Chapter Sixty Five
The bell rings and I head out to my car. Erica and I talking about Trace earlier really helped. I think talking about Cameron helped her too. We're both going through a rough time right now and talking about it certainly makes a difference.
I also figured out what I needed to do. If Trace won't talk to me at school then I'll just have to go by his house. Or, his apartment.
If I show up there he'll have to talk to me, right? He wouldn't kick me out or tell me to leave. All I want to do is apologize. Once I tell him how badly I screwed up, all I can do is hope he'll take me back.
Even if I don't deserve it. I want him. I miss him and it's only been a day. The longer it takes for me to fix things between us, the more time we've spent away from one another. That's time wasted. Any day without your best friend is a day wasted.
If I go to his apartment, I'll be able to make things right. All I can do now is hope he'll accept me again. Welcome me back into his life with open arms and I'll promise to never step out of them again.
When I get there, I realize I don't know what room he's in.
The lady behind the desk tells me and I grin. Of course it'd be on the lower level. He'd never be able to go up and down an elevator everyday.
"If your wishing to speak with Trace you're out of luck. He hasn't been back today." she says with a polite smile.
"Oh."
Where is he? School ended over an hour ago.
The simplest solution to this would be for me to just send him a text or call his number. But I don't want to do that. If he see's the phone ringing then all he has to do is ignore the call. Then my chance to get him back is blown, and I never even stood a chance.
I have to do this in person. I want to be able to see his reaction when I tell him I was stupid, that I do trust him. Because that's the truth. I should've never doubted him. All he's done is come through for me every single time I've needed it.
So now it's my turn. And I'll do whatever I need to in order to get him back.
I decide to wait in the parking lot for a few hours. If Trace comes then I'll see him pull up and we can talk.
Adalyn and I have plans to write our graduation speeches in two hours though. But I'll wait until I have to leave.
Half an hour goes by.
Nothing.
An hour goes by.
Still nothing.
It's time for me to leave and...
Trace is still not here.
Where is he? He should've been back by now. It sucks not being able to call him and check up. He's probably just out with the kids. I know how he likes taking them to the park sometimes after school. It's a beautiful day so I'm sure that's where he is.
Adalyn answers the door and I walk inside.
As soon as she see's me, I'm engulfed in a hug.
"What happened with you at lunch today? You went after Trace then never came back."
Yeah, that's what happened.
"We're taking a break right now. I didn't trust him and that ended up hurting the both of us."
"Awe, I'm sorry baby." She grabs my shoulders, looking at my face, "But you don't need him. You're a bad bitch."
I laugh lightly, "Thanks, but I do need him."
"You can tell me about your relationship but don't ask me for advice. I'll have you knocking out windows with a bat." she holds her hands up in defense. This is her warning, I now know to never seek her opinions.
I look around her house, secretly hoping that Trace might still be here. Maybe he just hadn't fully moved out yet but he has. All of his stuff is gone.
We sit down on her couch, she grabs her backpack and we start on our speeches.
"So why'd you fall for Trace? I mean he's cute, but why him?" Trace is her best friend and she has a boyfriend. It makes sense that she wouldn't understand it. I don't completely understand it myself but I know enough to realize that he's what I want. Who I want.
"What's not to love? He's perfect for me Adalyn, I love everything about him."
She smiles, "Damn, you're in deep."
I know I am.
"I love Lucas, but there's still some things he does that pisses me off. But I love his energy towards me, that's one of my favorite things. He'll gas me up for anything. I can be running over curbs and shit and he'd be like 'hell yeah babe you a bad bitch don't need no f ucking road'."
I laugh. Yeah, Trace has a few annoying qualities too like how he gets jealous so easily. But I secretly like that so I've never complained. He also calls me dramatic sometimes. But I think that's kind of cute too.
"Trace'll call me dramatic, but have you ever had to pluck his eyebrows? He act's like he's been shot." I laugh again.
I like this topic. This is fun.
She throws her head back laughing, "I could totally see that! He's a three year old when it comes to pain. He'll walk around like a hard ass, but he'll step on a sharp rock and talk about it for the rest of the day."
That's completely true. He's a delicate little baby. But he's got my back no matter what, he'd step on a thousand sharp rocks for me if he needed to.
My childish thought makes me smile.
I finish a few sentences of my speech.
"How does this sound?" I start, "Welcome fellow classmates and teachers. It's been an amazing year, full of amazing moments that I'll remember forever. I'm going to miss each and every one of you and I hope you have a fantastic summer."
She scrunches up her nose.
I sigh. I know it sucks.
"How about we just wing it?" she suggests.
That sounds like a bad idea. Knowing me, I'll get up there and ramble about a bunch of stupid stuff. Some people could pull that off but not me, I have to have a script to follow or else I'll make a fool of myself and say all the wrong things.
Her mother walks through the door.
Her mom greets me, "Hey Emma. You staying for dinner? We're having spaghetti."
I nod, "Yes, ma'am. That sound delicious."
We continue our speeches, or I continue mine. She decided she's not going to write one and she'll just get up there and improvise for her minute on stage. So she's helping me with mine.
After working for almost an hour, we've got it finished.
An entire page of words for me to read. Front and back filled with my thoughts of this year.
"Spaghetti's done." her mom calls out. The two of us head to the table and her dad walks out from his room.
He goes to grab the silverware for us but his wife smacks his hand.
"Charles, wash your hands first. These kids don't need whatever germs you were just building up back there all over their forks."
He gives me a sheepish smile before turning to the sink and following orders.
Now I know where Adalyn gets it.
I take a bite of spaghetti, wanting to moan at how good it tastes.
Her mom can definitely cook too. It's fun to see how other parents are after living your entire life with your own. In my case, mothers can't cook but Adalyn has lived her entire life with a mother who can. It's strange to visit different households and see how they interact.
Once we finish eating, I head home.
"Whoa, look who's smiling again." Laila walks past me, a small smile herself.
"What?"
She shrugs, flops down on the couch, "You were moping around the house all night. It's good to see you happy again."
I wouldn't call myself happy just yet. I'm only taking a break from being sad.
I slowly nod, not wanting to initiate in conversation with her.
"Why did my last two braincells have to be a sad one and a stupid one? For Halloween I'm going to be emotionally stable. No one's going to know it's me." she continues flipping through the channels.
I know that I hate her. But she seems to be speaking from the black hole taking place of her heart. Maybe she needs support or something?
"You alright?" I question.
She peels her eyes from the TV to look at me, "Yeah, I'm good."
Her words sound sincere so I don't feel the need to talk to her anymore. If she's doing okay then I don't need to talk with her.
"Hey, want to watch The Conjuring?"
I ignore her question as I continue up the stairs and get ready for bed.
Tomorrow I'm going to try again with Trace. And if that fails, I'll try again. But there's one thing I know for sure: I need him back.
Authors Note:
Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Have a great day and stay safe!
Sorry for the lack of Trace in this chapter! But he was certainly talked about a lot!