the cabin 》h.s

epilogue

One year later.

[ R E A G A N ]

"Hey, Ray."

"Hi," I greet in response to one of my classmates, passing through the corridor of the science building to get to the parking lot. A route I have found much easier to get to upon starting school.

I look around the lot, and after what felt like forever, I set my stuff down on the ceramic bench stones. These seats always reminding me of the ones back in high school on the courtyard.

High school.

Jeez, that feels like forever ago.

It had been a full year since I graduated. Well, I graduated without having walked the stage. I actually spent my so-called graduation in Valencia, California hanging out with my cousin, Sam. I spent about three weeks out there, clearing my head which was very much needed. More than I expected.

And then after coming back, I took a couple months off before finally deciding to go to college. I won't lie, at first I feared I'd have to face all of my high school classmates knowing most of them planned on coming to community college. But, by the Grace of God, since I started back in September, I haven't seen a single recognizable soul since.

I made new friends. Good friends; ones who didn't know of me or my reputation. Not that it mattered anymore. When people said college was different from high school, I never realized just how different it really was. Especially with new people I'm grateful to have in my life. It felt nice. It was like a breath of fresh air knowing what real friendship felt like.

I can't remember the last time I felt like this. But I sure as hell know I never felt this way with Mikaela.

Wow.

Mikaela.

I hadn't heard that name in so long.

I haven't spoken to her since that night. I hadn't seen her since that last time I showed up to school. Last I heard, she got accepted into a college across the country. Don't know exactly where, but I couldn't care less.

The farther, the better.

I believe there were a few times she tried to reach out to me. I might have deleted her number but it's not like I couldn't recognize those 10 numbers anywhere. I had embedded it into my brain, memorizing it like the back of my hand, unfortunately.

I'll never know for what reason she ever wanted to talk to me about. But I knew that the moment I finished high school, I was finished with the memories left behind it. And even though they taunted me for a couple years of my life, over time I realized that not only had it made me stronger, but it made me learn a lot from it.

Who to trust, who not to trust, who your real friends are. That one was the hardest, especially having gone through it twice. The first time, completely fucked me up, of course. The second time was not as painful but definitely a complete mind fuck. I mean, seriously; while I was out there in Valencia, I really had to do a double take like, did this really just happened to me? Again?

I shake the thought away, looking up and meeting a pair of unmissable blue eyes I could easily recognize from a mile away. Earning a nod and a kind smile as he walks towards me.