Chapter 56: Senior Week


    EMMA’s POV :


    My days went by in a sh.


    I found out that pushing my feelings away and pretending like they don’t exist worked best for me at the


    moment.


    Fake it ‘til you make it, they said.


    So for the past month, I walked through life pretending like I didn’t have a crack in my heart the size of


    a mountain.


    Iughed at every joke I heard.


    I smiled at everyone.


    I threw away any thoughts ofn and I spent all my time with my friends and family.


    Some nights, I learned to cook with mom or I would watch the games on TV with dad.


    If there was a blessing in disguise from our breakup, it was that I could get closer to the people that


    truly love me.


    I appreciated my quirky, awesome two best friends more than I ever could.


    They had been with me through the ups and downs and they always got my back.


    I appreciated Tyler a lot more too, because although we weren''t that close before, he was always


    genuinely nice to me.


    We still sneaked out every free fifth period we got to get chicken sandwiches at Chick-fill-A.


    Before I knew it, the month of May came around and it was Senior Week.


    It was always the tradition for seniors every year to go on a senior trip to the beach.


    After all our hard work with the SATs and college apps, the seniors got a chance to spend a couple of


    days away from school in Tybee Ind, Georgia.


    The school rented a couple of buses and a hotel for us, and as the weather was getting warmer, we


    were all excited to hit the ocean and have bonfires at night.


    I was absolutely ecstatic about this trip.


    This meant that I didn''t have to be in school for the next 3 days.


    It was 3 days free ofn Hayes.


    Not having to see his face would really help me in my efforts to move on from him.


    I was also excited to spend some time at the beach with my friends.


    Tiff, Carrie, and I went to the mall the other day and got cute matching bikinis.


    Mark was plotting up ways to sneak alcohol into the trip, and if he seeds, this trip was gonna be


    epic.


    On top of all that, Tyler told me about the lighthouse on North Beach, apparently it was Georgia''s tallest


    and oldest lighthouse.


    We were both kinda geeky about historical stuff like that, and we promised each other we would go


    there.


    Things were looking up for me.


    I had a spring in my step as I piled onto the bus with my friends.


    All text ? N?velD(r)a''ma.Org.


    All the senior kids were either high or just in happy.


    The excitement level on the air was through the roof.


    Carrie immediately got a seat with Mark, so I thought I would sit next to Tiff.


    Nick didn''t go to our school, so he wasn''t a part of this trip.


    But before Tiff and I could grab our seats, someone pulled her from behind.


    "Hey! I need one of you to sit with me!"


    Madison, captain of the cheer team, squeaked.


    She was the only senior that didn’t look happy on this bus.


    Behind her sat Brad, the school’s star quarterback who was also her boyfriend.


    He didn’t have a happy face on him either.


    "What, you''re not sitting with Brad?"I asked her.


    "Private messaging girls on Tik Tok? Ugh! We are so over!"


    Madison rolled her eyes dramatically and made sure Brad was hearing it.


    "It was a one time thing!"


    Brad called out, but Maddie ignored him.


    Tiff gave me a look and her eyes darted to Tyler, who was standing next to us.


    I knew what she meant by that and I nodded my head.


    "Oh, you poor thing.Come on, you can sit with me,"Tiff offered sweetly.


    "This trip''s gonna suck,"


    Maddie announced as she followed Tiff to an empty seat.


    Tyler and I shared a look and I shrugged at him, "Wanna be by bus mate?"


    "Duh.Who else can I share this with?"he grinned as he pulled out a bag of gummy worms from his


    backpack.


    I couldn''t help but smile at his obsession with gummy worms.


    We kept walking and found an empty seat in the back row.


    Tyler let me in first and I got the seat by the window.


    We were still waiting for everyone else to pile on the bus.


    Tyler took out his ear pods and stuck one of them in his ear.


    He then offered me the second one and said, "Want some music?"


    "Yes please,"I dly took the ear pod from him.


    It was around a couple of hours drive away and it would be dreadful if we didn’t have any music.


    Tyler yed a song and the intro sounded familiar.


    "Is this The Weeknd?"I asked.


    "Blinding Lights, yup,"he said and nodded his head to the beat.


    Before long, we were both singing and jamming our heads to the music.


    It was exactly the type of music that we needed to start this trip right.Tyler was purposefully singing off-


    key and it was hrious to hear.I couldn''t stop myself fromughing out loud.Tyler smiled and he gave


    me this look that I couldn''t decipher.


    "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"I said when myughter died down.


    "Nothing,"he paused for a moment before saying, "It’s just that I haven’t seen you smile like this in a


    long time,"


    "What are you talking about?"


    "Ever since the ident, you kinda...changed.You were still around us and youughed at our jokes,


    but I felt like you were hiding your sadness behind all that.But thisugh just now, this one’s real,"


    I was shocked that Tyler had said these things.


    I thought I was doing a great job at faking it.


    Tiff and Carrie didn''t even call me out on it, but Tyler noticed.


    "Yeah, things were kinda hard for me after the ident...I lost a part of myself and I couldn''t get it


    back,"


    I said after a while of silence.


    "Is it because of the guy? Because you guys broke up?"


