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A social klutz and certified bookworm, Autumn Lyne is content with having just books as companions--that is, until her extrovert of a sister drags her out to meet her band. But nobody has expected that this would mark the plot twis...
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The next day, thick gray clouds still rolled over the town, but at least the sun was out and the wind had stopped raging. Despite nature finally being at peace, it couldn't help me ease my worry. The school was back in session, which meant I had to confront the person whom I wasn't ready to talk to. Still, I had to put on a brave face and march onward.
As always, Finn was already there when I arrived in the classroom, and as soon as I appeared at our table, he smiled one of his brightest smiles. Seeing it gave me a pang in my chest because I might not see that one again for a long time.
"So, I'm done writing the songs for the competition," he said. "I managed to complete them yesterday. I couldn't stop writing them."
"That's great," I said. I couldn't look him in the eye, but I tried to keep my tone light. As if nothing bad was going to happen.
"Would you like to hear them? It still needs tweaking, so I'd love to hear your input."
I knew he wasn't just looking forward to my feedback. He also wanted me to listen to his words so I would know how serious he was about me. I appreciated the gesture. It was sweet—I had to admit. But I needed to do what I had to do.
I drew in a deep breath, fiddling with my fingers on my lap. "Okay," I said. "Could we... could we do it after school? There's also something I need to talk to you about."
His smile turned eager. "Sure."
We didn't talk for the rest of the class, but Finn's excitement was palpable by the way he twirled the pen in his fingers and the way he stared attentively at the chalkboard as if he was dragging the time faster in his mind. I, on the other hand, wished for the time to slow down because I didn't think I was ready to lose a friend.
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When lunchtime came around, I marched to Sunny's table to call her. Aislin and their other friends didn't hesitate to toss me a dirty look for ruining their talk, but Sunny looked like she wasn't keen on hanging out with them because she removed herself from their table right away and followed me to the courtyard. We sat on the same bench where we had talked last time.
"What's up?" she asked with a smile, not noticing how serious I looked.
"That wasn't cool, Sunny. The prank you and Lance did that night," I said right off the bat. I might be pissed, but I wanted to remain calm. If there was one thing I had learned from my parents' fights, it was that screaming at each other during arguments had never improved the situation.
Sunny paled, and she cast her eyes down. "Oh. We just thought it was funny, and we were trying to help you and Finn to get closer." She flicked her gaze up to see my reaction and murmured, "Are you mad?"
Once again, I didn't scream or complain about my problems like Clover wanted to see me do. I just said, "Yes. It upsets me." And with that, my chest, which had been constricting since that night, had loosened up a bit.
