Despite growing up together, Catherine Simmons and Mattis Reed were never close.
Cat was inseparable from Mattis' younger sister, Chloé, while he was busy running around on the football field.
But when Cat's new dream drags her across the country du...
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The days start to pass again.
I go to class. I study with Emmy and Ava. I watch Mattis at practice. And life goes on.
"Is that everything?" Mattis asks, shutting the trunk with a loud thud. He leans against the truck, eying the small bag in my hand like he expects me to yell 'sike' and whip out two more carry-ons.
I suppose I can't blame him. After all, he grew up with Chloé, and that girl does not travel light.
"Yup," I confirm, giving him my most convincing smile. In all honesty, I'm terrified of going home.
I almost feel like myself again. I've gotten into good routines, attending classes and eating, and dealing with my feelings. I don't know what a trip cross country will do to me.
But it's Easter, and my sister will be home. Also, it's Mattis' birthday this weekend, so we took Friday off to go home.
"Alright. Let's get going." Mattis steps forward, kissing my forehead before opening my car door.
He has an uneasy air about him, and I think he's as rattled as I am about visiting LA.
We drive in silence, watching the city blur past us. I'm so tired from around-the-clock studying that it's a fight not to fall asleep.
Classes have been kicking my butt. I was out so long that trying to make a comeback and expect to pass the spring semester is challenging. But it's also a welcome reprieve. I must put in serious work, occupying many of my waken hours, distracting me. Also, my classmates and professors have no idea what happened. Besides the first couple of days when some girls thought I might still be contagious, they don't treat me any differently. I get just to be Cat.
I yawn, glancing over at Mattis. He looks better. For a while there, he wasn't quite himself. His face was constantly pale and contorted in worry.
I understand. Some days it feels like my skin no longer fits me. Like I'm an interloper, pretending to be Cat.
But his cheeks have reclaimed their color, and I've gained back a bit of the weight. We're healing.
"How's practice going?" I ask, studying him from my spot.
His chin sticks out, which tells me it might not be going all that great. Columbia's football team started spring practice a couple of weeks ago. It was right before Spring Break, so Mattis had to stay on campus.
I was supposed to spend it with Ava and Emmy, but that was before everything. I decided to stay behind too.
"Uh, it's fine," he says, his fingers tightening their grip on the steering wheel.
Right.
Mattis might have slacked off on his workouts during the whole debacle, and when I went to watch one of their practices last week, Aran let it slip that their coach is considering bumping Mattis for one of the new recruits. He has to get serious about training over the summer if he wants to keep his starting position come the regular season.
