22| Things Just Fall Into Place
MONDAY rolled around, and it was back to the normal swing of things. It was honestly a bit of a rude-awakening after Saturday. But it was just how things had to be. No more breaks. Back to the normal routine of school, volleyball, homework, sleep. And then repeat for 5 days.
I was sitting in AP Literature, my 6th period class. The bell hadn't rung yet, so I was writing down all of my to-do's for the week in my planner to make sure I stayed organized. I was always good at organization, but this week I really needed to focus or else my parents would probably go insane.
Right as the bell rang, Jeremy and Bianca sprinted into the classroom so that they weren't late. They came and sat down at our usual table, quickly taking out their books. Today we had a sub, which meant that we would be reading all class period. What it actually meant was that we would be chatting all period, and I didn't mind that. I had already gotten ahead on reading, anyway.
"Why almost late?" I asked, facing Jeremy and Bianca.
"We got caught up—" Jeremy started, but Bianca shushed him.
"Jeremy got caught up talking to Cayden. I was just there with him," Bianca informed me.
"Ooh," I said, wiggling my eyebrows. "Love is in the air."
Jeremy rolled his eyes at us. "Love isn't in the air. Mild to moderate attraction is in the air."
"You worded that weird. You made it sound like a disease," Bianca said, and then mocked him. "Mild to moderate attraction— like those commercials! Mild to moderate plaque psoriasis!"
"Only you would say something like that," I muttered.
Jeremy laughed and then popped a mint in his mouth. "How was the family study sesh yesterday? He asked, grinning at me.
"Don't remind me!" I exclaimed. "Terrible. Just awful. It almost ruined my entire weekend."
"Almost?" Bianca questioned. "The hell did you do on Saturday that made your weekend good then?"
"I... went to the gym," I told them, not wanting to get into details. But of course, details were required when it came to talking with Bianca and Jeremy. They would get the truth out of me no matter what it took.
"Spill the deets!" Bianca exclaimed, and Jeremy nodded rapidly in agreement. "If you don't talk, girl, I swear. I will rip the wheels off of your car and—"
"Okay, I'll tell you!" I gave in. Bianca's threat was nothing if not truthful. She could be scary sometimes. "I went to the gym to punch the punching bag because, you know how I get."
"Oh we know," Jeremy interjected, and I shot him a dirty look. "Sorry. Continue."
"Anyways, I was finishing up and Noah found me there," I admitted, and they both simultaneously gasped. So dramatic. "He noticed that I was mad, and so he told me that he could make my day better. So we kind of spent the entire day together... hanging out."
Another gasp. "You and Noah were hanging out? Willingly?" Jeremy gawked. "That's like the 3rd time this month!"
"Yeah, what the hell?" Bianca added. "What did you do?"
"Uh, we went to the park with his little sister and we talked a lot. He told me about his parents and stuff and I mildly talked about mine," I said. "And then we went to his sister's ballet recital and got ice cream and walked around downtown Columbus after that."
Their mouths simultaneously dropped open. "What. The. Hell," Bianca said.
"Sounds like the 2 of you are getting close," Jeremy drawled.
"We kind of agreed to be friends."
Jeremy started choking on his mint, and Bianca patted his back violently to get him to stop. Finally, the halfway melted mint flew out of Jeremy's mouth and onto my planner. I looked up and glared at him.
"Sorry," he squeaked. "You caught me off guard." He reached over and grabbed the mint, then tossing it into the trash can beside him. "You're friends now, then?"
I nodded. "Yup."
Bianca and Jeremy looked at each other. They were making random hand motions and weird faces. Clearly, they were having a discussion with their eyes.
"Will someone just say what you're both thinking?" I snapped, causing them to look back at me.
Suddenly, Jeremy's face turned into a wide smile. "You like him," he teased.
I rolled my eyes. "Do you have to be so childish?"
"It's not childish. It's fact, girl," Bianca said. "I haven't been the biggest fan of Noah Locke. But I'm not blind, Logan. There has always been something between you 2."
"You're insane."
"She's right," Jeremy agreed. "Especially for the last few months since the bonding camp. The sexual tension is insane."
"Oh my god!" I exclaimed. "God. No. There is no such thing as sexual tension between me and Noah. We are literally just now becoming friends. We hated each other months ago! So you're both crazy."
