Sisters: Butterflies at Graduation [book two]

Chapter Nineteen

Dedicated to @GadgetWolfJJ because of her awesome comment on chapter eighteen! Thank you for waiting so patiently for this chapter, as I know so many of you have!

Chapter Nineteen

I almost wished that I was back at Stanford. Almost.

The return to my old school where I magically disappeared for a year only to return at the three hundred and sixty-five day anniversary of their deceased pupil to raise awareness about teen suicide, only to disappear, then reappear once again. Like a bee who just won't leave you alone, or a piece of gum on the ground that leaves the sole of your shoe sticky, even after its removal.

No, instead I have my school principal to thank. He probably thought that he was doing me a favour by sending me to Zac's school. In all honesty, I don't know which one could be worse.

"Just play it cool," Bridgit says, and I scoff.

"Thanks for your amazing advice," I say.

Bridgit clutches her books close to her chest and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Look, I don't exactly want to be here either," she says. "Especially if we have the drama of your ex-boyfriend to deal with."

I latch my hand onto Bridgit's arm and raise my eyebrows. "Has Bridgit Baczewski-Smith been abducted by aliens?" I say, frowning. "Or did she just implicitly say that she's had enough of drama?"

I'm lightly shoved in the shoulder and I step forward at the contact. "Shut up." I smile, because I'm still not used to this.

"Meeting Chelsea was probably the best thing that every happened to you," I say, and I mean it.

Bridgit shrugs, but there's a tug of a smile in the corners of her lips. "Probably."

It's lunchtime at Fillmore High School. I've only seen a handful of students that I recognise. But except for Bridgit, I haven't run into anyone else from our senior class. I still haven't seen Zac. He's been in none of my classes today. I've seen pretty much everyone I know from the school (besides the temporary Garfield students), including Zac's soccer team - Sean, Patryk, Ryan, even Justin. And of course Louis and April. April was the first person I locked eyes with when I walked through the front gates. Her eyes were slits.

I refrained from going over to say hello.

"Ready to go to the cafeteria?" I say, and Bridgit nods. So we walk.

"Wait, isn't it back the other way to the cafeteria?" Bridgit says.

I think about it for a moment. "Yeah." We turn around. A group of freshmen (or small sophomores) bump into us and Bridgit has to pull me out of the flock.

The cafeteria of Fillmore High School is bigger than the one at Garfield, despite hosting the same amount of students. Voices echo off the high walls and streams through the open double doors that lead out onto the football field.

"Did you bring a packed lunch with you?" I say, an Bridgit nods. "Good, because I don't fancy sitting on my own while you stand in line."

"Oh my God," Bridgit says, and her arm extends to the far side of the cafeteria, to the rowdiest table of them all. All boys. I know the reason of Bridgit's choice of words  before she even says it. "It's Zac." 

Of course it's Zac.

I avert my gaze to the floor, because the sight of him after our brief encounter at all Things Sweet is enough to fluster me. I take a second to compose myself before I look at him again. I feel foolish  for this nervousness. Seeing him when ATS shut down had been the spur-of-the-moment. I hadn't thought about what I was going to do until I did it. But I'd been preparing myself to run into Zac all day.