Abbie's POV
Senior year begins tomorrow.
I can't believe a year has gone by without Benson. There is so much I want to tell him and just as much I want to ask him. Is he getting better? Is he already better? Where in the heck was he? I haven't heard a word from him ever since that night. Nada. Nothing from the COT. Nothing from Mr. Wang. I went by his house but the windows were all dark and there was "For Sale" sign on the front lawn. Benson and the COT people were gone.
Everyone at school, including Nellie, believed what the teachers told them, that Benson had transferred to another school. I was the only one who knew otherwise. He was somewhere out there and the hope he'll come back for me still exists in my heart til this day.
A lot of things changed over the course of the past year. People changed too, like me.
The principal found out about the false rumors Alice spread and gave her weeks of detention. Ever since that, she and Calvin both stopped bothering me at school. Not soon after, news that Alice and Calvin broke up after cheating on each other. It was not a surprise to the student body since everyone had expected that out of those two.
That's not all that happened.
Ms. Smith, the biased vice principal who made Benson and I clean up Calvin's mess, was fired after the school board discovered her biased ways.
Nellie and I became really good friends. We bond over our addictive interest in Korean dramas and discuss them daily.
I got used to my mind reading ability and learned to accept it. The thoughts I heard still weren't all that friendly, but I got over it. I can't be liked by everyone.
My parents got divorced and I live with my mom. Sometimes I visit my dad but we always argue about my future and whatnot so we're not close. He got remarried to that woman he was cheating with which made our father-daughter relationship even more strained.
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Tomorrow is the first day of school. Nellie and I were sitting side by side in front of the TV in my room getting our daily dose of Korean when she spoke up.
"Did you hear?" Nellie asked me with excitement in her voice. "Did you hear?"
"Hear what?" I roll my eyes.
"We have a new kid this year and he's hot!" she told me.
I nodded insincerely with my eyes focused on the drama unfolding on the screen. Soo Chul, aka Ji Soo, was driving his motorcycle alongside Hye Jung (Park Shin Hye) when suddenly a car appeared and.... Nellie turned off the TV.
"Nellie!!" I groaned. "Why'd you do that? Did you see what was about to happen?? Did you see???" I lunged at the remote in her hand but she held up away from my reach. "We have to see what happens to him!!"
"Listen to me first, Abbie," she scolded with a frown. "This is big news. We haven't had a new student ever since Ben-"
"Nellie," I interrupted her before she could finish. My heart hurt at the sound of his name.
"Come on, it's been a year already. Get over him." There was sympathy in her eyes. She didn't know the whole story but she knew enough to know how important he was to me. She knew talking about him was a sore subject for me, but continued away. "He's not here anymore, but you know who is? The hot new guy." She's been pushing me for a while to get out there and meet someone new, but I just couldn't.
I still like Benson. I might even love him, who knows. I thought the pain of missing him would get better in time but it still hurts even with the mere mention of his name. It's especially tough at school because we had made so many memories on campus- especially at our bench. I have been avoiding that bench whenever I can.
I let out a sigh in defeat. "Fine. Tell me everything about him." I knew she was not going to give me the remote until I listened to her and gave her my feedback. "Did you see the guy?"
"Nope." She shook her head.
"Then how do you know he's hot?" I countered.
"It's what I heard from everyone else. I'm sure it's true."
"Pft, he could be really ugly for all I know. We have to see if what you heard is legit tomorrow. Now give me the remote." I held my hand out. "We have to see what happens next!"
◈ ◈ ◈
I tapped my foot to the beat of the music playing in my earbuds and leaned onto the lockers. Nellie was late like always. We had agreed to meet each other before school to go to our 1st period together. I looked down at my phone and changed the song to one that I have been obsessed with the past few days. BTS Jungkook's cover of Justin Bieber's Nothing Like Us.
♫ Cause nothing can ever,
Ever replace you.
Nothing can make me feel like you do, yeah. ♫
This song made me think of Benson. Even though the lyrics didn't exactly represent Benson and me, it felt pretty similar. It made me miss him, but I couldn't stop listening to it. I didn't want to forget Benson.
♫ There's nothing like us,
there's nothing like you and me,
Together through the storm. ♫
Man, I'm starting to feel depressed. I paused the song and looked up to check if Nellie was here. Nope, she wasn't. Why wasn't she here yet?? The bell was going to ring in 10 minutes and I'm not planning on being late on my first day.
When I was about to look back down, I heard someone call me.
"Abbie!!" Nellie shouted my name as she ran toward me. "He's coming!!"
"Who is?" I ask when she stops in front of me, out of breath.
"The hot new guy we talked about yesterday! I didn't get to see his face but he looked hot from far away. I ran here as soon as I saw him." She turned her attention to the school's front doors and waited for the 'hot' guy.
As I waited with her, I played the song and watched the doors too.
♫ Nothing like us,
Nothing like you and me... ♫
"He's here!!!" Nellie slapped me eagerly on the arm and my eyes widened when I saw who it was. Could it be?
He got closer with every step and my heart pounded in anxiety. Whispers filled the air from the students around us.
"He looks familiar..."
"Who is that?"
He walked down the hall, ignoring everyone, and continued to move.
"Isn't that Benson?" Nellie gasped when recognition hit her. "That's Benson! What the hell!"
♫ Nothing like us,
Nothing like you and me... ♫
He stopped in front of me and smiled. He pulled one earbud out of my ears, but I could hear Jungkook's voice in the other ear.
♫ There's nothing like us,
There's nothing like you and me,
Together through the storm. ♫
I looked into his eyes and my heart fluttered at his thought. It's been a long time Abbie. I missed you.
♫ There's nothing like you and me,
Together, oh.. ♫
Tears filled my eyes and I wrapped my arms around him. I felt him hug me back and never felt happier that he was here with me.
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A/N:
[EDITED] This was supposed to be the ending but it's not anymore. I explained why in the next chapter. 😊😊
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Teen FictionWhat if the people around you- from your classmates to your best friend- were hiding their true feelings behind their smiles? And you found out? Abbie Lee used to think that her life was perfect. She had supportive parents, a best friend who had her...
