After Us

Chapter Twenty-one

The sun peeked in from behind my curtains and poured into my room. As soon as it beamed on my eyes, I couldn't sleep any longer. My alarm clock soon went off minutes later so I supposed it was somewhat perfect timing. This rental house needs better blinds. I got straight out of bed and ready for school like I normally would but this time putting way more effort into my appearance. I wanted to make sure I didn't look overly dressed but not too shabby. Miles sent me a good morning text which made me feel a whole lot better. The nerves in my stomach were unbearable and made me feel like I needed to throw up.

"Annalise, please eat breakfast before you leave," mom tells me as I go to grab my blue converse.

"I'm not hungry," I reply.

"Ann," she pauses.

"Fine," I say to shut her up and sit down next to Austin at the table. It's such a relief to see him out of bed and with fewer bruises. He still had some but luckily they weren't as bad.

"People are going to think I came to this new school because I got into a fight at my last one." Austin laughed, "No one will want to talk to me."

"No they won't," mom says placing eggs on my plate and giving me the look to eat up. "I've talked to the school nurse and she's let the teachers know to excuse you from class if you need anything.''

I nearly choke with laughter as I take a sip of water, "Guess Austin won't be in class at all then." Austin smiled back and nudged me hard with his elbow.

"Only for emergencies," mom points her finger.

Luca comes down the stairs in a hurry, "Thank goodness!" Looking at Austin and I, "I thought you guys left already." Luca had come back from college for a few days earlier to help us settle in and he wanted to see the town himself. I loved having him back, made me feel more settled "Where's dad?'' he asks.

"At work," Austin mumbles, shoving cereal into his mouth.

In the conner of my eye I can see Miles's beautiful cream mini car pull up in front of the house. I quickly stuffed the eggs in my mouth and grabbed some of my paperwork and folders from the side of the counter to shove into my bag.

"He's here already?" Austin asks.

"I told him to come early just in case I was nervous and needed to have a half an hour prep talk." 

"Poor guy," Austin says and I can see Luca clearly hold back a smile.

I roll my eyes, ''Yeah, well, Miles is a gentleman. Austin are you sure you don't want him to give you a ride?"

"No, i'm all good, thanks. Lucas is taking me," He hadn't been fully able to drive since the accient. He did go out a few times with Dad to get his bearings, but that was about it. For all I know mom didnt want him even looking at a car again. At least he'll be driving much slower from now on which makes us all breathe a sigh of relief. He's still with Jodie and that's all I know. I supose they will just have a long distance relationship. We'll see how long that lasts.

"Suit yourself," I smile back and hug mom bye and then run out to meet Miles.

"Hey," he says rolling down his window, "have you been waiting long?"

"I got ready a little earlier than normal, just nerves I suppose."

Miles laughed, "Annalise you'll be pulling up to school in your dream car and walking in with me, I think you'll be fine." he said as I opened the passenger door.

"I do love this car," I smiled. He put his hand to my face and kissed me on the cheek. He then paused and looked down at the steering wheel as I smiled. The car started and off we drove to school. I took deep breathes to try and calm myself down.

As soon as we pulled up, Mira, Tristian, and Hector were all standing on the sidewalk. "Ann!" Mira squeezed, "nice to see you here." she hugged me hello. Miles got out and we all stood in a large group on the side. The mornings in Pickston were always hot and sunny right from the start, it was a nice change from the cold and the damp.

"It's not that exciting here," Tristian whisper to me, "We're not as cool as you think we are and you won't want to hang out with us after the first week."

"You guys are my friends and that won't change. This school looks pretty good to me," I say looking around at the huge building that towered in front of me. It looked like a mixture between a school and a college campus. Well organized and beautifully landscaped.

Tristian smirked, "Alright then, shall we give you a tour?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Tamara said running up to us from what looked like her mom's car. "Annie it's s crazy you're here." she hugged me.

"Ann do you have your schedule?" Miles asked me.

"It's in my bag why?"

"We should compare classes and see if they match up to any of ours." I couldn't believe I didn't think of that and, when we did it made me feel a lot better. I had two classes in the morning with Mira and one at the end of the day with Miles. I wish we could all be in one class together but it couldn't be that perfect. I was happy I at least had one class with Miles.

When the school bell rang everyone started scurrying like ants from locker to locker. Voices got louder and faster. Eventually, the halls started emptying as everyone found where they were supposed to be.

"I got to go. Science is all the way on the other side of school but I guess I'll see you guys at lunch," Hector said and kissed Mira bye. Tamara and Tristian waved goodbye.

Mira nudged me, "We don't have to walk far at all, history is just here." she pointed to a door that was around twelve feet away.

"Alright I have to go too but Ann you're alright, right?" Miles turned to me. I've never seen him with a school backpack on and it made me smile because of how cute he looked with it.

I ran my fingers through his chocolate-fluffy brown hair and wrapped my fingers around his, "Yes thank you," I say back. Standing there near him and feeling his touch helped my nerves calm down.

He pulls my backpack handle and shifts me closer to him so our faces are closer. I thought he was going to kiss me but instead, he whispers "I love you," into my ear.

There it was, words I always dreamed of hearing from a boy who I loved. When I was little saying I love you to someone never seemed like a big deal since they were words I used with my family every day. But now that I'm older I realize the words come with a deep meaning. In a relationship saying I love you to someone is the sparkle and realization of how much the words like and love have different meanings.

I've heard that when saying 'I love you too' it sounds like you're agreeing with the person. "I love you," I say back with completion.