~Althia~

I was waiting by my front door for Zach to come pick me up for school since he had offered me a ride yesterday and I panicked so I let myself say yes.

When I heard tires pulling into my driveway, I grabbed my backpack and quickly put on my shoes before walking out the front door and locking it behind me

I made my way to Zach's car where I opened the back door first to throw my backpack inside before opening the passenger seat and getting myself seated

"Good morning" Zach greeted me

"Morning" I replied, leaning in for a kiss before I realized what I was doing

I quickly sat back in my seat and put my seatbelt on

I could feel Zach's eyes on me

I closed my eyes and mentally groaned at myself for making things even awkwarder than what they were already going to be

"Sorry" I mumbled refusing to look at him

"S'okay" Zach responded

Without saying anything else, Zach backed out of my driveway and started driving down my street

Once we hit a stop sign, he turned the volume of the radio higher before placing his hand on my thigh

I froze underneath his touch and held my breath

Zach coughed and quickly removed his hand from my thigh

"Sorry, force of habit" He told me as he coughed again

"I get it, it's alright" I reassured him

For the rest of the ride to school, we stayed in silence. I pointed my legs towards the door and put myself as far from Zach as I could get as he put both of his hands on his steering wheel and kept his eyes on the road every second

Once we parked, I quickly unbuckled myself and hopped out of his car, eager to get as far away from the awkwardness between us as possible

I started walking away, looking for Jessica or someone to go talk to immediately

"Thi" Zach called out for me

I stopped on my tracks and turned around to look at him

"You're kinda gonna need this" He held up my backpack as he closed his back door

"Right, of course" I said "I don't know how I forgot, I'm so tired" I added as I walked back towards him to grab my bag

Once my bag was on my back, Zach and I made our way towards school together

Almost at the same time, we both reached for one and others hand before we stopped ourselves and stopped on our tracks to look at another

"You know I should-" Zach said as he pointed in front of him

"I need to g-" I said at the same time as I pointed behind me

"Right, well I'll g-" Zach replied as he pointed behind him

"I'll go ther-" I replied at the same time as I pointed in front of me

"How bout you just-" Zach told me

"Mmh, yeah I'll-" I responded and moved around him as quickly as I could

As I was walking up the stairs, I saw Montgomery leaning on the railing talking to a guy that's in our English class

"Hi, sorry, I need Monty" I told the guy as I grabbed ahold of Montgomery's shirt and dragged him along beside me as he was in mid-sentence

"Good morning to you to Althia, to what do I owe you interrupting my conversation?" Montgomery asked me as I let go of his shirt and he walked normally beside me

"I just had the most awful car ride you could ever imagine" I answered

"Don't say I didn't warn ya" He responded

I looked at him and made a face as he grinned down at me

"Come on, how bad was it?" He questioned

"I can't tell you if me almost kissing him not even five seconds after I got in the car was the worst part or if it was when he put his hand on my thigh out of second nature. I also got out of the car immediately after he parked to get away from all the maladroitness and completely forgot my backpack and then we both reached for each others hands. Lastly, as if things didn't go weirdly enough, we spent at least five minutes awkwardly trying to get away from another but ended up always trying to go in the same direction" I told him

Montgomery was silent for a moment before he burst out laughing

"Montgomery De la Cruz, this is not a laughing matter" I exclaimed as I pushed him slightly on the shoulder

"Oh but I think it is" He argued as he continued laughing

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms

"Look it'll just take some time to get used to no longer being the way you guys were before" Monty told me as he calmed down "Doesn't it take 30 days to get out of a habit?" He asked

"21 actually" I corrected him

"Well 21 days is 3 weeks so just maybe not get a ride from Zach every single day or make sure you won't be the only one in the car with him" He said

"Yeah but having him drive me to school and back from it isn't the only thing that I'll need to break a habit for" I told him

"So just make yourself a list of things you think you're gonna have more problem stopping and make small solutions for them" Monty replied "Another example would be instead of sitting next to him at lunch, sit across from him or only facetime him when it's really necessary, you know? Shit like that" He continued

"You know that's actually good advice, when did you get so good at this?" I questioned

"I should just forget about playing sports and become a breakup therapist" Monty shrugged and I couldn't help but laugh

From across the hall, I could see Zach walking towards us but then he slowed down when he saw me

I quietly cursed under my breath

"Do I stay with you or do I go to Zach? Help" Montgomery asked as he noticed the same thing I did

"Go see Zach, I need to get to my locker and class is gonna start in 10" I answered him

"You sure?" He questioned

"Yeah, I'll be fine" I nodded "Plus it's time you put that breakup therapy magic on him, if that's what he wants you for" I added

"Okay, I'll see you lunch" He patted my shoulder quickly before running off to find where Zach had ran off to

I made my way to my locker and opened it

As I was placing books in it, my phone buzzed with a text

I grabbed it and opened it immediately since I knew it was either Jessica or news on Jeff

👯💖

Althia:

How'd it go?

👯💖

👯💖

Althia:

Will you get one if they think you should?

👯💖

👯💖

Althia:

Bryce isn't just some guy babes

Althia:

He's some pig that deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life for what he did to you and if you don't feel 100% safe, I say get the order and that way you'll have that to protect you for sure

👯💖

Althia:

If he breaks it, he'll have to face the court and maybe this time he won't only get 3 months of probation

Althia:

And I can assure you that with or without the restraining order, if he even looks in your direction or makes a single comment about you irl or online, I will swing at him... Again

👯💖

👯💖

😂💗

Althia:

Man I got u

Althia:

But also listen to what the cops have to say, they definitely have your best interest in mind

👯💖

👯💖

Althia:

No, you?

👯💖

👯💖

Althia:

It was the most embarrassing, awkward, crucial morning car ride ever😩😭

Althia:

I don't even know how to explain all of the things that went wrong

👯💖

😂😂😂

👯💖

Althia:

True true

Althia:

Well the first bell just rang so I should get my things ready and head to class but keep me updated on how it goes at the station, I'll have my phone on so you can text me whenever and I'll answer it right away💖

👯💖

😗💞

👯💖

Althia:

Same here

👯💖

💖💖

I closed my phone and grabbed what I needed for my first two classes before heading towards my period 1 class.

🥺🥺