Chase: and the girl who came back

It’s been two weeks since graduation. We’ve been spending as much time as we can with Millie and Julia.

We’ll all miss them, but I know how much guilt both Yasmin and Arden have over leaving them behind.

I have similar feelings about leaving Mum and Grandpa. I’m happy that Millie will be there.

We’ll be back to visit as often as we can and the apartment … wait, we should probably just call it a house now. Will be set up with spare rooms for everyone to come and stay with us.

GW goes to New Hope for golf regularly. I’m hoping he’ll visit.

Rhys and I pull into the driveway of the house in New Hope. Arden asked if we would come and check on the progress. He had something come up today, so he couldn’t come with us. We left the girls lounging at Mum’s in their pjs and reading.

Yasmin has introduced Ally to some of her favourite books. They spend hours lost in the pages. I love watching Yasmin read. Her expressions while she reads makes it worthwhile. Her reaction when a character does something unexpected is adorable.

“How’s it been going at home and with Ashley?” I ask Rhys. He’s been more quiet than usual lately, splitting his time between us and Ashley.

“Not great man. I can’t wait to be out of there. Hayden is causing trouble at every turn, which means Dad is coming down on me harder. Making sure I don’t fuck up this arrangement. I just need some space,” Rhys tells me as we walk into the entry of the house. The defeat is in his posture. I’m worried about him.

The entry is massive. All the major renovations have been made. They’re finishing up the internal walls and then it’s just decorating and stuff to do.

I’m not sure why Arden wanted us to check, but it’s nice to see its progress.

“It sucks. I’ve noticed Ashley hasn’t been around recently. Everything okay there?”

“Yes and no. She’s been super clingy, so I’ve kept her away from you guys, especially Ally. I don’t want to hurt her more than I already am.” I wondered if Ally had something to do with it. I don’t love the idea of Rhys and Ally, especially because I don’t want either of them to get hurt. But seeing how much they like each other and what they’re going through to stay apart makes me hurt for my friends.

It’s a shitty situation.

“I appreciate it. Not long and you’ll have some space from them. Then we can try and find a way out of the agreement. I can’t believe that you carried that around for all these years.”

We move through the rooms on the ground floor. All the kitchen cupboards have been installed and the glass wall installed. It’s spacious and light. I can picture us spending lots of time in here.

“I didn’t want to burden you guys with it. It was my mess.”

“Your mess is our mess too,” I tell him. I know Rhys struggled a little joining the group late. But we’ve never treated him any differently.

“I know that now.” Just as we’re about to head up to the second floor there’s a knock at the door.

We turn in time to see the door open and head pop through the gap.

“Hello? Is someone in here?” A curious voice asks. Rhys and I look at each before turning around and facing the door.

“Yeah.” I respond. The door opens fully and a girl steps into the entry. She has long, blonde hair dyed with pink ends. She’s dressed in an oversized grey shirt that says ‘Come at me, Bro’, pink leggings and unicorn slippers.

“Who are you?” Rhys asks, probably a little to gruff. She fidgets and moves from one foot to the other.

“I’m Ella,” She introduces herself. She must notice the confusion in our expressions. “I live here.” Oh she must be the owner’s niece.

“Oh, I’m Chase and this is Rhys,” I say introducing us.

“Sorry to interrupt. The builders said they weren’t going to be here today. When I saw a car pull up, I wanted to check that no one was breaking in,” she explains really quickly.

“I’m pretty sure if someone was breaking in, they wouldn’t park in the driveway,” Rhys says.

I watch her face as she processes what he said. The realisation finally dawning on her.

“Oh, yeah, you’re probably right,” she mumbles.

“We appreciate you checking in though. We’re just checking the progress of the renovations,” I explain, trying to put her at ease.

“What were you going to do if we were breaking in?” Rhys asks curiously. I can hear the humour in his voice and I think she does too as her expression changes into something I recognise. I’ve seen it on Yasmin and Ally’s face when they’re getting ready to go a round with one of us.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover, Mr big and scary. I have a black belt in karate and I have this,” she says as she pulls a can of pepper spray from the waistband of her leggings. She pulls her shoulders back and marches to stand in front of Rhys.

This causes me to laugh. I wasn’t expecting that. I guess the shy, timid girl was just an act.

Rhys joins me in laughing. “Yasmin and Ally are going to love you,” he says, stepping away from Ella.

“Are they moving in as well?” Ella asks us.

“Yep,” I confirm.

“Maybe this won’t completely suck then,” she says to us. This piques my interest.

“Why would this suck?” I ask her.

“I know that the owner doesn’t want me here and tried to get rid of me. It pissed me off. I thought for sure it was going to be turned into a frat house and there would be a bunch of rowdy teenage boys moving in. I was convinced they’d make my life hell.” She’s open and honest with us.

“You may change your mind when you meet the owner,” I joke. “We’re okay. But I can’t promise he won’t be a rowdy teenager.”

“I can handle one. Just not a pack of them,” she tells us.

“This is going to be funny to watch. Arden’s going to LOVE you,” Rhys jokes and nods towards Ella’s slippers.

Ahhh yes. The unicorn slippers. Arden is put together and his appearance is always impeccable. It’s obvious from first impressions. Ella is not. I predict that those two are going to clash.

Ella notices mine and Rhys’ silent exchange. She raises an eyebrow in a questioning way.

“Do you wear them out of the house often?” I ask, trying to determine if the girl standing in front of us is going to succeed in pissing Arden off without even trying.

“Whenever I have a chance. They’re comfortable and keep my feet warm. Why?”

“Just curious,” I respond. My phone vibrates with an incoming call from Yasmin.

“Would you excuse me? I have to take this,” I say politely.

“That’s fine, I’m leaving. I guess I’ll see you around,” Ella says disappearing through the door without waiting for us to say goodbye.

Oh boy. Next year is going to be interesting.

Rhys and I shake our heads. I answer my phone and head up the stairs to check out the rest of the house with Rhys.