Episode 10: When Home Doesn't Feel Like Home
1544 Words
Some nights change your life forever.
The Friday night party became one of those nights.
Not because of the music.
Not because of the alcohol.
Not because of Skylar.
But because, for the first time since they were teenagers...
The four girls didn't walk home together.
---
Westbridge University woke up to another ordinary Saturday morning.
Students jogged across campus.
The cafeteria was full.
Assignments were still due.
Life carried on.
But inside Willow House...
Nothing felt normal anymore.
The residence, once filled with laughter, now felt painfully quiet.
---
Bailey hadn't slept.
Neither had Chloe.
The two girls sat opposite each other in complete silence.
Every few minutes, one of them looked towards Bianca's bedroom.
The door remained shut.
Neither of them had the courage to knock.
Finally...
The handle turned.
Bianca stepped outside carrying a small overnight bag.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
She looked exhausted.
Bailey immediately stood.
"Bianca..."
Bianca walked past her.
"Please."
No response.
Chloe swallowed.
"Can we just talk?"
Bianca stopped walking.
For one hopeful second...
They thought she might turn around.
Instead, she quietly said,
"I don't think I know either of you right now."
The words were soft.
Yet they landed like a punch to the chest.
She continued walking.
Stella was already waiting outside the residence.
Without saying a word, Stella took Bianca's bag from her shoulder.
The two girls walked away together.
Neither of them looked back.
---
The following Monday, the Residence Office approved a temporary room change.
Bailey quietly packed her belongings.
She folded her clothes into a suitcase she never imagined using this early in the semester.
Across the room, Bianca packed just as quietly.
Not once did their eyes meet.
Not once did they speak.
Eventually...
Bianca zipped her suitcase closed.
She picked it up.
Walked to the door.
Paused.
Bailey held her breath.
Bianca didn't turn around.
"I hope..."
Her voice shook.
"...one day I understand why."
Then she left.
Bailey stood frozen until the sound of the door closing echoed through the room.
Only then did she finally cry.
---
By lunchtime...
Everything had changed.
Bianca had officially moved into Stella's room.
Bailey had moved into Chloe's.
The same four best friends.
Living in the same residence.
Separated by only a few doors.
Yet somehow...
They had never felt further apart.
---
The first evening in the new room was painfully awkward.
Bailey placed her last box on the floor.
Chloe sat quietly on her bed.
"I'm sorry."
Chloe whispered.
Bailey looked over.
"For what?"
"For dragging you into this."
Bailey immediately shook her head.
"You didn't."
"I did."
"If I had just told her sooner..."
"Chloe."
Bailey sat beside her.
"We both made mistakes."
"I should've forced you."
"I should've spoken."
"We both thought we were protecting her."
Chloe's eyes filled with tears.
"And we ended up hurting her more."
Neither of them had an answer to that.
---
Meanwhile...
Stella was doing everything she could to make Bianca comfortable.
She changed the layout of the room so Bianca could have more space.
She bought Bianca's favourite chocolate from the campus shop.
She even pretended not to notice when Bianca woke up crying during the night.
Instead...
She simply handed her a bottle of water.
Sat beside her.
And waited.
"You don't have to say anything."
Stella said quietly.
"I'm here."
Bianca finally spoke.
"I miss them."
Stella nodded.
"I know."
"I hate them."
"I know."
"I don't actually hate them."
"I know."
Bianca laughed sadly through her tears.
"You always know."
Stella smiled gently.
"That's what friends are for."
---
As the days passed...
Stella became the bridge holding everyone together.
Every afternoon, Bailey would quietly ask,
"How is she today?"
Stella never shared too much.
She respected Bianca's privacy.
But she knew Bailey and Chloe needed something.
"She ate today."
Or...
"She went to all her lectures."
Or...
"She actually laughed once."
Tiny updates.
Tiny victories.
Enough to reassure them that Bianca was slowly finding her feet again.
---
Cedric noticed Bailey changing almost immediately.
She still smiled.
Still attended lectures.
Still made sarcastic comments.
But they weren't the same.
They felt...
Forced.
One afternoon after class, he caught up with her.
"Walk with me?"
She nodded quietly.
The two of them wandered through campus without speaking.
For once...
Cedric didn't try to make a joke.
Instead, he simply walked beside her.
After several minutes, Bailey finally sighed.
"I hate this."
"I know."
"I keep thinking..."
She looked down.
"...if I'd convinced Chloe sooner..."
Cedric stopped walking.
"Bailey."
She looked up.
"You can't keep blaming yourself for something that's already happened."
"But I knew."
"You also encouraged her to tell Bianca."
"It wasn't enough."
"No."
He answered honestly.
"It wasn't."