Jeremy shrugged. "You'll see what we mean," he said. "That is, if you're coming on the fall break trip to Florida."
Right. The fall break trip. This year, Gracie had planned an "extravagant" trip to Orlando, Florida. The guest list was exclusive, though. It wasn't like everyone on the teams were invited, which meant no annoying-as-fuck Genevieve and Savannah.
But the guest list currently included: Me, Bianca, Jeremy, Cayden, Porkchop, Tanner, Jordan, Charlie, Rose, Sophie, Melissa, Troy, Zane, Lucas, Olivia, Ruby, and... Noah. Most were obviously on the volleyball team with the exception of a few.
Basically, the trip was going to be a fun 5 days of "fun in the Florida sun" as Gracie had advertised. The beaches in Florida were nicer than the ones in Georgia, and not to mention, we had the best place to stay. Gracie had somehow coerced Noah into agreeing to the trip and letting everyone stay at his family's beach house in Florida. I had seen pictures of it on Zillow. It was insane, and it would easily fit everyone on the list who was attending.
I still wasn't sure if I could go or not. I hadn't exactly talked to my parents about it yet. For every other fall break, I hadn't gone anywhere. My parents liked to stay at home and chill out. And especially after Billie left, they wouldn't want me to go anywhere. In fact, they wouldn't let me. The fact that it was called "fall break" made them uneasy at the mention of the word "break". I swear, it was an actual trigger for them. So I guess you could say I was slightly terrified to ask them if I could go on the trip. But I really wanted to go, which was why I was so hellbent on staying focused this week. If I could get all of my work done, maybe that would be enough to convince my parents to let me go on the trip?
"I don't know if I am," I admitted to them. "You know how my parents are. It's going to take a lot of convincing."
Bianca groaned. "But you have to come! So that we can hangout on the beach, get you a sickening tan, and then prove to you how much you and Noah are into each other!"
"I'm not going to want to go if you keep saying that," I warned. "I'm going to talk to my parents sometime this week. Okay? And as for the Noah thing, there's nothing between us. No matter what you say, I know the truth. We're just new friends, and that's it. Nothing else to it. Can we drop it now and talk about anything else?"
✯ ✯ ✯
I had come to the conclusion that I was going to tell my parents about the fall break trip over dinner. It was going to have to come out at some point this week, and I figured the earlier the better. In case they needed more time to marinate in the idea. I was sure there was no way they could just say "yes". It was never that easy.
I was sitting in my room texting with Jeremy, Gracie, and Bianca, patiently waiting for dinner to be ready. I had been sitting in the same spot for the past 3 hours: on my floor against my bed, knees up, arms around my knees, texting in the group chat and scrolling social media. It was surprising that I wasn't doing homework. But I couldn't focus with my never-ending thoughts pounding in my head. The only thing that was even slightly calming me down was the music playing. Mac Miller, his album 'Swimming' had been on repeat.
"Dinner's ready!" I heard my mom call from downstairs. My heart rate rapidly increased as I took out my earbuds and tucked my phone into the pocket of my shorts. I sucked in a few long, deep breaths before heading downstairs.
When I got into the kitchen, my mom was dishing up spaghetti and meatballs while my dad plates up his world-famous garlic bread. There really was nothing world-famous about it, but he liked to claim that there was. It was, however, really good garlic bread. I had to give it to him. I took a seat at the square table, soon being joined by both of my parents who sat directly across from me. It was even more intimidating sitting alone in front of both of them.
I took a huge bite of the garlic bread. If I was going to build up the confidence to talk to my parents about the trip, I was going to need to eat some food. And damn, this bread was especially good tonight.
"So, honey, how was school?" My mom asked.
"Fine," I answered.
"And how was the chemistry test?" My dad added. "I hope our studying yesterday paid off."
"It did," I confirmed. "I killed it." I smiled, and so did they. Okay, I was making them proud. It was a good start.
My parents continued to ask me questions about school, schoolwork, and volleyball. It was honestly all they ever talked about or wanted to talk about with me. But it wasn't like I had any other hobbies.
As dinner neared it's end, with my parents finishing up their meals, I decided to speak up.