    "In summary, yeah.He was a part of myself that I lost and I can never get back,"


    Whatever our souls are made of, yours and mine are the same.


    Those words were engraved in that little heart locket thatn gave me.


    It was engraved in my heart.


    I fully believed that.


    Without him, my heart felt hollow and no matter what I did, I could never fill the void.


    I stopped wearing the ne because it was a painful reminder every time I saw it hanging on my


    neck.


    Still, I couldn''t bring myself to get rid of it.


    So I kept it with me in my wallet.


    It went with me everywhere I go, and when the time was right, one day I would let it go.


    "You must really like him, huh?"


    Tyler said after studying my face for some time."Yeah.I really did,"


    I gave him a sad smile.


    Tears were pooling in my eyes again and I felt stupid.


    I had been crying overn for months now, and I refused to let that happen again today.


    Today was supposed to be different.


    Today was supposed to be the start of something new.


    Wiping my eyes quickly, I pulled myself together and said, "But hey, it’s over and I’m ready to move


    on.Starting with this trip.It''s gonna be a great trip,"


    "Hear, hear,"


    Tyler raised a gummy worm at me and we cheered with the candy.


    "But hey, if you ever need to talk about it or something, I''m always here for you, Emma,"he said again.


    "Thanks, Tyler.You''re seriously the sweetest guy ever,"


    "No, I’m not,"he stifled augh.


    "You are, honestly.Some day, a girl''s gonna be so damn lucky to have you,"


    He was looking at me with his warm blue eyes and I felt how genuinely he truly cared for me.


    Letting out a soft sigh, Tyler then took my hand in his.Gently, heced our fingers together.I was caught


    off guard by this sweet action.I just stared at him as our hands were sped together.


    "I know I did things the wrong way before.I never told you how I feel about you and I kissed you at the


    dance without even thinking about it,"Tyler said, and he kept his gaze deep into my eyes.


    "Tyler...?"I started to speak, but there were no words that followed.


    "So, I''m gonna be honest with you now, okay?"he paused for a moment and took a deep breath,


    saying, "I like you, Emma.


    I always have.


    Ever since that day we met at themunity garden.


    I’m okay with being your friend, because being your friend is cool.


    But if there’s ever a chance that you can see me in a different light, I would really love that chance,"


    My words were stuck in my throat.


    I didn’t know how to respond to this.Tyler brought my hand up to his face and he kissed the palm of my


    hand softly.My breath hitched immediately at the contact.


    "You don’t have to say anything right now,"


    he said as if he knew what I was thinking, "And if you can’t see me that way, that''s okay too.I really


    care about you and we''re friends no matter what,"


    Tyler was being so understanding and kind.It almost made me feel bad for not reacting the way he


    wished I would.


    "Okay, Emma?" he smiled and squeezed my hand gently.


    "Okay,"I breathed finally.


    Tyler didn''t let go of my hands.


    He held onto me tight and let our hands rest on hisp.His other hand was holding his phone, busily


    scrolling down his Spotify ylist.The next song yed and it was ‘Make You Mine’ by PUBLIC.


    "Put your hand in mine, you know that I want to be with you all the time,"


    He gave me a sheepish smile as the song went on, and I couldn''t help but smile back.


    It wasn’t awkward at all between Tyler and me.We got lost listening to the song and I found myself


    snuggling closer to him.It was such a sweet moment.


    For the past few months, I felt so broken and rejected, it was really nice to have someone hold my


    hand and say these things about me.


    Tyler and I were facing the front of the bus and our hands were still sped together.


    Slowly, I let my head down until it restedfortably on his shoulder.


    My ear was near his chest and I could almost hear his rapid heart beating.


    Tyler then leaned his head towards mine and the side of his face rested on the top of my head.


    This felt really good and pleasant.


    By this time, the bus was pretty much full.


    From the window, I saw the buses next to us starting leaving the parking lot one by one.


    I took onest look at the building of West Lake High and I imaginedn being in there.


    "Good bye,n,"I said to myself.


    Just as the bus driver was preparing to go, I spotted two male teachers entered the bus.


    My body jerked up instantly when I saw the second teacher walked up.


    "Good morning, everyone!"Coach Pullman, the first teacher, shouted over us.


    "Everybody ready for senior week?!"


    All the kids in the bus yelled and cheered in response.


    Tyler was cheering too, but I couldn''t.


    Tiff and Carrie whipped their heads around to see me and horror was sshed across their faces.


    I had a feeling like my stomach had dropped to the floor as soon as I saw him.


    Coach Pullman was grinning in excitement, butn had a stoic expression on his face.


    His eyesnded on mine for a split second, and then he looked away.


    "As you probably can tell, Mr.Hayes and I will be chaperoning this bus.Now without further ado, let''s the


    show on the road!"


    Coach Pullman shouted, followed by an even louder cheering.Coach Pullman took a seat behind the


    driver andn followed after him.


    The kids roared with cheers andughs as our bus pulled away from the school’s parking lot.


    My eyes darted out the window to watch the school building disappear out of sight.


    Suddenly I was wishing that I had stayed in school instead, and not on this god forsaken bus.


    "This is gonna be a fun trip,"


    Tyler said as he held my shaky hands tighter.


    "Yeah..."