Between Us

☆ part fifty three ☆

Lark's car hummed softly as we drove down the familiar road toward school. The morning was crisp, the kind where the air felt sharp against your skin but the sunlight cut through the chill like a warm embrace. Normally, I loved mornings like this, but today, everything felt muted. Dull. My thoughts were too loud, clashing and swirling like a storm inside my head.

I stared out the window, watching houses blur into trees, and trees blur into the same streets I'd traveled a thousand times. I couldn't stop thinking about my mom—her words, her anger, the way she had looked at me like I was someone else entirely. Like I was something to be ashamed of. It was like a weight pressing down on my chest, one I couldn't shake no matter how hard I tried.

The silence between Lark and me wasn't uncomfortable, but it felt charged. I knew she was watching me out of the corner of her eye, and I could feel her wanting to say something, to break through the wall of my thoughts. Still, I couldn't bring myself to speak. What could I even say? That I was hurting? That I felt like a piece of me had been torn away? She already knew that. She always knew.

Finally, Lark broke the silence, her voice gentle but firm. "We're not going to school."

Her words pulled me from my thoughts, and I blinked, turning to look at her. "What?"

Lark glanced at me, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she kept one hand on the wheel. "We're skipping school today."

"Skipping school?" I repeated, frowning slightly. "Why?"

She looked at me again, her smile soft but her tone unyielding. "Because, baby, you're clearly going through it right now, and school isn't going to help. So, I'm taking you out for the day."

I opened my mouth to protest, shaking my head slightly. "Lark, we really should—"

"No," she interrupted, her voice firm but still filled with love. "Baby, no. You need this. We're going off for the day. You need to breathe, to get out of your head for a little while. And I'm not going to sit by and let you push through something like this just because of some attendance record. You come first. Always."

Her words hit me like a wave, washing over me with their warmth and certainty. I stared at her, my heart swelling in a way that felt almost too big for my chest. I didn't even realize I was tearing up until I blinked and felt the wetness on my cheeks. I reached over, lacing my fingers with hers where her hand rested on the center console.

"I love you so much," I whispered, my voice trembling slightly.

Lark smiled, her thumb brushing over my knuckles as she glanced at me. "I love you too."

The weight in my chest didn't feel quite so heavy anymore. It was still there, but Lark's words had carved out a space for something else—something lighter, something warm. I turned back to the window, but this time, the world outside didn't feel so muted. The sunlight was brighter, the colors more vibrant.

Lark didn't tell me where we were going, and honestly, I didn't care. As long as I was with her, I knew I'd be okay.

Lark turned the car down a familiar street, and before I even noticed the colorful neon sign glowing in the distance, I realized where we were headed. My lips twitched upward as the unmistakable sound of electronic game music seeped through the car windows. When she finally pulled into the small parking lot of the arcade, I turned to her with an incredulous grin.

"Seriously? The arcade?" I asked, my voice tinged with both surprise and amusement.

Lark grinned, unbuckling her seatbelt with a playful shrug. "Uh, yes, the arcade," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She pushed open her door and stepped out, walking around to my side. She opened my door like the absolute gentleman she always pretended not to be, holding her hand out to me. "Come on, pretty girl. It'll be fun."