Come Back, Noelle

01 | The Battle Cry

Noelle Frostine:
- Convicted for murder of her cousin when she was sixteen.
- Bloody rich social worker (500 million dollars?)
- Arch nemesis of the most powerful family of Cherry Hills—the Montcliffs.

Aiden Summers:
- Best Friend of Noelle Montcliff.
- Has tendré for the Montcliffs family.
- Is still desperately, hopelessly in love with Noelle.

Noelle, Come Back.

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    Dearest Noelle,

    Where are you, Noelle? I want to find you but you don't want to be found. Living in Cherry Hills has become a chore now, so has breathing. I daily go to all our hiding places to find if you're there. This is my only comfort, trying to find you somewhere, hoping that when someone tugs at me from behind, it is you.

    I miss the way you would jump on my back, little Noelle, for a hug. When did you become so close to my heart that nothing else would matter? And why did I have to lose you to only realize it was so? Sometimes, I wish you had stopped loving me or bothering me, stopped calling me "Aiden" in that beautiful voice of yours so that I would have realized it earlier. It's all your fault, you know. You spoiled me with your love and warmth, your mischief and smile. Am I searching for you too much? Is that why you don't want to be found?

    I walk on the streets to look for a familiar face, your face. It has been one year, nine months, seven weeks, three days now since I last saw you. I should've held your hand when you entangled yours with mine. Shouldn't have let go. I didn't know that it would have been the biggest mistake of my life.

    Please, please, please, come back, Noelle.

    Ever yours,
    Aiden

― Aiden Summers to Noelle Montcliff after three weeks of her disappearance.

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    Hamlet had said to Opehlia, "God has given you one face and you make yourselves another." There are always two sides to every person; one who we are and one who we pretend to be. Noelle had always felt the turmoil of the battle between her two identities. The little girl who always seeks approval from others, who lost everything including herself when tragedy struck. Noelle Montcliff died in the Claremont Juvenile Detention Center.

    Noelle was reborn now. Noelle Frostine.

    Noelle Frostine didn't smile, laugh, cry; she hid her emotions well. Noelle Montcliff may not be dead but she was so hidden inside that it didn't matter.

    Noelle never struggled between the good and bad, light and darkness, angels and demons. Ever since she was a child, she had always believed in archangel. Her dad, dead since seventeen long years―Gabriel Montcliff―was her archangel, her protector. She had always believed in good, even if no one believed in her innate goodness.

    It didn't matter, she thought to herself as she watched the city passing by, on her way to Cherry Hills. "It's different from what I remember," she whispered softly, staring through the window of her conveyance.