Clara announced and I almost choked on the water I was drinking.

"Why?" Melanie asked. She didn't know about my crush on Caelum which was a good thing because I knew she was going to get mad again and crush my little hopes of ever becoming something with Caelum. See what I did there? Crush crush. Damn, I'm so funny.

"I caught him with another girl." Clara shrugged. "No biggie."

Her gaze flickered from Melanie to Emery and then me, and I swear, I caught a moment of weakness in her eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Emery asked and she shook her head.

I knew I hated it when somebody pitied me and I didn't expect Clara to like it. Me telling her how sorry I was for her breakup or something close to that was just going to be hypocritical so I kept quiet and ate my food.

Walking out of the cafeteria, I slowed down to match Clara's pace. The two blondes were at the front talking about something I wasn't interested in so I turned to look at Clara. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

She bobbed her head. "Yes Daesyn, I do not want to talk about it."

"You're amazing," I said. "You know that, right?"

She crossed her arms, narrowing her brown eyes as her pace slowed completely. "Is this you trying to tell me that I deserve better and Luke doesn't deserve me?"

I smiled sheepishly. "Well, I was actually going to say that," I said. "But I changed my mind. Luke is going to come back crawling to you when he realizes that you're the best thing that has ever happened to him."

She snorted. "Please."

I fixed the straps on my bag, continuing. "When he realizes that, it'll be too late because you've already moved on to somebody who deserves you. That person will give you the world and I'll be there to say 'I told you so.'"

She grinned. "You're an amazing friend," she said. "You know that, right?"

"I've been told that on multiple occasions."

She let out a hearty laugh and pointed a manicured fingernail at me. "And you're hilarious!"

I bowed mockingly and faked an accent. "Thank you, milady."

She breathed a laugh. "Never do that again."

Grinning happily, I nudged her with my arm. "You laughed, that's all that matters."

The bell rang almost immediately and Clara walked to her class after thanking me. That saying, doing good for others made you feel good, was completely true.

"Daesyn," Melanie called as she approached me. "I saw it, thank you."

I nodded in response and gave her a small smile as she pulled me in for a hug. It was pretty clear she was closer to Clara than she was with Emery or even me, just the way I was closer to Emery than the both of them.

Granted, I didn't grow up with a lot of friends and I didn't even have any until I met Emery, but I knew that I couldn't sacrifice my friendship for the world. I hadn't been through this process before but I had a feeling I completely understood how Melanie felt when Clara didn't want to open up.

After school and immediately after I'd completed my homework, Mother knocked on my door. "Can I come in?"

"Geez mum," I said, dropping my pen on my study table. "It's your house."

She walked in, making herself comfortable on my queen-sized bed. "I honestly don't know where you got your sarcastic side from."

Grinning in response, I stretched my arms and cracked my knuckles. "So why did you come all the way here? I mean you could've waited for me to come downstairs or something..." I trailed off.

She nodded, letting out a nervous smile. "Brett wants to come over for Thanksgiving this year."

I stiffened involuntarily and I knew she sensed it. She shook her head, waving her hands frantically. "I mean he just asked if you'll be okay with him coming over," she explained. "If you're not okay with it or if you feel it's too soon, I'll tell him not to bother coming. You're my—"

"I'm okay with it," I cut her off with a smile. "I want to meet him."

No, I didn't want to meet Brett. I was finally becoming happy with Mother but Brett had to come fix himself in the equation. Regardless, I knew I couldn't get rid of this Brett guy. My mother's happiness mattered more.

She was a bit hesitant but her eyes eventually lightened up as she stood to give me a peck on my forehead. She whispered a 'thank you honey' before leaving the room.

Discarding my calculus notes on my table, I laid down on my bed and unlocked my phone. There was a hi from Emery, and I filled her in.

Daesyn:

Brett is coming over for thanksgiving...

Emery:

Hu is brett n y is he comin ova?

Daesyn:

I'll tell you, but why do you text like that? Like you use some kind of phone from the 1800s

Emery:

I'm jx 2 lazy 2 complete d sen10ces :)

Daesyn:

Sen10ces? That's a new one...

Emery:

Al dat matas is dat u undastn wat I mean ;)

Daesyn:

...

Emery:

So hu is brett n y is he comin ova?

Daesyn:

Are you trying to be funny or something? Bc it's not working

Emery:

Hahahaha, Daesyn i luv usin dem

Daesyn:

Figures. But at least can't you reduce the way you use them?

Emery:

Yeah, no thanks.

I txt lyk dis 2 only u ;;)

Daesyn:

Why :/

Emery:

Bc I knw u hate dem, jx d way my bro hates them ;;;)))

Daesyn:

Tsk :-!

Emery:

We can tlk abt dis later, hu is brett n y is he comin ova?

Daesyn:

...

