The Halo Effect | ✓

34 | nothingness

E P I G R A P H

❝I've spent much too long in the space
between holding on and
letting go.❞

☾ thirty four | nothingness ☽

IT IS THE day after meeting Santana; in other words, it is Friday. According to the brief text conversation I had with Holt, it turns out that he is still picking me up at eight and it is across town, so we'll probably arrive around eight-thirty.

I was planning on spending today doing nothing once I got home from school, I was going to tidy my room, do some homework which is shocking, I know. And then, around seven-thirty, I'd throw on something decent and head out the door.

But instead, I stayed up all night, watching Netflix in the lounge with Max and then at approximately four in the morning, I headed to bed and didn't wake up until one in the afternoon, which wasn't pleasant, I woke up feeling uncoordinated and five times more exhausted than usual. I then briefly tidied my room, which to me, means shoving all my clothes in my closet and kicking everything else under my bed.

Which brings me to now, tying my shoelaces as I am about to head out the door. Esme informed me that she will be picking me up at five, by borrowing her mom's car for the time being, and we're going somewhere, she shouldn't tell me where, but she said that she will return me home at seven, so I have plenty of time to get ready.

Considering it has been a while since we have properly hung out and I had nothing else to do, I decided going out would be a great idea.

I threw on some comfortable attire, consisting of jeans and a hoodie, tying my hair up into a bun and after receiving a text from Esme announcing her arrival, I then sprinted down the stairs, informing my dad that I'll be home later before exiting via the front door and entering Esme's—well technically her mothers—car.

"Hey!" she greeted me as I hopped in the passenger seat.

I smiled at her, shivering as my body adjusted from the plummeting temperatures outside versus the toasty heat in her car.

"Hi," I greeted her back, "so, where are we going. . .and why are there two balloons in the back of your car?" I asked suspiciously as I eyed the two white star-shaped helium balloons floating around in the back seat.

He grinned mischievously, "You'll see."

I rolled my eyes, "You're so weird."

She smacked me with the back of her hand, earning a loud squeal from me, whilst she used her free hand to drive, "Hey, you've been going through a lot lately and it has been a while since we've spent genuine time together, so I'm being a good best friend and helping you."

"Helping me how?"

She shrugged, "You'll find out in approximately thirty-two minutes." Esme giggled as she looked at her GPS to see the specific time.

Using that as a hint, I looked at it in hopes of finding out where we were going. I spotted the location at the top; it was the beach, the one of which the pier lives—the one Holt took me too for the fair. Esme hates the beach, so why on earth are we going there?

The rest of the drive was accompanied by mine and Esme's not so lovely singing, as we belted our hearts out, laughing at each other and playing immature little games, but as the drive closely came to an end, I couldn't help but feel bad.

We've both been so busy with our own lives—me with Holt, my arm, dad being back, adjusting to having a new family and Esme with her dad having a heart attack—that we have almost zero time for each other.