red side of the moon- trixya

twenty eight.

Sings along to songs and every word she knows

Trixie and Jodi entered the house through the front door, rather than the side. Trixie didn't want to be caught off guard. As she rounded the corner to the living room, she saw her mother stand from the couch beside Jodi's mother.

She looked different. Through the weeks they had been apart, Trixie swore that her mother had aged at least a decade. She looked unfamiliar. Something about the lines in her face looked deeper. Her skin looked more worn.

"Beatrice," she said. "Come home."

Trixie was taken back by the words, and she squeezed Jodi's hand for support.

They talked for an hour about what to do and how to fix the gash that had ripped them apart. They talked about spirituality and the future and love and trust. Trixie cried, and her mother did too, and so did Jodi and her mother. By the time the discussion drew to a close, Trixie had agreed to come back home. Her mother handed Jodi's mother an envelope.

"One more thing," Trixie said, her voice shaky.

Her mother raised her eyebrows and Trixie could see the desperation hiding in the brown of her pupil. The brown had always kept her grounded, like her feet on a forest floor.

"I get to be with Katya."

"No," her mother said immediately.

"Then I'm not coming home."

Her mother sighed deeply, thinking. She looked at Jodi, who nodded her head solemnly.

"Fine," she relented. "I just want you to come home."

The car ride was mundane and quiet. Country music played quietly over the radio, Trixie humming along to it.

"My things are at Katya's," she said flatly. "Do you know where she lives?"

Trixie's mother nodded and a few minutes later that were driving up the long gravel driveway.

"I'll be back," Trixie said, getting out of the car. She walked up to the front door and knocked, expecting to see Katya or her sister, but she was met by the face of a woman she hadn't seen before.

"Can I help you?" She asked, and Trixie knew instantly it was Katya's mother.

"I'm Trixie," she said.

"Oh, hello! It's so nice to finally meet you," she said, her voice bubbly. "She's not home right now. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Some of my stuff is here, can I go grab it from her room?"

"Of course, darling. You know where it is?"

Trixie nodded and went inside the house when Mrs. Zamolodchikova stepped out of the way. She went up to Katya's room, and it looked different than it had in the past. The evening light struck her room differently than Trixie remembered. The bed was unmade and there were clothes and other things on the floor. It looked lived in and loved.

Trixie went over to Katya's desk, took a pink sticky note, and drew a heart on it. I love you most, she wrote, and placed it on Katya's pillow for her to find whenever she came home, though Trixie wasn't sure where she was.

Katya was at school, sitting in the locker room with Ellie and Danny and Matt, planning a surprise Trixie couldn't know about yet.

Trixie left the house and got back into the car, most of her bags in her hands but a few left in the closet, just in case she had to come back.

That night, her mother made Trixie's favorite dinner. Pasta with vodka sauce. They talked casually at first, avoiding conversation about the past few weeks.

"So," her mother said. "Tell me about this Katya."

Trixie blushed and proceeded to talk about Katya for what felt like hours, and she barely scratched the surface of the way Katya made her feel.

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a/n: im sorry this sucks, im not that inspired by the story rn but I feel like I had to get a chapter out. 💞
in other news, only five chapters left of this story!