Brett is the guy my mother likes

Emery:

Oof, I undastn. Jx d way u lyk my bro

Daesyn:

Shut up, Em! Brett's coming over for thanksgiving and I don't know what to do

Emery:

I'm calin u nw

"So Em, I really don't know what to do. I mean I want mum to be happy and all but I don't want Brett," I said after picking up the call.

"Calm down Daesyn." She giggled. "Give him a chance and if you don't like him, let your mum know. You are her priority and if you don't like him after meeting him, just let her know."

Nodding in response, I realized she couldn't see me so I cleared my throat. "How do you even know the right things to say?"

She sighed. "It's my specialty."

"I'm going to pretend you never said that and I never heard that." I shook my head. "But thank you for being there."

"You're welcome." She hummed. "And you really don't need to thank me. We're friends and that's what friends do, support each other."

Grinning, I picked on the loose thread from my pillow. "Enough about me," I said. "What's happening in your life."

"About that." I could hear the smile in her voice. "Guess who asked me out?"

"Junior or senior?"

"Senior."

"Uh... I don't know," I said. "Nathan?"

"No!" she yelled. "Why would you even say that?"

Letting out loud shrieks of laughter, I clutched my stomach with one hand and put my phone on speaker. "What's wrong with Nathan?"

Nathan wasn't a bad guy or something. I mean he was pretty cute, but he reeked. He always smelled like onions and even his breath could kill. I knew his breath stank because he asked me out one time. Okay, not one time, but several times during Sophomore year. He didn't leave me alone until I told him I sold male private parts for money.

"Nothing," she retorted. "I'll just pretend you didn't say any of that. But Cole asked me out."

My grin immediately flattened and my lips thinned on its own. "Cole?" I hoped it wasn't the Cole I was thinking about.

"Cole Adler!" she said. "He asked me out."

"Why did he ask you out?" Believe it or not, I was still beyond pissed at Cole for abandoning me at that party.

"What's with the attitude?" she asked.

"I'm sorry." I sighed. "I just...I really don't trust Cole."

"Why?"

"I don't know," I lied. "It's just a gut feeling."

She hummed. "Alexa, play Gut Feeling by Ella Mai."

I mentally facepalmed. "I'm being serious here, Em."

She was quiet for a while, before replying. "My date is tonight, Daesyn. I'll see how it goes before jumping into conclusions."

"Tonight?" I all but yelled. "Why didn't you tell me before now?"

"Chill out Daesyn," she replied. "He asked me out today."

"Hmm, where are you guys going to?"

"I don't really know. He said something like the hangout."

Oh, the hangout.

Like the name, the hangout was a club where people hung out. Why was Cole taking Emery to a club for a date? That boy was up to something and I needed a plan as soon as possible.

"Daesyn, Daesyn, you there?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Can you tell Caelum to call me? It's really important."

She muttered something under her breath before chuckling. "Of course, Daesyn."

"Thank you!" I said before hanging up. "Talk to you later."

Minutes later, I received a call from an unknown number which I found out to be Caelum. I told him about my part of the plan and surprisingly, he agreed. The plan was to pick him up from somewhere close to their house to prevent any suspicions from Emery before going to the hangout spot to wait.

Quickly dressing up in jeans and a red hoodie, I slipped my feet into my converse, picked my keys and my phone as I made my way downstairs. I was willing to put our differences aside for the sake of Emery. It was a relief to see that he was willing to do the same.

"You going somewhere?" Mum asked from her position on the couch as she skimmed through channels on the television.

"Yes." I nodded. "I just have something really important to do."

"Be back home before ten, Daesyn," she said. "We have to go shopping for thanksgiving tomorrow."

What? Thanksgiving was like in a week.

"I know mum," I groaned, walking to the front door. "I'll be back soon."

"Good, you can go."

I refrained from rolling my eyes and called a 'love you' before leaving the house. The drive from my house to where I was picking Caelum wasn't that long and I sat in a comfortable silence until I reached.

Caelum was standing by the roadside when I arrived and I honked the horn at him. When he came closer to the car, I drove forward a bit before stopping. I saw him glare at me through the rearview mirror, but that didn't stop me from driving forward when he came closer again.

The look on his face was priceless and I was a hundred percent sure he huffed when he crossed his arms. He walked closer to the car after several minutes of glaring and when he saw I wasn't going to drive forward, he literally jumped into the car. Staring at him up close made me burst into fits of laughter and I found it hard to breathe.

"Are you going to sit here and snort all day or are we going to do what we both came here for?" Caelum annoyingly asked after my laughing spree.

Shrugging, I let a small smile slip as I turned to look at him, completely ignoring the fact that he didn't put our differences aside. "As much as I love hanging out with you C, we need to help Emery."

-

This chapter wasn't 'all that,' and I couldn't focus on writing it because I had to study for my exams. I'm sorry...

( ꈍᴗꈍ)

Finally, I thought about changing the title of Finding You but I couldn't come up with ideas.

If you want Finding You to stay, let me know. And if you think Finding You is too plain, let me know. I'll go think of new titles hehe.