Happily Ever After...For Me? (Won Camp NaNoWriMo July 2015)

8: Know Where to Find Me

Chapter 8

    Monday I wake up knowing that it's gonna be a good day. I sing in the shower and dance as I air dry. I wrap my hair in a bun and waltz out of my room. I can't explain my good mood, but I like it.

    "Good morning," I say to Cindy as I grab an apple from the kitchen.

    She looks up, startled and quickly recovers with a smile, "Good morning to you too."

    "Want a ride to school?"

    She blinks at me for a moment and her eyebrows furrow. She seems to be debating weather or not this is a trap. She's smart that one. I roll my eyes, "I won't bite today. I promise."

    She gives me a sympathetic frown and asks, "Are you and Sam okay? I'm sorry about Friday."

    My good mood ebbs and I sigh, "Walk to school." I sling my purse over my shoulder and head for the door. Cindy hurries to catch up with me and makes it into the foyer before me.

    "I'm sorry I just... never mind. Can you still give me a ride?"

    I nod my head and bite my apple. We head out and hop into my car. The ride to school is bearable. She doesn't try to talk to me, which is good. I don't really know why I even offered to give her a ride. She usually takes the bus and that's fine with me, but today is different.

    We walk into the school side by side and I see her lift her chin a bit higher through the corner of my eye. My presence does wonders for others' confidence it seems.

    Gina comes out of no where and shoos Cindy away. I hold back what I want to say because I know I hurt Gina's pride Friday. I don't want to humiliate her again. I'm in a good mood, so I let her bitchyness toward Cindy slide this time. Plus, Cindy seems to be on a high of her own. She bounces across the hall to her gaggle of geeks and begins chattering.

    I catch Cindy's eye and she seems to understand what I can't say. She smiles slightly and gives me a shy wave. Gina turns to me as we head to my locker and asks, "Did she ride with you to school?"

    "Yeah. So?"

    She gives me a sly smirk and says, "So what are you planning to do to her? Are we gonna get her at lunch?"

    "What do you mean 'get' her? God Gina. Pipe the fuck down. All I did was give her a ride to school. There is no ulterior motive."

    "O-Oh," she stutters.

    "Y-Yeah," I mock.

    I try not to let her get to me, but it's so hard sometimes. It's exhausting when someone watches your every move every second of the day. It's like she has some sort of invisible pipes that latch on and sucks out all my energy.

    I release the dark cloud Gina bought to me when I see Sam standing in front of my locker with a bouquet of yellow roses. I almost melt at the sight of him in his navy blue polo and low rise jeans. He sees me coming and leans off my locker. I stand in front of him and cross my arms.

    He smiles and sighs, "You can never make things easy for me huh?"

    I raise my eyebrow. People start to stop and stare. He laughs and gives me the widest smile ever before licking his lips and saying, "I'm sorry about Friday. I should have never done what I did and this weekend was hell without you. You're my Queen and I love you. Will you forgive me?"

    I grab his collar and pull him to me. The kiss starts slow and people clap for us. I laugh as he grabs my ass, and we break apart. I take the roses from him and say, "I love them." I never really use the word "Love". I don't know why, but I just never feel like crossing that bridge. I can tell it kills him some times because he says it and I don't say it back, but I just don't want to go down that road. He's going off to college and this thing we have, as fantastic as it is, just doesn't seem like a "forever" thing. Love is a word people use when they really mean "forever".