Chapter Text
In hindsight, Noelle probably should have seen this coming.
"Avast, ye landlubber! Give me all of thar candy, or this fair maiden shall never see the light of day again!"
Noelle attempted to squirm out of Kris' grasp to no avail. Kris pressed the cardboard sword tighter against her neck. Dess and Asriel stared Kris down. "I don't think that's how you use 'thar,' Kris," Asriel helpfully corrected.
"Dess! Help!" Noelle continued to struggle, but her Princess Peach costume wasn't very helpful in that regard. Dess sighed.
"Kris. Let go of my sister now."
"That be the Dread Pirate Kris to ye! And I will only return this fair maiden if ye give me all yer candy!"
Dess turned to Asriel. "Why did you let them go as a pirate? I thought we agreed that after last year's lasso incident, Kris gets a costume that doesn't let them hold Noelle for ransom!"
Asriel shrugged. "Give 'em a break. We just watched Pirates of the Caribbean."
Dess sighed, then pulled out the fake sword from the belt of her Dragon Blazers cosplay. "If you want my candy, you'll have to take it from my cold, dead hands! HAVE AT THEE!"
Noelle dropped to the ground, immediately forgotten, as Kris charged at Dess to engage in a swordfight. Asriel looked down at her and offered his hand. "Come on, Noelle. Let's let those two get some energy out."
Noelle took his hand, and was lifted up off the floor. Asriel smiled. "So, which house should we hit next?"
"How 'bout Old Man Gerson? He always gives out whole chocolate bars!"
"Oh, heck yeah! But won't your mom take it away?"
"Don't worry, I'll have dad hide it with his secret candy stash."
Asriel laughed. "I thought you never lied to grown-ups!"
"That was when I was five!" Noelle harrumphed. "And it's not lying, it's...keeping a secret!"
Snowflakes began to fall from the sky. Asriel looked upwards confusedly. "Huh...I guess the weatherman was right about that freak blizzard. We should probably head back home."
As they continued to walk, music flowed from nowhere. Noelle tried to ask Asriel about it, but no sound came out. She tried to let go of his hand, but he wouldn't let her. She looked up, and he was crying. "Your fault. You kept me here..."
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock
Noelle tried to look over her shoulder, but there was only darkness. The snow was piling up.
Jingle Bells Swing and Jingle Bells Ring
She was tumbling into the darkness. Asriel's hand dissolved into the night. The world warped around her.
Snowing and Blowing Up Bushels of Fun
Now The Jingle Hop Has Begun
Noelle Holiday groggily sat up, removing her face from the precalculus textbook she'd fallen asleep over. A novelty Santa Claus Alarm Clock was blaring its obnoxiously cheery tune to her right.
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell-
Noelle stopped the alarm, then leaned back in her desk chair. She yawned, and blinked the teary remnants of the memory nightmare out of her sight. It was 7:45 on a Monday Morning. Time to get ready for school. Noelle boosted herself to her feet and went to go get ready.
Now ready to face the day, Noelle walked downstairs and found a note on the dining room table.
Noelle,
I have an early meeting this morning. I expect that you'll be able to get to school fine on your own.
Love,
Mom
Noelle poured herself a bowl of cereal, and ate it at the head of the table. After all, there was no point in calling it a dining room if nobody ever ate there. As she ate, her eyes were drawn to the family portrait sitting on the counter. It was an old picture, from the last time the carnival was in town. She was riding on her dad's shoulders, holding on to his antlers. Her mother wore a subtle smile, and had a sparkle of joy in her eye. Dess had a large cotton candy, and sugary threads were stuck all around her face. They all looked so happy in the picture...
Noelle composed herself, and stepped out the door to go to school.
Upon stepping onto the campus of Hometown High School, she was immediately snatched up by Berdly. "Ah! Noelle! Just the lifeform I was looking for!"
"H-hi, Berdly."
"Are we still doing that study session later today? I have to do well on that Physics test next week!"
"We, we both do, Berdly."
"Ah, yes, of course. I'll see you at the library?"
"I mean, I have track practice, so..."
"Oh, yeah. That ends at five, right?"
"Yep!" The bell rang, signaling the start of classes for the day. "We should probably go in."
The two headed up the small set of stairs to the entrance. "So, did you try out the new Dragon Blazers mobile game?"
Berdly scoffed. "Puh-lease, Noelle. That thing is an affront to gamers everywhere!"
Noelle looked down at her shoes. "I-I mean...I thought it was kinda fun..."
