"Are you okay?" Sage asks.
I load my books into my locker. "Yes, why?"
"You were quiet the whole way here, Lavender."
"I just have a lot on my mind, Sage." I shut my locker and start walking nowhere in particular.
My brother follows. "Like what?"
"Like the Paris scandal. A random person paid for us and you don't care. What if it's a stalker?"
"I highly doubt someone would take time out of their day to stalk two seventeen-year-old twins who switch between sitting at home all day or going to work," Sage explains.
"You never know." I shrug.
"I'm just enjoying it. We got a couple hundred dollars back for free and can go to Paris and look at all the good paintings. All we have to do is pack."
I stop walking and cover my mouth with my hand. "Oh my gosh. I forgot to pack."
"It's okay. You still have today and tomorrow."
"How could this have happened?" Now my hands are roaming through my hair.
"Lavender—" Sage squeezes my shoulder—"don't let it stress you out. I'll help you when we get home okay?"
I nod and take a subtle deep breath.
"Hey, Lavender. Can I talk to you?" Theo walks up to us.
"Yikes. I'm gonna go before this gets awkward," Sage comments before leaving somewhere.
I roll my eyes at my brother before facing back to Theo. "Um, sure."
"I wanted to talk to you about our kiss."
"Oh."
"It was a really good kiss, don't get me wrong. You're a great kisser, Lav—"
My face heats up and I look down. "Okay," I mumble.
"No, I— there's a point to this. I swear," Theo continues and I hesitantly nod. "I just don't think that can happen again."
I look back up at him and tilt my head. I know I shouldn't care but I can't help but feel upset.
"Did I do something?" I ask.
"Of course not." He eagerly shakes his head. "Lavender, I need you to understand that this has nothing to do with you. You're super sweet and incredibly pretty. This is just about my choice and what I think is best."
I sniffle and play with my fingers behind my back. "Are we at least still friends?"
"Of course! I like you, Lav. You're a good person." Theo tucks a piece of hair behind my ear and smiles. "See you later?"
I give a closed-lip smile. "Bye," I whisper.
I'm not a good person.
He leaves and I don't know what to feel. I don't think I even liked him like that but him still saying all that made me hurt. I just want to know what I did. Did I bite his lip by accident? Touch teeth? He was going to say something mid-kiss before his Mom walked in.
Great, another thing to add to my list of thinking.
The bell rings and I head to calculus class.
"Notes, notes, notes. Bring out your notebooks, we're reviewing," Mrs. Stan says as everyone takes their seats.
The last bell rings and the teacher starts asking questions. It's 8:30 in the morning lady, please just give us a minute.
"Limits predict what?" Nobody answers. "Yes, Mr. Rivera?" Or so I thought.
"Limits predict the value of a function at the given point."
I roll my eyes and shake my head.
"Good job. Now, derivatives give what?"
If Elijah answers then obviously I have to answer more. My hand shoots up. "Yes, Lavender?"
"Derivatives give the rate of change of a function," I state proudly.
"Very good. Integrals calculate what?"
"Area," Elijah and I say in unison.
"Which is the opposite of derivatives!" I assert in a rush.
"Very good you two! Let's move on to some number questions." Mrs. Stan claps and pivots to walk toward the whiteboard.
I turn to Elijah behind me. "I know what you're doing. Knock it off."
"What am I doing, Quinn? I thought I was just answering the teacher's question, no?"
"No, you douchebag."
I aggressively turn back to Mrs. Stan and write down the questions she puts on the board.
I feel a kick on the back of my shoe. "Leave me alone," I mumble, trying to focus on the notes.
I feel another kick and turn around. "What do you need?"
"How's your hand? Can you write?"
I shake my head at him in disbelief. I sigh. "I'm ambidextrous, thank you."
"Of course you are." Elijah smiles.
Scoffing, I look back and finish writing the notes with my left hand.
I've noticed Elijah gets most annoying in school. At least outside of school, it's manageable. But when we're in this building it seems like he gets more... clingy? Not that I mind it, it's cute. I mean, not that Elijah's cute. I mean he is but it's not like that. Maybe I should stop thinking about my annoying... friend? Rival? Frenemy? I have no idea what we are.
I need to focus on my notes.
