NAOMI WAITED FOR ASPEN TO TEXT FOR A WHOLE TWO DAYS.

On the first, she switched her phone on— like Aspen had asked her to— and watched with woe as weeks of texts and notifications filled up her lockscreen. Letting herself down against the faintly familiar sheets comforting her bed, Naomi waited for everything to stop, and then some, before building enough muscle in her thumb to unlock her phone. She cleared the dust off it with her lone t-shirt and began scrolling. The weight of the phone was more than she could ever recall and holding it felt like trying to bring forth a memory that had long been forgotten. Or, perhaps, locked away.

Jessica, the alive Jessica, always told her that phones would be the death of humankind, but if it brought food to your door and helped people to make a living then death would be worth it.

The most recent texts were all from the Riverside Dance Academy group chat. Naomi didn't read that. The rest were from her family asking the most mundane of things like to take out the trash and bring toilet paper to the bathroom. Naomi opened each one and glossed over the unreplied texts, a large, distasteful lump forming somewhere in the back of her throat. She exited the chats quickly and kept scrolling. Before those, there were vague relatives wishing their apologies and granting their condolences for 'Jessica's accident'. Naomi read them over and over again and wondered if any of them even knew Jessica.

Then, she stood. In a beat, Naomi had flung her phone away from her. It went skipping across the bed, all the way to the edge before halting just enough to prevent its demolition. But it didn't matter; Naomi's back was already turned. In fact, she had made it to the door and finished pulling it open haphazardly, thinking only to go into her brother's room for the countless time this week. But she had forgotten it was Saturday and the sun was out shining brightly; that meant both her parents were home. Perhaps if she had taken a moment, she would have remembered, but much to her detriment she only realized the fact when it was too late. Right there in the Morgan home hallway on that Saturday afternoon, Naomi saw her father (for the first time in days).

He was coming up the stairs with his head down and his hair ruffled. His tall frame seemingly more intimidating than what she was accustomed to and his entire aura had shifted too as if his sins were strolling behind him like cackling demons. When he looked up and saw her, they both halted. Hesitation glinted his eyes before courage bucked his leg forward. Naomi didn't suffer the same; she beelined straight for her brother's room and spent the rest of the day there. Breathing deeply and not responding when Will asked her what was wrong.

On day two, Naomi downloaded the music she hadn't realized she missed and kept her phone in her back pocket the whole day. For breakfast, she plugged her earphones in and came down the stairs quickly, arriving at the table and passing her eye over her seated family before sharply taking a seat herself. She reached for the syrup and the eggs and realized that for the first time, the Morgan dining table wasn't silent. There was noise finally, and though everyone else could only hear its muffles, it was wall-shattering to her.

At noon, Naomi unrolled her fluffy carpet from the corner of her closet and set in the centre of her room. She opened a window and lit a scented candle in her bathroom. Then, she pushed her desk under the rectangular shape on her wall, ignoring the noise it made on her wooden flooring and took out her T.V. from under her bed. She lifted it out of its box and struggled with it all the way on top of the desk where she hung it back on the metal bearing in the wall. It concealed the rectangle seamlessly and Naomi smiled.

However, now in the present, when Naomi wondered back to those memories, she saw those two days fade into one another like a thick mist. The memories had no real timestamps, only vague emotions. As if she didn't live through them at all. But tonight, as she idly scrolled through her phone with crossed legs atop her queen-sized bed, she tried to focus on the now. After all, her future was unfixable and her past was abysmal; the present was the only thing that hadn't given up on her yet. It was all she had left. Her phone vibrated.

"I'm outside. Do I have to come in?"

Naomi typed back a quick response. "Stay in the car. I'll be out in a few."

Truth was, Naomi didn't mention a thing to her parents. They'd be upstairs anyway and the house would remain quiet and her door locked and no one would ever realize that she was gone. So, Naomi grabbed a pair of jeans shorts from her closet and replaced her oversized shirt for a crop top before she quickly and quietly attempted to exit the Morgan home.

Of course, it was only when she got to the landing of the staircase and her parents were already watching her, that she realized how wrong she was. The both of them were there sitting beside one another, speaking to someone with their back turned to Naomi. She locked eyes with just her father. At this point, it was impossible for him to become any more of a stranger than he already was. Across from her parents, the stranger turned around. "Ben?"

"Hey, Yellow," he said, his smile a little weak at the fringes.

Quickly, Mr Morgan asked, "Where are you going?"

