A day ruined!

Noelle blinked when Lola spoke her first comment harshly, tilting her head lightly to the side. Fortunately it seemed she just caught Lola off-guard because afterwards she apologized and said hello. Noelle smiled warmly at her.

”Oh! That’s okay, I was just on my way home when I saw you!” She said, holding her hand over her head to block the misty rain from her eyes. She smiled when Lola wrinkled her nose. ”I know! It was so beautiful, I didn’t believe the weatherman when he said there was a chance at showers so I put on a dress! I should have listened!” She gently tapped her head with her hand and shook her head with a giggle.

She glanced down the alley, noticing nothing really. ”What brings you to the alley here?”

Noelle nodded. ”Yup! I just bought things for dinner actually! There’s this cute recipe I found on Pinterest I was just dying to try!” She said, laughing when Lola said she just dressed as she always did. ”Well, if you dress for the sun it’s more likely to come out!” She said.

When Lola explained she was at some guy Victor’s place, Noelle’s face fell. He sounded like Jared! ”Oh my Gosh! I’m so sorry, guys are awful, aren’t they?” she said. When she said she was going to go home and cry Noelle shook her head and reached out to touch Lola’s arm. ”How about you come to my apartment? I have enough for a small family in here, but I live alone! I’ll have plenty of leftovers anyway! And I have a charger at my place you can use! Don’t go home and cry alone over some guy! He’s definitely, definitely not worth it!”

”It’s actually really fun! It can be hard sometimes though but I like to cook when I have time. All I really get to do anymore is eat and go to work. Boring!” She giggled, though the prospect of burning water was funny. ”Then you don’t worry about anything and let me cook! Though I can teach you some stuff if you want!”

She puffed her lips out. ”Yeah. Some girls can be... mean,” she thought of the girl who had been with Jared, the girl who laughed at her when she discovered them and had been hurt. She had been quite mean. ”But some are nice! Like you,” she said. She could see Lola’s eyes moisten but didn’t comment on it.

”Oh I’m positive! I’ll be lonely all evening otherwise!” She said. ”Besides, sometimes I wind up throwing out leftovers because I have too much, and the food tastes better with a friend anyway!”

”Well I wouldn’t say no to help, but you’re my guest! So I’ll accept help while doing the dishes!” Noelle said, her ponytail bouncing behind her as she backed away from the alley, a trickle of sunlight seeping in through the misty rain and illuminating the girls. She gasped and smiled. ”Ah! See, the rain saw we were going to hang out together and thought it should go away for us!”

When Lola said dating girls might be different she blinked. ”Oh! I’ve never dated a girl before, but I’ve had some girl friends who are very nice. The mean girls I generally avoid, I’d assume it’s the same way with relationships! Though you can’t always tell, like with my ex. Gosh, he was so mean!” She slapped her fists together, rattling her bag against her thigh as she did so. ”I guess dating offers a different group of feelings all together!”

She began to lead the way towards her apartment. ”I don’t live too far away from here! Oh, I hope you’ll like what I’m cooking tonight! I’m so excited!”

”Oh, you’re so nice!” Noelle said, her complex beginning to come into view. She saw a few people she recognized in the lot but didn’t say anything to them, nor did they say anything to her. She giggled when Lola said it was fate. It was! Especially since now the sun was shining on her apartment!

”I agree. He cheated on me for a long time, until I walked in on him!” Noelle said, turning to Lola. She smiled. ”Thank you! I know, it’s hard not to think about him, but I think I’m beginning to move on! It happened at the end of last year so it’s been almost a year now,” she opened the door to her apartment and headed to the elevator. She hit the button and slid inside, Lola in tow. ”That’s good! The bigger appetite the better because I like to cook big portions!”

”I did! I walked in on it...” Noelle said, her tone getting somewhat sad at the memory of his suitemates trying to block her from entering. How could they do something so awful? She was amused by Lola’s reaction, though! She gave her a smile. ”Well he was... really... he didn’t even care,” she shrugged, trying to not let the memory bother her. ”He just seemed annoyed, I guess. But I didn’t let him go easy! I totally whipped him with his belt. Like, hardcore! Him and the girl too! I think she started crying and ran off, I mean, I feel bad for her, but...” She shrugged. ”Not Jared! He deserved it! But he completely, like, doesn’t even talk to me anymore or care and it’s like... I wish he would just apologize. It’s like he didn’t even care about me at all.”

The elevator ascended, and Noelle glanced to her as she talked about a food baby. She giggled. ”Oh Gosh! Yeah, I love food babies! It’ll be so much fun to have someone else to cook for! I always hate eating alone!”

The elevator stopped on Noelle’s floor, and she led the way out.