Seaside Lullaby

Chapter 3

The arrival of Friday came as a breath of fresh air for Allison, the weekend was right around the corner and she wanted to stop thinking about assignments.

"Happy Friday!" read out Caitlin's daily text.

"To you too." Answered Allison. She was sitting on the bus trying to ignore the kids sitting behind her. They were yelling and laughing about something one of the kids whispered. The bus driver had given up shouting at them about "foul language" partway through the trimester, but now and again they reminded them of the cameras. The kids didn't seem to care much about it though. Allison pinched the bridge of her nose

"You gotta save me from this bus, these kids are driving me crazy." She wrote to Caitlin.

"Ah believe me I know what you mean, I recommend deep breaths." She answered

"Thanks."

"You're welcome!"

"Well, how are you?"

"Doing good but tired. I stayed up translating the book, and this morning I woke up to my dog barking at the air....again."

"Oh? Now I'm the one telling you that you need sleep."

"Well, you know how excited I am about the book,"

"Well, you still have to take your own advice."

Allison could imagine Caitlin scrunching her nose sarcastically as she replied "Only if you start following mine. Checkmate."

"Since when did you play Checkers?"

"Pfft it's a Chess term."

"Shush." Answered Allison with a laughing face.

The bus screeched to a halt in front of the school. The classes that day were uneventful, It was the same loop of Math, English, Spanish, History, Art, and Biology. It was all review activities, guidelines, and what to expect for the coming week. Allison dreaded it all. During Lunch, Allison navigated the roaring cafeteria and spotted Caitlin and Hailey. She awkwardly shuffled into a seat, nearly bumping into someone on her way there.

"Hi!"

"Hello!" Answered Hailey. Caitlin gave her a curt nod as she prodded her food.

"Are you ok?" asked Allison

Hailey motioned Allison a little closer before saying in a hushed tone "You know who is a table over."

"Oh." Allison knew who it was immediately, she could already picture his dumb smile. She quickly scanned the room but didn't spot him. As soon as she refocused on Caitlin she noticed her red eyes and a faint sniffle.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" Asked Allison.

After a pause, she shook her head.

"It's going to be rough, but you can't let this guy live in your head." Said Hailey. Despite her usual calm demeanor, her face showed concern and a hint of anger. She continued "It's not worth the time of day be wasted on someone who hurt you like that."

Caitlin looked up from her food, a nerve had been struck. "He didn't...hurt me, I was the one that let him down." Allison felt the electricity in the air, her shoulders tense.

"I'm sorry, it's just I hate seeing you this way," responded Hailey.

The rigid crackle of the exchange was over and an awkward silence followed. Allison felt like she needed to say anything to fill that gap.

"So, got a progress update on the book?" She asked

"Not really," responded Caitlin, "I guess as a double check are you guys able to come over?"