Chapter 25 Ali #2
This semester, all my classes were AP, including Bio II, which was a requirement for many of the colleges I was considering.
I figured it was better to get it over with and out of the way my junior year, rather than stress myself out with it during my senior terms. After school, I had two cheer practices, one for the smaller squad that attended the football games, and the other was the competition squad that still needed to perfect a cheer if we hoped to win regionals in a few weeks.
My happy scream was so loud that our neighbors from three houses down startled as they walked down the street for their daily 5K stroll.
Everyone laughed as I ran down the driveway where Mom was standing with Sixx, Roanna, and Sin.
She held out the keys, but instead of taking them from her, I hugged her hard, practically knocking the air out of her. “This is the best surprise ever!”
Laughing, she hugged me back. “You like it? I was torn on which color you would want, but Sixx had already tracked down the exact make, model, and color scheme you’d mentioned. Your dad and Sin test drove it yesterday to make sure it checked all their boxes.”
Still squeezing her close, I shook my head, blinking back my tears. “It’s perfect.”
“My turn.” Dad lifted me away from Mom, hugging me with my feet a few inches off the ground. “Happy first day, Ali-Cat.”
“Thanks, Daddy.”
When he set me down, Roanna hugged me next, then I got a quick but warm squeeze from Sin. Before I could step back fully from him, Sixx shouldered his way between his dad and me. Dipping down, he kissed my forehead and hugged me.
“Getting to see you guys before class has made this a great day. Thank you for coming.”
“It’s my first day of school too.” Sixx dropped the surprise, and I finally noticed what he was wearing. Black slacks with a polo the same color as mine, with my high school emblem on the left side.
My mouth dropped open. “You switched schools? But why? How? I…” Tears choked me. “When did this happen?”
“It’s something we’ve been considering as a family for a while now,” Roanna answered.
“Sixx wasn’t happy at his school, and because of a certain someone who refuses to respect boundaries, we thought a change was needed.
Plus, Sin and I found a great little cottage nearby that we love.
We haven’t officially moved in yet, but Sixx should start the semester on time. ”
“So I get to see more of you now?” I asked, my heart squeezing with hope and a giddy kind of happiness. “You’re really going to attend my school. Live closer. Be closer to me full time.”
“Yes, yes, and yes, daisy girl,” Sixx said, dropping another kiss to my brow. “We should go. Don’t want to be late for the first bell.”
“Pictures!” Mom and Ro yelled at the same time, already pulling out their phones.
“You two, get in front of Ali’s car,” Mom instructed.
Sixx and I posed for several minutes, pretending to complain the entire time, groaning we would be late if they didn’t hurry.
Ro sent me all the ones she liked the most, and I used my favorite as my new background and lock screen.
It was one where Sixx had his arm around my waist, and I was cuddled into him, smiling for the camera while he looked down at me.
Because Sixx had jiu-jitsu that evening and I had practice, we took our separate cars, but for the first time ever, I got to walk into school holding my boyfriend’s hand. Between classes, we met in the hall for a quick kiss to hold us over until we saw each other again.
More than once, I passed Evan in the hall.
He waved each time, and I gave him a simple nod in acknowledgment without pausing on my way to class.
At lunch, Sixx and I sat with Moira and a few of my other casual friends.
Evan either didn’t have the same lunch period or decided to eat off campus, because I didn’t see him in the cafeteria.
I’d thought it was going to be weird, seeing my ex-friend in the halls.
A part of me had wondered if it would hurt or if I would regret my decision to cut him out of my life.
In truth, though, I felt nothing. Not in that numb way I had before Abi’s wedding.
I had no lingering animosity, no shoulda-woulda-couldas.
All I felt when I looked at Evan was indifference.
And then I walked into AP Bio II and saw Sixx waiting, his bag sitting in the chair beside him to save my seat.
Whatever Roanna and Sin’s reasons for making the move to Malibu, I suddenly fully understood why Sixx had encouraged it.
He knew how much I’d struggled in Bio I the previous semester, and here he was, in the class I’d been dreading all day, ready to be my lab partner.
It wasn’t just that, though. I’d been feeling vulnerable about going back to school all summer.
Realistically, I knew the threat was gone.
Gaviria was swimming with the fishes. That didn’t mean my nervousness over walking back into the place that had been a source of so much anxiety vanished.
Until right that moment, I hadn’t allowed myself to think about it.
Seeing my boyfriend waiting patiently in class for me, his beautifully menacing face shifting from stoic to warm with a blink once he saw me, I could admit to myself that I’d been dreading returning to school.
Knowing Sixx was in the same building, and now the same class, I could fully relax.
Dropping my book onto the table beside his, I grabbed his face between both my hands. “Sixx Sinclair, you are my favorite human in the world.”