The Opportunity of a Lifetime

Chapter 74 (Hailey's POV)

Five days.

I have five days to be with Patrick, and then he's gone. Gracie will be gone, Pete will be gone, Joe will be gone, Andy will be gone.

On the other side of the country.

I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't be away from them for long; I've seen every one of their faces every day for five months. But when they're going to be on the other side of the damn country I guess I'm going to have to be.

I don't know how long it can be until we can move closer to each other. Everything's just gone so fast, in all honesty. Am I ready to move in with a guy I've known for five months? Is Cheryl ready? Does she even want to? How is she handling this? She and Pete have gotten considerably closer recently. I'm positive its as hard for her as it is for me.

But the guys have to get home sometime. They need to see their own families. The selfish side of me wishes they could stay forever, just camped out weirdly enough in my basement.

I should know the world isn't a wish granting factory, though.

I was sitting in a bean bag chair in my bedroom, away from everyone. Just thinking. Knowing that's making situations worse, I force my body up and drag my feet through the house, wanting some kind of contact.

I find Cheryl reclined back on the couch, channel surfing. My parents are at work, so she claimed the TV. I think Patrick and Pete are taking over my Xbox downstairs.

"Hi," I mumble, pulling the sleeves of my flannel over my knuckles.

"Hey."

I walk over to the couch, climbing onto it. I sit on the opposite end of Cheryl, feeling pretty isolated. I glance at her, her eyes glued to the TV. The show is A Haunting.

I roll my eyes as I crawl closer to her, and finally her eyes move to look at me.

"What are you doing?" she asks as I slide up beside her, laying my head in the crook of her neck.

"Cuddling," I mutter into her shirt.

"Don't you have a boyfriend for that?"

"Yeah, and I have a best friend for it, too."

She doesn't say anything after that, she just wraps her arms around my back.

Cheryl and I haven't really been all that close lately; there hasn't really been times where we could be. But I remember back in high school we used to be stuck to each other's sides. I'm pretty sure everyone thought we were lesbians, but we didn't care.

My legs are awkwardly sprawled out, so I hesitantly lift one of them up and rest it on Cheryl's hip. She doesn't seem to mind, so I just keep it there.

"How come you chose to be with me instead of them?" Cheryl asks quietly. I shrug, not really knowing myself.

"I'm missing something and it can't be substituted by something else."

"What were you missing?"

I yawn, my eyes starting to droop. "You, honestly."

"Why?" she asks after a couple minutes of silence.

"I can't be without you for long."

"Me neither."

I don't say anything else after that because I end up falling asleep.

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*Patrick's POV*

"Pete, come back here. Pete?"

He looks back at me, putting his finger to his lips. "It'll be fine, Patrick, I just want to pet it."

I roll my eyes as he crawls on all fours away from me in the grass. He's so stupid.

He approaches the squirrel slowly, and the fluffy thing watches him as Pete makes an idiot out of himself, trying to be sneaky. It isn't working, if you were wondering.

"That squirrel won't let you pet it-"

"SHHHHH!" He looks at me like I ate his pizza. "Animals love me."

I roll my eyes yet again, sitting and crossing my legs in the grass, leaning against a tree. Might as well be comfortable while I watch this shit show.

"Here little squirrelly squirrel," Pete mumbles, slowly raising his hand up to the squirrel. Its staring at him like he's a freaking idiot. I feel you, squirrel.

It does that squeaky thing squirrels do, and it leaps off the branch it was sitting in, landing directly on Pete's head.

"OH MY GOD GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF THERES A FUCKING SQUIRREL ON MY HEAD PATRICK GET IT OFF!"

I just fall over on the ground dying while he frantically runs around the yard, trying to get the squirrel off his head. He's trying to pull it off, but that thing has got its claws clamped into his hair, holding on for dear life. While Pete runs around and falls and trips, I glance up at the animal, and its eyes are widened, freaked out by the fact that there are hands grabbing at him and he's being screamed at by a short, black haired freak.

"Patrick, help me!"

"Oh, right, sorry, sorry!" I recover from laughing so hard, jumping up and running, imbalanced, towards Pete.

I try to grab the squirrel, but Pete keeps jerking around.

"Pete! Stop moving, I can't get it when you're jerking away from me."

He stops, looking at me and wincing. "But it scares me."

"Then why the hell did you try to pet it?"

I reach up slowly, grabbing the squirrel and plucking it right off his head. How he couldn't manage to get it off after everything he just did is beyond me.

I walk back over to the tree it was sitting in before Pete rudely disturbed it, and it jumps out of my hands, taking its place back on the branch.

It does that weird chirpy thing at me, probably thanking me for saving it from the big monster.

"You're welcome," I say to it, then turn around, seeing Pete sitting criss-crossed in the grass, pouting with his arms folded.

"Aw, did poor Petey not get what he wanted?"

"Shut up, Patrick."

"Hey, I told you not to try to pet that thing. Did you listen? Nooooo."

"I said shut up, Patrick."

"Or what? Are you going to make me say I'm wrong, because in case you haven't noticed, you're the wrong one and I-"

I can't finish my sentence because Pete is tackling me to the ground, and for a second I stare up at him, kinda frightened.

Geez, is he really that mad over a squirrel?

He's staring at me, eyebrows furrowed in concentration, lips pressed in a straight line.

"Uh, Pete?"

He still doesn't say anything, and I begin to get kinda worried. What's up with him?

He reaches above me, and I freeze in place. He touches something above my head, and suddenly something is falling on me.

I later realize that thing was a worm.

Pete jumps off of me, and I shoot up off the ground, hitting myself and brushing myself off, hoping that worm isn't still on me somewhere.

"Pete, you fucking asshole!" I screech, running after him, while he runs away from me, screaming like a girl.