You Are the Shell to My Tortoise | ✓

46

"Okay, my dad's here," Melissa announced, pocketing her phone. "I'll see you guys after the break. Have a great Christmas!"

School had officially ended today, and we were waiting in the foyer for our parents to pick us up. Derek had already left, so it was just Ashley, Melissa, Nolan, and me. Initially, Nolan had been nowhere in sight, and it took me asking him where he was via text and suggesting that he joined us for him to show up. Now, he was beside us, sitting on top of his luggage.

All around us was the hustle and bustle of students saying their goodbyes and calling their parents. Cody had come and gone as well, wishing us an enjoyable break.

"Don't forget to reply to our texts!" Ashley said, waving at her. "You always forget!"

Melissa was the absolute worst texter in our group. She'd open a new message, read it, and then promptly get distracted by something else. We often had to send her texts reminding her to reply to our previous ones. As a result, she was usually MIA in our group chat conversations.

As she pulled her luggage along, Melissa laughed. "Oops, sorry. I'll try my best to remember this time!"

"You'd better," I said. "Enjoy your break!"

"I will!"

After checking her phone, Ashley said, "My parents are reaching too. I should go."

"Okay," I said. "I'll text you later!"

"Alright," she said. "Bye, guys!"

"Bye," Nolan said to her. "Have a good break."

"Thanks, Nolan! You, too!" Ashley beamed at the two of us, and then she pulled her luggage along after her out of the main doors.

The approaching winter cold made me call off a last outing in the forest with Nolan, because I was pretty sure that I would need at least a thick coat to keep me alive in the weather at night. My usual outfit just wasn't going to cut it and wearing something too bulky was inconvenient for all the climbing and running we had to do.

I wound my muffler one more time around my neck. "Wow, I can't wait to go home. I'm exhausted."

"Get a good rest." He stifled a yawn. "You deserve it."

"Yeah, I'll take a long nap!" I said, grinning at him. "Is your driver arriving soon?"

When we were all announcing that our parents were coming to pick us up, I'd asked Nolan—quietly—if his stepfather was the one who was coming to get him. He'd said that his father was sending a driver who would be taking him home. I was mostly surprised because he had never mentioned his biological father up until now. It sounded like he was going back to his father's place, but he'd previously implied he stayed with his stepfather outside of school, so it left me with plenty of confusion.

As much as I wanted to ask him, the last thing I wanted was to ruin these last few moments we were spending together if the question turned out to be overly prying.

Shaking his head, Nolan said, "He's going to take a while."

"Oh," I said, sitting down on my luggage too. "Then I guess we still have time to chat."

"Yeah."

I was suddenly struck with a need for reassurance from him that we would still remain in contact over the Christmas break. We hadn't spoken about it yet, and it seemed like it would be a little weird if I just brought it up out of nowhere.

There was a sharp twinge in my chest at the thought of completely not hearing from him for the next couple of weeks until school started again.

Our friendship still felt new and a little tentative. Even if I didn't text or call Ashley and the others over Christmas break, I knew that we would pick up exactly where we left off when we met again. I wasn't absolutely certain I could say the same for Nolan and me.