One of us - Nichorello

36. Blue sweater

<Lorna's POV>

I breathed. For the first time in weeks, the sun was shining on my face, the fresh breeze of air filling my lungs with oxygen. It felt good. Somehow I had found the strength to get up this morning and do my make-up. Nicky had been gone for four weeks. Luckily, two of those weeks had been holidays, meaning that I had only missed two weeks of class.

Piper came rushing towards me, her eyes widening in happiness as she saw me walking down the hallways.

"Oh my gosh, you're finally back. I missed you so much," she squealed while embracing me in a tight hug.

"I missed you too, Piper"

"I tried to call and text you about a hundred times. Why didn't you answer?"

Although Piper was one of my closest friends, she was already annoying me with her questions. All I wanted to do was get through the day without breaking down. Without crying about Nicky's absence. I was so sick of it. But the one thing that annoyed me the most was that Nicky was probably not wasting one thought on me. She just left. Without saying goodbye. She left me, my heart filled with the desire for her.

"I shut my phone off. Sorry," I half-heartedly apologized while increasing my pace to get to class faster. Yes, correct. I am trying to get to Mr. Healy faster just to avoid Piper. What is wrong with me?

-------------

"Our new topic will be poetry slam. Today we will be looking at some examples and your task will be to write a piece of your own, which you will present in front of this class in a few weeks." Mr. Healy paused shortly "So, who knows what poetry slam is?"

This is a joke, right? This is not happening. What have I done so bad that destiny is making my life hell? Why god, why?! Everything seemed to remind me of Nicky. Not only the classroom or Caleb sitting in the back, but now Mr. Healy's boring voice had to bring up memories too.

<flashback>

"Can I open my eyes, Nicky?" I giggled as her hands were still covering my eyes while she was leading me to what she called 'the mystery spot'. Although she had just told me that she wanted to show me something, I secretly imagined this to be a date. And so far, it was perfect.

"Wait a bit, careful there is a step in front of you"

I climbed a few steps, holding on to Nicky with my arms. I heard her opening a door, revealing voices and music. Are we in some kind of bar? The smell of beer and alcohol was dominant, while there was a vibe lingering in the room which I couldn't put my finger on.

" Ready?" she whispered in my ears, sending chills down my spine. She took her hands and laid them gently on my waist while waiting for my reaction. Once my slightly blurry vision cleared up I looked around the room. On our right, there is a stage on which there are tables and chairs. Although this is definitely a bar, I spot many underaged people. Nicky pulls me to the left and governs me to a small booth in the back. The dimmed lights and the quiet corner in which our booth was located made it the perfect romantic location. The seclusion from the rest of the club was enough to have privacy but close enough to allow a perfect view of the stage.

"How did you find this place?" I asked Nicky as she motioned toward a couch-like bench. She sat down next to me, still keeping an appropriate distance for friends.

"I come here every week on Thursday. I discovered it a while ago when a friend of mine, Carol, showed me this place. She works here," Nicky said while pointing to a poster on the wall.

SLAM-Night

Each thursday, 8 pm until Open End