"Dragon Blazers is a series of RPGs with a deep story, fantastic gameplay, and compelling characters, NOT a microtransaction-filled COLLECTIBLE CARD GAME! That's SOMEHOW CANON TO THE MAIN LORE!"
"But-"
"No Buts! Mobile Games deserve to die in the pits of hell that birthed them!"
Noelle pushed open the door to their classroom, ignoring the rest of Berdly's tirade. After sitting down, she felt a small, crumpled piece of paper hit the back of her head. She turned around to find Kris lounging in their chair, drinking a juice box. She smiled. "Morning, Kris!" Kris gave her a small wave, then motioned towards the paper on the ground. Noelle picked it up and uncrumpled it.
My mom wanted me to invite you and your mom over for dinner on Sunday. What should I tell her?
Noelle smiled. Dinner with the Dreemurs was always wonderful (mostly because it was usually followed by a slice or two of one of Toriel's pies). "Tell her we'd love to!"
Kris nodded, then went back to doodling idly on a sheet of graph paper. The bell rang again, signaling the start of class. Everyone was mostly settled into their seats, but Alphys was nowhere to be found. Of course, being the good student that she was, Noelle was already ready to take notes. Berdly, seeing the gap in authority, immediately stood on his desk. "Ah-hem! Attention, everyone! Since our dear teacher seems to not be present, it is my duty as head assistant to the teacher to take roll!"
Jockington gave him an odd look. "Since when, are you, like, the head assistant, to the teacher? What's, that even mean?"
Berdly chuckled. "Why, it's simple! I asked Alphys if there were any jobs I could have to help out around the classroom, and she gave me this wondrous opportunity, which she immediately explained is an incredibly important position with incredibly important duties that has existed since before I asked about it! Now, is Kris here?"
Kris and Jockington exchanged an incredulous glance, then Kris waved from the back of the class. Just as Berdly was about to call on somebody else, the door slammed open, and a harried Alphys immediately ran in. "So sorry, everyone! My car ran out of gas on the way here, and I had to run!" The teacher paused, gasping for breath, then stared up at Berdly. "Um...p-please get down from your desk, Berdly. You might get hurt!"
Berdly sheepishly descended from his head assistantship. Alphys pulled out the big brown binder she stored all of their lesson plans in. "Okay, class. Open your Physics textbook to page...uh...where is it." Alphys mumbled something to herself as she flipped through the pages. "82! Yes! Page 82."
As Alphys was about to start teaching, the door swung open. "Ah! S-S-Susie! So g-glad you could j-j-join us, hah..."
Susie didn't say a word, and simply walked over to her seat in the back of the classroom. As she walked past Noelle's desk, Noelle couldn't help but watch the other girl pass, and notice how her hair was just a bit messy, or how her jeans hugged her hips in just the right way, or how her-
Oh no. Kris had noticed that she was watching Susie. Kris was looking at her inquisitively. Noelle was staring back at Kris now. Kris quirked an eyebrow, a smirk sliding across their face. Noelle immediately turned to face the front of the room, her face bright red. If she was lucky, Kris would forget this had ever happened.
Then again, where Kris was involved, Noelle didn't usually tend to be very lucky.
It was lunch time, and Susie was fucking starving.
Not that she'd admit it, of course. Whenever Kris heard that she was hungry, they always had that stupid, pitiful look on their face, and would give her part of their lunch. But really, no matter how good Toriel Ms. Dreemur's cooking was, Kris needed that food more than she did.
Kris was walking over to sit down at her bench, which was back in the corner. Susie grinned. "Heya."
Kris smiled, and gave her a fist bump. They went to pull a turkey sandwich out of their bag, then pulled out another one.
Oh, god fucking dammit.
Kris offered her the sandwich. Susie shifted further down the bench a bit. "I'm not hungry, Kris. You can have both of those."
Kris gave her a look that said, "You and I both know that's complete and utter bullshit."
Susie begrudgingly snatched the sandwich out of her hand, and tore open the plastic wrap. As Kris pulled out two small colas, Susie took her first bite. It was delicious. "You don't haff to do diff, you know."
Kris shook their head, then cracked open one of the sodas. "I want to," they said quietly.
And that was that. The two ate in silence for a while, before Kris placed their hand on top of hers, and the two locked eyes. You know you can tell me anything, right?
Susie moved her hand to open her soda can. "Cheers."
The two took large swallows from their cans. Susie stretched. "Anyway, my Saturday's wide open. Wanna hang out tomorrow?"
