𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟏𝟎𝟐

"𝙰𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚅𝚒𝚎𝚠"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘
𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙪

"HEY, WHERE WERE YOU?" Noah asks as she stands from the chair at Emily's desk, "I called you three times."

"Sorry, I took a little too long in the shower," Emily says as she sits her bag down and takes her seat.  The mother almost cannot bear to look in her daughter's eyes out of fear that she would reveal everything she is not supposed to know.

"I was worried about you," Noah mutters as she looks down at the floor, eyeing her untied shoe lace.

Emily peers up at the words and stares at Noah.  The teen is freshly showered from her workout with wet hair and a bare face.  Her sweatpants that are actually Emily's are barely grasping her waist and her long hoodie sleeves hang from her arms.

"I'm sorry," Emily says as she stops staring.  She thinks about the words on the pages and how she does not want to be the subject of another one, "I was in such a rush, I didn't check my phone."

"Okay," Noah mumbles.

"C'mere," Emily says and holds her hand out.  Noah takes her mother's hand and feels herself being pulled closer.  Emily plants a kiss on Noah's forehead and strokes her cheek, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry."

"It's okay," Noah mutters.

"It's not," Emily replies, "I'll be better about checking my phone."

"What's wrong?" Noah asks as she eyes her mother, wondering where the sincere apology over something so small is coming from.  She assumes Emily is just worried about her panic attack the night before, but she shrugs it off.

"Nothing," Emily says, putting a smile on her face, "I just love you."

"Love you too," Noah replies and grabs her bookbag.  She walks over to Penelope's office and knocks on the door.

"Come in!"

Noah opens the door, revealing Penelope twiddling her fuzzy pink pen with her feet propped up on her desk.  The teen smiles and steps into the office.

"Hello, my darling!" Penelope beams and swirls around to face the couch in the back of her office.  Noah takes a seat and seems to let out a deep breath.

"Hi," The teen sulks.

"What's wrong?" Penelope coos, "You're too cute to have frown lines."

Noah smiles a bit at the comment and sinks into the couch cushion, "I'm just...watching the days go by."

"I know it must be hard," Penelope says as she wheels her chair closer to the teen, "But we're all here for you."

"Your play was good," Noah mentions, changing the subject, "I saw that Kevin was in the audience. How'd he like it?"

"He thinks it's cool," Penelope beams, "He comes to a lot of my shows."

"I'm really glad you guys worked out," Noah notes. Penelope thinks to herself, wondering if she should ask the question that is on the tip of her tongue.

"Noah," Penelope says before gulping the fear in her throat, "Foyet said something about you being in love with a girl."

"Yeah," Noah groans, "Asshole."

"Is that true?" The blonde asks.

Noah's eyes seem to go out of focus as she processes the question. Penelope shifts in her chair at the silence in the room. The creaking of the chair brings Noah back as she peers into Penelope's eyes.