She looked away.
"But that doesn't mean you wanted this."
Bailey felt tears threatening to fall again.
"I've never seen Bianca look at me like that."
Cedric gently reached for her hand.
Not dramatically.
Not romantically.
Just...
Quietly.
"I'm here."
Bailey looked down at their hands.
Neither of them moved away.
For the first time since Friday...
She felt like she could finally breathe.
---
"Thank you."
She whispered.
Cedric smiled softly.
"You don't have to thank me."
"I do."
"You've been here every day."
He shrugged.
"I wanted to."
There it was again.
That quiet honesty Bailey had started seeing more often.
The sarcasm was still there.
But beneath it...
Cedric was becoming easier to read.
And Bailey found herself liking this version of him just as much.
Perhaps even more.
---
Across campus...
Maverick found Chloe sitting alone outside the Psychology building.
She wasn't reading.
She wasn't studying.
She was simply staring ahead.
"Mind if I sit?"
She shook her head.
"No."
He sat beside her.
For several minutes...
Nothing was said.
Then Chloe spoke.
"I broke my best friend."
Maverick immediately looked at her.
"No."
"I did."
"You made a mistake."
"I kept it from her."
"Yes."
"And now she won't even look at me."
Maverick nodded slowly.
"I know."
She wiped away another tear.
"I don't know who I am anymore."
He was quiet before answering.
"I don't think one mistake gets to decide who you are."
She looked at him.
"It doesn't?"
"No."
"It changes your story."
"But it doesn't erase every good thing you've ever been."
She leaned her head against his shoulder.
Almost without thinking.
He didn't move.
Didn't speak.
He simply stayed there.
Exactly when she needed someone most.
---
Days turned into a week.
Slowly...
The routines returned.
Lectures.
Assignments.
Tutorials.
Study sessions.
But something was missing.
The four girls no longer walked to breakfast together.
No more shared late-night gossip.
No more borrowing each other's clothes.
No more laughter echoing through the corridors.
Everyone around them noticed.
No one asked.
---
Thursday evening...
Bailey knocked softly on Stella's door.
Stella opened it only slightly.
"She's asleep."
Bailey nodded.
"I wasn't going to come in."
Stella stepped outside and quietly closed the door behind her.
"How is Chloe?"
"Not great."
"And you?"
Bailey gave a tired smile.
"I'm trying."
Stella nodded.
"So is Bianca."
Silence settled between them.
Finally...
Bailey spoke.
"Does she..."
She hesitated.
"...hate us?"
Stella sighed.
"No."
Bailey looked surprised.
"She's hurt."
"She's confused."
"She doesn't know how to forgive something she still doesn't fully understand."
Bailey looked down.
"I miss her."
"I know."
"You know what's strange?"
Stella smiled sadly.
"She misses you too."
Bailey's eyes filled instantly.
"She does?"
"She won't admit it."
"But yes."
That tiny piece of hope was enough to keep Bailey going.
---
Friday afternoon...
Bailey was packing away her books after Mathematics when Cedric appeared beside her.
"You've been thinking too much again."
She smiled faintly.
"Probably."
"I've got an idea."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Should I be concerned?"
"Only a little."
He held out two takeaway cups.
"Coffee."
She smiled properly this time.
"You really think coffee fixes everything."
"No."
He admitted.
"But it makes difficult days a little easier."
Bailey accepted the cup.
"I think..."
She looked at him.
"...you're becoming my safe place."
Cedric's heart nearly stopped.
He smiled nervously.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It is."
Neither of them noticed Blake watching from across the courtyard.
He laughed quietly to himself.
"Just kiss already."
Maverick shook his head with a grin.
"They'll get there."
---
That same evening...
Bianca sat on Stella's bed reading through lecture notes.
She wasn't crying anymore.
That was progress.
Stella looked over.
"Can I ask you something?"
Bianca nodded.
"Go ahead."
"If Bailey asked to speak to you..."
Bianca closed her notebook.
She thought about it for a long time.
Finally...
"I don't think I'm ready to forgive her."
Stella nodded.
"I didn't ask that."
Bianca looked up.
"I think..."
She swallowed.
"...I'd listen."
Stella smiled gently.
"And Chloe?"
Bianca's expression immediately changed.
Pain.
Confusion.
Heartbreak.
"I don't know."
Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
"I honestly don't know."
---
Elsewhere in Willow House...
Bailey quietly stared out of the window.
Hope.
Fear.
Relief.
They all existed together now.
Maybe...
Just maybe...
Bianca was willing to hear her side.
It wasn't forgiveness.
Not yet.
But it was a beginning.
And sometimes...
After everything has fallen apart...
A beginning is all you can ask for.
- Writer