Kris looked down at their shoes. Susie sighed. "What?"
Kris pulled up their calendar on their phone, and pointed to a large block of time labelled, Meeting with College Counselor. Oh.
"Eh, that's fine! We can meet up afterwards, right? You're done by 2?"
Kris nodded, then went back to their sandwich. Susie took another sip. "Any idea what you're gonna study?"
Kris shrugged, then looked at Susie expectantly. It took Susie a second to realize what they were getting at. "Pfft! Me, Kris? Really? Come on. You really think I'm cut out for College."
Susie laughed. Kris laughed too, but it felt forced. Susie stopped laughing. Kris seemed very interested in their food. They had that look on their face again. Susie decided to change the subject. "So, uh, what do you want to do this weekend?"
"I found Azzy's old PlayCube in the garage."
"Aw, hell yeah! You got Super Smash Fighters?"
Kris nodded. Susie did a fist pump. The bell rang, signaling them to come back in. Susie looked around. "Hey, uh, what's stopping us from just heading over to your place now again?"
Kris gave her a stern look. "No more truancy, remember?"
Susie thought back to that awkward meeting with Toriel Ms. Dreemur and her dad. The one where the e-word had come up.
Susie groaned, then followed Kris back into the school building. Because as bad as school was, home was worse.
Noelle finished solving the problem on the board. "You just find the cosine, right?"
Alphys' face lit up. "E-excellent job, Noelle! E-everyone, take notes on how Noelle did that, okay?"
Berdly wrote it down immediately, as if his life depended on it. Jockington spun his pencil in circles. Kris lackadaisically doodled on their notes. Susie snored softly. Noelle went back to her seat. Alphys looked up at the clock, then back down at her lesson plan. "You know, I think that's about it! Uh, due to some recent complaints from certain parents, I can't let you out early. Sorry. But you can have the rest of class to work on whatever you want! O-of course, I'd recommend today's homework, but uh, you can do whatever."
Noelle sighed. She had a sneaking suspicion as to whose parents were complaining. Or, more accurately, parent. She started the worksheet, sketching down the first problem. "Actually, uh, Noelle, could you come up here, please? Oh, and bring S-Susie!"
Noelle blinked. "U-uh, right away!" She walked to the back of the classroom, where Susie was still fast asleep. She looked kind of cute while she was sleeping...Noelle shooed away her thoughts, and lightly shook Susie's shoulder. The taller girl jolted awake, throwing her hands up in front of her face. Noelle took a surprised step back, tripping and falling into Jockington's desk. "Sorry!"
Susie's expression shifted to one of anger. "Get a...oh, it's just you..." Susie glanced over at Kris, who was mouthing Noelle's name. "Noelle. Did you, uh, need something?"
"No, it's just, Ms. Alphys wants to talk to us...both of us." Susie gave her a quizzical glance, then followed her over to the front of the room, where two wheeled chairs were set up next to Alphys' desk.
"Heya, teach." Susie lounged back in her chair, while Noelle sat in hers with a perfectly tuned posture.
"Ah, S-Susie! Uh, hey. So, w-we need to talk about your g-g-grades."
Susie's face fell. "Oh."
"Yeah, you're uh..." Alphys picked up her laptop to show Susie her current report. An F in Literature. An F in Pre-Calculus. A D in History. An F in Physics. A C in Art. And an F in Writing.
Susie shifted in her chair. "I'd...say my Art grade looks pretty good. Can we talk about that one?"
"That's...n-not why we're here right now."
Noelle raised her hand, then remembered this wasn't a class discussion and quickly pulled it down. "Um...sorry, but...why am I here? I don't really think I need to be, like, involved in this conversation..."
"Yeah, why does she have to know about my shi...bad grades?"
"Well, I'm getting there. N-Noelle, I was wondering if you could take some time outside of class to t-tutor Susie? You're one of the top students in the c-c-class, and I was thinking that Susie here could really benefit from-"
"You sayin' I can't handle school on my own? Listen, I'm doing just fine! I don't need her help! I...I'm proud of those grades!" Susie's voice made it crystal clear that absolutely nobody in the room believed what she was saying. "Damn Proud!"
Alphys sighed, and turned the laptop back around. "I-I'm not saying that you c-can't handle this on your own, I j-just think that maybe you should try it out, and s-s-see if it helps."
