Me, Myself, and Her

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Five: A Place In This World

The next morning, Max was riding the school bus so Annie could get to school super early. Steve groaned and grumbled the entire time, but didn't really mean it.

A couple minutes into the ride, he was completely over it. "You excited for this? It's pretty cool, you know," Steve said.

He hadn't had much of a chance to talk to her yet about her being a cheerleader, since every time tired their mom would barge in about her own years as cheer captain.

Annie nodded. "Yeah! I mean, it's been kind of nerve-wracking because I'm a freshman so I'm an easy target, but I'm also a Harrington so there's always an occasional girl on the squad asking if you're single which weirds me out, and Chrissy is super nice so that helps out as well, and-"

Steve's laughing cut her off. When he noticed the pause, he cleared his throat and shook his head. "Sorry, sorry, it's just... you seem to enjoy it and also seem to be kind of nervous."

Annie just rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. I am really enjoying it. I thought, and this is going to be dumb... but I thought I might try to find a place to fit in high school. Not just for better things to put on my college application, but..."

The way she trailed off had Steve worried. Her whole face seemed to drop and an aura of sadness surrounded her. Rather than trying to pry it out of her, he stayed quiet and let her talk in her own time.

And it came a few seconds later. "I've felt off without having Holly and Meghan." This was the first time she'd brought them up since the funeral, so Steve was stunned into a complete silence. "It was nice having multiple girls to talk to in middle school. And I know I'll always have the Party and my amazing girlfriend."

"Well, don't forget me, Nancy, and Robin. We're all here for you, too," he said, getting some words back.

A nod. "Yeah, that's true, but not for forever. I mean, the other two will graduate in June and I just want some girls around my age and grade to hang out with in high school. I just miss the community of having a close group of girl friends."

Steve let the words sit for a second before asking, "Have you talked to Max about this?" It came out quiet, as to not start anything. But he was right- Annie needed to talk to Max about all of this, too.

Just as he suspected, Annie shook her head. "No, I just don't want to accidentally offend her. I don't want her to think she's not enough, because she's more than enough! But there's something about having other girls to talk to." A beat. "I miss El. I wish she didn't leave."

Another thing that hadn't really been brought up a lot since the move happened.

"I know you do," Steve said, moving his hand to Annie's shoulder to try and comfort her. It was hard while driving a car. "And I promise I'm going to work really hard to convince mom and dad to let us and Max go to California for a couple weeks in the summer."

Annie smiled. "Yeah, Max and I talked about that a little yesterday morning... maybe, if it were to ever happen, we could fly in and out of Lenora, and then drive around California a bit? See where Max used to live."

Steve smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, that would be awesome. It'll take some groveling, but I think we can get them to agree, don't you think?"

Annie nodded, and Steve realized he was successful in getting her back in the groove for the pep rally just in time as the school came into view. He parked by the entrance closest to the gym and looked at his baby sister.

"You got this."

"I got this."

"You're gonna kick ass- er, cheer good, I guess?"