A Year Around the Sun

s i x t e e n - you did the right thing

she's got me with nothing to win
and nothing left to l o s e . . .

🌊🌊🌊

"Why haven't I seen you in ten years?" Jodie's boisterous voice came through the other end of my phone at too loud of a volume.

I rolled my eyes at her exaggeration, shaking my head after. "It has not been ten years. More like two weeks," I corrected her.

"Well it feels like it's been a lot longer than that," she brushed off her dramatics. "That being said, all of your friends are at Mack's right now with an empty spot at their booth. You know, us? The people you used to hang out with all the time before you met the love of your life?"

"Shut up. He's not the love of my life," I muttered in embarrassment, feeling my cheeks redden instantly.

"Just get here!"

"Alright, can you give me a minute? I just got done work at the diner, I'm exhausted. And I'm starving," I said, putting a hand on my forehead as I leaned against my car.

I debated on putting my phone up to my growling stomach for Jodie to hear, but she fired off another question before I could actually do it. "Do you have work at the pier too?"

"No, I'm done for the day," I breathed in relief at the fact that I didn't have to deal with my ticket booth today.

"Then this is perfect! I'll order you something in the meantime and get here when you can," she explained, her voice becoming a little hard to hear with all the commotion in the background.

"You are the best," I smiled gratefully. We were only on the phone for another minute or two, then I unlocked my car and started my drive toward Mack's.

With my thoughts only on the food I was about to shovel down my throat in a matter of minutes, I parked on the street a couple blocks away from the boardwalk. Just as I turned my keys and my car shut off, I froze. It was then that I realized I wasn't meeting Jodie. I was meeting everyone. Including a certain twin who I haven't spoken to in almost a month.

In all honesty, the past month flew by. If I didn't stop to think about the dates, I wouldn't have even known I'd gone that long without Noah in my life. But now that I was about to face the one thing I'd been avoiding for as long as possible, it all became too real.

I went back and forth for a few minutes, alone in the silence of my car, thinking of what I could say to him. Part of me really didn't want to see him because if he gives me the cold shoulder and completely ignores me, I'll know that that's it. There will be nothing that I could do to bring Noah and I back together – the way we were before all of this happened. Being with him and being ignored would be worse than never seeing him again.

My heart lodged itself in my windpipe, making it a struggle to breath properly on my walk to the restaurant. Even though I'm absolutely terrified of confronting him, I know I have to do it. He was – and still is – my best friend, and I don't want to lose him.

I spotted my friends right away when I walked through the door of Mack's, Jodie's chaotic blonde waves being the first thing I noticed. Her and Sadie were facing me on their bench, while the twins were sitting opposite of them with their backs to me. The second I recognized which dark head of hair was whose, I felt my entire body stiffen.

Jodie grinned to me and waved me over, patting the spot next to her. So I sucked it up and slapped on a smile, stiffly walked to their table, and plopped down.