My new school in Fulton County is a trainwreck. The lunches suck, the teachers don’t give a shit, and don’t even get me started on that sorry excuse for a cheer squad. Krista and I alone could dance circles around any of these girls on our worst days. There’s like, maybe two of them that can even do a simple cartwheel. Just what the fuck have they been doing for the past three years? After watching them practice for a while the other day, I decided that I wanted nothing to do with them despite joining the squad and ended up eating lunch alone today. Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. I only have six or so more months of high school left and I’ll have graduated. All I need to do is ride this out.

My life in Deer Valley is now over. I decided to move in with my aunt in Atlanta because I couldn’t be bothered living in the same city as Zoey anymore. Now that she knew about my phobia of bees and had shown her willingness to laud it over me, it would be idiotic of me to risk my life by hanging around that psychotic person. At the very least, she shouldn’t be able to bother me here. My parents were fine with the move too. They never really gave a shit about me anyway. I only regret leaving my older brother behind, but I still have my car so I can visit him sometimes if I really want to.

“Hey, mind if I sit here?”

I flinched at the sound. My nerves were still shot from what happened last week, but I appeared to be doing a good job at hiding it. I turned to look up from my lunch tray. What I found was a tall male standing at the table I was seated at with his own food in tow.

“Knock yourself out,” I said, looking back down at my prison food.

“Thanks.” He took a seat, slipping his backpack off to his side after putting his tray down. “I’m on the basketball team, you know. I thought I’d get to know the newest cheerleader since she was so cute.”

“Oh really? “I responded without looking up to him, wondering when it was that I said I’d joined the cheer squad.

“Yeah, so what’s Deer Valley like? Y’all got Benjamin Otto over there, right?”

I supposed that asking about one of the best teams in Georgia made sense, but for some reason it felt like an excuse to talk to the transfer student cheerleader that was unfortunately the talk of the town.

“Had, he got kicked from the team.”

“Huh? Oh right, I heard he fucked a ref up. He got kicked from the team? Free win for us then.” I ignored him and took another bite of my lunch and found my phone vibrating on the table? “Say, you should come to basketball practice after school. I’d like to talk to you some more.”

“I’ll think about it.” I opened the text, and the sight of Tristan’s name expunged a sigh from me. Just what could he possibly want now after everything he’s done? Him and his bitch girlfriend can go to hell for all I care.

“You okay?” the boy asked.

“Look, what’s your name?” I said finally.

“My name? I’m-“

“No, it doesn’t matter. I’m sorry, but you know there’s a reason that no one’s sitting next to me, right? It’s not because I can’t make any friends. It’s more so that I don’t care to. I appreciate the effort, but you’re just wasting your time by talking to me.”

“What? Why don’t you wanna make friends though?” He smiled.

“Because it’s high school. No one I meet here is going to matter to me in five years. We’re better off sparing each other the heartbreak and just going our separate ways now rather than later.”

The boy seemed bewildered by my statements, but he shrugged and took his tray and left. I should have probably been nicer, but seeing Tristan’s name seriously pissed me off on top of everything else. Just what could he possibly have to say to me anyway?

I opened the text message and found a single video ready to be opened. Was it the film he was working on? How did he get it done so quickly? Well, whatever. It was my script, so I was interested in seeing how those two acted it out. There was some hesitation because of all the bad memories I’d carried associated with him and the school, but I decided to swallow my aversion to everything related to Deer Valley High and put my earbuds in.

---

The gorgeous Deer Valley scenery of Lake Irma. Crystal clear, stone-filled waters reflecting the afternoon sun, the shore peppered with green grass and sprinkles of stone. It was the scenery of my home. It’s only been a week, yet I could feel the swelling of nostalgia forming on the inside of my stomach. A casual breeze strolled through the interior of the restaurant deck that Lance had been leaning over, his black tux fitting him far too well for just an impromptu filming. The empty look on his face was, as far as I could tell, one of genuine disillusionment. The ambience of the restaurant behind him from the chatter and the sounds of cutlery against plates only served to isolate him further from the fun behind him. He had placed his wineglass on the railing to his right and had been picking apart small pieces of bread and tossing them into the lake.

Eventually, after a few moments of us, the views that is, being immersed in his loneliness, the sight of a woman in a beautiful wedding gown popped into the shot, leaning on the railing next to Lance. The two of them stood in silence, listening to the water on the lake splash as the fishes surfaced to nibble on the bread.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

“I came to keep you company since it looked like you were alone, but…” Naomi looked down at the aquatic creatures below.

“These fishes are better company than the ones behind me,” he said, pointing back at the restaurant.

She sighed. “Half of those are my guests, you know.”

“They’re fine, it’s the other half I’m not really feeling.” The rabbit picked apart another piece of bread and dropped it into the water, then took another sip from his wineglass. I had to say, I was impressed with his acting. “Congratulations, by the way.”

“Oh wow, you remembered. How sweet.”

“The wedding was two hours ago.”

“And it took you two hours to congratulate me.” Lance rested his head on the handrail, and Naomi smiled. “What? I’m just joking.”

“Do you think he’ll make you happy?”

The question seemed to come out of nowhere. So much so that Naomi’s perfect smile crumpled into an expression of confusion. I wondered how many takes it took for them to get that shot done?

“What do you mean? I didn’t marry him as a fashion statement. Of course I think-”

“Happier than I would have made you?”

Naomi paused to stare at the rabbit, whose head was still pressed to the handrail. She turned around to check her surroundings, then leaned in closer. “Don’t do this here.”

