The Last Lap

Chapter Thirteen

After the fight with Ema, I didn't know what to do with myself. I thought about all the times and moments that we shared. Every movie we watched with one another, every secret Id shared with only her and all the inside jokes that the three of us shared with one another. I looked at my phone and saw Andy's worried texts waiting for me.

.: Riptide LTE 9:33 AM 88%🔋

☒ Andy !

Andy: Hey

Andy: I know you can read these!

Andy: ???

📷 ________________________________ [Send]

I thought back to what she said and repeated it to myself, "'He's given you the ultimatum between him and them before, what makes you think that he won't again?'"

.: Riptide LTE 9:37 AM 88%🔋

☒ Andy !

Jia: Sorry, I'm in class right now

Jia: talk to you later x

📷 ________________________________ [Send]

I slipped my phone into my pocket and looked at the board. My phone buzzed a couple times. I knew that he was probably mad at me but my anxiety blocked it out. I couldn't concentrate anymore. I waited until lunch to find Jasmyn. When I found her talking to the rest of the GSA club and step team I waited until she was finished to slip her away from the rest of them, "I need to talk to you."

She looked at me with a worried glance, "Yeah? What's wrong?" I sighed and started to spill everything to her. She looked disappointed but not surprised. Jasmyn wasn't usually one to give hugs because I was the one that usually cuddled with everyone but this time our roles were reversed and she grabbed me by my shirt to settle me into her arms. I could smell the scent of black tea that she drank every day.

"Okay. Here is what you need to do. You need to take some time to think about what you really want. Do you really love Andy or do you love the memories that you made with him? Think about that. I understand that he's a big part of your life - I totally get that Jia - but you need to think about yourself. What do you want?" She asked me.

"I love him."

"I know," She looked at me with pity, "God, I know that babygirl. But this isn't about him. This is about you. Relationships don't last in high school, at least not toxic ones like these. You, however, will need to last for the rest of your life."

I started to tear up, "Why is love such a sweet poison? It's the poisonous apple that God told Eve not to eat yet she still ate it."

She rubbed my back and told me to stop crying, "Let's focus on something else. Let's get lunch. Let's go work on that project. We can even watch a movie if you want. We can't just stop here and be sad. We got to keep moving."

She lead me to the cafeteria and we stood in line for the nachos. I craned my neck around the room. Ema wasn't anywhere to be seen but I wish I could have grabbed a glance of her blonde side ponytail or connect with her blue eyes.

"She's probably already gone. She's pretty fast when it comes to food," Jasmyn said as she paid for her lunch. I paid for mine and replied, "Yeah. She's like that."

We headed down the hallway to Art and met up with the teacher Mr. Bullock. He was dressed down, like one of us. It was a perk of working with paint all day and having the chance to dress down simply because he could.