Blame it on me' ~ Post Malone

47.

***

"I really have to go now." His lips found mine one last time. They pushed softly yet forcefully on mine, and I let my hands hang around his neck. His hands resting on my hips pushed my body closer to him, and I completely lost myself in our kiss. He stopped our kiss and pushed a last, loving kiss on the corner of my mouth before he released himself from our embrace. "I love you." "I love you too." Our eyes hooked up one last time, and he turned to the waiting car. I followed all his movements and waved again before the car drove away, and it was entirely out of sight. I turned around and walked down the path from his house. I didn't go home, but I rang the bell at the house next to Austin's. Felicity's home. Now that Austin was gone, I decided to catch up with Felicity. I could use the distraction. Everything was better than moping in my room because I missed Austin.

After a lot of messing around, the door flew open, and a brown bush of hair shot at me. "HAI MADISON!" Felicity almost shouted, deaf. "Hi, Fel." Was my dry answer. I walked, or rather, I was dragged into the living room and sat down on the couch. "Which movie were we going to watch again?" Felicity was busy with the video recorder and hit it a few times in the meantime. "Harry Potter." I laughed softly. Why didn't I see that coming? In The Netherlands, we watched this film so often.

I kicked off my shoes and settled better in the seat. When Felicity finally put in the DVD, she also shot to the seat and landed directly at me. "FEL!" I tried to push her away, but she remained at ease. She went one step further by making herself wide and ensuring that I didn't see anything. "Okay, get off of me NOW. You can't just sit on people, Fel." I grinned. "Well, I'm not like Austin." "What does he have to do with this again?" His name brought a strange feeling to my stomach. A sense of loss, and he was only an hour away. Felicity looked at me with a grin, and I saw it coming. "I run into people and Post Melon," she had still not given up the nickname. "He runs against doors." I got a huge smile when I saw it again and when Felicity also started to laugh, I didn't recover. She also had such an infectious smile.

***

Miraculously enough, the days flew by, and with every day that Austin's return approached, I became happier. My days were filled. Joshua, Kaci, and Brenda dragged me everywhere outside of my daily hours at Felicity's house. Today it was Tuesday, which meant it was only two days before Austin returned. The desire and the lack grew, but I didn't have much time to think about it because of my busy schedule. I sat by Kaci in biology and tapped, bored with my pencil. I did not understand the teacher's explanation, and Kaci almost seemed to fall asleep. I was moody all day, which had everything to do with Joshua's mysterious behavior. He had been busy with his phone all day and exchanged odd looks with Kaci, after which they invariably looked at me. I didn't get it, and nobody wanted to tell me. "You'll see that later." It was the only thing I managed to get out of it.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice that the bell had rung. I saw that the class was already empty, except for Kaci and me, when I looked around. She was waiting quietly for me, and her eyes sparkled excitedly. Why? I didn't have a clue. When I finally finished and threw my bag over my shoulders, Kaci pulled me quickly. She zigzagged through the halls, and I bumped into people several times that I couldn't avoid. We reached our bike at record speed, and I wondered why she was so in a hurry. "Why are you in such a hurry?" "I'm not going to say that." I should have known that I was not going to get anything out. Instead of turning to her house, Kaci just cycled with me. "Don't you have to go home?" "No." Oh, are we going to start this way? She did her best to keep the secret, and I felt more and more curious. Once home, I was dragged to my room again and pushed onto a chair. Brenda suddenly appeared from behind my cupboard, which stood open. "What are you going to do?"

"You will see." Oh, so everyone here knew about some secret other than me? My mood began to fall below zero, and I stared angrily at them. "Put this on; Brenda will do your make-up." Kaci pushed an outfit into my hands and gave me a forceful look. I looked at her so sourly I could and threw the clothes behind me on the bed without looking. Kaci sighed, and her eyes became imploring. "Madison, I'd really like to tell you everything, but now you have to trust us."

I gave in with a final sigh, and I started to change.