Everdeen Institute (GirlxGirl)

CH. 16 Tire Swing

Lori being back seemed to turn life upside down. Everything shifted towards another direction. Kind of like going back in time. Like going back three months before she left. It sort of made me feel woozy. It was a strange sensation. At times, life appeared to be moving in slow motion.

Grandfather welcomed Lori back to school without a problem. Her family was very good friends with ours, so it was more of a favor sort of thing. Though, grandpa tried claiming that he was doing it for me but we all knew the real reason.

Lori reclaimed her schedule. Like if she hadn't been gone for weeks, she reincorporated. She walked into classes and kept up with the lessons. It's not like she was behind since she was homeschooled. If anything, she was advanced and was having no problem proving it. Seriously, she was not holding back. Throughout class, her hand flew up every time to answer the questions. I think that was her way to impress the teachers, so they wouldn't give her too much crap about leaving. And it was definitely working. The teachers were loving her. Our classmates did too because it took the attention off of them. Especially in calculus.

Practically, for one reason or another, everyone at Everdeen loved having her back.

We walked into art class. In this class, there was no sitting cart but everyone pretty much had claimed their spaces. When Jasmine began to hang out with us, she took over Lori's desk. So now, I didn't know how that was going to work out.

Following the routine, us girls with the exception of Lori, went for our portfolios. Out of place for the first time, Lori stood at the front of the classroom. I placed my portfolio on my desk and only had to take one step towards Lori.

"I'm gonna ask Ms. Hart if she still has your portfolio," I said before heading to Isabel. Glancing over my shoulder, I caught Lori giving me a small smile. Isabel sat in her chair, preparing for today's lesson plan. I cleared my throat to get her attention. She looked up. "Do you still have Lori's portfolio?" I asked before glancing at Lori one more time.

"I threw it away," I was forced to look at Isabel. "I'm kidding," finding amusement in my expression of distress, she grinned. "In case she ever came back, I decided to save it," she said all while standing up and opening her personal cabinet. "Unlike others, I do not jump to worst case scenarios," she stated as if implying that I did. Well, she was right. The first thing that I did was assume that Lori was never coming back. "Congratulations on having your girlfriend back," she added.

I chuckled sarcastically, "We're not back together... Or at least I don't think we are..." I heard my voice fading away. "I don't even know," I mumbled out. Lori and I hadn't had the talk. Thanksgiving dinner with our families did not give us the opportunity to speak in private. The friendsgiving dinner either. I felt too overwhelmed to be left alone with her. The chance was not coming around. To be honest, I was kind of avoiding it too.

In a more serious and considerate manner, Isabel whispered, "If you want, we can talk about this later," her eyes glanced past me, reminding me of why we needed to be discreet. Because of my classmates.

Holding Lori's portfolio, I walked back to her. Kayla and Jasmine stood by her side.

"Take your desk back, it's fine by me," Jasmine offered it to Lori.

Politely refusing it, Lori shook her head. "No, it's your space now, I can't take it from you."

"But it was yours first," Jasmine insisted.

I intervened and joked, "You don't want to sit close to me?"

Timidly, Lori smiled, "It's not that, I just don't want to chase her out of her spot," she explained.

"It was never my spot to begin with," Jasmine understood. Giving it up to Lori was very generous of her. "This discussion is over, you're keeping it," Jasmine concluded. Impressed by Jasmine's new confidence, Lori's eyebrows arched. She did not know her personally before but knew of her, therefore noticed the recent changes in Jasmine.