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Traverse City: where I used to go with West all of the time

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Traverse City: where I used to go with West all of the time. We would visit the port towns which were more than gorgeous during Winter, when the naked trees glistened a shimmery white from the snowfall. We liked to shop around, visiting all the cute stores and, of course, cafes. Our guilty pleasure was a steaming cup of salted caramel hot chocolate from the Traverse Cafe (they also sold the best mini pies that melted in your mouth). No matter when we visited, West and I made it a tradition to go to our favorite restaurant of all time: Firefly. And that was undoubtedly where Otto and I would be going later tonight.

    Traverse City was a three, almost four hour drive from Ann Arbor, and that was the only downside. But the reason I had suggested it was because it was incredibly unlikely that we would run into anyone from school there. Meaning that Otto and I could spend time together out in the real world without the fear of being spotted together. And that was the most exciting part of it all. I was determined that tonight would be exceptional.

    The last bell was about to ring and I was so ready to get out of Spanish. I still wasn't sure why I'd signed up for that class since I didn't need another Spanish credit, but I guess I had decided to inflict some torture upon myself when I was filling out my schedule over the past summer. Impatiently, I started to pack up my backpack.

    I wanted to get out of here as soon as I possibly could. The drive was long, and since school got out at 3, leaving right away would get me to Traverse a little past 6. I then realized that I couldn't leave right away, remembering that Otto had a meeting at 4 that he estimated would last an hour or so. Which meant that he wouldn't be leaving until past 5, getting to Traverse around... 8.

    It hadn't dawned on me until now just how late that was for being 3 hours away from my dorm. 8 wasn't incredibly late, I mean, I usually went to bed no later than midnight. But since I would then have to drive back to Ann Arbor, I couldn't even imagine how late I'd be getting back.

    The bell rang and I quickly grabbed my backpack and exited the classroom. Usually West met up with me after class so we could talk about our days and he could gossip about something random he overheard in his gym class, but he wasn't in our usual spot. I shook it off and kept walking toward the girls' dorms. In my head, I thought about watching a few episodes of season 3 of The Walking Dead before leaving to Traverse. Had I been watching seasons 1 or 2? No. But since I'd seen the show so many times, I didn't feel obligated to start from the beginning of the series. I much preferred seasons 3 and up.

    Pulling me out of my thoughts was the buzz of my phone in my back pocket. Not bothering to stop, I grabbed it and read the text on my home screen:

O- The tree to your right.

    I looked over to the right and saw Otto standing against the tree, so I walked over towards it and stood against the other side, then pulling out my phone and pretending to text someone. Trying to be as discreet as possible at our impromptu meeting.

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