𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠| 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬

Cafe Atlantique

Nov 9 2023

When we get to the cafe I start thinking of what I'll tell her about Paige, since they're both seniors with the same major and what not, except she's staying to get a doctors and I'm not sure if Paige is staying.

Either way, if I talk to her about it she'll know what to say, she's probably been.

"Bonjour", she smiles at the cashier. "Ravi de te revoir Julia, que puis-je obtenir pour toi", (nice to see you again Julia, what can I get for you) the older woman smiles back. My family has been coming to this cafe since we were kids, the people here know us very well. It's like they're apart of our family.

She orders a crepe and a chai latte and I order egg and cheese on ciabatta and a honey lavender latte. I wonder is Paige has ever been here. As we sit down I attempt to start a conversation with Julia. "So... are you going home this weekend?" "Um yeah, we live like 20 minutes from school", she laughs. I laugh too. "Hey, I think I like this girl that I met yesterday", I say after a beat. "Already, you've only been here a day", she says chuckling. "I know, but her presence is just so" I try to think of a word to describe it.
"Tranquil"

She just smiles. "You seem to really like her. What's her name anyway", she says drinking her latte. "Paige." "Like Bueckers?", she seems to be in complete disbelief. "I don't know her last name, why what's wrong with that", now I'm concerned too. "Nothing she's in like half of my classes", she gets her drink again. "No seriously, tell me." "There's nothing wrong with that, shes
just really well known and seems very different from your type", she says raising her voice a little. "I don't have a type", I mumble going back to eating my food.

She start to talk about new music we've discovered that we like and bands that we deeply admire and time goes by very fast.

"Hey, there's this costume party I got invited to, you should go", she says as we get into the car. "Costume party in november", I laugh. "Alright suit yourself." "Hey wait, I love dressing up in costumes, where is it at", I buckle my seatbelt. "Chris' house, next friday", she smirks as she turns her car on.

Chris had been her boyfriend and my friend since we were in high school. He's a football player, and he takes choir with me, he's like an older brother to me, he'll end up in the family at some point probably due to how head over heels he is for Julia.

She dropped me back off at my dorm and I decided to practice and memorize the show music, I should at least know the music right.

Nov 10 2023

Today is gonna be a good day, I can feel it in my bones.

I go shower, put some makeup on and then I go put on a mini dress, some tights, a cardigan and my doc martens and white socks.

My first class of the day is calculus... how fun! (It's actually horrible). At least after that I have physics, I love physics. I decided to get Lyft because I heard about this thing where they connect women to women drivers, sounds comforting.

I get in, and I find myself having a conversation with the girl driving, she seems around my age, she's very sweet actually, she says that she doesn't have class today but she goes to another nearby college. We talking about the science programs at our schools, she wants to be a zoologist and I want to be a marine biologist. I'm aware my school isn't exactly ideal for that profession but it's close to home.

Once I get to class I actually know no one there and that's okay, I need to focus on the subject matter anyway.

This class is going by really slowly, so I check my phone. Julia texted me.

Jules

So, I may or may not have invited Paige to the party...

Dude...

I can't be around her,
I have to come to
terms with this💀

...
You have all week.

She's right, I do have all week.

Alright, I need
you to help me
find a costume

Yayy

This girl is insane, but at least I know she'll have my back. Actually she probably invited her so that Chris could have more people at his party. When I look up people are packing and some are going to get a work sheet from the front of the class. Welp, at least I'll probably have help if Lily had done this before.

On the way to my next class I actually bumped into Paige and Julia. "Hey dude, where are you going", I hear Julia say almost passing them by. "Oh, um, I have physics actually", I say smiling like a fool. "Have fun being a science nerd", Julia laughs at that last part and I laugh too. I notice Paige staring at me, she scans my body, smirking.

"Um can I help you", I ask. "No, I really like your outfit, it Um, complements your body.", she says looking back up at me. "Oh, well Thank you", I say smiling at her. She smiles back. "If you need a ride let me know", Jules says. "Alright."

"Wait where are you guys going", I turn back. "To lunch", Paige now turns back. "I'll walk with you guys, I have time before physics", I say going towards them. "Girl go to class", Julia laughs. I laugh to myself as I turn back around and go to class.

Physics went by too fast. I loved every second of it and once again I knew, no one in there which gave me more reason to have it as my own. I finished my work quickly and spoke to the professor a little about finding jobs for my major, she was quite helpful.

My next class was marine geology, I really enjoyed that class too. It was a bit more difficult but I enjoy a challenge sometimes.

Julia came and gave me a ride home, it made me realize how much I missed being here. I missed being surrounded by French because my parents barely spoke English, I missed going to that cafe every Friday, I missed family dinners, I missed this house. I'm so happy to be back.

My mom opened the door for us.

"Bébé, Tu es enfin à la maison", (baby, you're finally home) she says as she engulfs me into a hug. I hug her back, nearly crying even though I just saw her a few months ago. We let go and we're both in tears as I walk into the house with Jules.

As we calm down from crying I tell her "Tu m'as manqué maman" (I missed you mom). "Tu m'as manqué aussi, je suis tellement content que Tu sois revenu" (I missed you too, I'm so glad you came back), she says smiling at me. After a bit of talking I tell her that I'm going up to my room if she needs anything.

I missed this bedroom so much, there are so many memories packed here, I smile at the thought. When I leave I see my oldest sister. "PHOEBE", I yell. She runs up and we hug each other. "I missed you so much", she says sounding relieved. "Oh shut up, I missed you more", I say chuckling. Me, her and Julia go to the backyard and catch up. I learn that phoebe is also getting her doctorate degree and that she's getting a bfa in theater as well. Julia is engaged to Chris and saving up to get her own house with him.