Finding Forever (formerly Inseparable)

Chapter 1

School was only a few minutes away from our (now temporary) home and traffic was very light during the mornings, being that Springville was a small town. I took my time driving to school and parked at my usual parking space outside the school's lot. "Lizzie!", someone shouted as I got out of my car. I looked around to see where the familiar voice came from till I saw a blond girl waving, signaling me to go towards where she was. It was Avery, my best friend. Don't let the blond hair and perfect tan fool you though, she's one of the top students in our classes, and the co-captain of the cheer squad. "Hey" I said as I walked towards her, "Where are the others?" "Oh, they're already waiting for us inside" Avy said as she grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside the building. The rest of our friends were huddled by my locker by the time we were walking down the hallway. "Good morning Lizzie", a tall, curly blonde guy said. It was Mason. People used to think that Mase and Avy were dating since we're always together but they're just best buds. My day started off as the usual, with my best friends and my other friends, Cait, Libby, Joe, Cady and Luke. We all had atleast 3 classes together which made school a bit less boring than the usual. I thought though that everything that would happen this day would be just like any other day for the past year. But when lunch break came, things started to go in all different directions.

The moment I set foot in the cafeteria, I knew something was up. It was either I had a paper taped on my back saying "I'm an ass" or people just decided they'd stare at me more than they usually did. But one thing was for sure, I was going to hyperventilate soon if I don't get to our table fast. I was never really one to like being the center of attraction which didn't make things any less awkward. As I finally got to our table and sat down, I felt the stares become heavier. "Hey guys" I greeted cheerfully trying my best to ignore the dead silence and stares my friends were giving me. "Uhm, Lizzie, are you okay?" asked Avy. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I asked, confused by her question. Everyone around the table kept silent which made me more anxious. "Hey, what's up? Why are you so silent?" I asked again, but I still got no response. In fact, no one in the cafeteria said a word or made a noise, not even some kid drinking from a juice box. The silence was shuddering, I could hear my own heartbeat. Then the doors opened. A tall, brown haired guy stood at the entrance looking around the room till his eyes landed on my direction. Dark brown eyes pierced though mine as I sat on my seat, unable to move, felling hot tears spill down my cheeks. He was back.

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No one in the room dared to look up. Everyone in the campus knew my story, knew his story. Everyone knew what happened a year ago. We stayed glued to our positions, for what seemed to be like hours until I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed my things, got up and ran out the other cafeteria door as fast as possible. I didn't know where I was going but I found myself running towards my car. I quickly dug inside my bag in search of my keys then opened the door and got in. Matty was back, just when I was starting to get better. How could he do this to me. After everything he has done, he could still stare at me like that, without any emotion at all. Why am I feeling this way? I thought I was over him and everything there ever was between us. I've been moving on, in fact I've been doing well now. Then he shows up and suddenly knocks all the air from me. I needed to get away from here as soon as possible.

With that last thought, I started my car's engine and drove off. I didn't want to turn on my stereo fearing that the song playing would be some stupid song that would match my situation. I hated it yet found it comforting at times but I really didn't want to think of all this to eat me up more than it already has. After a few minutes of driving, I parked near the woods, got out of my car and started walking towards the meadow. Our meadow. Well it used to be, until he left. I only came here a couple of times, like when I needed to air out everything I was dealing with. This was our secret place, no one knew about it because most of the town's people were scared to enter the woods. But he wasn't. Matty was the one who found this place. He said that this would be the spot where we could meet or just let time pass by. It was our retreat. Whenever he felt bad or I felt bad, this was the first place we'd go to, the place we knew where to find each other. But for the past year of being without him, I learned to accept the fact that he was never gonna come to comfort me anymore.