He Depends on You || Porter Robinson

Part Four

Today is the first day of high school. I nervously took in my reflection in my bathroom mirror.

"Kate! Come on, we have to go." I hear Brigid's voice say from down the hall.

"Okay yeah, I'm ready." I say and did my best to fluff up my hair in an attempt to give it some sort of style.

Brigid appeared behind me and smiled.

"You look great." She nudged me. "How long did it take to get those contacts in?"

"Literally forever." I said with an eye roll. My mom had surprised me with contact lenses to wear for my first day of school. They took a while to get used to, but I was loving the way they softened my features and made my eyes look un bug-like.

"Yeah, you'll get the hang of it. Took me a while too." She said. I smiled softly and took one last deep breath. I was grateful to have at least one year overlapping with Brigid. She was going into her senior year, and I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to already have an upperclassman on my side.

"Alright let's go." I said. Together, we made our way down the hallway, and into the garage where mom was waiting in the car. She always drove us to school on the first day, it was our little tradition.

The car ride was filled with Mom and Brigid chatting about classes and extracurriculars. I watched my hometown blurred together outside the window as we sped towards school. I was nervous. Butterflies filled my stomach. I wished that I had coordinated with Porter to meet up beforehand or something.

He and I hadn't spoken since that night on the trampoline a few days ago. He did send me a text about an upcoming convention he was hoping to attend. But me and my bruised ego didn't respond to his obvious olive branch. I was frustrated with myself for being so stubborn and letting a stupid offhanded comment bother me so much. I let out a sigh and I heard the conversation between my mom and Brigid quiet.

"So Kate...is Porter going to meet you there?" My mom asked hesitantly. I could feel her looking at me through the rearview mirror. She knew something was up. Porter and I had been in constant communication for over two years. She knew this sudden silence between us wasn't normal.

"I don't know." I mumbled. I saw Brigid and my mom exchanged a glance.

"Well he'll obviously be there." Brigid said.

"Yeah...well...I don't know." I snapped. Not wanting to talk about it.

My mom and Brigid picked up on my lack of desire to talk about Porter, so they immediately launched into a different, completely unrelated conversation. And before I knew it, my mom had pulled up to the front drop-off zone of our high school.

"Alright girls. Good luck! I love you both." She said and turned around to give me a bright, encouraging smile. Brigid and I both smiled back and thanked our mom as we got out of the car.

I looked up at the brick building in front of me and sighed. High School. I knew it would be nothing like the movies and TV shows, but I still had hope that this new chapter would bring much needed change in my life. I took another deep breath and followed Brigid through the front doors, my butterflies intensifying.

Immediately I heard someone call my sister's name. She broke out into a grin as she saw her best friend beckoning her over to their friend group. She started to walk over to them, but hesitated and turned back to face me.

"Go. I'm all good. I promise." I said with a soft smile. Although it was a complete lie.

"Alright, I'll see you later." She said slowly, trying to hide her concerned expression. "And please, go find Porter." She whispered. I nodded and watched as she walked away to join her friends.