Beyond The Sky

46

My alarm goes off exactly at 6 a.m. and I almost immediately get up to get ready. Normally I'd be in bed for another half hour doing something else, but today was different. I had a lot of nervous energy to shake off before I revealed everything to my other friends about Arlo and Lance, so having the extra time would make things easier. As I'm getting myself ready I give myself a small pep talk to ease the nerves and almost exactly an hour later I was pretty much ready to go, but I didn't have to leave for another half hour.

I'm never ready this early. I head downstairs to grab some food, and I sit down on our living room couch, turning my phone on again, reading up a bit about Harpy's breed -- the Afghan Hound. I wanted to learn more about them and what made them so special. I also got my answer from Savanna regarding my question earlier, and the theming was actually birds--not eagles--so technically I was right the second time around. I spend about 15 minutes doing that before Spencer comes down too, his keys in his hand ready to drive us down to the school. I give him a small nod, closing out the tab on my phone and standing up. I give him a smile as we head off our porch and he unlocks his car. I immediately head into the passenger seat and shut the door before he can even get to the driver's side. As he enters, he says something to me, but I didn't quite hear what he said.

"What was that?" I ask.

"What's the hurry?" He repeats, laughing.

I laugh nervously. "Nervous energy. I did tell you I was gonna tell Bailey and them about Arlo and Lance today?"

"I think you did, very briefly."

"I wasn't super sure."

"You'll be fine. Good luck." He smiles at me, turning his car on. He starts to back out of the driveway and I sigh heavily.

"It's gonna be a long, long day. I can already feel it."

He looks at me for a split second. "I'm here if you need to talk after."

"I know. By the way, how's Isla? Haven't heard much from her in a while."

"She's doing well, at least last I talked to her through video. We've had a very long text conversation going for a few days now."

I smile at him. "Cute! What're you guys talking about?"
"Life stuff, mostly. But we have been discussing when I should go and see her."

"You figure once the school year ends, right?"

"That's what she wants, but I wanna see her much sooner."

"Of course you do." I laugh. "She's your soulmate, I understand you want to see her more often."

"Just like you and Lance. Look, you really lucked out getting one that you didn't need to go online for."
"I know. There's at least seven billion people out there and I ended up with one in the same area as me. Look at me go."

He laughs again. "You're so cheerful about it that it almost makes me kind of jealous."

"Don't be!" I nudge him playfully, but lightly. "You and Isla are just as good as me and Lance!"

"Okay, okay, okay. But seriously -- you get to see Lance more often than I do Isla. Keep that in mind."

"I know that."

We pull into the school parking lot and he parks in his designated spot. "We're here. Grab your stuff and go find your girls, I gave you plenty of time to talk to them."

I nod, getting out. He follows, grabbing his stuff from the other side of the car. Our doors shut at almost the exact same time, and he would lock his car soon after. I raced towards the front of the school, my bag slung over my shoulder. I immediately spot the back of Evynne's head in the courtyard and go towards them. "Hi guys!"