Fragments

NOELLE // 01

BOOK: Lessons on Love
WORD COUNT: 2013
BIO: The first of four instalments of 'Noelle', Charley and Kingsley's daughter.  

"IF YOU DON'T GET out of my house," my father snapped at my grandmother, "I swear to god I'll send Elle to boarding school."

"Don't punish me because you don't want to deal with your mum," I scoffed and my mother laughed.

"King," my grandmother whined. "I just want to take Noelle for the weekend. She wants to!"

"Warren isn't allowed to see her anymore," he shrugged.

"He hit her one time by accident," she tried.

"Just shut up," I rolled my eyes and my dad smirked. "He is an angry man and he hit me. If you're going to sit there and try to tell me that his hand slipped, then you're delusional and you need to be checked into a psych ward."

"Noelle," she tried.  

"Stop," I snapped. "You can't justify what he did!"

She left the house, crying, and I honestly didn't care. I had gone to spend the weekend with my grandparents and my grandpa, in a rage at something that someone that wasn't me, he slapped me. For no good reason mind you, I had done nothing wrong.

"You want ice-cream?" My dad asked me.

"No," I sighed. "I need to watch my weight."

"You do not," my mother hissed. "Who told you that?"

"Me," I shrugged. My father, despite my wishes, slid an ice-cream at me. "I don't want it."

"Just eat it," he narrowed his eyes at me. He turned to do something and I just got up and left the room. 

***

I flicked the cigarette onto the floor and blew the smoke out before turning to Nile. 

"Want to come over?" I asked him.  

"Nope," he scoffed. "The last time I did, your dad threatened to cut my dick off."

"Well he's already taken the lock off of my door," I shrugged and looked around. "Have you seen Jolene?"

"She moved schools," Nile scoffed and I hummed before shrugging it off. 

"She was fun while she lasted," I sighed.

"I knew that there was something going on with you two," he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Don't you worry Nile," I smirked and tapped him on the nose, "you'll always be my number one."

"Stop doing that," he chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulder before pulling me away from the school. "Everyone thinks we're dating."

"People can think what they want," I scoffed. "People think that my dad is some kind of murderer, but he's pretty cool."

"Pretty cool in a semi-homicidal way," he smirked. 

"Mhmm," I hummed. Nile laughed and we went down to the river as we did most days. We spent a lot of time here doing everything and nothing at the same time, drinking, smoking, ditching school.

We did a lot of things that we probably shouldn't, but it really wasn't a problem unless we got caught. 

"Does your dad know that you smoke?" Nile asked as he handed me his lit one. 

"No fucking way," I scoffed and took it off of him. "He probably suspects something, but it's not like he can prove it."

"I want to tell him I'm your boyfriend and see what he does," Nile smirked.