✔️ Midnight Sparks『 T.H. 』✧･ﾟ:*

Chapter 34: The road ahead

Every new beginning

Comes from some other beginning's end

- Semisonic

- - -

"Want to swap lunches?" Jayna asked, eyeing my chicken avocado pita sandwich greedily.

I tilted my head. "What do you have again?"

"Peanut butter and jelly sandwich," Jayna said, making a face. "I was in a rush this morning and had no choice but to grab half of the lunch that was meant for Joe."

"So your little brother only gets half his lunch today? Poor guy."

Jayna sniffed. "Excuse me, save all the sympathy for me please."

"Swap half?" I suggested.

"Deal."

It was a beautiful fall day and Jayna and I had decided to meet up for lunch on campus grounds in between classes.

We sat on a park bench near the college library, munching on our sandwiches in silence while people watching.

Jayna finished her food first, yet she remained uncharacteristically quiet.

"Jays?" I spoke.

"Hmm?"

"Something on your mind?"

"Umm maybe."

"Spill."

Jayna turned to face me, her blue eyes wide and earnest. "So here's the thing. I'm actually taking a lot more credit hours this semester... So that I can graduate earlier."

I glanced at Jayna, nodding. "That explains why you've been so busy with your coursework. Why do you want to finish college quicker though?"

"I guess I'm ready to get out of this town," Jayna confessed. "See what's out there way, way beyond Warren."

I nodded again, finishing the last of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which turned out to be pretty delicious. "I'm honestly surprised you didn't decide to do this sooner."

Jayna gazed at me intently. "The thoughts have been there for some time now. But I was worried..."

"About what?"

"Abandoning you."

I couldn't sound more surprised. "Whattt? Why?"

"You know how I'm super protective of you," Jayna said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I just wanted to make sure I was there for whatever that comes your way. Especially after what happened with Trevor – I mean Tom."

"Oh Jays." I tapped at her hand that rested on my shoulder. "It never occurred to me, the burden that you were carrying –"

"Don't be silly. It's not a burden!"

"I'm sorry if I had been holding you back." I offered a regretful smile. "You've been so good to me. But you must go forth now – spread your wings and fly."

Jayna retracted her hand and tapped on her chin, laughing. "Like a housefly?"

"Eww Jays. I was thinking more of a butterfly, but whatever floats your boat."

Jayna continued laughing.

"So do you know what you want to do?" I asked her.

Her laughter stopped, and a shy grin appeared. "Well... I've been talking to Harrison. He wants me to help out with the PR side of things for him and Tom. It'll be small steps initially – working with their existing team, proposing strategies and lending a hand with ongoing marketing-related initiatives."

"Wow. That's – that's amazing, Jays. It's a great opportunity."

"I haven't said yes or anything." Jayna's tone became very solemn. "I wanted to make sure you're okay with this."

"Because of Tom?"

"Yeah."

"Jays," I said firmly, "It's absolutely fine. I couldn't be happier for you. In fact, I would be so mad if you had turned it down."

"And we both know it's never a good idea to incur the wrath of Alison Rose Kinloch," Jayna remarked with a smirk.

I smirked back. "So hang on. Does this mean that you and Harrison are finally officially together?"

Jayna's happy smile was all the answer I needed.

"Well congrats, Jayna Leigh Cameron!" I pulled her in for a hug.

"You know I'm still going to worry about you 24/7 right? Even after I leave," Jayna murmured over my shoulder.

"You don't have to. I'm doing so much better now."

"I'm glad. Your family would've been so proud of you, you know."

"Yeah," I whispered.

As we relaxed back into our original sitting positions, I caught sight of Owen walking past at the same time that he saw me.

We waved and exchanged smiles. Owen pointed at the library to indicate that was where he was headed, to which I responded with a nod of the head.

"That's Owen, right?" Jayna asked after he disappeared through the library doors.

"Yeah." I proceeded to tell Jayna about the day he came by Café Luna – and how the conversation we had led to thoughts of Tom.

"I mean, I'm not saying I'll do something about it. But it's a mini breakthrough I guess," I concluded.

I observed that Jayna had gone quiet again.

"Right?" I prompted her.

"Yeah. Totally." Jayna hesitated before she continued, "It's just that..."

I looked at her curiously.

"I don't know if I should even tell you..."

"Okay now you really have to tell me."

Jayna's expression was pained, which alarmed me. "Tom – he, uhh, is seeing someone."

"Oh."

"I know you don't check out any social media at all, but just in case... The relationship has gone Instagram-official on Tom's account, so you might want to continue being antisocial media."

"Right." I took a moment for the news to sink in, all too aware that Jayna was studying me anxiously. "Well, thanks for letting me know. I was the one who made the decision to end things, and I did ask him to move on. So I wish him well. Really."

"That's our tough girl," Jayna said with evident relief. "It has been a wild ride, hasn't it?"

"The wildest."

"Well, here's to the next adventure. It'll be a fresh start, for all of us," Jayna declared.

"Sounds good."

I tilted my head back and squinted at the brilliant blue autumn sky, hoping that it was a nice day for Tom too, wherever he was.

With less emotional baggage holding me back now, it would be interesting to see where the road ahead would bring me.

I was, for the first time in a long while, excited to find out.