By My Side - Sam/Aomaris Fanfiction

32) End of School

I made my way through the strangely empty hallways of the school, riding on a high of euphoria from the success of my writing exam. I knew where everyone was, they'd be in the cafeteria saying goodbye to each other. A twinge of sadness surprised me. As much as I hated high school, I couldn't spend two years of my life with these people and just not be at least a little bit sad when I had to leave them all. Lisette was an exception, but other than that, I was legitimately sad to be leaving. I finally reached the cafeteria, spotting everyone milling around and exchanging teary hugs. I made my way over to Mika, who was hovering by the doorway with Ronnie.

"Oh, hey Nix!" She said happily. I smiled at my sister and she grinned back, glad to see me in a less angry mood. "Uh, I got a text from James saying not to get a ride from Suzu and Naomi. I don't know why, maybe he's coming to get us." I stared. Why on earth would James be coming to get us?
"Where are Suzu and Naomi?" I asked.
"They went to go get a drink. They'll be back in a sec." I nodded and together, we moved deeper into the room, towards the nearest corner devoid of people. Once there, I leaned against the wall, watching the students exchange goodbyes. My eyes picked out people who had been important to me during my time here. I spotted Suzu and Naomi in the far corner, talking to someone who I think was Mrs Philips. Lisette was with her cronies in the centre of the room. Mr Sawyer was engaged in conversation with one of the boys in my writing class. Sam was watching me from the door of the cafeteria with a fond smile on his face. I smiled back and- Wait.

I stared at him, extremely confused. He was already attracting whispers and sneaky glances from a lot of the girls and a couple of the boys, and a sudden pang of jealousy shocked me. He made his way over to me and Mika, who was now staring at him too.
"'Sup, doofus." He said, giving me a toothy grin. He ruffled my hair and planted a kiss on my cheek, making my face flush red as everyone in the immediate vicinity stared at me and my boyfriend.

"What in the fuck are you doing here?" I asked him, uncomfortably aware of the envious glances I was getting.
"What? Aren't you happy to see me?" He teased me. I shoved him playfully.
"You know what I mean. Why are you here? At our school?" He gazed at me, mildly confused.
"Didn't James tell you?" He asked, glancing between me and Mika, who shook her head and pulled out her phone. Suzu and Naomi made their way over at that point, each raising an eyebrow at the sight of Sam but lifting their hands in greeting anyway, remembering him as a servant from the housewarming party. I shuddered, both at the uncomfortable memory of the party and at the memory of Sam looking handsome dressed in a suit. I flushed at the image and tuned back into the conversation before anyone noticed.

"Huh, I guess he didn't tell ya then. He must want it to be a surprise." Sam was saying. Confusion hit me immediately.
"What are you lot planning?" I asked suspiciously. Sam only smirked at me and winked, which made me want to melt.
"You'll just have to wait and see." I glared at him.
"Sam..." I whined. "You know I hate surprises..." His cocky smirk faltered for a second at the sight of my face but he regained it quickly.
"I promise you'll love it, okay?" I crossed my arms and frowned.
"That's not the point..." Sam just chuckled and wrapped his arm around me, giving me a side hug.
"I'm sure you'll survive, ya doofus." That got me to smile.
"Are you? I'm not so-"

"Wow! Who's the hunk, Zoey?" I groaned and turned around, as did Sam, who looked both affronted and confused. Lisette stood behind me, eyeing Sam up and down and making irritation flash through me.
"Oh, for fuck's sake..." I muttered under my breath before eyeing her wearily. "What does it matter to you?" I sighed. She raised an eyebrow at me and smirked.
"Well, I wanted to introduce myself to this heartthrob so that when he inevitably ditches you, he knows who to come to." She said matter-of-factly. I gaped at her, unable to respond for a second. Sam glanced between us, confused.
"As if anyone would ever actually fall in love with you." I snapped.
"Better me than some mentally unstable bitch like you." She shot back.
"I'm only mentally unstable because of people like you..."
"You've been fucked in the head since the day you were born. Don't try and pin your problems on me." Lisette retorted.
"It's not like you haven't made them worse, though," I snipped, praying she couldn't see my anxiety. Lisette snarled at me.
"God, you're such an entitled bitch. Literally, just go and kill yourself, Zoey. Then maybe your parents will finally fucking love you. Wait, no, my mistake. No one would care if you offed yourself. You know what? I bet your boyfriend there doesn't even love you!" Silence fell over our little group. I couldn't keep up the fight. A little nagging voice in the back of my head was telling me that she was right. I stepped back from her, my mind reeling, only for my place to be taken by Sam. Lisette batted her eyelashes at him, but he wasn't taking the bait.