Chance Encounters

twenty-three

[a/n: hi! before anything else, there are just a few things i want to say about, well, how i write, in general. i'm writing this as a novel meant to be read all at once, not a chapter-by-chapter thing, and i just want to say that ending chapters with cliffhangers is NORMAL and important to set the pace of a story. 

in this case, i used cliffhangers in the past 2 chapters in order to build up the tension, NOT to piss the readers off. i know you mean well, and i appreciate every reader--truly, i do--but it's honestly so difficult to motivate yourself to write when there are a bunch of comments telling me that i "can't fucking end the chapter like this!!!!!" i can, and i will, but please understand that i don't use cliffhangers to spite the readers. i use them because they are needed. 

on a side note, i apologize for the late update. i should have updated last friday, but i ended up being too busy (in fact, i still have an assignment due tomorrow, and it's 11 pm and i still haven't done anything hahahahahahaha shoot me now), but aaaanyway, i hope you enjoy this nonetheless. :) 

sam xoxo]

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Chapter 23

It was ironic, of course, to think that we've checked all the places where I could actually expect to find Tori. We'd been driving around for so much time that it was stupid to expect we'd ever find her again, but it was a lot stupider for me to forget the one place where Tori and I had spent pretty much all our time together.

I'd been unable to slump in my seat all through the ride, too nervous about the thought of not finding her when I'd been so sure this time, when my gut was telling me that I'd finally got it right. It I couldn't be wrong now. Not anymore.

Austin and Lewis must have sensed my uneasiness because even the two of them had shut up and the car was fraught with a charged silence that none of us seemed to mind.

This was my last card, and if this didn't win the game, then I wasn't sure I could handle another one.

Less than fifteen minutes later, the white building finally came into view, looming larger and larger as we drove closer to it. It was dim in the moonlight and somewhat eerie in the absence of all the other people who usually filled every corner of it, devoid of the chatter and noise that always made the place seem smaller than it actually was.

This was it. It had to be.

We hadn't even pulled into a stop when I saw the lone car in the parking lot.

I felt my heart leap to my throat.

"Is that..." Austin trailed off, looking at me as he slowed into a stop by the sidewalk.

"Yes," I replied. "That's it."

It was my car.

It was here,

Tori was here.

As soon as the car stopped moving, I pushed the door open and stepped out. I was unsteady on my feet and I'd nearly caught on a stop as the blood pounded hard against my ears, making me painfully aware of just how overwhelmed I was for finally, finally finding Tori. I held onto the car until I was sure I could stand on my own, taking deep breaths in an attempt to slow my heartbeat down.

"Should we split up?" Lewis asked me as soon as he got out of the car. Austin had also gone out, and the two of them were staring at me expectantly. "That way, we can find her faster."

I let go of the car, still trying to keep my breaths even and my thoughts collected. I looked them in the eye and, with the certainty of someone who'd finally figured out the riddle, I said, "That's not necessary." I looked up at the school building. "I know where she is."