful breaking the rule, but she understood now how easy it was to get away with using your phone. Adults were distracted at passing time. Sending a quick message was actually pretty unnoticeable. She went to close her locker and saw Sophie approaching her. "Soph, what are you doing in my hall?"
"He's back. He's here. I thought you should know."
"I'm not sure I want to go to lunch today then."
"I've got you. I'll meet you at your locker. We'll go together."
Addison nodded. "I'll try. We should get to class."
"I'll see you at lunch, whether we go to the cafe or not. I'm not leaving you alone."
"Ok, thanks.." She replied as she took a deep breath, closed her locker, watched Sophie head to class and headed down the hall herself. Reality was here. She couldn't pretend he didn't exist any longer. She told herself she could do it. She could get to class. She'd take it one class at a time. She turned the corner and as she did she made eye contact with Morgan and inhaled. Momentarily frozen as he approached. She thought she could do it. She thought she'd be fine. She thought she'd only see him in the cafeteria and if she didn't go there it'd be fine. Breathe. Move. Get to class. She walked quickly down the hall.
"Addison, wait." He saw her, he needed to know what she was thinking. It was clear her mother didn't know. Otherwise he was certain she would have never continued on his case.
She heard him. She ignored him. He called her name again and was following her. She ducked into the closest classroom and closed the door. She leaned against it, closed her eyes and breathed out. Trying to calm down, she could feel a panic attack coming. "It's fine, you're fine. You're safe and you're fine." She whispered to herself.
"Addison?"
"Mrs. Ryan." She realized. This was not the teacher she wanted to encounter in this state. She didn't even look at which room it was. She just saw it was empty. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you."
"Is everything ok?" Mrs Ryan asked as she stood and approached her student.
"Yeah. I think. I'm fine. Sorry." She looked around the room. The walls were green, there were 24 desks, the clock. She was late.
"You're sure?" Mrs. Ryan asked, her concern growing.
"Actually, can I have a late pass? I'm supposed to be in English."
Mrs. Ryan took the pass off her desk and filled it out. There was more going on. Addison wasn't herself. "Addison, if you need to talk to someone, I'm here." She handed her the pass.
"Thanks. I should go to class." She appreciated not being questioned when she thought for sure she would be. She looked out the window in the classroom door. The hall was clear. She should be fine. It was just three doors down. Three doors. She could get from math to English. One class at a time she reminded herself.
Later that morning in math, Addison walked in, made eye contact with Joss and went to the back of the room. She tried to focus, but couldn't. Lunch was next. Morgan would be there. She zoned out, and doodled in her notebook. Mrs. Ryan walked up the row and stopped. "Addie? Can you hang back when the bell rings?" She said quietly, noticing she hadn't done a single problem and was completely disengaged.
Addison looked at her math teacher and nodded. She looked at the clock and the bell would ring for lunch in a few minutes. One problem. She could try and do one problem. She needed to stop thinking about what happened to her. She needed to stop thinking about what people were whispering now that he was back. She needed to stop worrying that she had no idea what happened in class and was never going to be able to figure it out. The bell rang and everyone gathered their things while Addison sat there.
Joss noticed. "Hey, you coming?"
Addison looked at Mrs. Ryan, "No. Can you tell Sophie I'm here?"
"Go ahead Josslyn. I asked her to stay." Mrs. Ryan said.
"Oh." Joss said, mouthed "Sorry" to Addison and left.
Mrs. Ryan went and sat at the desk next to Addison. "So, what's going on? Because your homework was incomplete again, you didn't do any classwork today and that's not like you. Add in the fact that you came here earlier, upset, I'm concerned."
Addison looked at the teacher she swore hated her, "I'm sorry. I know I was distracted. I'll make up the work."
"I'm not worried about the work. I'm concerned about you. Is there something going on?"
Addison said nothing. If the school knew what had happened it would be a bigger thing and it was already tearing her family apart.
"Do you want to talk to Mrs. Miller?"
"No, it's just been a bad day." She looked out at the hall. She saw Morgan walk by the door. "Can I stay here and eat? I'll do the work I didn't do. I don't want to fall behind."
"Sure." Mrs. Ryan said. There was clearly something going on. She made a mental note to reach out to her parents that afternoon.
