
𝐬𝐢𝐱.
NOELLE LET OUT A tired sigh as she walked into her house. Gently kicking off her shoes before placing them in her designated bin, Noelle furrowed her eyebrows at the sound of laughter coming from her kitchen. "Mom?" She called out as she walked deeper into her home.
"In the kitchen, sweetie!" Naomi called back from where she was. Noelle froze at the sight at her kitchen table. Sitting at the table was her mother, Mrs. DiLaurentis, and Brandon DiLaurentis. "Ah, Noelle sweetie, you remember Mrs. DiLaurentis and her son Brandon?"
Noelle swallowed the lump in her throat as she could practically feel Brandon's eyes searing into her body. "Of course," She quickly coughed to get rid of the lump in her throat, her eyes meeting the grieving mother's. "It's good to see you, Mrs. DiLaurentis. How are you?"
Jessica DiLaurentis gave the girl a sad smile as she stood up, before wrapping her arms around the Call girl. Jessica squeezed the young girl gently as Noelle gingerly wrapped her arms around the older woman. Jessica gave her a tight lipped smile once she let go. "As well as possibly I can be." She spoke as she sat back down at the kitchen table. "It's nice to see you in different circumstances." Ah yes, those circumstances being her daughter's funeral.
An awkward silence filled between the two families, only to be broken by a sneeze from Brandon. His cheeks heated up as he spared an apologetic look towards the woman, before muttering a small 'sorry'.
Noelle rolled her eyes before turning to the older DiLaurentis. "Not to sound rude or anything, Mrs. DiLaurentis, but what are you doing here? I thought you had left after the funeral."
"Noelle!" Mrs. Call hissed at her daughter, lightly slapping her arm. Noelle glared at her mother, gently rubbing the spot where she had been hit. Noelle profusely refused to look at Brandon, who was not so subtly staring at her.
Mrs. DiLaurentis just only waved her off, not finding any rudeness in her question. "It's no problem, Naomi." Mrs. DiLaurentis let out a sigh as she gripped on to the maroon Coffee cup that was only ever used if guests were over. "We were just closing up the settlements on the house." Mrs. DiLaurentis sighed as she looked over to her son, who was trying to look anywhere but his mother. "It's hard to completely sell a house when the new owners find the dead body of a missing girl." Jessica let out a sharp breath as the awkward silence fell over them, once more.
"Nice going, mom." Brandon rolled his eyes, letting out a small sniff before turning to the mayor. Mrs. Call looked flustered at the comment that Jessica had made, sitting there frozen in the middle of lifting her cup to her lips. "Mrs. Call? Is it alright if I use your bathroom?"
Mrs. Call let out a sputter as she placed her tea cup down onto the wood table, the cup rattling gently as it was placed down. Letting out a small cough and fixing her posture, Naomi nodded. "Yes, of course." Naomi looked over to her daughter who looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but there at that moment. "Noelle? Will you please show our guest where the bathroom is."
Noelle turned to her mother as if she was a deer in headlights. While she had wanted an excuse to leave the awkward atmosphere, certainly didn't mean she wanted to be left alone with her ex-boyfriend . . . not that her mother knew that. "I- what?"
Naomi nodded as Brandon shook his head. "It's alright. I'm sure I can find it on my own." Brandon insisted, but Naomi was a stubborn woman.
"Noelle, please show our guest where the bathroom is." This time Naomi's voice was as sweet as it was before. It was slightly deeper, with a cold edge to it. It wasn't a ask, it was a demand. It was a tone that Noelle knew too well.
Noelle sighed as she stood up, her dark brown eyes meeting Brandon's ocean blues. "Come on, I guess I can show you where the bathroom is." Noelle's entire body was as stiff as a board as the two walked, Noelle in front to avoid both looking and touching the guy who broke her heart. "Here it is." Her voice was stiff as she let her eyes roam around the gray colored walls.