The hour is over and the bell rings. I pack up my notebook and head to my locker. I grab my English book and apply my lipgloss in the little mirror I have hanging up.
"Hey, beautiful."
"Go away, Noah."
"I miss your lips." He mumbles. Trying to touch my face, I smack his hand away.
"I don't care," I groan. "What do you need? Seriously?"
I tend to forget me and Noah have a past. And not a good one at that.
"It's November first," Noah admits.
"Okay? Congratulations?"
Noah smirks at me and I get an uneasy feeling. "I'm inviting you to my eighteenth birthday party next weekend."
"And when have I ever come with you? Literally," I argue with a sarcastic smile on my face.
"You're funny. You know, feel free to come whenever you'd like, I wouldn't want it to interfere with your Dad's birthday."
My smile immediately fades. Fed up, I slam my locker door shut. "Don't you have a football to throw or something?"
I glare at him before walking to my English class. Taking my spot, I mindlessly play with the locket around my neck.
Who does Noah think he is? He has no right bringing up my Dad.
Class starts and Mr. Johnson begins explaining new vocabulary words for our upcoming test.
I make my notes extra pretty and neat hoping it'll clear some stress but nope.
In social studies, we compared past activities to present. I don't really like History, it's not my thing. Sage on the other hand acts like he hates it but we all know he's never gotten anything but an A.
In science, we test and sort different elements. I love experiment days because it gives me the perfect time to gossip with my best friend.
"You won't believe who came up to me today," I start.
"Who?"
"Noah."
Harper gasps. "No."
"He invited me to his eighteenth birthday party. Then he had the audacity to bring up my Dad's," I threaten.
"Why does he think he can do that? He's such a dick," she explains.
I try to forget about it now. "Oh." I look around to see Theo engaged in his own conversation. "Then before, Theo came up to me," I whisper.
"Well, what did he say?"
"He said that our kiss can't happen again. I asked if it was something I did but he kept telling me no. I know he knows I just think he wants me to figure it out myself but it's driving me insane." I sniffle and pause. "Is it— is it selfish that I feel hurt? If anything, I was the one hurting him. As much as I hate to admit it, I think I was using him to figure out my feelings, Harper."
"It's okay, Lovey. That doesn't make you a bad person, you're still just trying to figure yourself out. You live and you learn." She rubs my arm.
But I am a bad person.
Lunch comes around and I sit with Harper and the other girls. I'm not necessarily a social person and due to that, Harper's friends are my friends. We sit with Lynn and a few of the cheer girls like Claire. I don't mind, they're super nice.
I sit at the table with my head resting on my hand, playing with my fruit snack packet. I distantly listen to their conversations but mostly I'm just waiting for the bell to ring.
"Can you come with me, please?" Elijah taps the lunch table and I look up at him confused.
"Hi, Elijah." I look over to where the voice came from and one of the cheerleaders is smiling at him, twirling a piece of hair from her ponytail.
"Hey, Faye," he smiles back. Why does he know her name? How does he know her name?
I get up and grab Elijah's hand to drag him out of the cafeteria until we're in the hallway. "You needed something?"
"I wanna rewrap your hand. You did an awful job," he ridicules.
I frown and look over at my hand wrapped in the thick gauze.
Elijah takes my free hand and guides me outside to a small bench. The courtyard is a nice place to be during lunch, I'm surprised more people don't come out here. It's quiet and calming.
We take a seat and he grabs my right hand, unwrapping it. He takes the white cloths off to reveal a red hand and my finger blistering just a little. Ew.
I watch as Elijah applies more medication gently to my hand. "Are you okay?"
"I can barely feel it," I lie.
"You don't need to lie to me," he says, simply.
I open my mouth to argue but he interrupts. "But- that's not what I was talking about. I saw you talking with Theo and Noah. Both of those conversations looked the least amusing."
"Are you spying on me now, Rivera?"
"No ma'am. But if you're asking if I'm always looking for you, then yes."
I readjust myself in my seat and sit up straighter. Oh? Good to know.
After he applies the gel all over my hand, he grabs the roll of gauze and carefully wraps my hand. I stare at his face as he does so. He's so gentle with me, it's sweet.
I open my mouth to say something but it doesn't come out. I debate about even asking it.