Alexis couldn't get the way her dinner with Ned ended out of her head. They should have been able to talk about the details and finish their meal. They should have been able to talk about more than the divorce and attempt to salvage a friendship out of the wreck they made of their marriage. She went to L . She had the new leasing agreement. She hoped she'd run into him.
"Is Ned around?" Alexis asked as she walked into the studio and saw Chloe sitting on the sofa sketching.
"I haven't seen him today. I'm sorry, Alexis."
"That's ok. It was probably a long shot anyway now that he's back at ELQ."
"I still can't believe you're divorcing. It feels like the end of an era."
"It does." Alexis agreed and sat across from her friend.
"How are you doing?"
"We haven't really fought since we made the decision, which I guess should tell us all we need to know. It's just, the sad part is, I love him, Chloe. It's just everything else. I'm sure you get this."
"He loves you, too, you know. Are you sure there isn't some way to work past whatever it is that's tearing you two apart? It's not like he had a child with another woman…"
"I'm sorry, Chloe. I'm not trying to compare this to you and Jax."
"I know. There's still time right? You haven't filed anything yet?"
"He said the same thing the night we told the kids."
"See? Doesn't that tell you something? Maybe divorce isn't the answer."
"You're divorcing my dad?" Brook said as she walked into L .
"Brook." Alexis said sympathetically. She had no idea she was in town.
"I'll leave you two to talk. Alexis, can we maybe go out for a drink later this week? I have some things I want to run by you."
"Sure. Thanks for listening Chloe."
"Anytime." Chloe said as she went up the staircase to her office.
"Want to sit?" Alexis asked. "I didn't know you were in town."
"Yeah. Dad called when he heard I was back in New York. He asked me if I could come home for a few days and meet him here. I guess I know why now. You guys are really getting divorced? Why?"
"We are. I'm sorry you found out like that. I thought he would have told you."
"Maybe he wanted to do it in person."
"That sounds like your father."
"So what happened?"
"What have your siblings told you?"
"Not much, actually. Alexis, why? I thought you two were happy."
Ned was about to enter L when he heard Brook and Alexis talking. He had no idea Alexis was planning to stop by. He didn't want to interrupt, and so he waited until he thought there was a break in the conversation to enter. And selfishly, he was curious as to how she'd answer that question.
"Your dad and I, well we just have some issues that we can't compromise about and we're doing what we think is best for everyone. It's not good for us, or for your siblings to watch us be at each other's throats. I'll let him tell you about it. I wouldn't want to cloud your perception of what's happening. You're his daughter."
"I guess I understand that. But, Alexis, you've been my stepmother since I was seven years old. I'm your daughter, too. At least I like to think that I am…"
"You are Brook and you'll always have a special part of my heart. I love you like you were my own. I hope you know that."
"I do and I love you, too. So there's really no chance you and my dad are going to work things out?"
"Did I hear my name?" Ned said, making his presence known. "Alexis, I didn't know you'd be here."
"I know. I thought I'd drop by–I had a break in the day."
"Oh? Is it one of the kids?"
"No, they're fine. I have the updated leasing agreement, but we can go over that another time. I'll let you visit with Brook." Alexis said as she stood and walked towards the door.
"Call me later? We can set up a time." He kept his defenses up.
"Sure," She said, not quite sure what to make of his demeanor towards her. "Brook, it was really nice to see you. Come by the house if you have time, ok?"
"I will. I'd love to see Addie and Owen. Krissy is still in Boston, right?"
"She is. See you later then." Alexis said as she left L .
"So you're getting divorced. This makes no sense. What got between you two?" Brook asked her father as he took off his coat.
"I wish I could give you a coherent explanation. We just unraveled. We hurt each other and it's what we decided to do." Ned explained sitting across from his daughter.
"I can't believe they didn't tell me anything was wrong."
"Who? Your siblings?"
"Yes. I would have come to visit sooner."
"You were living your life, don't feel badly about that."
"How are they?"
"There's a lot happening right now, but they're managing. I'm certain they'll be happy to see you. I'm glad you're going to stop by the house."
"Where are you living?"
"The Gatehouse."
"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?"
"It was, but I also wanted to run something by you. You know I'm back at ELQ full time."
"I do…"
"Well, I was hoping you'd consider moving here. Taking over L ."
"Really, Daddy?"