"Thanks." Brandon mumbled back beginning to walk into the bathroom, though he paused, his body freezing for a moment as his eyes caught onto a picture a few feet down from the bathroom. It was of Noelle and Alison, with large smiles painted across their faces. "I didn't even know you still had this picture." His voice was nostalgic, longing for the days when he still had his sister by his side.
Noelle followed his gaze, her heart stilling at the smiles on the young faces. "Oh." Her voice somber. "I didn't even know that was still up." Noelle could remember the day as if it was yesterday. It was the last day of school for the fifth graders. It was the first picture that had been taken of the two, the happiness shining on their faces.
Brandon nodded, before turning away from her, to walk towards Noelle, but he stopped in his tracks. "Do you even miss her?"
Noelle froze for a second, her heart clenching in pain. She glared at him with water rimming at her eyes. "Don't ever ask me that question again." She hissed, furious at him for even thinking it. "Fuck you, Brandon." She sneered, before stomping away.
Noelle didn't say anything to her mother as she walked out of the house, only taking her keys and wallet. She just needed a break from everything.
AFTER A WHILE, WALKING around town got more and more boring. Once it was nighttime, Noelle knew she had to go home. So as an apology for leaving so abruptly earlier, Noelle made her way to the Grille. "Aria!" She shouted, spotting her short friend from across the street. Aria's eyes lit up once she spotted who called out her name.
"Noelle, hey." Aria greeted as she ran across the street. Aria wrapped her hand around Noelle's arm, giving it a light squeeze in greeting. "How are you? You look sad."
Noelle let out a small breathy laugh as they walked up the Grille. She shrugged as she opened the door, letting her friend go in first. "You've always been so observant, Aria."
Aria's cheeks turned red as Noelle laughed once more. "Montgomery." Aria spoke to the lady once they got to the counter. "And Call." The lady nodded before going into the back to grab their food. "Hey!" Aria smiled as Spencer came up to them.
"Hey," Spencer greeted, squeezing Noelle's arm in greeting. "I was gonna e-mail you when I got home. How weird was that lunch?"
Aria let out a small scoff, shutting her eyes as if trying not to remember it. "I'd say on a scale of one to ten, eleven."
"Really?" Noelle questioned, crossing her arms over her chest. "I was going to say around a million." Spencer rolled her eyes at her dramatics, before turning back to Aria.
Aria went to say something, but changed it as she spotted Melissa Hasting walking past hand-and- hand with a guy. Noelle figured it was Melissa's new fiancé, and Aria only confirmed it by asking it out-loud. "Oh, is that the new fiancé?" Noelle's eyebrow raised only slightly at the smile on Spencer's face as she caught the eyes of her soon to be brother in law. "Is he as uptight as Melissa?"
"Doubt it." Noelle scoffed. "Just you, Spence." Noelle let out a small hiss after getting a slight shove from her taller friend.
Spencer rolled her eyes as she scoffed. "No one's as uptight as Melissa."
"You're not wrong." Noelle agreed, knowing how prissy the older Hasting's girl acted whenever the two families got together for their monthly dinner's. The three girls let out small chuckles before Spencer let out a small fake smile. "I'd better get back."
Aria nodded. "Alright. See ya."
"Say hi to the hottie for me!" Noelle called after her causing most of the people in the restaurant to look over to them. Noelle grinned as Spencer sent her a glare over her shoulder as she went to sick back at the table with her family.
"Stop causing so much trouble." Aria scolded as she gently slapped Noelle's arm, though even she had a small smile on her face.
"Never." She grinned as she gave money over to the lady. "Thank you." The woman nodded as she gave Noelle back her change as the two girls walked out of the Grille.
"Can I ask you a question?" Aria asked as the two walked down the main streets. "It's nothing bad." She assured at the look on her friend's face.
"Sure, why not." Noelle shrugged as she bit on the breadstick she stole from her bag. While she enjoyed the silence, she'd much rather help her friends. "What's up?"