“Do what? I’m just asking a question.”

“We broke up twelve years ago. Why are you still asking this?”

“Don’t make a bigger deal out of this than it has to be,” he said.

“I’m going to, you’re asking me about this on my wedding day.”

“It’s just a fun little what-if. Why are you avoiding the question so much?”

“Because I don’t know.”

Lance lifted his head and stared at Naomi, but in doing so he knocked the wineglass off the railing and into the lake before them. It was an action that I definitely did not write into the script, so that was all the rabbit defying his namesake.

“Why did you do that, you idiot?”

“I’m sorry, okay? I forgot where it was.”

The fishes had a nice drink of whatever juice it was they’d put in that glass, it seemed.

“Wait, forget that. What do you mean you don’t know?” Naomi said, steering the conversation back to the script.

“I don’t know if you’d have made me happier. But that’s not important, is it?”

“How is it not? Isn’t that the most important part?”

“The most important part is being there at all. It doesn’t matter how happy you would’ve made me if we got this far. You were never around, and he was. He cared, and he tried, and you didn’t.”

Lance gulped. “Yeah, but…”

“Gosh, why are you making me relive any of this on my wedding day? Today isn’t about you.”

“You’re free to leave then. I have my own guests to accommodate.” He went back to picking apart his bread and dropping crumbs for the fishes. “Aw, I scared them off.”

“I don’t get it. Why weren’t you there for me if you were gonna regret it on my wedding day?”

“Here, fishie fishie.”

“Here we go again. This is how I know I made the right decision. You’d think that after all these years you would’ve changed by now.”

“I only asked you because I was curious, you know,” he said.

“Yeah well, you ruined my wedding day now so thanks for that.”

The rabbit turned around and started nibbling on the remainder of the bread himself. “That’s my bad then.”

Now it was her turn to rest her head on the handrail. The crux of the scene relied on how they would deliver this next part. They had done well so far minus a few fumbles, but they played off them surprisingly well, so it turned out okay so far. I also had to note that the shots they’d taken, from the establishing shots and the shots of the fishes in the water, as well as the overall pacing of the scene made it feel surprisingly well done. Tristan and Jaz must have gone all out on planning this. Even the mic wasn’t picking up the wind.

“Why weren’t you there for me back then?” Naomi asked.

“I wanted to be someone worthy of you.”

I felt my heart jump out of my chest. Even the rabbit’s face was in genuine shock. And honestly, I couldn’t blame him. The second I saw her whip her face up, with those tears streaming down her face, my mind had gone blank. Why was Naomi crying? I didn’t write that into the script.

“What do you mean, idiot? That’s what you broke my heart over? I should throw you in with the wineglass.”

“Wait, stop. Where did this come from?”

It probably didn’t warrant saying, but Naomi Fraise had gone completely off script.

“You idiot, you’re already perfect the way you are. Why do you think going on some pointless journey of self-discovery this late into the game means anything? You’re so stupid! You know what? I’ve decided. I’m throwing you in.”

“Wait, stop!”

Unfortunately for the unfit Lance, Naomi was built to play volleyball despite how mediocre she was at it, so she managed to catch him by surprise by scooping him over. He didn’t brace himself at all, most likely due to his own confidence that she wouldn’t be able to do it. The large splash was caught perfectly from inside the restaurant, though the actual view of Lance’s body falling into the lake had been obfuscated by the wooden floors.

“Why’d you do that?!” he yelled.

“Screw you! I’m going back to enjoying my wedding.”

“Naomi!!”

“What?!”

Lance’s face, though it was pretty far from the camera, I could tell was bright red with embarrassment. He bit his lip and took a deep breath.

“I still love you!”

Naomi was frozen in place. Those magic words petrified her like the curse in a fairy tale. They had for a moment, anyway. They had gone completely off script by that point, but… they did eventually get back on the rails in the end.

“It’s too late, Lance. It’s done.” She turned away. “I didn’t need the person you wanted to become. I just needed you.”

She finished it off with the final line from the script, then walked back into the restaurant.

---

It was upsetting. The tips of my fingers were jittery. I caught myself gulping. No, it wasn’t that they had gone off script. At the end of the day, what does and doesn’t make it into the final film is the director’s decision. I knew that the second I wrote the words. No, what upsets me is how beautiful what those two have is. I could feel their love through the screen. From Lance’s desire to be a better person for her, and Naomi’s acceptance of him as he is.

Perhaps my romanticization of loneliness had come too soon. I might have been coloring the world through my experiences with Zoey Brahm. Not everyone is bound to ruin things the way she did, and there are plenty of wonderful people out there. Just one look at the moon bracelet on my wrist that I had gotten from Penny was proof of that.

And Tristan… the fact that he did such a good job of putting this together on such short notice for the sake of his friends… I loved it. As much as I hated to admit it, I really did enjoy the time I spent with him. I just, truly wish that he wasn’t attached to that girl the way he was. But maybe there is something I can do about that from here.

As I shifted through my contacts, I decided to open up my text history with Lawrence. After steeling myself, I typed in everything I knew about Zoey Brahm. I naturally left out anything that could possibly implicate Tristan, but I needed to do something about her. Since I believed that he was the only one with the bravery, the will and the clout to fight against her, it was the natural choice.

Once I sent the message, I looked over at the cheer squad having their lunch over at another table. Perhaps it was time for me to move on. My little dance with loneliness was fun, but this film helped me to realize that life is much better with genuine people by your side. Thank you so much, Tristan, I hope you have a nice day today.