Don't Run Away

Chapter 16: I Don't Ever Wanna Lose My Best Friend

Valerie woke up feeling extremely exhausted the next morning. Once she was awake, she was a bit confused when she didn’t see her room. Then she calmed down and remembered that she was in her grandparent’s house in Oakland. She stood up and stretched. She sighed happily and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day. They would be moving into their new house today.

When she arrived at her grandparent’s house last night, she was bombarded by questions from the two of them plus her parents. She did her best to explain what she had been doing for the past week and a half.

“I also went to the Teen Choice Awards with the guys. It wasn’t as boring as I thought it would be.” Valerie had said.

“Victoria,” her grandma said, “Didn’t you watch those awards on TV last week?”

Victoria shrugged. “Yeah,”

Her mom had suddenly caught on. “Wait, but if you were watching the awards and if Valerie was there, shouldn’t you have seen her?”

Victoria looked up from her plate of food. “No, I didn’t see her on TV.” She said. She stole a glance at her sister.

After that one look, Valerie knew that Victoria was lying, but she decided not to push it. While she missed her parents, she was partially glad that she didn't leave the guys too early. If she left them at that point, she wouldn't have gotten closer to them.

She hopped into the shower and got ready for the day. She wrapped a towel around her body and looked through her clothes. She already had a lot of clothes before the move, but now she had a bunch more since she went shopping with Dalton and Cole. She decided on some black skinny jeans, a black top, and a thin yellow cardigan. She left her hair wavy and did her makeup a bit dark. She slipped on some thin socks and then put on some black ankle boots. When she was ready, she went downstairs for some breakfast.

When she was seated at the table, she turned to her parents. “So exactly when are we going to start moving our things to the house?” she asked.

Her dad took a sip from his coffee. “We’re going to be moving our stuff out in about an hour. We already have some furniture for the living room, bed posts, and whatnot in the backyard of this house. We have to get that out there along with our personal belongings. I’m borrowing my dad’s pick-up truck.”

“Alright,” Valerie said. She took her phone, which she had charged over-night, and texted Cole.

Valerie: We’re going to be moving our stuff out in about an hour, so you guys should head over here right now.

She got a reply about a minute later.

Cole: On our way there. See ya there. :)

Valerie put her phone away and continued to eat. When she was done, she went upstairs to her room where she found her mom putting another suitcase on her bed.

“I figured you’d need another one since the carry-on I brought you yesterday wasn’t enough for the other clothes you bought.”

Valerie nodded. “Thanks,” she said. Then she started to put her clothes in the suitcase. When she was done, she heard a knock on her door.  “Come in!” she yelled.

The door opened to reveal Cole, who ran in and wrapped his arms around Valerie. “I missed you,” he said.

Valerie laughed and hugged him back. “Me too, but it’s only been a day.”

Cole pulled away. “Yeah, but it feels weird without you at the house. We had all grown used to having you over with us everyday.”

Valerie smiled. “Can you help me get my stuff downstairs?”