Trust me, babe

Chapter 23

Kathryn

It sucked that I had to go back to school while Kenzie and Jacky were still in Sydney. I would've much rather spent the days with them instead of sitting in school where the stress of my uncertain future grew bigger and bigger each day. Besides, even though I knew it wasn't my fault that I had to go back to school, I felt like a rubbish friend as I barely had time to spend with Kenzie after she'd traveled across the globe to spend her summer vacation with me.

"Can you believe we've only got two more terms and then we're done with school!" Persimmon squealed almost immediately as we met at our lockers.

"I know," I replied with an unintentional sigh.

"What?" she asked. "Aren't you glad we're free from all this," she motioned around us with her hand, "in just a few months?"

"In a way, yes, of course," I said. "I just... I have no idea what to do after this. All the way until this year, it has been so clear what happens after the school year ends. It's just been more school. But now I have to make the decision myself."

"True," Persimmon replied. "But I'm also really excited about the freedom. I get to choose what I want to do with my life!"

The bell rang and I glanced at the clock on the opposite wall.

"I'll catch up with you later," I told her. "I've got history and you know how Ms. Andrews is if you're late."

"See you at lunch!" she shouted after me as I rushed down the corridors cursing myself for not keeping an eye on the time. I hated coming late to Ms. Andrews' class. She made such a huge number out of it and the poor student who'd come in late would be the center of everyone's attention for a few excruciating minutes.

Luckily, I wasn't the only one rushing a few minutes late into Ms. Andrews' classroom and she didn't bother to scold every one of us individually. She did, however, glare at each of us as we made our way across the classroom to our seats. Once everyone was seated, she told us we had to learn to be more precise given we were already seniors and rushing in late would not be tolerated in college. I tuned out her lecturing and turned to look out the window.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of rushing through crowded corridors from one classroom to another, it was lunch break and I made my way toward the cafeteria to meet Persimmon. Although the cafeteria was full of students, it didn't take me long to spot her from our usual table at the far corner of the cafeteria. At first it had been my spot but after the first few weeks of school she had started to join me there regularly and now I thought of it as our spot.

"How was history?" Persimmon asked as I placed my tray on the table and sat down.

"It was fine," I replied. "Better than chemistry anway."

She nodded then sighed. "I sat next to Louisa in French and she kept talking about how excited she was to get started with her college applications. She's known she wants to be a news anchor since she was a kid and now she's so excited to finally take a step closer to her goals. It stresses me so much when I listen to her talk about her clear plans and I just sit there with no clue what I want to do with my life!"

"Well you aren't the only one with no clue," I said.

People who had such clear plans for their future annoyed me nowadays. It felt unfair that they knew what they wanted and were excited to start working toward their goals. Apparently Louisa was one of those people. And so was Mikey. He had always dreamt of becoming a singer. It felt even more unfair when people like him knew what they wanted. And especially if they managed to reach their dreams. He was a jerk. An asshole. He didn't deserve happiness and a successful career at what he wanted to do when I — the girl he'd hurt so badly — sat here with no idea what I wanted to do with my life. It was so unfair.