Flashbacks novel Chapter 8

I don’t know how long I stayed outside, but I stayed long enough for it to get dark out. I decided to go back into the house and be a grown and mature adult and talk to my father about everything instead of blaming him for everything, so I slowly got up from the grass, making sure to dust myself off in case anything stuck to me. I then began making my way towards the house.

When I reached the house, I counted to ten before knocking on the door.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10…

I knocked on the door. I didn’t hear any noise from the inside of the house, so I assumed they gave up on me already. I was about to make my way off of the porch when the door opened. It was Noah.

He gave me a slightly unpleasant look. “Come in, Elle.”

I slowly nodded my head. “I’m sorry for -” I began saying.

“No, don’t even apologize. You can’t even be grateful that your father wants to be a part of your life. He cares about you, Elle. He’s always worried for you and doesn’t want anything to happen. He didn’t even want me to go with him since he wanted to make things right with you, and this is how you treat him? His family? You are selfish,” he said, anger laced into his voice.

I just stood there silently, not knowing what to say. “Oh.”

I didn’t have any other words to say. I guess I don’t have a right to be mad at anyone. Everything’s my fault. I looked at Noah and noticed that he had a weird emotion on his face, though he tried to hide it. What was it? Guilt? Regret?

“Mrs. Laverin is waiting for you in the dining room, right around the corner. Try not to make any noise, the kids are sleeping. I have to go call your dad.”

He noticed I wasn’t going to say anything and walked away, leaving me with a weird pit in my stomach. I wasn’t going to break down. I simply couldn’t. They would see me as weak.

I walked to the dining room and sure enough, Mrs. Laverin was sitting at the table with a sad smile on her face. She knows, I instantly thought. I took a seat hesitantly. When she tried to hold my hand, I quickly put it on my lap.

“He told me everything you told him,” she softly said. “I’m so sorry. He feels like a horrible father for not being there for you when you needed him. He’s currently looking for you, but Noah’s going to call him and let him know you came back. Look,” she sighed out, “I know this is really hard for you, but please give him a chance. I know he can’t make up for all the years he missed but he wants to be there for you. I promise you won’t regret giving him a second chance.”

“Yeah, uh, yeah. I’ll give him a chance. I was just being selfish, so sorry for that. I’m a bit tired though, and I want to go to sleep. Do you have a notebook and a pen I can use? And can you tell Mr. Laverin to come to my room so we can talk? I’ll be waiting for him there,” I said, getting up.

“Yes, of course! I’ll also bring you some food. The kids wanted to see you, but then you ran out before they could even say hi.” She chuckled.

I simply nodded. “Sorry. I’ll be upstairs now.”

I had a good memory, so I was able to remember where my room was located. I sort of wished I didn’t have a good memory though. Sometimes I just want to forget things. As I was walking by, I heard whispers coming out of Noah’s room.

“I’m sorry, sir, she’s being difficult,” Noah said. I think he’s talking to my dad on the phone.

“Yes, she came back. She’s downstairs talking to your wife.”