Linger

N I N E T Y - T W O

"Can you believe the vending machine is empty?" Chelsea said with a sigh as she slumped on the bench next to me.

"First, the coffee shop. Now, the vending machine?" I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Yep. So going to miss this place." She rolled her eyes.

"Not," I added, picking at my trail mix.

The courtyard was buzzing with students during break after our first exam. Some were studying for the next exam, most were socializing, and others were counting down the days like Chelsea and me as we sat at our usual bench.

"What exam do you have after this?" Chelsea turned to me.

"Fifth period. Which is . . . " I trailed off, not even being able to form a single coherent thought after taking a two-hour exam. "I don't even remember. And I don't wanna check."

"Free period?"

I paused. "Oh, yeah."

"Can't think?" She laughed.

"No." I ran my hand over my face. "My brain is fried. I never want to think again."

She laughed even more, tugging my hand. "Come on."

"Where?"

"The office."

"For what?" I followed her. "To complain about the empty vending machines?"

"That's actually not a bad idea." She turned to me with a shrug. "And we have to turn in our graduation forms."

The realization hit me as we stepped back inside. "Oh my gosh, we're graduating. Like, we're really graduating, Chels."

"Is it weird to think this is one of the last times we'll be here?" she asked as we walked down the crowded hallway.

"It's nice." I hooked my arm through hers.

"But, like," she continued, glancing at a few students standing by their lockers. "We're never going to see these people again."

"Are you going to miss them?"

She knitted her eyebrows in thought. "I don't know. I think I'm just going to miss doing the same thing and being at the same place everyday. Like, we've spent the last four years with these people and we've all been doing the same thing. And now, we're all going off to different places and never gonna see each other again . . . it's kinda sad."

"Are you sad about school?" I asked with a teasing smile.

"School's always made me sad." She shrugged. "This is just another reason to add to the long list."

I gave her a sad smile as we stepped into the office.

Mrs. Medina greeted us and we gave her the forms.

"Mr. Blakely is in charge of those actually, mijas. You will need to turn those into him." She directed us toward his office.

"Thank you, Mrs. Medina," Chelsea and I both told her before heading to the back.

"We need to talk to him about the teachers' lounge and why it's so much nicer than our cafeteria," Chelsea said.

"He'd also ask how we would know that," I pointed out.

She simply shrugged.

"Chelsea!" I scolded her quietly. "It's our last week of school. I'd like to spend it not in trouble."

She gave me a look. "Mads, we're ditching."

"It's free period."

"Have you seen your relationship?" She raised an eyebrow at me.