Who I Once Was (Book Three in the 'Small Town Girl' Series)

Chapter Ten: Meant For Each Other

After slow dancing, we all headed back to our table and spent the next hour telling old stories of our time in High School and Middle School.

We talked about the year that a fight between Farkle and I in science class caused the boys and girls to split up in protest, and the awkwardness that was the triangle. We laughed about the ridiculousness of Donnie Barnes: Regular Guy and Morotia M. Black and our dramatic trek to Austin. We even talked about the Ski Lodge trip, where seemingly all romantic relationships were mended.

"You guys were so cute back then." Zay said, gesturing to Farkle and I. "I was sure you guys were gonna be the first to get hitched."

"Well yeah, everyone did." Maya said. "And yet here you are doing what Isaiah Hank Babineaux does best and surprising the heck out of everyone."

"Still not Hank." Zay told her. "Not Hank, not Earl, or any of the other ones you came up with." We all laughed.

"So who do you think is gonna be next?" Vanessa asked. "Haven't Riley and Lucas been together for like, a decade." Riley looked down at her lap, her face turning red and Lucas rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ok, leave them alone." Maya said. "Back to Sarkle..."

"Oh my gosh, I forgot you all used to call us that!" I exclaimed.

"Well, we had to! I mean what are the chances that two people with two of the weirdest names on the planet end up together? A ship name was a must." She said. I shook my head.

"That's partially what I liked about her when she first showed up." Farkle pointed out. "I said-"

"I like your name. Its weird, like mine." I finished for him. "And this was after literally the weirdest first impression in existence when Zay and I came in and disrupted the lesson on Belgium 1831."

"Heaven forbid! I'm surprised you didn't kill someone over Belgium 1831."

"What's Belgium 1831?" Vanessa questioned.

"The one think that Farkle Minkus didn't know in high school," I explained, "Though I don't know why you didn't just google it."

"Google can't explain history the way that Mr. Matthews does," He argued, "But finally we got to the lesson of Belgium 1831."

"What happened?" Vanessa asked. We all got kind of quiet, looking around at each other.

"With Mr. Matthews...it was never really about what happened in Belgium 1831, but more...how it could apply to our lives." Farkle said quietly.

"There comes a time when the right thing to do is to leave the friends you know, see what's out there, and face a new world." I quoted, looking down at my lap.

"Well, we did that." Riley said. "What did we find?"

"Everyone should move on at some point," Maya said, "We have to see what's out there. Maybe you'll wind up like Zay, and be happy with what you found," Zay smiled at his wife, wrapping an arm around her, "Or maybe you'll end up like us, and it'll take seeing what's out there to realize that you were already home."

"Skip..." I looked up to see that everyone was staring at me with concern. I raised my eyebrows. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked over to see Farkle with a napkin in his hand, handing it to me.

I hadn't even realized that I'd started crying.

"Skipper..." I shook my head.

"I'm ok, I promise." I said. "I'm just really happy to see you guys." I said, taking the napkin and wiping my eyes.