Walk in the Sun

My week down East went by fast, but the rest of the school year was going by faster. It felt as though I blinked and I had a week left of classes before final exams. I had been looking forward to going to college, but also thought I had much more time with my family before I moved.

It was a Monday, so I knew my mom would be working until 5. When I got home from school I made dinner all by myself. I made Shake-n-Bake chicken with mashed potatoes and steamed mixed vegetables. After everything was set in or on the oven, I walked into the living room, watching tv with the volume low enough that I would still be able to hear the timer when it went off. My phone began to ring, and I looked around for it, but couldn’t see it anywhere. I looked in the kitchen and it wasn’t there either. I wouldn’t have been so worried about it, but I was expecting a phone call. Looking up at the timer and seeing that I had enough time to go look some more, I ran upstairs to my room. Opening my door, I looked around. Stifling through the Pittsburgh University swag that Kaitlyn had picked up, I finally found my phone. When I picked it up, I realized that I missed the call. Looking through the call-list, I tried to dial the number back, but the number was blocked. I figured it would be. I was so pissed that I missed it, I felt tears spring into my eyes. I backed myself up against the wall and started to sob. I sunk to the floor and just let the tears flow.

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Sid's POV

I had just stepped off of the plane and looked over at Kris.

“You ready?”

He nodded. “Oh yeah.”

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Steph's POV

“Steph! Where are you?!” I heard someone yelling downstairs. I quickly rubbed my eyes and stood up from the wall. My eyes widened as the smell of something burning reached my nose. I quickly ran downstairs and saw the kitchen fill with smoke. I looked over at my mom with a look of pure guilt.

“Oh, mom. I’m so sorry. I wanted to make you a nice dinner and I….I…” I felt the tears come back up and my mom took one of my hands in hers.

“Stephers, it’s okay. We have dinner plans anyway.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. She had a smile on her face and reached up to wipe my tears from my cheeks.

“Mom, I have something to tell you.”

“Well, can it wait until later? We’re going to be late.”

I sighed and hung my head. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Good, now head upstairs. We’ll both quickly change.”

I followed her up the stairs, but stopped halfway and looked at her.

“Wait, what about Derrick and Tab?”

She just continued walking, ignoring my question. I walked into my room, seeing my phone on my bed was enough for more tears to falls, but I held them back. I wanted to spend some quality time with my mom before I left. Crying my eyes out while she wiped my tears wasn’t exactly my idea of quality time. So, I quickly got changed and left my room. I walked down the stairs and saw that my mom was talking to someone in the kitchen, heading out the back door. I walked closer to them and peeked my head over my mom’s shoulder. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

“Oh my god!” I screamed as I leapt into the person’s arms. “What are you doing here?”

“What? Can’t a guy come and visit his girlfriend?” He smirked.

I placed a soft kiss on his plump lips. “Well, of course you can, but it’s still the playoffs! You need to focus!”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I’m only here for the night. Now, let’s go, we’re running late.”

I nodded and my mom and I followed Sid out of the house. We got in the car and were on our way to…I wasn’t sure where.

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Sid’s POV

I was happy to see that I had surprised Steph so well. I knew that she would be a little taken aback that I was here during the playoffs, but we were waiting to see who we would face in the finals. It was a stressful time, but both Kris and I needed the break.

“Where are we going?” Steph asked from the back seat. She allowed her mom to sit in the front passengers seat.

I looked over to Sandy and smirked. “You’ll see.”

I heard her scoff, followed closely by her phone going off. “Oh my god! Kris is here, too?! Sid, what is going on?”

I kept the smirk on my face and shook my head. “Like I said before, you’ll see.” I looked out the window and noticed that we had reached our destination. “We’re here.”

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Steph’s POV

I looked out the window and raised my eyebrow at Sid as he helped me out of the car. “We’re at Kaitlyn’s house.”

He nodded. “Yeah, well, like you said, it is the playoffs and Kris and I didn’t really want to be recognized too much tonight.”

I smiled at him and followed him up to Kaitlyn’s front door. My mom was already there, waiting to knock. Once I stepped by her side, she raised her hand to the door. I felt Sid slip his hand into mine and give it a light squeeze. Kaitlyn’s mom answered the door and smiled at us.

“Sorry, we’re a little late.” My mom apologized as we stepped in and slipped off our coats.

“It’s alright.” Kaitlyn’s mom said. She led us through the house. “Steph, I can’t tell you how happy I am that you and Kaitlyn are going to the same school.”

I gave her a small smile. “Yeah, it’s going to be great.” Sid must have noticed that something was bothering me, and gave my hand another squeeze. I turned my head to face him. He leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“What’s wrong?” I shrugged my shoulders. “Does this have anything to do with what you wanted to talk about on the phone the other day?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but…

“Steph!!” I looked over Sid’s shoulder and saw Kaitlyn smiling at me. I smiled back and Sid and I walked over to her.

“Hey,” I smiled, “this is a nice surprise, eh?”

She nodded and looked between me and Sid. Her face faltered slightly. “Did I interrupt something over there?”

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Sid’s POV

I didn’t know what it was, but something wasn’t right about Steph. She was acting a little off. Something in her eyes was telling me there was something she wanted to tell me. I wasn’t sure if it was something she wanted to tell Kaitlyn.

“No, I was just going to tell Steph how happy I was that she only had two more weeks before you both moved out to Pittsburgh.”

Kaitlyn beamed as Kris appeared by her side, wrapping an arm around her waist. I smiled at him. I then turned my focus to Steph, who was looking around the room. There were decorations all over the room. I ran my hand up and down her arm and she looked up at me. She gave me a small smile, but it looked a little forced. I decided I needed to get some answers. I turned to Kaitlyn and Kris.

“We’ll be right back, I need to steal this one away for a minute or two.”

I walked Steph out of the dining room and into the hallway.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You seem a little off.”

She shrugged her shoulders, not making eye contact with me.

“Steph, please talk to me.”

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Steph’s POV

I opened my mouth to respond to Sid, when I heard my name being called from the dining room.

“We need to get back to the party.”

I heard Sid sigh, and follow me into the hallway. My mom was standing beside Kaitlyn’s mom beside the dining room table, surrounded by our families and boyfriends.

“Steph, Kaitlyn, we wanted to have a mini celebration before you guys start cramming for exams, since we won’t have a chance to do this once they’re over.” My mom smiled at me and then Kaitlyn’s mom began to talk. I felt Sid wrap an arm around my waist and placed a soft kiss in my hair. I looked over at Kaitlyn and we shared a smile. I was only half-listening to her mom. My mind was brought back to the phone call that I missed earlier that day. I was snapped out of my thoughts by my mom. I looked up at her with a look of confusion.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I zoned out for a minute. What did you say?”

She smiled. “It’s okay, honey. I just asked if there was anything you wanted to say before we started dinner.”

I nodded my head slowly. “Uh, yeah, sure.” I sighed before continuing. “I’m so happy to begin this next chapter of my life and happy to have each of you behind me as I embark on this journey.”

“Although we’re all behind you, you’ll have Kaitlyn, Sid and Kris right beside you.” Derrick smiled at me.

“Well, it’s funny you say that...” I looked around at all of the faces throughout the room. “I’m not going to Pittsbrugh.”

My mom’s mouth dropped and I felt Sid’s arm snake away from my waist. I felt so guilty for lying to them all. I moved my gaze to the ground as I whispered just loud enough for them all to hear.

”I’m going to Halifax.”