Before You Say Goodbye

27

We had – Terry, Piper, and I – spent the rest of the Sunday at Terry's house. We played board games, watched sappy, romantic movies, pulled the same prank on Joaquin that he kept falling for repeatedly – all in all, it was a wonderful day; well, aside from the obvious awkwardness between Piper and me.

While Terry had completely forgiven Piper by Sunday afternoon, I was still trying to reach the halfway-forgiveness mark and it was already Monday now. Piper had been extra cheery all morning, trying to do everything in her power to let us know how sorry she was. She made breakfast smoothies one for Terry and one for me when Terry picked us for school – which was completely weird by itself because Piper never set foot inside the kitchen.

Terry and I had shared a look as she dumped the travel mugs in our hands. And surprisingly, it had tasted good. Because of the turn of events since yesterday, I was no longer sitting shotgun in Terry's car again. For a split second, I'd thought to claim the front seat, just to provoke Piper, but I had quickly given up on the idea. The last thing I wanted was to pick another fight with her.

The first half of my school day had been completely boring. Sophia had been awfully quiet in all the classes that we shared. When questioned if everything was fine, she kept reassuring me that everything was – but the way her lips twitched down every time told me it was a lie. Not wanting to press too much into it, I'd let her think she had me fooled. I'll probably give her a day and if she is still acting strange tomorrow I'll confront her, I'd decided. I'd also decided against asking her why Holland was talking to her the day Roman had found them. For now.

When lunch rolled around, I couldn't stop grinning. I was so excited. Not because of the boring food mom had packed me for lunch today, but because I was going to invite Roman to sit with us for lunch. Right now, I was walking aimlessly around the school, trying to figure out where Roman spent his lunches. I was only a few minutes late to get out of the class and by the time I reached his locker, he was either already gone or he hadn't shown up there in the first. He doesn't eat in the cafeteria – I already knew that. I'd already checked the courtyard, no sign of the brooding boy. I even searched every nook and corner of the library – no luck.

"Addie!" Behind me, Terry was quickly walking towards me. "The cafeteria is this way," she pointed her hand in the opposite direction, "Where're you going?"

"I can't find Roman anywhere," I pouted, deeply disappointed, "I left the classroom two minutes later than usual and he is nowhere to be found. I searched everywhere, Terry!"

She nodded slowly, understanding dawning on her face. "I heard he eats by the lacrosse field. Did you try there?"

My eyes widened, as well as my lips as I grinned. "I didn't!"

Hesitantly, she reached for my arm, looping hers into mine. Smiling, she started to pull me in the direction of the field, "Let's go."

The shock was the only emotion I was able to register. "You're coming with me?"

"Of course."

Laughing happily, I let her pull me. "Who did you hear from about his eating whereabouts?"

She shrugged, "I asked Viktor. I've never seen Roman eating in the cafeteria; so, I was curious."

I never thought convincing Terry to give Roman a chance would've been the easiest thing for me to do. Convincing Roman to join us in the cafeteria to eat lunch with us was a challenge. And honestly, I'd say it was the hardest thing I had to do all week. Eventually, even he had to fall prey to the infamous Terry-charm.

The Terry-charm – a term coined and used by Piper and me to describe the event when someone couldn't say no to Terry – it happens all the time and Roman wasn't an exception. For the first time in my life, I was jealous of something that I'd seen Terry do all the time – being charming.