"Really. Take some time to think about it. I don't need an answer today. It's just when I thought about who should lead this company, you're the logical choice. Your mother and Brenda, they built this company. It should go to you."
"I don't know what to say. I can think about it? You're sure."
"Take your time. I know you enjoy touring. I'll be fine with whatever you decide." Ned explained to Brook. He spent the next few hours catching up with his daughter. It was nice to spend time with her. It always seemed like he never got enough time with his first born, even now that she was an adult living her life. The time he spent with Brook always made him appreciate how he was able to do things differently with Alexis. She had accepted him and she understood him in a way no one else ever had. Their life. The fact that he was able to be the father he'd always wanted to be. There every single day. Every morning and every night. It broke his heart that he wasn't able to do that for Addison anymore, especially now that she was going through a trauma. But he'd make sure she knew he loved her and supported her.
One more class. Just music. She could get from history to music. She wasn't sure how. The only hall she could take was the senior hall. She decided she'd be late. She'd hang in the bathroom until the late bell rang. She needed to wait for everyone to be in class. But when she got there…Hope. She'd have to avoid Hope. It was hard to focus with her in that class. She'd sneak in the back again. Pray they were still working on their individual projects. With Morgan back she was certain she'd try to talk to her. She blamed her for ending the party and she started the rumors. She also invited her to the party and as she replayed that night she was starting to think maybe that was a set up, too. She knew Morgan wouldn't leave her alone at school. She called her over when she arrived. It was like she was trying to help Morgan prove something about her. The bell rang. She took a deep breath and surfaced. She could get to class unnoticed. She could keep avoiding Hope and sit on the other side of the room in the back corner where she'd been since returning.
"Hey, I've been trying to catch you all day." Morgan said as he spotted Addison walking towards music. He knew she had class with Hope and he'd clearly been waiting.
"Leave me alone. Please just leave me alone." She said walking down the hallway, avoiding eye contact.
"I need to talk to you." He caught up to her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into an empty classroom.
She pulled away. "Let go of me!" She said panic in her voice.
"I don't want to hurt you." He said as he dropped her arm.
"You already did!" She yelled as she backed into a desk and tried not to trip as he stepped towards her.
"I just want to know what you're going to do? Are you planning to say something? Why haven't you said anything?"
"If I was, you wouldn't be here right now, would you? Excuse me." Addison answered and tried to move around him to leave. She needed to be in the hall. She needed to be where people could see her or hear her. Breathe. Just keep breathing.
"Do people know what actually happened? I know what they're saying happened, but–"
"Yes, you attacked me at a party. There are witnesses. Your sister–" She said as she tried to push past him, but he blocked her path.
"What are you plotting, Addison?" He cut her off.
"Nothing. Please just let me go." Addison pleaded as she tried to move past him again., but he stepped in her path. It was getting harder to breathe. Don't cry. Don't cry. She told herself over and over.
"Not until we talk about what happened." Morgan insisted and tried to grab her arm to stop her from bolting.
"I have nothing to say to you!" She yelled, completely panicked and pulled away.
Suddenly the door to the classroom opened. "What's going on in here?"
Mrs. Ryan. Thank god. "Nothing." Addison said, relieved as she quickly exited the room. She bolted so fast she didn't even see Hope walking out of the music room. She didn't see the kids near the bathroom whispering. It was a blur. She needed to get out of there.
"Addison, wait!" Mrs. Ryan said as she watched her student run down the hall. "What happened here, Morgan?""
"I'm late for class." Morgan said simply and tried to leave. He was supposed to stay out of trouble. He probably should have listened to Joss and stayed away from Addison, but it was the one unknown hanging over his head.
"I don't think so." Mrs. Ryan stated. "What were you doing in here with Addison Ashton?"
Addison wound up in the library. She walked as quickly as possible and hid. She was skipping class. She'd be in so much trouble with her parents, but she didn't care. She couldn't face music. She couldn't face the whispers. What if someone saw her go into that classroom with him. Did they? Did she pass kids? It wasn't clear. The rumors that she was a slut would be worse, that she was certain of. He wouldn't leave her alone. There was no way he was going to leave her alone. She slid to the floor in between the stacks. She tried to breathe. She couldn't breathe. Find something to focus on. Anything. She looked around the room and that's when she saw Hope, standing there with her cell phone videoing the entire thing.