Naomi's feet drew in and her hands found themselves folding inward at her hip. The words lingered longer than Naomi normally would have allowed it to, but her mind was still occupied with the fact that Ben was here and she had no idea, and judging by the looks on their faces, she guessed they didn't want her to.

"Aspen and I are going out," she eventually choked out.

His eyes zeroed in on her exposed stomach. "Dressed like that?"

Naomi looked down at herself, her bare feet adjusting themselves atop the wooden flooring. "It's a hundred degrees out." She hated the way her voice cowered at the sight of him.

"Naomi, please go change."

She didn't move. Her eyes travelled to Ben. "It's not that hot. The sun is down, Yellow" he said reasonably. She scoffed and looked to her mother next but she was worse. She said nothing for starters and her expression was muddled into complacency and abdication. Naomi soon came to realize that she had lost this battle before it ever even started.

She inhaled unevenly. "Of course," she breathed out and rolled her eyes, "I'll wear a jacket."

She backed down the hallway, cutting a look at Ben before leaving their sight completely. At the door, she grabbed her bomber jacket from the coat rack and worked her feet into her dirty pair of sneakers waiting for her.

"Naomi," her mother called, "stay out of—"

"—Trouble. I know." Once her sneakers were on, Naomi slung the bomber around her shoulders and left through the door without a goodbye.

Outside, the stars had studded the Riverside sky, but they were all incapable little lights attempting to replace the moonlight lost behind some large cloud. They lacked in every sense and because of it, Naomi found herself lost in the dark. The streetlights were only just barely flickering, and they were far and few in between. The neighbourhood and Naomi were shrouded by the Riverside night until a pair of headlight switched on and shot dual streams of light down the vacant asphalt road. It was Aspen's car, right across the street from her humming like a slightly perturbed animal. Naomi jogged over quickly and pulled open the passenger side. Aspen sighed frustratingly on cue. "Finally." She put up her mirror and shifted gear. "Thought you were gonna stand me up."

Naomi looked over, staring as the other girl's concentration latched onto the rear-view mirror and her glossy lips moulded with focus. Feeling Naomi gaze, Aspen chuckled but didn't reciprocate the eye contact. "What?" she asked.

Naomi looked in front of her again. "Nothing. I was just thinking about how amazing that idea is. To stand you up, I mean. Feel like I just missed a rare, once in a lifetime opportunity."

Pulling them onto the darkened streets of Riverside, Aspen's fingers did up the air conditioning of her Prius. "I'm glad you're aware that this is a one-time thing, Naomi. Glad we have that general understanding."

She rolled her eyes, adjusting the back of her seat as Riverside slipped by them. "Ben was inside," Naomi said. "I didn't even know he was there."

Aspen barely glanced at her. "He was talking to your parents?"

Street signs jumped in and out of Naomi's limited field of vision. "I guess. Do you think it's about the shrink thing?"

Aspen smiled, bits of her white teeth slipping against her glossed lips. "Things are changing for you, Naomi." She swerved the car into the city and began turning up the music. Before she became completely inaudible she said, "It's going to get better soon."

Musicflooded the car then and Naomi smiled at that lingering thought. But her lips were regretful and disillusioned. She really wished that she had heard those words at least a month ago. Right now, as she could hardly feel certain parts of her body and her heartfelt absent, she knew it was too late. There are certain things that people can never return to no matter how hard they tried; for Naomi Morgan, there were just two. TheRiverside Dance Academy and her parents. Her teeth clenched and her smile faded.

Author's Note
Wow, I'm a day late. So sorry readers, there were things outside of my control.

This week's dedication without a doubt goes to @rubygem2 because she's been commenting so much and making me laugh and smile! Tysm ily hurry up and come to this part of the book ❤️ thanks for all your support!

This week on my blog post we talk about "6 Authors That Will Change Your Mind About Wattpad" because Wattpad has a really bad rep in the public eye and honestly we need to change that. My list has some of my favourite authors and you guys should all go give them your support! The link to my website is in my bio!

But yes I feel so bad about skipping a day, readers, I was up till 12 trying to crank out this update but I just wasn't in time. I'm sorry. But what did you guys think about this chapter? Are y'all still so sure that Naomi will get better or? 👀👀👀 LMK in the comments!

IN THE NEXT CHAPTER...

The Guise had just spun hastily around a corner, disappearing as quickly as they came and leaving Riverside upin arms to watch but Naomi blazed forward anyway. She brushed past shoulders toget the core, manoeuvring through thecrowd with agility she could only thankballet for. Then she stopped. She saw it, and it was so hard to ignore. Cameraflashes went off around her and fingers pointed...