"What is it?" Elijah mumbles focused on my hand.
"How do you know Faye?"
I see a small sly half-smile cloud his lips. "I moved her into her house. You know, my job?"
"Right." I feel my face heat up and look around to watch the few people who are out here.
It's mostly just couples actually, maybe that's why nobody comes here.
"All done." Elijah lets go of my hand and puts the stuff back in his backpack.
I nod. "Thanks."
"I like your nails, do you do them yourself?"
I look down at my short gel pearled nails. "Yeah, Harper and I got matching ones for Paris. We do each other's sometimes." I mindlessly tap on my leg.
"That's cute."
I glance over at him to see him smiling at me. "What?" I ask.
"Do you wanna come over for Thanksgiving?"
I laugh out of shock. "What?"
"I don't know what exactly you're doing for Thanksgiving but if you are free, my whole family invited you and Sage. And your Mom... if she wants," he clarifies.
My Mom? He's never met my Mom. Nobody has besides Harper. There's no way I'm telling her she got invited to a social outing, she can barely act right in our own home. I can't imagine her at someone else's.
"Um, okay. Sure." I can't help the grin that slips from my lips.
"Yeah? Good." Elijah nods with a smile.
The warning bell rings and I walk to psychology, Elijah following behind. I don't need to go to my locker because the rest of my books are in my backpack so as soon as school ends I can go home and pack.
We take our assigned seats in the room and wait for the next bell to ring.
My phone dings in my blazer pocket and I take it out.
Harper: Hello?? Where did you go? I hope you know everyone at the table asked if you guys were hooking up.
Me: What did you say?
Harper: What could I say? I don't even know the answer myself!!
Me: Harper. We're just friends, not even friends. You know this.
Harper: You're joking. He looks at you like you're his entire world, in fact, I'm pretty sure you are. I've literally seen him almost snap his neck because you were laughing and he wanted to see why.
Me: I'm not having this conversation again with you right now.
Harper: Fine, later then. Have fun smooching in psychology.
Me: I'm blocking you.
Harper: You love me too much 😘.
I playfully roll my eyes and put my phone away.
The final bell rings and the teacher comes to the front of the room. "We're reviewing the human brain!"
I love psychology, it's so interesting. It's helpful too.
I should do something with psychology in the future but I don't think it's my passion. At least it's an option, I have none of those.
We study and review the brain for almost the whole class period. Then we went about how to tell if someone is lying.
Debate class comes around and guess who tries to talk to me? Noah Davis.
He pulls up a chair next to my desk. I look around and the teacher doesn't care or notice because he's grading papers.
"You're coming to my birthday party, yeah?"
"No." I highlight my notes.
"Well, why not?" Noah bugs.
I drop my marker and sigh. "Because I don't like you anymore, Noah. Honestly, what happened only happened because something else happened."
"You can't even say it, Lavender. It's been almost three years. Grow the hell up."
I stare at the table. I will not cry over him.
"Quinn, can you help me with something?"
I look back to see Elijah waving me over. Great.
"We're kinda having a conversation if you didn't see, Rivera," Noah argues.
"Don't worry, I did," Elijah replies simply.
I reluctantly get up and go to the back of the class. "Yes?" I sigh.
"I don't actually need anything, love. It just looked like he was bothering you."
I roll my eyes and sit next to him. I prop my head up on my hand. "Hooray, my hero," I grumble.
Elijah breaks out in a huge grin from my sarcasm. I love his smile... in a friendly platonic way.
I sit with Elijah the rest of the class period and we don't talk much because we're focused on the notes but our presence is definitely there. Our arms touch as we write and there are glances sometimes.
The final bell rings and I walk out to my car without saying anything.
I wait by the passenger side for Sage. I don't really like driving, I have a secret fear of it. That's why I drive slowly. I only beg to drive when I feel confident and ready.
A couple of minutes later, he unlocks the car and I sit in. "Hurry, I need to pack."
"Relax," Sage shushes.
He pulls up to our house and I practically jump out. I run upstairs and try to find a suitcase in my closet. I find nothing so I go look in the other rooms. With no luck, I barge into Sage's room. "Where are the suitcases?"
"Jeez! I'm changing here! I don't know, try the garage or something."