"Well, I'm sure Noelle has her own shi...stuff to do. She's like, on track, and-"
Noelle immediately spoke up. "Oh, no! I can make some time! It's no problem at all! Just tell me when you're available!"
"My schedule's wide open," Susie said tersely.
"Great!" Alphys rummaged around in her desk, then pulled out a note. "Also, Susie, I'm going to have to ask you to give this to your parents. Okay?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Susie crammed the note in her pocket and the two girls started heading back to their desks. "Hey, so, um, it would be, like, a lot easier to arrange things if I...you know...had your...phone number, or something?" Noelle forced out. "I mean, you don't have to, but-"
"Eh, fine. It's (202)-555-0181."
Noelle typed the number down into her phone's contacts list as a text from Kris popped up at the top of the screen.
Smooth moves, Romeo .
Noelle's head whipped over to Kris, who had a large shit-eating grin on their face. Noelle turned bright red for the second time that day. Susie noticed. "Uh...Noelle, you okay?"
"I'm fine!" she said a bit too loudly. "I'll text you this weekend!"
She immediately rushed back to her seat, leaving behind a confused Susie. Noelle finished entering the contact, then, after making sure nobody was watching, added a purple heart emoji next to Susie's name.
Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right.
Noelle had always been a pretty fast runner.
Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right.
Maybe it was all those times Kris had chased her around with worms and mice and other scary things.
Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right.
Or maybe it was all the times that she had sprinted behind the couch while watching horror movies with Dess.
Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right.
Hm. Maybe being fast at running wasn't quite as good of a thing as she thought it was.
Left, Right, Left, Right, Left.
Noelle stopped a bit past the finish line, and Coach Bill stopped the timer. "Hell yeah, Holiday! Fastest time yet! Go get some water, you've earned it!"
Noelle took a big breath, then went over to sit on the bleachers. She took a large gulp of water, and toweled a bit of sweat off her forehead. Jockington finished his laps, and came up to sit next to her. "Damn, Noelle," he huffed. "How, do you do, that?"
She smiled. "Lots of practice. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to keep up soon!"
"Bullshit. You've, got an unfair advantage! Coach, can you, like, stop her from, using her legs?"
Noelle laughed, surprised. "No can do, Jockington!" their coach shouted. "Put up or shut up!"
Jockington rolled his eyes, then turned back to her. "Anyway, my folks, are out of town, next weekend, so I was gonna, throw a small, intimate, party, with some of, my closest friends. You know, just get, a couple people, together for a night, of non-alcoholic drinks, and gentle dancing, to classical music..."
Noelle gave him a look. "Why do I not believe a single word of what you just said?"
"Ha, yeah. I'm messing with you. It'll be, a rager. You in?"
"I dunno..."
"Aw, come on! You, never come, to my parties!"
"There's a reason for that. My mom would never approve."
"You really, gonna run, like, everything by your mom, your whole life? I can picture it now! You get, your first boyfriend, and you're, all like, 'Excuse me, mother. I, have met, someone who I like, very much, and wish, to engage in unmarried, sexual, intercourse with them. May I, please have, your blessing to fu-'"
"Hey, stop it!" Noelle slapped him lightly on the side of the head, and the two broke down in laughter. Noelle shrugged. "Look, I'll think about it. Don't, don't expect me to show up, but if I'm feeling up to it, I might come. Okay?"
"Okay. I'll save you, a seat. Oh, and do, me a favor, don't tell, Berdly."
"What? What's wrong with Berdly? He's my friend too, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just that, the guy's, a total narc. If he heard about this, he'd have, Officer Undyne, staking out, the place."
"I mean, maybe that's a good thing? We're not supposed to drink until we're 21..."
"Little bit, of fun never, hurt anyone, Noelle. Come on."
The two sat for a bit, sipping at their water bottles. "Oh, do me a favor, and tell, Kris. Love it, when they, come over, they're, the life, of the party! Also, they always, bring over, a couple boxes, of donut holes."
Noelle tried to imagine Kris being the life of a party, but it was probably one of those things that had to be seen to be believed. "Uh...sure."
"Holiday! Vipera! Get over here! We're doing sprints!"
Noelle got back on her feet, and did a quick leg stretch before jogging back over, Jockington close behind her.
As the door to the library opened, Noelle saw that Berdly was already sitting at their usual table in the corner. She walked over, and dropped her stuff. "Hi!"
"Good afternoon, Noelle! I uh...see that you're still in your track uniform."
"Yeah, I came right here! Why?"
"And that probably means you didn't shower."
