BESIDE YOU

Chapter 15

HAYDON

So far, this has been the most peaceful week I've had in months. The locker scandal has died down and people hardly stare at her locker.

This is what happens at our school all the time. People wait for someone to screw up or start some shit and then once it is over, they quickly shift their focus to something else.

Typical.

I've hung out with Laura a few times last week. We did not go on a date or something, we just spent time as friends. She did not mention anything about us being official and I'm thankful that she understands me.

I haven't heard from Demi for the whole week and I am wondering if she dropped the plan. Maybe someone knocked some sense into her. Or maybe she heard about how everyone has forgotten about the whole incident by now.

By the end of the week I get a little worried about Demi. Don't get me wrong, but you never know what she's going to do next.

So I decided to message her.

Still alive?, I type.

I wait for her to give me a sarcastic reply but I don't get one.

By Monday I decide that she has blocked my number.

She's probably done with the plan.

There is nothing new at school and I am having a fairly easy day. Blake introduces us to his new girlfriend, Vivian. She's a pretty girl with blonde hair and twinkling eyes. They look happy together.

"Just look at them. They look perfect together" says Laura, eyeing them enviously as they walk together.

She is right. They did look like they were picked right out of a rom-com.

" Let's not jinx it", I say.

"Yeah, you are right"

She turns to face me before continuing.

"Sometimes I find myself wishing for the perfect picture. Having a high school sweetheart and then getting married to him, having a beautiful family together. And then I look at me and suddenly I know that there is no way I'm gonna get it all", she says.

She sounds wistful.

"I want that sometimes too. But I know better than to believe in a perfect picture. A perfect picture is created when the flaws are cleverly concealed. There isn't such a thing as a perfect picture", I say.

"I know", she smiles sadly.

I know that Laura deserves the best of what the world could ever give her. She is such a nice person. But I didn't want her to expect the perfect picture from me. I knew that I could never give her that.

My phone buzzes inside my pocket. As I take it out, Laura says.

"You could get into trouble for texting in the hallways"

"Yeah, but this could be important", I say.

I unlock the phone to find a text from Demi

The plan is ready, it says.

I sigh.

How stupid I am to think that she'll ever abandon this. She's obviously stubborn as fuck.

I am about to put my phone away when it buzzes again.

4 pm at Starbucks.

Okay, I type in response.