Flashbacks
Chapter 10: Roller Coaster

Life is similar to a roller coaster. We all have our highs and lows, but we don't really know the path we're going to go through in life. We have to either wait to see what life has to offer, or go out to live life itself. I, myself, am waiting to see what life has to offer me.

It's sad, really. I've always waited to see what life had in store for me, except for a few known instances. Getting this opportunity to get to know my father and half-siblings is truly a blessing, one that both hurts but is also nice. I know I'm going to do everything in my power to take advantage of this opportunity.

I still haven't had a clear look at his children, besides seeing them on social media and in pictures. He has two children, by the way.

I had a conversation with Noah last night. I still can't let anyone know that he did it. I was able to tell it was him by his voice, but I have to put it in the past. Plus, I've been healing really well now. Just a few bruises were left; thankfully nothing was broken. I should probably get on with my day now.

I closed the notebook Mrs. Lavrin, also known as Celeste, gave me. I should probably start calling her by her first name now, as calling her Mrs. Lavrin or "the woman" is a bit weird. I've been hoping to speak with Dan today, if only Noah remembers to give it to me. Just thinking of him - Noah - reminds me of the conversation we had last night. I'll have to talk to my father and tell him to drop the case.

As I got myself out of bed, I heard a knock on the door. I went to open it, revealing Celeste holding a bag of clothes in her hands. She looks extremely cheerful for it being morning.

"Good morning! I hope you had a good night's sleep. I bought some clothes for you to wear. I hope they fit and you like them! Breakfast is going to be ready in around 30 minutes, which gives you plenty of time to get yourself ready," she quickly rushed out, not taking a deep breath to calm herself now.

I took the bag of clothes from her with a small smile. "Thank you, Celeste." And then she smiled, hard.

"Oh, gosh, thank God! I thought you weren't going to stop calling me Mrs. Lavrin," she said as she made a disgusted face. "It makes me feel really old. Anyway, I'll see you down in 30 minutes." She waved goodbye and walked away before giving me time to answer her.

Whatever coffee she uses - I want it.

I closed the door to my room and laid out all of the clothes on the bed. Thankfully, half of them were oversized. Even the underwears and bras were my size, surprisingly. I picked out some clothes that consisted of some sweatpants and a sweatshirt as I wanted to be comfortable today, even if that meant I had to look like someone who didn't have a life. Then, I went to the bathroom and took a nice long shower with burning hot water.

Putting a towel around my body, I left the bathroom. I put on the clothes then went back into the bathroom to brush my teeth. As for my hair, I just put it in a messy bun since I had no hair products with me. Before I left my room, I made sure I looked somewhat presentable, then began making my short journey to the kitchen.

The closer I got to the kitchen, the more the scent of delicious foods reached me. I walked into the kitchen where I saw everyone seated peacefully: Noah, Celeste, my father, and Norma and Dominic - the kids. Admittedly, I felt a bit awkward since I felt like I was intruding on them. I was like the odd one out.

I was about to leave the kitchen unnoticed when Arthur, my father, called out to me. "Hey, sweetie," he greeted. "I see that you're joining us for breakfast. How was your sleep?" he asked.

I forced out a smile. "Hi, Arthur. I slept well, and you?" I asked back. Immediately, I noticed that his shoulders slumped when I called him Arthur instead of Dad. It's not entirely my fault though - sometimes I'm calling him father, other times I'm calling him by his name, but today I'm calling him by his first name.

"I slept well, honey," he sighed out. "Come sit down. Your plate is next to Norma."

I looked over at the young girl. She had short brunette hair and dark brown eyes. Her skin was pale, just like her mothers. She was really pretty in her school uniform. Slowly, I made my way over to her and sat down in the seat next to hers. She smiled and waved at me, and I returned the gesture, causing her to blush and look away. I guess she's the shy one.

I then looked over at Dominic, who was also wearing his school uniform. He had black wavy hair that was somewhat long, but not really. He's 11, and Norma's 9. For some reason, I had a feeling that he was more outgoing than his sister, but probably also more protective. He didn't wave nor smile at me. I guess he was going to be a tough one.

I decided to wear a small smile and participate in the light conversation they were all having, but only to make up for my bad attitude yesterday. At first, Dominic was very standoffish and didn't speak to me as much as everyone else at the table, but by the time he and his sister were about to go to school, he slightly warmed up to me. And I cannot, for the life of me, understand why it caused a warm feeling in my chest.

"So, Elle, what do you plan on doing today?" Arthur asked after the dining table was cleared off. I was about to tell him the truth but I realized that he would probably invite me to go somewhere with him or make me do something, which is not what I want, so I decided to make up an agenda.

"Oh, I'm just going to get some things from my apartment as well as make some phone calls."

A worried look appeared on his face. "Well...alright, I suppose. Just be careful, alright? I'll have Noah come with you, and I'll send a car to pick you up and take you wherever you want to go."

Not wanting to inconvenience him, I vigorously shook my head. "No, no, that's alright. It's only a few things - I can just call an Uber. It's not that of a deal, I'll be fine."