"Well, I figured you'd probably want to get started right away, so here I am! Now, what do you want to start with?"
"Uh, Noelle, I'm trying to think of a nicer way to say this, but...you smell."
Noelle just sat there for a moment. "Uh...sorry? What, uh...what do you want me to do about that?"
"Just, uh, maybe next time remember to shower. I'm not quite as important as your personal hygiene!"
"Right. So, should we start with Physics?"
"Ah, yes! So, I was a bit confused about what Alphys was talking about earlier..."
As the evening went on, and they worked through the homework together, Noelle's thoughts wandered to Susie. She'd be able to help her, it would be easy! It would be just like tutoring Berdly, only instead of Berdly, it was a girl she had a massive crush on, and who she had never seen do an assignment in her life. Easy. And then maybe they might start hanging out for non-academic reasons, and then maybe one day, after a long day at school, they would meet in the hallway, and stare into each other's eyes, and Susie would grab her roughly and slam her against the lockers and they would furiously make out, and she would-
"Uh, Noelle? Earth to Noelle? Hello?" Noelle jolted back to reality. "Does this look right to you?"
"Yes, yes it does. Sorry."
Berdly sighed. "Are you sure you're okay? You look a bit tired today."
"No, I'm fine, just didn't get that great of sleep last night."
"So, you're tired," Berdly said flatly. Noelle didn't try to argue the point. Berdly sighed frustratedly. "Let's pick this up tomorrow. Your brain is clearly malfunctioning."
The two gathered their belongings, and left the library.
Noelle knocked on the sterile white door timidly. "Come in," a warm voice sounded from inside.
Noelle opened the door, and smiled. "Hi, dad."
Rudy Holiday was sat up in front of a small stack of pillows, an IV bag plugged in to his left arm. "Hey, honey. How was school?"
Noelle went and sat down on the side of her father's bed. "Nothing really out of the ordinary. Kris invited mom and I to dinner this Sunday,"
"I think you mean Toriel invited you and your mom to dinner."
"Fair enough. Oh, and Ms. Alphys asked me to tutor Susie."
"Oh, did she now? What did Susie have to say about that?"
"She, uh, seemed fine with it. So, we're probably going to meet up after school next week or something..."
"That's my girl!" Noelle's dad messed with her hair a bit. "Way to put those moves on!"
"DAD! It's not even a date or anything, we're just studying...Besides, I don't even know if she...you know..."
Rudy nodded. "Well, there's only one way to find out. And from how you talk about her, she doesn't seem like the type of person to be too wrapped up in tradition. Speaking of..."
The unspoken question landed between them like a weight. Noelle looked down. Rudy gave a sad sort of smile. "You can't keep this from your mother forever."
"I know...it's just, I don't think Mom would take it well...why, why can't you talk to her? Try and change her mind?"
"I've tried, honey. We've had our debates. She was just...raised in a different culture. And, when you love someone, you look past their faults, and appreciate them for who they are."
"But, what if she gets mad? What if she, I don't know, kicks me out, or screams at me, or-?"
"Then you'll go stay with Kris until I get better. Toriel would love to have you. Then, your mother will have hell to pay, courtesy of me."
Noelle nodded, and didn't voice the thought that the doctors hadn't said anything about when he'd get better. "She'll come around, sweetie. She can be a bit stubborn, but she'll come around eventually. Now, how's Dragon Blazers III going?"
Noelle beamed. "I made it past the Murky Mines!"
"Atta girl! Do you have your Rintendo Snitch?" Noelle nodded, and took it out of the bag. "Alright, let's see it!"
The two played into the night, and the pit in Noelle's stomach was long gone by the time she left.
Susie kicked a pebble out of her way as she got home. The driveway was empty. Good.
She unlocked the door, and walked into the dilapidated kitchen. The lights were off, and notices were stacked in the corner. There was a crack in the walls, where she had been...let's not go there right now. There were two doors; one leading to her father's room, and one leading to the bathroom. Next to a grayish-green rug sat a ratty old couch, which had a worn-out blanket and a lumpy pillow sitting on top of it. An old TV sat across from the couch. Above the TV was a busted smoke detector that was hanging from the ceiling by two wires. The potted plant in the corner had claimed that corner for its own, growing out of its pot and vining up the cabinet that held the TV. Empty boxes of cigarettes and empty bottles filled the nearby garbage can, and the smell of mildew filled the air. Home, sweet home.
