With Me | Sequel to Be There ✔️

Reunited

His head lifts up, and he looks around, almost as if he doesn't know if it was his imagination or not. "Dwayne!" I shout again, and his eyes lock with mine from across the lawn.

Even from far away, I can see the smile grown on his face, his entire self seeming to light up with joy. "Meg!" I take off into a sprint, receiving glares from bystanders. I race to him until I'm wrapped in his arms, safe and tight.

"Oh, my God! I missed you!" I say into his striped shirt as he chuckles. I pull away, a goofy grin crooked on my lips.

He smiles down at me, his skin tanner than before, most likely from being in Texas for two months. "I missed you too, Meg," he replies.

He leans down, but is interrupted by a sandy-haired girl. "Please not in public, you two," she covers her eyes, and I roll mine before hugging her. "Hey, roomie."

"Hey Julie," I laugh, and as soon as I finish with her, I'm instantly embraced by Luis, Russ, and Ken at the same time. "Guys, I kind of, you know, need to breathe." They back up, apologizing even though they know I'm kidding.

Dwayne grabs my hand, squeezing it gently, and the six of us begin walking to the main building. "You know, I think this place is running very low on the brother's quotient," Russ says, black sunglasses shading his eyes.

"Yeah," Julie agrees, looking around us. "Hey, I want to know who this new coach, Orion, is. My dad said if I didn't like him, I could come right home."

Russ snorts. "That's nice. My dad said I'd better stay in on scholarship or he'd whip my butt," Russ replies, making us grin.

"You know, I heard in the dorm that the guy played for the Minnesota North Stars," Luis chimes in. "And got suspended for punching out his own Coach." What is with these people and punching their own coach? First Stansson, now Orion, I think his name was.

"You mean the Dallas Stars," Dwayne corrects. "I heard he punched out a fan." I sigh internally, knowing I have nothing to add to this conversation, since I know zip, zero, nada about this guy.

Julie shrugs her shoulder. "I heard he was a Buddhist. You know, like Kung Fu, or Richard Gear."

"Kung Fu wasn't a Buddhist," Ken answers. "He was a Trappist Monk." What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks is a Trappist Monk

"Are you talking about the old Kung Fu, or the further adventures of the new Kung Fu?" Russ asks, the words getting jumbled when I try to process what he just said.

Dwayne hits Russ lightly on the shoulder. "Ya'll watch too much TV," he says, shaking his head while I laugh.

"Do you even have TV in Texas, Dwayne?" I ask teasingly. He playfully glares at me, then chuckles, swinging our hands in between us.

"Shoot, that's the safest thing to do in my hood," Russ responds, and we enter the main building, following a sign that says "Assembly Hall".

We slip into some open seats, all next to each other, myself between Dwayne and Ken. No way are we separating after just meeting back up. "Where's the Ducks?" I whisper-ask Dwayne as he throws his arm over the back of my chair. He shrugs, and the others do the same when I ask them.

"Hey, you know what?" someone says behind us. We turn to see an older boy with gelled brown hair and hands underneath his chin looking at us. "You Ducks don't belong here in Eden Hall."

"What?" Russ starts, but Dwayne interrupts him.

"Hey, easy Russ. Probably think we're someone else. I'm Dwayne," he introduces, sticking out his hand. "We're the new hockey team. And you are?"