"Nonsense," he dismissed, waving a hand in the air; "it's no trouble. The man who assaulted you could still be out there and I want you to be as safe as possible. Besides, I assigned Noah as your bodyguard and instructed him to stick to you like glue, and he's a diligent man. I doubt you could ever convince him to leave you alone."

Sighing, I nodded my head and prepared to leave, but then Noah materialized out of nowhere, scaring me enough to cause a squeal to escape my lips.

"I'm so sorry for scaring you," he said whilst rubbing the side of his face. "I have a habit of being really light on my feet."

I took a deep breath to calm myself down before telling him it was alright. "Oh, I forgot to ask, but do you have my phone? I was going to ask you earlier but I didn't get a chance to."

His face lit up in realization and he dug into his pockets, pulling out my phone. "Yeah, I have it. I got it when I was doing a checkup of the cars this morning."

I took the phone, thanking him, then headed out to the car, a bit nervous about how the day would go. Throughout the whole car ride, Noah and I didn't speak. We would catch each other staring at the other, but then we would quickly cast our eyes down. I opened my phone to see so many texts from Dan, which made me smile a bit. At least I know he cares.

I quickly sent a little reply. I'm sorry. I didn't have my phone for the past few days, I just now received it. Can we hang out later today if you are not busy?

His reply came quickly. Ofc, I don't have work today. We have a lot to catch up on. How about 5:30?

That sounds about good. Where do you want to meet up? I responded.

I can pick you up and we can go to the cafe?

I furrowed my brows together. No, it's okay. I can just meet you at the cafe. I didn't want him to come and pick me up.

That sounds good, he replied. See you then.

We reached my apartment and it was the same as when I left it. Noah was right behind me as we walked to the door. I began feeling a bit self-conscious as I began opening the door to the apartment. Taking a few deep breaths in, I opened the door.

A way of comfort hit me, because

this, right here, is home, and I've never felt more at peace with myself until now, My books were still on the shelf in the right order, the place smelled like vanilla, one of my favorite scents. And, yeah, maybe this isn't the best neighborhood ever, but I'd rather live somewhere where I'm actually comfortable.

"Do you want water or anything to drink?" I asked, turning to face him.

"No, thank you."

I nodded. "Well, I'm just gonna go grab a few things. It shouldn't take long."

He simply nodded as he continued to look around my house.

I went into my room and grabbed a bag before filling it with clothes, notebooks, my laptop, and the money I've been saving for the past few months. I only grabbed 3,000 and left the rest in case I'd need it at a later date.

I grabbed everything I needed and walked out into the living room to see Noah typing something into his phone.

"I'm done,” I announced, catching his attention.

"Do you need any help?" he asked whilst pointing to the things in my hands.

"No, thanks. I got it."

We walked out of the apartment

before he closed and locked the door for me ended up thanking him multiple times - when he did that, and when he opened the door to the car for me. We, then again, sat

in silence and I knew the car ride was going to be longer than when we first came since traffic was building up.

I sighed and opened my laptop, going to Google Docs where I was able to type without needing wifi. I've been writing a book and it's been one of my favorites for a while now. Memories. That's what it's called.

I can relate to it so much. All the pain, passion, regret, sorrow, love; the story is called Memories for multiple reasons. One day, when I get my life together, I want to publish it. And when I do, I hope I learn to love and accept myself.

"What are you doing over there?" I heard Noah ask.

"Working on something I've been working on for a while," I simply answer, shrugging my shoulders.

"What is it?" he asked. I lifted my head, wondering why he was trying to spark conversation with me. I answered his question anyway though.

"I love to write. I'm not good at

expressing myself to anyone -

myself included - so I write instead. I

have a few short stories already

written, but I'm working on this novel

now. It's called Memories. I guess

just relate to it so much since I'm putting all my emotion into it love combining various emotions because in the end, you never know how the person turns out. Sometimes they're much better than how they were, sometimes they're not," I say before realizing I had overshared and didn't really answer his question. Oops.

I slowly looked over at him to see he was smiling.

"Sorry for babbling," I apologized with red cheeks.

"No, no, don't apologize. It's cute when you talk about something you enjoy. Do you plan on publishing that book? Maybe I can read it one day too, maybe even today when we get home. But only if you want me to."

My cheeks began heating up more. He just called me cute. And he called my father's house home!

"I plan on publishing this book, hopefully, when I get my life together. And, sure. You can read the first few chapters if you want to."

Before I knew it, we had already reached the house. He looked at me and I immediately got lost in his brown eyes. "It was nice talking to you. I look forward to reading your book." And I smiled.

Before he left the car, I blurted out: "Hey, I forgot to tell you that I'm meeting up with Dan and I was wondering if you could drop me off? It's already 5:15 and we were gonna meet at 5:30."

He nodded. "Sure, I just need to go use the bathroom real quick. You should go put your stuff in your room."

I nodded. "Will do. See ya."

"See you."☐☐☐☐☐☐