the art of letting go

bonus chapter - the past

the art of the past

- - -

"New York City? How original."

"Babe, don't you know that this is where dreams are made?"

Snorting, I just shoved Frankie to the side as I pulled my duffle into our shared bedroom. New homes always disgusted me.

"At least I'm with you." He grinned, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as he pushed me down onto the bed, grabbing a pillow and hitting me with it before I even got a chance to retaliate.

Yeah, I didn't know whether that was a blessing or a curse.

*

"Why do I have to be here again?"

"Because Shaylah wants you to meet them. They're nice, I promise!"

Frankie's promises meant little to nothing to me.

"I want my bed."

"Tough." Frankie had his arm wrapped around my shoulders, and was using his grip on me to tug me forward, despite my complaints. "Just warning you that Kady might be here."

"And?"

"Just thought you'd want to know. Shaylah wanted this to go smoothly."

"The only way this is going smoothly is if I made an effort and honestly Frankie that would require caring and I'm fresh out of fucks to give."

"Once again, 'Zi, you do have a flair for the dramatic."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment." He deadpanned, "I promise, they're nice people."

I could tell this meant a lot to him, so I acquiesced. Frankie had struggled to make friends since we came here and I'd somehow managed to get stuck with Shaylah Taumata, who hadn't left me alone. They'd hit it off the moment I introduced them.

We had a fourth member to our little trio - Kady - who wasn't my biggest fan at the moment in time. The tension resulted in Shaylah being determined to introduce us to two of her friends from a rival High School, who Frankie had accidentally met at a college party that they crashed.

I never claimed he was smart.

I didn't want to ruin it for him, because I knew he missed Philadelphia, even if he claimed otherwise. He deserved to meet more people so he wasn't just stuck with my depressed ass twenty four seven.

Shaylah was waiting for us further down the street, two very tall boys stood behind her as we approached. I could feel Frankie's excitement burning at the seams so I just pushed him forward, letting him go and greet them before I had to.

Shay smiled at me, wide and happy, and I bit back a scowl. Frankie had already managed to coax a conversation out of one of them, exclaiming dramatically with his hands. The second boy stood off to the side slightly, seeming somewhat nervous as he fiddled with the rings on his hands. As if feeling my stare, he raised his eyes and met mine, sending me a sheepish smile.

"Hey," He said as he took a few steps towards me, hand lifting up in a wave. "I'm Nico."

*

Kady had ended up back at mine again after an argument. She'd been avoiding me for the last two weeks. We were still barely talking but she was exploring my room as I lay back on my bed, lips swollen.

"What's that?"

Pushing myself up onto my knees so I could see what she was gesturing towards, my heart dropped to my stomach when I saw what had captured her attention.