The Return

Chapter Twenty Three

Monday 24th April 2021.

"He's avoiding me," Holly leaned against the wall of lockers.

Heaven pulled out a thick-spined History book and shoved it into her bag. Holly didn't bother with books. Her phone was all she would need for the semester. It had everything. From a recorder to an open document detailing her notes from last week.

"Give him some space, people handle things like this... differently," Heaven hung her bag over her shoulder and shut her locker door.

Kyle hadn't said a word to Holly since Georgia bailed him out of the holding cell. Her texts went unanswered. He left her on read. Her calls were persistently ignored. She didn't bother to leave a message.

"I guess," Holly sighed. "I miss him. I miss what we had before..."

"Before the arrest?" It was only first period, but the air reeked of sweat and cheap perfume. "Who knows, maybe this triggered some bad memories. Didn't you say he was suffering PTSD?"

Holly nodded and scanned the students in the hallway. None of them were familiar to her. She allowed painful fragments of disappointment to settle in.

She missed having someone to walk back home with. She missed their pitstop at Mayra's park and their random confessions on the swing set. The last time they were there, he confessed to still using the old typewriter his mother had in the back of her closet for essays and assignments. She even joked about what a shock that must have been to the teachers who were used to assignments emailed directly to them.

Going back to Mayra's park alone felt wrong and sitting there on the swing set that had become their spot didn't feel right.

"And, don't take this the wrong way, Holly, but you don't owe him anything." Heaven led the way to their Monday Morning class. "If you want to take control of your life, you can, and you don't need to wait for him to come talk to you about anything..."

Take control of your life.

Take control.

Realization crashed over her in waves. The first peak sent tingles down her fingertips. It was like a bulb glinted over her head.

She knew what she had to do.

Her life had spiraled. And she somehow lost sight of her main goal after coming back to Illinois. It sure as hell wasn't to sulk over the boy, she told herself she wouldn't get attached to.

The ground was spinning. She had to spin in its direction.

"...And I'm not saying this because you're my sister—"

Holly nodded. "You're right."

The morning sun tore through the hall windows.

"You're right," She said again, louder. "Heaven, you're a genius." She reached into the front pocket of her high-waisted baggy jeans for her phone. "I can take complete control right now and I don't need anyone."

It wasn't too late to fix things. To do what she really wanted.

She opened the website with a few easy clicks. The ticket prices hadn't fluttered. Her heart pounded with excitement and eagerness and fear?

"Exactly, and when he sees that you're not like all the other girls at this school that would leach onto him because of his brooding bad-boy thing, he's going to come running, mark my words," Heaven weaved through the boys hollering by the door.

Holly would be digging into her summer savings, but it was worth it. If she was going to make things right in her new city, she was going to have to tie up loose ends in the old one.

She booked the evening flight to Manhattan and grinned up at Heaven.

"You look way too happy, should I be worried?" Heaven took the middle seat by two girls on the cheer team. They were giving them the stink eye.

"I am doing what you said. I'm taking control of my life. I am going to Manhattan for a few days. There's someone I need to talk to before I can fully commit to being here."

She owed iris more than an apology.