Aria inhaled for second, as if unsure on what she wanted to ask. "You've had boyfriends before, right?" At Noelle's confirming nod, Aria hesitantly continued. "Did you ever have one you never wanted anyone to know about?"
Noelle's heart clenched in pain at the though of her and Brandon. She wished she could go back to the time when they were still together, when Alison was still alive and he never said any of those hurtful things. But that was wishful thinking, and wishes rarely ever came true. "No." She shook her head, a small sniff leaving her. "Why do you ask?"
Aria sighed before looking around as if to see if anyone was in hearing distance. "There's this . . . guy I like, and he doesn't think we should be together-"
Noelle couldn't help herself as interrupted her friend, blurting out, "It's Mr. Fitz, isn't it?"
Aria's face turned white as she froze in her spot, looking as if she had seen a ghost. "Ho-how did you find out?"
This time, it was Noelle who's face turned pale at the news. "Aria, you can't be serious? He's an adult, with a real life and job, and you're a minor! It's illegal, and disgusting!" She scoffed, watching the heartbreak fall onto her friend's face. Normally, Noelle would break instantly, but she held her ground. This was real, and he could go to jail for this.
"Noelle, please let me explain." Aria begged, gripping onto Noelle's forearm, as trying to make her see her point.
Noelle shook her head, almost disgusted, not Aria, but at her teacher. Someone who was a grown adult and should've know better than to get involved with a sixteen year old child. "I-I can't, I'll see you soon." She shook her head before nearly sprinting home.
FOR THE SECOND TIME day, Noelle let out a sigh as she trudged her way up her driveway. Though this time, she was met with her mother sitting on the front steps of their lavish home, a half filled bottle of white wine next to her. Naomi Call let out relived sigh as her daughter came into her view. Noelle let out a surprised 'oh' as her mother stood up to wrap her arms around her. "Where the hell did you go? Brandon said you stormed away from him, and Jessica and I heard the front door slam, and then you gone and-"
"Mom, mom." Noelle calmed down her mother's ramblings as she pulled back. "I'm so sorry for scaring you." She let out a sigh as she went to sit down on the front steps. "Brandon brought up Alison and I just lost it. I needed a moment to collect myself."
Naomi let out a rough breath as she sat next to her daughter. Naomi took Noelle's hand into hers, holding onto it for dear life. "You can't just run away like that." Naomi shook her head as she let out a small sniffle. "I can't loose you like I lost . . ." Her voice got caught on the name, causing Noelle to still. Cassidy.
Noelle shook her head as she gripped onto her mother's hand. "That's not going to happen." She said firmly. "Plus, mom, I went out for almost three hours." She shook her head. "I'm okay, I promise."
"I'm sorry." Naomi apologized causing Noelle to roll her eyes.
"For what?" She questioned with a laugh. "Being more motherly than mayorly? How many time has both Nate and I said that's all we want from you? That's all we need."
Naomi let out another breath as she wrapped her arms around her daughter once more. "I love you, Noelle."
"I love you mom."
"Now what's in this bag from the Grille?" Noelle let out a laugh as she let go of her mom.
"An apology diner from running away earlier." She grinned as she sneakily tried to grab her mother's wine. She barely managed a long swig of the wine down her throat, before her mother pulled the bottle from her.
"Hey!" Naomi chastised, as she moved the bottle away from her daughter. "Just because you apologized, doesn't mean you get to drink any of my wine."
"Yeah, yeah." Noelle rolled her eyes.
IT WAS ONLY A few hours later when Noelle made her way back to her room. She let out a sigh as she sat at her desk chair, her eyes finding the purple threaded bracelet that Alison had given to her almost two years ago. Her eyes watered as she placed it on her wrist, feeling as if Alison was in the room with her. She could really use her best friend right about now.
Noelle let out a groan as she heard her phone ding. She felt her heart hammer in her chest as she prayed that it wasn't from A. But it seemed as if she held up her hope for no reason as she looked at the message.
"Just because you made it home to mommy dearest this time, doesn't mean you be able to do it another. ~ A"
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