The Ex Complex

Second Chance?

Zoella walked into her psychology class in good spirits. There were only two weeks of school left, and she was excited to finally catch up on some extra sleep and spend her days outside of a school building she so deeply dreaded. The only thing she wasn't excited about was no longer seeing Justin. He already graduated the week prior and it had been weird not seeing him every other day in writing class. While they had moved past the prom fiasco and managed to go back to their normal conversations in class they hadn't texted since he graduated. As the class was getting settled, Zoella went on her phone to check her messages. To her surprise, Justin texted her. "Hey Zoella, how are you?" The message read. Zoella almost fell out of her chair. "Are you ok," one of her classmates asked her. "Yeah, I'm good," Zoella blushed, managing to pull herself back up into her seat. "I'm good, how was graduation?" Zoella replied. "It was good, I miss you though." Zoella's little heart pounded. She didn't want to seem too elated by the conversation, so she waited ten minutes and responded with a simple, "I feel you." They continued to text every day until one day he asked her, "Do you want to hang out sometime this weekend." Zoella wanted to immediately just say yes but there were two things preventing her from doing so: 1. She didn't want to appear desperate by texting back right away. 2. Her mom. Zoella's mom was extremely strict about her hanging out with guys. And when I say strict, I mean wasn't really allowed to hang out with guys when there weren't any girls around until her 16th birthday. This would be her first time exercising that privilege, and she had no idea how she was going to respond. Zoella decided to bring it up while she was helping her mom plant flowers. "Are you guys dating," was her immediate response of course. "No," Zoella said struggling to prevent herself from rolling her eyes. "Ok, well it's fine if you are because you're 16 now. But make real plans and if I agree with the plan you can go." Zoella texted Justin back later that day asking if he wanted to go to the mall at 2. He said yes, and Zoella let her mom know why the plan was. The next morning Zoella's mom told her that this was ok as long as she met him. Zoella wanted to cry. She didn't say that originally, and that would be weird considering that this would be their first time hanging out. Zoella went back and forth in her mind if this was even worth it at this point. She decided that it would be, and that she mind as well try. Zoella texted Justin and asked for a favor. He responded quickly, writing "Yes." Zoella asked if it was ok if he met her mom before they hung out and told him that her mom always wanted to meet her friends before hanging out with them for the first time, to try to normalize it even though this obviously wasn't the case. He didn't respond right away like he did to the first message and she immediately contemplated her decision. Maybe she was right; maybe this was too weird. Zoella fell back asleep after a few minutes of waiting for a response. When she woke up an hour or so later, and begrudgingly remembering what happened, checked her phone. No messages. She fell back asleep again, and woke back up in another hour to check her phone again. No messages. She fell back asleep a third time, and third time ended up being the charm in this case; he responded saying "Yes of course." Zoella felt a mix of emotions; she was happy that this wouldn't stand in the way of their friendship but she was also scared that them meeting would not go well at all.

A few hours later, Zoella and her mom arrived at the mall, as well as Justin. Justin and her mom spoke for a few minutes, which went surprisingly well. They talked about school, graduation, and future plans. After they were done, Zoella's mom drove away. Justin gave Zoella a hug, and they entered the mall. Justin and Zoella began catching up, and decided to go to a cafe inside the Nordstrom's of the mall. Zoella attempted to pull out some money when they went up to the cashier to order their food but Justin gave her the card right before she could even open her purse. The cashier laughed as Zoella blushed in embarrassed. She never lets anyone pay for her food. "Justin, you didn't have to do that you should've let me pay for at least half," Zoella said as they walked to their table. "Nah, that's ok, I like taking people out." His face turned red. They talked about everything going on in their lives currently as they ate, and continued to do so as they walked around the mall, looking at clothes and shoes. A few short hours later, Zoella's mom picked her up, and Justin was on his way to a graduation party. "Hey Zoella, I had a great time today. I can't wait to see you again soon :)." Justin texted her a few hours later. Zoella just looked at her phone and smiled.