Maddie's Girls

Chapter 30

♀ Rebecca ♀

When I got home from school, my body felt heavy and walking into an empty house only dampened my mood.

Usually, Cordelia was always home when I got back from school and although we usually stayed clear of the other, it was sort of nice coming home knowing that someone would be there. But she wasn't here, she had decided she didn't want to come back to England after Christmas holidays.

She didn't like living here, she missed home. I wish I could say I was surprised by her decision to stay but it wasn't like she ever made an effort to even pretend to like it here. And since she wasn't here, my dad was also thinking about going back to live in Argentina. He was sorting some things out so he could leave for good. It was nice, though, when he knocked on my door just a couple of weeks ago, asking me what I wanted to do.

Leave with them or stay here alone.

I knew better, though, they didn't care much for what I'd choose.

The idea was tempting. Going back home. Although I've lived my entire life here, it never really felt like home. The issue with that was Argentina didn't feel like it, either.

My granddad had asked me to come back, said I've spent too long away from home. I was meant to go back, once I finished high school, I was meant to head back home but— I stayed because of Maddison. Because I was in love with Maddison and now I can't help but think that I'm the most pathetic idiot on the face of the earth.

I had nothing here. Tatita, the lady that took care of me and my brother while growing up, went back home when she started losing her sight. As embarrassing as it was for me to say, the only thing that remotely made me want to stay were the girls but... friends, you can make friends anywhere you go.

It's not like they're much of a friend, anyway. If anything, today's bathroom encounter showed me just that.

And then... if you loved once, you can do it again. And again. And again. Life is not a romantic comedy, you fall in love once, if you're open to it, you even can do it a million times throughout your lifetime. If I had something in Argentina, something that outweighs what I had here... why not go back?

I was heading to my room when the bell rang. I contemplated not answering but it could be important, so I went down the stairs again, walking over to the front door.

I was between surprised and relieved yet slightly annoyed when I found Nina standing there, her full lower lip between her teeth.

"What're you doing here?" I didn't want to sound so rude, much less to Nina, but I couldn't help myself.

She lifted her perfectly curved eyebrow, a look that practically told me to calm the fuck down as she leaned in until she was inches away from me, her eyes small and daring. She was so close that I could smell the strawberry in her perfume and if I leaned in slightly, our noses would touch.

If anyone saw us like this, they would most likely think we were about to kiss, but it wasn't like that. It was about Nina and her issues with personal space.

She didn't believe in it.

"What's up your ass?" She asked me. In a blink of an eye, she killed the space between us by placing her lips on my cheek.

The first time she did this, I almost pushed her away but I couldn't bring myself to. It was just Nina. She liked showing affection, she liked showing that she cared and her way of doing that was showering you with kisses, hugs, hand-holding and a taking any sort of chance that she got to touch you.

I worried that one day she'd find someone who wasn't fond of it, someone who wasn't comfortable with her way of showing that she cared. I thought that someone would've been me. I didn't like people touching me too much, not unless I wanted them to and at first, I didn't want Nina to touch me at all. I didn't understand why she'd do it, why she'd get so close.