Page 42 of When October Starts

“Hey, can I come in?”

She nodded and stepped aside, and as I passed her, she wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tight. “I’m so happy to see you again,” she squealed, and I chuckled as I tried to escape her embrace.

“Pix, let go,” I mumbled, and she finally stepped away from me. A big grin was planted on her face.

“What if I came to tell you that I don’t wanna be friends with you anymore?” I teased.

“You would never. If that’s the case, you probably would just block me and ignore me for the rest of my life.”

That wasn’t very far from the truth.

I sighed. “Let’s not talk about what happened, okay? I wanna enjoy the rest of our summer before you leave.”

“Okay, sure.” She smiled with a nod. “But…can I ask about the future? Have you seen him again?”

“No, I didn’t. But that’s fine. I’m okay, and I’m sure he is too.” I wished I was there for him to help him find a new job. He couldn’t teach anymore, and I wondered what he was up to at the moment. But then, having me around might’ve bothered him. Him being mad at me and not wanting to see me again was a possibility, but I didn’t dare to think about that.

“I’m sure he’ll come around eventually. Though, I don’t get why he would fall for you out of all his students. I mean…was he blind or was my beauty just that striking?”

She was joking, and I shouldn’t have found it funny, but I did.

I rolled my eyes. “He talked about you a few times, but I’m not gonna tell you what he said.”

“Oh, come on, really? I get why you would fall for an older guy, but he had way better options in that classroom.”

I laughed. Neither of us were taking this seriously, and honestly, it felt good to laugh again. “Why do you assume I would only go for older guys?”

“Uhm, first of all,” she said, holding up her index finger. “Ezra is attractive as hell and pure daddy material, and second…” her grin spread wide on her face. “You have daddy issues since you have two mothers.”

I puckered my lips and watched her for a while, then shrugged. “True.”

We both started laughing, and for the first time in what felt like forever, I didn’t have to force it.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Juno

Friday, October 1

I was lost in my thoughts, staring straight ahead onto the lake. I was sitting on the bench by the beach near the carousel, and as time passed, I slowly started to lose hope in Ezra showing up.

It was already five-forty, and the ferry arrived at five. It was only a three-minute walk from the ferry to this little beach, and I told myself I would only wait a few more minutes, then I’d leave, giving up on him.

I couldn’t have missed him. I’d taken the earliest ferry at eight this morning, skipping school.

Lots of negative thoughts flashed through my mind, some of them preparing me for the worst, some slowly burying my hopes of ever seeing him again.

I started college over a month ago, and I liked it so far. I didn’t make many friends yet, but I didn’t bother to. Most of them lived in the dorms on campus, and I took the bus back home each day after classes.

The leaves were turning colors again, and I remembered Ezra’s words as he described myaura. A smile tugged on my lips, and I stared at the deep blue water in front of me. I remembered him saying that he wanted to see what I looked like in the summer, when the sun forced my pale skin to show off all the freckles, and my hair turned a brighter red. He didn’t get to see me though.

Five-fifty. I had to get going if I wanted to catch the ferry back to mainland. I didn’t feel like crying, but somehow, a few tears forced themselves down my cheeks.

I got up from the bench and brushed the tears away. I didn’t bring my backpack, instead, I had my phone in one of the raincoat’s pockets, and headphones in the other.

Ezra didn’t come, and I was mentally already starting to pick up all the pieces of my heart that I didn’t want to leave behind.

“You broke our promise,” I whispered while a silent sob escaped my throat. Anger built inside of me, and I felt the sudden urge of kicking and punching something.

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