Temporary Bliss

EPILOGUE

..... a few months later...

"The past year has been challenging for all of us but as we move forward, I am confident we can overcome future challenges . . ." I pause for a moment and stop my pacing to think of a better word choice. "Future adversities and excel beyond the walls of Watson High School. Thank you."

I pivot in the gown weighing down my shoulders and murmur my Valedictorian speech over again. Most of the class is outside taking photos with their parents or friends, waiting for the ceremony to start and not wanting to spend their last hours inside the building.

Surprisingly, I'm feeling slightly nervous about presenting the speech.

There's a lot of pressure to do well considering I only scraped by with my teeth for the title of Valedictorian. A fight at the start of the winter break ending almost cost me the title - even though I wasn't the one that started it. But I defended Phoebe as a witness, even if she walked away without any major injuries unlike Faye.

The fight was bound to happen, except I really thought it would've been Nina or Summer to throw hands.

"Would you quit stressing?" Vincent walks in, pulling on his robe despite having it on less than ten minutes ago.

I tilt my head to the side and wide my eyes when I notice the maroon lipstick on his jaw, pointing at my own. "You seriously just had sex?"

"I'm irresistible," He smirks and wipes at the area, trying to remove it with his own hand. "Jealous?"

"You need to remove it," I ignore his comment and grab a couple of tissues from the desk, using the water from my bottle to wet it. Vincent stands still as I walk up to him and scrub at the lipstick stain. "How do you think Nina would feel if she saw it?"

He loses his arrogant smirk and allows me to inspect the rest of his neck, checking for anymore stains. "She wouldn't care."

Uh huh, sure.

"Callie have you seen-" Phoebe walks in a moment later and furrows her eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"What did you want?" I ask.

She thumbs over her shoulder. "We're about to take some group photos, Nina is demanding your presences."

"Let's go," I insist and ignore the smirk Vincent has. "Have you decided on when you want to go sign the lease?"

Phoebe and I both landed degrees at Northwestern, and instead of bunking in dormitories we're living off campus together. It beats a stranger and after Summer moved across the country, we became quite close so it isn't like we'll be at one another's throats constantly.

Its surprising what common enemies can do to bond two people together.

"I can do next Thursday? I'm meant to be working Monday through Wednesday," She explains and goes on her phone, checking her calendar. "Does that work?"

"I can't do Thursday morning," I clarify and run my tongue over my teeth. "I have another appointment with Hailey."

Surprisingly the therapy sessions have helped. At first I hated it, the confrontation of emotions and facing the realities of some things I had done. The more I resisted and refused to do the work, the appointments were fortnightly.
Now I have an appointment once a month because I'm progressing.

I can control my emotions without feeling like I'm exploding and out of control. I'm in control without it being obsessive.

"So Thursday afternoon?" She asks and gets a nod in response. Phoebe types it into her phone while I glance back at Vincent who smiles in response and steps between us, draping his arms over us.