One of her father's lighters was sitting on the counter. Susie snatched it up. She pulled Alphys' note out of her pocket, and held it by the upper corner. The fire flicked to life, and began to rise up the page. The smoke entered Susie's nose, bringing bad memories with it. Her arms tingled in recollection. She shook the memories away, and brought the paper over to the open window. What her father didn't know wouldn't hurt him, or, more importantly, her. The fire nipped at her fingertips. Susie hissed, and dropped the remnants of the note into the dead bush outside before putting the lighter back where she'd found it.
She looked in the pantry, only for there to be nothing but a package of stale white bread, with only one slice left. Susie grabbed a slice, plunked her backpack in the corner, and turned on the TV.
"All alone on a late night? Life gone down the drain? Well, have I got a deal for lonely hearts like you! Why hate your $4.99 life when you can be a big shot, like me?! Come on down to Cyber Auto, where the deals are so good, we're practically [BEEP]ing ourselves! Buy today, today toda-"
Susie turned off the TV. Seems like it was just commercials. She heard the squeak of tires, as a car rolled into the driveway. Her flip phone chimed. It was a text from Noelle. Let me know when you want to set up our first study session!
The door slammed open, and an older monster barged in. His collared shirt was wrinkled and stained. His khakis were old and worn, and could barely hold his ever-increasing gut. He stumbled over to the counter, where he grabbed the lighter that Susie had used earlier, and used it to light a cigarette. He kicked over the pile of notices as he sat at the table, not giving his daughter a second glance. Susie settled herself onto the couch, and texted back to Noelle.
You free after school on Monday?
Noelle texted back quickly. Yep! See you then!
The message was followed by an empty white square. Noelle probably hadn't realized that Susie's phone couldn't render special characters. Susie's father walked over. "Get lost, I wanna watch TV," he slurred.
"There's room for both of us."
He roughly grabbed her by the arm, and yanked her off the couch before laying down on it and turning on the TV.
"We have a very special deal just for you! Come on down, and you too can be a big shot!"
Susie sat down at the Kitchen Table, dusting off the half-eaten slice of bread that had fell to the floor with her. She stared at the TV, where a puppet with pink and yellow eyes was being shaken around wildly. Her father didn't even seem to register what was going on, he just stared into the TV idly as he took another drag from his cigarette. Not all of us can be big shots, Susie thought ruefully.
Noelle put her phone away, and continued eating the salad she'd made herself for dinner. Her mother, Carol Holiday, was sitting across the table from her, eating her own portion. She was still wearing the dark red suit she wore to work that day, and was calmly crunching on the lettuce. "Who were you texting?"
Noelle shrugged. "Alphys asked me to tutor a girl in my class. I was trying to see when she was free."
Her mother gave her a side-eyed glance. "Don't let this impact your own studies. You need to keep your grades in a good place for college."
Noelle looked down and to the side. "Yes, Mom."
The two ate in silence. "How was the rest of your day?"
"I went to see Dad."
Carol looked up. "Oh? How is he?"
"He wants me to think he's doing well. He, um, he'd really like it if you stopped by more often..."
Her mother got a wistful look in her eyes. "I...I know, Noelle. I'll try, but my schedule is tight...we can both go see him this weekend, okay?"
Her mother paused to take a sip of red wine. "Posture, Noelle."
"S-sorry!" Noelle quickly straightened her back, then remembered what had happened earlier that day. "Oh! Kris invited us over for dinner on Sunday!"
Carol squinted across the table. "Did you say yes?"
"Yeah! It'll be nice to see them again...right?"
Noelle's mother sighed. "Noelle, what have I told you about making commitments for me? I'm very busy."
"I...sorry...I can text Kris, and-"
"Well, now that you've said we can come, I'll feel guilty if I go back on your word." The older doe opened her calendar. "I'll try and clear a spot in my schedule."
Her mother finished her food, then walked away from the table, leaving Noelle alone. She looked at the picture from the carnival, and it reminded her of a better time. Before the nightNO NO DON'T THINK ABOUT THAT NIGHT IT WAS COLD SO COLD YOU KEPT HIM THERE IT'S YOUR FAULT
...A better time. Noelle finished her dinner, and cleared their plates, blinking tears out of her eyes. She looked behind her shoulder to make sure her mother wasn't watching. Noelle reached behind the fridge, and pulled out a non-sugar-free caramel from her father's secret stash. After quietly unwrapping it and shifting the trash in the can to make sure the wrapper was hidden, Noelle popped it in her mouth. What her mother didn't know wouldn't hurt her.