"Uh... so next week is fall break," I started, "and I know I usually don't go anywhere but... Gracie and a bunch of others from the teams are going up to Orlando for 5 days and— and I wanted to maybe go with them."
My parents both stopped their eating, turning their full attention towards me. My dad, though, sat up straighter and I could tell he was tense. Great.
"And what exactly would this trip entail?" My mom questioned.
"Well, we would all drive up this Saturday. In a few different cars, and then we would be staying in a friend's house for the 5 days. It's basically just a beach getaway," I answered.
"Who is going?" She asked.
"Umm... Jeremy, Bianca, and then a bunch of people from the girls and boys teams."
"From both teams?" My dad asked. "Would that mean your friend Noah was coming?"
"Uh... yes?" I answered.
My mom shook her head and laughed. "Of course," she muttered. "So you want to run off to Florida for 5 days with a group of people and your boyfriend? The week before state, so close to finals? You want to abandon us and all of your hard work to go off and play hooky on the beach with some guy?!" Her tone was raised, and she was practically yelling now. I should've known.
"No, first of all Noah is not—"
"How delusional can you be?" My dad interrupted, his tone was cold. "You really think that's a good idea?"
"I'm getting my work done this week—" Again, interrupted.
"You can't seriously think that this is a good idea!" My mom yelled. "Seriously, Logan! I thought that you were my sensible daughter, the only sensible one I have left! You seriously think that it's a good idea after Billie—"
"Can we stop bringing up Billie?" I asked, raising my voice.
"We cannot!" My dad argued. "What she did was selfish and foolish, and right now, it seems like you're making the same mistake she did! Except you're making it at a younger age, you're falling down the rabbit hole way earlier! Are you trying to throw everything we've worked for away?"
"We?'" I screamed, standing up. "Are you serious—"
"You know what we mean, honey," my mom said. "You have worked so hard for where you are. Grade-wise, volleyball-wise... how can you seriously be thinking of ruining that?"
"It's 5 days! It's not even a week! It's less than that stupid fucking bonding camp you let me go to! And guess what? Noah was there, too!" I exclaimed.
"But it's different now that you 2 are seeing each other behind our backs!"
"We are not seeing each other for the billionth time!" I retorted. "It's a trip. It's a 5 day trip to Florida! I am not throwing away anything, I am not running away!"
"This is step 1 to running away, Logan," my dad stated. "You are seriously too naive for your own good. I thought you were better than this."
The anger inside of me was rising to the surface, and there was nothing I could say. Nothing else to convince them. They had already blown up on me and played all of the cards. I couldn't do anything about it, and I also felt like I was going to explode at any moment. So I did the only thing I could think of.
I ran out of the house.
I could hear their yelling behind me, demanding me to get back, but I just ran. I ran out of the front door and I didn't even think about turning back. I just kept running. And I wasn't headed anywhere in particular. I just needed to get away. I could feel the tears in my eyes threatening to pool out, but I didn't let them. I just ran.
✯ ✯ ✯
I don't know what it was about tonight. But I found myself in my car, driving around town. I had nowhere to go, nothing to do, no one to see. I was simply just... driving. No music was playing, and the only sound was the pattering of rain hitting the rooftop of the car.
I always the loved the rain. It was calming, and the smell of the rain was unmatchable. It was perfect. And the sound of the rain was even more perfect and calming. I was glad it had spontaneously decided to rain tonight because it made my drive even better.
My parents were still gone, and no, I hadn't just left Amelia at home alone. We had a babysitter that could conveniently watch her when I had somewhere else to be. Thankfully, she had been available to watch Amelia last-minute tonight. I made an excuse that I had a group project, when really I had nothing at all.
I wasn't sure why I felt so magnetically pulled to start driving around tonight. It had come out of nowhere. I just had the sudden urge to drive. It was like the universe was trying to tell me something.
It all started to make sense when I saw a familiar figure walking in the downpour. So I pulled over and rolled down my window.
"Logan?" I asked, and her head jolted to look at me. She was drenched, her hair was completely soaked, and so was her entire body. Not to mention, she was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt. She definitely wasn't supposed to be out here. "Hey, get in the car. You're soaked."
Logan waited and then hesitantly walked over and got in the car. I rolled the window up, and instead of saying anything, I drove. I drove to the parking lot of the park, stopping the car and then turning around. There was a blanket in the back seat, and I grabbed it and handed it to Logan. She wrapped it around her soaking body, curling her legs up on the seat so that she was covered completely. She was cold, and I turned the heat on.
