Day After Day

Five Times Richelle Doesn't Want To Go Home and the One Time She Doesn't Have To

"Do I have to go home?" Richelle asks when Natalie tells her that Noah's mom is going to drop her off when she comes to pick Noah up later that night.

"I think Mom and Dad probably miss you. And don't you want to sleep in your own bed and not with me?" Natalie is a little concerned how often Richelle wants to be at her apartment and not at home. Although truthfully she wouldn't mind if her sister wanted to spend the night again but she knows there's no way their parents would allow it.

Richelle shakes her head, "Your bed is better, you have more blankets." Natalie knows it's not the real reason, but if it makes her sister feel better to tell herself that, well she's not going to pry.

"How about I give you one of my blankets. Would that make your bed better?"

When she goes to her room to grab a blanket off her bed she overhears Noah ask Richelle why she doesn't want to go home. Apparently he has older brothers and he "can't imagine wanting to hang out with them".

She hangs back in her room to hear Richelle's response, "Natty lets me have happy hands and dance to the music in my head." She says it very matter of factly, no anger towards their parents for not letting her do those things, or gratefulness that Natalie does, just a fact of life that some things she's allowed to do with Natalie their parents stop her from doing.

3. (2010)

At ten Richelle is starting to get a little too big to easily share a bed with. Even if she's still pretty small she's mostly arms and legs, which usually end up lodged somewhere in Natalie's stomach at some point in the night. When she wakes up with a bruise on her hip though she knows that she should probably start looking for a bigger apartment. Officially the second bedroom will be a guest room, but since Richelle is the only guest she ever has it's really just a room away from home for her little sister.

"Natalie!" Richelle rushes at her when she enters Studio B at the end of her sister's J-Troupe rehearsal.

"Hey Kiddo. Ready to go?"

"Almost." Natalie watches as she runs back to her class to say good-bye to Noah and Ms. Kate. And grab the rest of her stuff that was abandoned at the sight of her sister. Richelle talks the entire ride home, telling Natalie all about her week at school and everything she's doing on J-Troupe and in all her other dance classes. "Wait, this isn't your building."

"I moved, remember? This is my new building." She looks back to see her sister anxiously shaking her leg and she realizes that maybe showing her new apartment to her sister for the first time on their sleepover weekend wasn't the smartest move for an anxious girl who doesn't like change. "Why don't we just sit in the car for a little bit, here in the parking garage so you can get used to it." Natalie moves to sit in the back seat and does her best to talk through the layout of her new apartment. "I was going to make it a surprise, but I think we've had enough surprises for today. Part of the reason I moved was so that you could have your own bedroom. So whenever you're ready we can go up and you can see it."

Richelle's eyes widen almost comically, and she starts excitedly shaking her hands, "Really?"

"Uh-huh, you have your own bed and a stuffed animal you can keep here. Do you want to go see it?"

Natalie laughs a little when Richelle nods so aggressively that she throws her head against the headrest.

Richelle doesn't even explore the rest of the apartment once she knows which bedroom is hers. She immediately launches herself onto the elevated bed, and lets out a shout of pain when she misjudges how tall the bed is and accidentally kicks it. It's not actually that tall, only about a foot and a half off the ground, but it is quite a bit taller than her bed at home or Natalie's bed.