I'm finally back into updating :) Sorry it's been forever!!
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
But it's just your attitude
It's tearing me apart
It's ruining everything
And I swore, I swore I would be true
And honey so did you
So why were you holding her hand
Is that the way we stand
Were you lying all the time
Was it just a game to you- Linger, The Cranberries
The weeks that followed the hospitalization of little Faye were hard on the whole O’Hara family. Will never left his daughters side half the time, and Chelsea had to constantly check to see if he’d eaten. Their father had decided that his son would have to take a year off to raise his sickly daughter before going to college to pursue his teaching degree. During that time, the whole family would pitch in to help look after the baby.
“You going out, Cissy?” Sadie called to her older sister as she pulled on her coat. November was slowly coming to an end now and New York City was colder than ever.
Chelsea looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Yeah, we’re low on food supplies and I want to stock up for the next couples of weeks before winter break.” I also need to look at Christmas presents… I can’t believe it’s that time of year again already…
“Oh, okay! See you later then!”
She waved before closing the door and heading towards the car she shared with her two siblings. It let out a shudder before the engine turned on, and she had to sit there for a full three minutes before it warmed up enough for her to drive.
The trip to the supermarket closest to her house was shorter than usual- no one seemed to want to be on the roads, especially in such cold weather. Chelsea pulled out the shopping list she’d written up earlier out of her handbag as she entered. No one glanced her way.
It took a while for her to stock up on all of the vegetables the growing family needed, not to mention the meat she knew her father would consume. He was a true caveman when he wanted to be, and usually liked to snack on ham or salami. Her sister Sadie was the opposite and preferred to have a cupboard dedicated to sweets only to be eaten by herself. Just looking after the dietary demands of those two made Chelsea have a headache. Not to mention the amount of money it all cost.
Her trolley was half full by the time she’d left the vegetable and butcher section.
“Chelsea?” a voice asked in surprise. She turned to see Lewis, one of Jay’s many guy friends, behind her with a shocked look on his face.
“Oh, hi Lewis.”
“Do you eat that much food?”
She blanched in embarrassment, before feeling her cheeks heat up. “N-no, this is for my whole family. There are fou- Well, five of us now.”
“Ah.” Understanding lightened his eyes. “Hey, I heard you’ve been put in my year!”
“Yeah… I was asked to skip a grade…” this is so awkward…
“So… How are you now that you and Jay… well, you know.”
Chelsea shrugged. “I’m fine now.”
“Just so you know,” he sent her a sad smile; “Jay and I aren’t friends anymore. I refuse to be friends with a cheater.”
“A cheater?” She frowned in confusion.
“Well, yeah.” Lewis looked really uncomfortable as he shifted from side to side. “He cheated on you with Kelsey at the party, remember? Before he broke up with you?”
Chelsea blinked twice, her face blank from confusion. What was he talking about? She knew that Jay had been told about her and Andy doing ‘stuff’ (‘stuff’ that was non-existent) during the party, but she’d never heard anything about him cheating. That just didn’t seem to fit right. Sure, Jay was impulsive and ridiculously gullible, but he wasn’t un-loyal. There was no way that he would betray her like that… right?
“You didn’t know,” Lewis said, suddenly pulling her out of her thoughts. “He never told you.”
“No…” she murmured. “Are you sure he…?”
“Um, yeah… He was really drunk and I only lost sight of him for a few seconds, I think… I can’t really remember it too well now…”
“Oh my God.” Chelsea could see the truth shining in her friend’s eyes, not to mention the pity. Her heart let out a stutter before beating twice as fast. Irrational tears filled her eyes as she stared in shock.
“Hey, calm down Chelsea,” Lewis said, but his voice seemed far away.
Chelsea…
Chelsea…
“CHELSEA!” She snapped back to reality, her mouth opening and closing. It was like she couldn’t seem to form any words.
“I-I... I have to finish shopping.”
Before Lewis could try and comfort her again, she turned away from him and sped off down the isle. Her shocked brain grasped onto the familiar actions of picking things off the shelves and dumping them in the trolley. It only seemed like a few seconds before she’d crossed off everything on her list. There weren’t many people at the checkouts so she went through pretty quickly.
Even though she knew she had to get home, considering she had groceries in the boot of her car, Chelsea drove in the opposite direction. As she drew nearer to central NYC the traffic grew, as well as the amount of pedestrians on the sidewalks. It didn’t take long for her to be caught in a jam.
Salty tears trailed down her cheeks as memories flashed before her eyes. Jay had never seemed like the type to do that. He’d always seemed so trustworthy; so loyal. There didn’t seem to be a malicious bone in his body in her opinion.
She must have been blind.
“You’re so stupid,” she mumbled to herself. The loud honks and beeps from the cars around her jolted her to realize that the light had turned green, and she took the chance to turn off the street. It was time for her to go home.
The trip felt like it took eight hours. Chelsea’s hands were gripping the steering wheel so tight that when she finally arrived at her house, her fingers cracked and ached as she took them off. Letting out a shaky breath, she allowed herself a few minutes of composure. Even from the driveway she could hear her father and sister joking around in their living room.
Just as she was getting out of the car she realized that she forgot to go Christmas shopping. However, her watch told her that it was already three thirty- and she’d left the house at twelve. Did she really drive around, lost in her own mind, for that long?
That’s pathetic, she badgered herself. You shouldn’t wallow over something that’s in your past.
“Welcome back Cissy!” Sadie’s happy voice called as she walked through the door.
“Being nice to me doesn’t except you from having to get the bags out of the car like the rest of us,” Chelsea sighed and pointed to where her father was loading up on the groceries. The idiotic man had at least four on each arm, and was attempting (and failing) to carry them down the driveway. “Help Dad, would you?”
Her younger sister giggled before rushing over to stop their dad from collapsing under the extra weight he had taken on. Chelsea shook her head in disbelief, wondering how she could be related to such… dumbasses.
While her family took care of the chores, Chelsea retired to her room so she could do some makeshift stargazing. The glow-in-the-dark stickers twinkled on her ceiling as she lay on her bed staring at them. Surprisingly, no tears left her eyes. She had a feeling that her tear ducts had long since gone dry because of Jay Frost. It would be a couple of years before she would cry again.
At least, that was what she told herself.
After a few minutes there was a knock on her door. “Hey, Cissy, Will is on the phone.”
“Give it to me,” she sighed and sat up. Sadie chucked it at her from the corridor before dashing away.
“THANKS FOR BUYING ME SOUR WORMS!” her sister called over her shoulder. Chelsea rolled her eyes.
“Hello?” she finally said softly into the phone.
“Hey Chessy, guess what?” His voice sounded excited, for the first time since Faye’s birth.
“What?”
“Doctor Inez told me that they can discharge Faye tonight! Tonight, Chess!” he cried.
“What?” she shouted in surprise. “No way!”
“Yes way! Can you come pick us up in around two hours?”
Chelsea sat there in shock for a few seconds before she replied. “Uh, sure. I’ll make sure her room’s okay too…”
“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.” The line went dead.
She stared at the wall opposite her, still slightly confused and amazed. There’d never been a baby in the O’Hara household before, and she didn’t want to think about how it would change their lives. She had a feeling that none of them were going to get a good night’s sleep for a while now.
The feeling of wetness on her cheek made her blink a few times in surprise. That was until she realized what was happening.
Chelsea was crying, even though she thought she was out of tears. And this time, she couldn’t quite fathom why…