I shut his door and head downstairs to the garage.
I rummage around and find absolutely nothing. You're joking?
I run a hand through my hair as I look around. I spot the stupid painting of the couple at the beach who is actually Elijah and I. I glare at it before leaving the garage and walking next door.
I looked in every room. Is this seriously my only option? I groan and knock on the door.
"Hi, honey!" Mrs. Rivera answers the door before walking into the kitchen. "Come in!"
I look her up and down. She's wearing a tight dark green dress that reaches her ankles, black heels, and lots of jewelry.
"You look so pretty, Mrs. Rivera. Where are you going?"
"Thank you! Alan has this work dinner thing. I have to be there early to help set up," she explains.
"Do you need me to watch Giselle?"
"Such a kind offer but no thank you. Daphne and Elijah are here together. What brings you over?" She smiles at me, putting in her hoops.
"This might be a little weird but I was seeing if you had a suitcase I could borrow for a couple of days for the Paris trip? I've looked everywhere in my house but I can't seem to find one."
"Anything you need. I have to go, I'm running late but you can knock on Elijah's door. He'll show you them. Do you mind locking the door behind me please?"
I nod my head and follow her as she rushes out the front door. I lock it behind her and slowly walk upstairs.
I'm met by Elijah's closed door. Taking a deep breath, I knock. "Come in."
I do as he says and I see him sitting against his headboard on his computer.
"Hello," I awkwardly say and his head shoots towards me.
"Hi?"
"Um— your Mom said to ask you where the suitcases are. She's letting me borrow one for Paris."
"You haven't packed yet?" Elijah questions.
My awkward demeanor immediately changes to defensive. Leave it to him to change my mood in just three seconds.
"Obviously not. That's why I'm here."
Elijah gets off his bed after shutting his laptop. He guides me downstairs to their garage. There are multiple suitcases lined up on the side wall.
"Why do you have so many suitcases?" I ask.
"Why do my parents have so many kids?"
"Good point."
I walk closer to the suitcases and pick out a plain pink one. "Can I use this one?"
"Whatever you want," Elijah clarifies.
"Can I take the green one for Sage?"
He nods from where he's leaning against the wall, waiting for me.
I take the handles of the two suitcases and roll them to the front door. "Thank you."
He opens the door for me and I start walking home. I hear footsteps behind me and of course, he's following me.
"You don't have to walk me home, every time," I protest once I get to my door. "I live like ten feet away."
Elijah shrugs. I roll my eyes and enter my house, locking the door behind me. "Sage! I got us suitcases," I yell from the bottom of the stairs.
I get no answer so I push his over in the living room and take mine up to my room.
I open it up after I lay it flat on my bed.
I hate packing, I never know where to start.
I'm going to be gone for four days, technically three but I need clothes to fly home in.
I go to my undergarments drawer and grab eight matching sets of panties and bras. If it's not matching, what's the point of wearing it at all?
I feel so accomplished because of that floral bralette I drunkenly bought, I found a matching pair of underwear for.
I fold all those neatly in my suitcase and move on to pajamas. I don't sleep with pants anyways but I grab two pairs of lounge shorts and fluffy pants, along with sweats. For shirts, I just grab a few tank tops and plain-colored oversized shirts. I can sleep in anything actually.
Outfits are the hardest part. What do people in France even wear?
I grab a pair of wide-legged jeans and one flared. I also grab a plain black mini skirt along with my tights to pair them.
Madame Monet specifically told us to dress nice when we go tour the museum.
For my last pair of pants, I panic and pack some cargos.
Wandering over to my closet, I snatch a few oversized sweaters, tight-cropped long sleeves, and practically almost anything in my closet. I struggle when it comes to shirts.
I do the same thing with my shoes then zip up the suitcase. I'll do the rest Thursday morning after I use what I need just to make sure.
I'm going to go crazy.
***
A/N:
A longer one because I feel so bad I'm keeping you guys waiting. I promise I'm trying to write as much as I can. Thank you for being patient.
I'm trying to make these last few chapters quick cuz I am so ready for Paris‼️‼️
Take a shot every time Lavender rolls her eyes 😓.
Also, I hate the word panties. Like what😭??
See you next time!
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