Page 13 of Falling With a Spin

You haven’t told her that Chad almost hit you.

“I did want to tell you.” She says as if she could read my thoughts. “I just didn’t want you to think of anything less from me, I guess.”

“I wouldn’t have Tay. You’re my best friend. My other half. I love you to the Moon and Saturn.” I come around into the kitchen, hugging her.

She wraps her arms around me, and I feel the tension release from her. I pull back from our hug, and just as the toaster goes off, I see a bagel pop up.

“If there is one thing that will make me think differently of you, it’s the fact that you eat those disgusting things,” she says, pointing to the blueberry bagel.

“Hey, don’t knock it until you try it.” She takes the cream cheese from the fridge and starts to drown her bagel with it.

“Alright, whatever you say. I'm going to finish getting ready. I will be home late tonight. I'm stopping by Chad's practice after classes so I can apologize about the other night.” I place my cup in the sink just as she sighs and stuffs her mouth with her bagel, giving me an annoyed look.

I’m halfway to my room when Taylor calls for me. “Can you make sure you give this to Caleb? He left it here last night.” She hands me his black hoodie that has our old high school mascot on it.

“Yeah, of course,”

I swear a sadness crosses her face, but it’s gone as fast as it appeared.

“Always leaving his stuff here.” She mumbles, walking back towards the kitchen.

That’s weird. Caleb has never left his stuff here.

Unless Taylor has been returning them to him, except they absolutely despise one another. I made a mental note to ask him about it later today.

Chapter 5

Emma

“Alright, class, I expect you to have read chapters four through eight by our next class. I will have your tests graded and handed back out to you after the break.” Professor Miken finishes up class on a complex problem that, even as I look at my textbook, I can’t seem to understand.

I glance over at Layla and see she’s chewing on the tip of the pencil nervously as she attempts to write the notes that remain on the whiteboard. I stuff my papers in my bag and take out my phone to see the time. I still have about an hour till my shift starts.

“Hey, Layla,” I grab my bag, standing up, “do you want to grab something to eat or a coffee?”

She looks up at me, and a heavy sigh leaves her. She nods her head. “I don’t really have any money at the moment, but I will tag along with you.” She bends over to grab her bag.

“Don’t worry, I can get you something.”

“Oh no, no, no. I can’t have you do that.” She waves her hands in front of her, shaking her head, causing her black ponytail to almost hit me in the face.

“Seriously, don't sweat it, my treat.” I grab her hand, dragging her down the stairs. “Let's go before we lose any more of our remaining sanity.”

We walk towards the quad in comfortable silence. It’s nice and peaceful just to walk and not feel like you have to fill the silence with meaningless conversation. Growing up, my mom pressured me into having small talk since I was a shy kid.

“Be more confident in who you are, Emma,” She would say.

But how could I? I always tried to be the best dancer on the stage, getting my father to notice me, getting straight A’ so my mom would be proud of me. Once I got to college, I made a promise to myself that I would be my own person and not force myself to do things.

I want to be myself, Emma deKanter, the one and only.

As we approach the student cafeteria, my stomach grumbles, remembering that I didn’t have time to grab something to eat after getting ready. I had thrown on an old band tee and some leggings before snatching my bag and dashing out the door. In my blind rush to class, I almost ran into a guy who wasn’t paying attention, and the papers he was holding scattered to the ground. I yelled a quick apology as I continued my run to class. By the time I arrived, there were only two minutes left to spare, which was a miracle.

“What major have you decided to go for?” I ask Layla, deciding to break the silence as we enter the Cafeteria. It was pretty crowded for a Friday afternoon, but luckily, the line was short.

It’s a vast open space that has ceiling-to-floor windows. The walls are painted in the school colors: Crimson, White, and Black. Our logo is on one side, and the opposite side, it has Crestview in big black block letters. Scattered around the room are red round tables filled with students eating, working on assignments, or just catching up with friends.

“I haven’t really made a decision. I’m just taking prerequisites until I can figure it out, but I want to do something that involves helping families.” She has this smile that brightens up her entire face, and you can tell she is passionate about it. “What have you decided on?”

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