Things were silent. Logan looked blankly out of the front window, her arms wrapped around her legs, not saying anything. But I couldn't take my eyes off of her. There was hurt in her eyes, and they were crystallized, like she was about to cry, but she didn't. She remained stone-faced. Something told me not even Hannah Montana could make things better.
Something was wrong, seriously wrong.
"What is it?" I asked her, but she didn't even look towards me. "Why were you out there? How long?"
"Hours," she told me. "It's my parents. Okay?"
"What happened?"
"I— I don't want to talk about it, okay. It's fine, Noah," she snapped, but I didn't buy it.
"It's not fine," I said. "It's not fine, and you know it."
Silence.
"You know you can talk to me, right?" I asked. "We're friends, Pierce. Friends confide in friends. We've both done it before. What's changed?"
Logan didn't say anything. She stayed silent, but then I could see it: a tear slipped out of her eye. She reached up to wipe it away before taking a deep breath. She leaned her head back onto the seat and sighed.
"Everything's changed," she mumbled. "I tried to talk to my parents about the fall break trip. They started yelling at me about— about how I was exactly like Billie, but worse. About how I was already throwing everything away to run off to Florida. They said I was naive and stupid and— and they mentioned you. They keep thinking the wrong things about us, and they said that I was doing what Billie did. I couldn't say anything so I— I ran. I ran out of the house because I can't handle it anymore, Noah. I can't fucking deal with it." She paused, now tears running down her face. "They said that I was throwing away everything we have worked towards. Not me, but we. They— they only care about me because I've listened to them for so long, I've obeyed their every command. And now I— I don't know what to think."
For some reason, I couldn't help myself. So I threw my arms around her, pulling her into my chest. I thought she would pull away, but she didn't. She just gave in, resting her head in the crook of my neck and crying, breathing hard.
"You can't let them control you like this," I told her, keeping my voice soft. "They're your parents, yeah, but they can't control your every move, they can't control how you live your life."
"They already do," she whispered, not lifting her head from its position on my chest.
"Don't let them," I said. "Logan, you can make your own decisions. You're 18, and— and you're a good person. You know how to handle yourself, and you can't let your parents scare you into missing out on things."
Silence. I sighed.
"They've controlled you for so long that you don't know how to stand up for yourself," I told her. "Them playing the sister card? That's low, Logan, and you know that. They're trying to scare you. They're trying to make you believe that taking a small break or going on a trip is going to ruin your entire life, but it isn't. If you don't have any sort of breaks, you're going to go insane. All of that sadness, all of that anger— it will build up inside of you until you burst. Kind of like right now. Don't let them do that to you, you have to fight to live your own life. Not the one they planned out for you."
Logan slowly sat up to look at me, a tear starting to roll down her cheek. I don't know what came over me, but I felt the need to lift my thumb up and wipe it away. So I did.
"How are you so good at words?" She asked, breaking her silence.
"I— I don't know," I answered. "I don't know what it is. When I'm around you, things just fall into place."
Logan and I held eye contact for what felt like minutes before she finally broke it. She moved back to sit against her seat, and I did the same, but I kept my gaze on her.
"I'm going on that trip," Logan said. "You're right."
I smiled. "Months ago, you would've never admitted that."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah I know. Everything's changed, remember?"
I smiled and then turned forward. "Do you want me to take you home?" I asked. "Or anything? I'll leave it up to you."
"I should get home," she said, and then she turned to me. "I don't know how you found me, but I'm glad you did, Noah. I'm glad you're here right now."
I smiled and nodded. "I don't know how I did either," I mumbled, then turning on the ignition and driving away.
The only thing I did know was that the reason the universe made me go for a drive was so that I could find her. And I was happy that I did.
✯ ✯ ✯
Noah really just had to show up and be that nice. He really had to do that to us.
Logan's parents are definitely not the chillest... not even in the slightest bit. I feel pretty bad for her, and honestly, I don't blame her for running away. I mean, I would have DROVE somewhere because I hate running that much, but she seems to just power through.
God, I love her and Noah together, though. They are too cute. Can't wait.
OKAY BYE.