By mid-January, I was finally able to call Vincent mine. Everyday I almost felt screaming up at the cosmos, because it really was about damn time.
I pretty easily succeeded in pushing all of the drama, pain and awkwardness from the end of the year far back into the recesses of my mind. When the memories did end up floating to the surface, it was usually laughed at fondly at the lunch table, or screamed over by my music at home. I no longer felt my way through all of those things quite so intensely.
I still spoke to Liam quite often, which also frequently brought me into Corrine's orbit as well. They'd started spending even more time together after some sort of a situation happened during a party of which I didn't know too much about and also didn't care for the details. He was as comfortable as ever, and she was always polite.
Surprisingly, Ashley and Mandy remained professional as well. I think maybe the queen bee had finally started to wonder what the point was of wasting time on meaningless grudges. We acknowledged each other in passing, and no disparaging comments were made from either side. At times I would feel a slight tinge of sadness about it when we'd pass each other distantly in the hallways. There will always be something akin to homesickness when you realize you're no longer a permanent fixture at a table you'd been stagnant at for over ten years.
I found myself blending in quite nicely to my new permanent setting. Kelsey and I had become some sort of a duo, and I openly wore whatever pop culture clothing I wanted to. I didn't feel like I needed to practice any more self-preservation.
I only had a few months and a single school year left with which to express myself, and I wasn't going to waste it completely. I would finally be un-apologetically me. I'd been through way too much not to allow myself that.
First there was a fallout, and then, after week upon week of misunderstanding, there was Vince.
<3