I woke up the next morning to Nicole and Abby talking “quietly” on the other bed.
“Hey, how are you doin?” Abby asked as I sat up in bed. I shrugged. It was almost 10:30 and I had slept in, which I must admit, made me feel a little bit better.

I got out of bed and stood up, looking out the window. The sun was shining, the sky was more blue than I had ever seen it, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I sighed and turned to the girls.
“I'm gonna go take a shower,” I told them, walking over to my closet. I took out my blue cami with stars on it and a pair of tan shorts. I walked down the hall and into the bathroom, starting the shower.
I stood there thinking about what happened yesterday. I still couldn't believe what I heard or saw. I mean, it's just a rumor, right?


I was showered, dressed, and back in my room within a half an hour.
“Feel better?” Nicole asked, looking up at me from where she was sitting at my computer. I nodded.
“A little,” I said. I started to get teary again, I just couldn't help it. Abby stood up and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. It was such a good thing we were friends again. I seriously have no idea where I would be without them.

“Why don't we go downstairs, and have something to eat and watch a movie or something?” she said, pulling away as I wiped the tears away from my eyes. My face felt frozen with no expression in the last thirty two hours.
“Sounds good to me,” Nicole said, popping up and heading towards the hallway. I nodded and followed her out.


“What do you have for movies?” Abby asked. I pointed to the table that held all of our DVDs and she walked over to it and opened it.
“Grinch, Rugrats in Paris, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy?” she said, pulling the DVD out.
“Red Sox edition,” I told her. She nodded and put it back in.
“Animal House, Bruce Almighty, It's a Wonderful Life... you don't have very much,” she said.
“Yeah, I know, Abby,” I said, sounding a little annoyed. She turned back to the DVDs, still searching for a good movie.
“Is there anything good on On Demand?” Nicole asked, picking up the remote and pressing the black button that said 'On Demand'. “Ooh! The Covenant is on here!” Nicole said. Abby sprung up and grabbed the remote from Nicole's hand and plopped down in the chair. The Covenant was Abby's all-time favorite movie so obviously, this is what we would be watching.

“Come on, Macy! We're gonna watch The Covenant!” Abby shouted out into the kitchen.
“Coming...” I said, grabbing three Poland Spring water bottles from the fridge and walking out into the living room.

I threw Nicole and Abby each a water bottle and sat down when Abby pushed play.
“Oh man, I love this movie,” Abby squealed.

“Holy cow! Who is that in the back seat behind the driver?!” Nicole asked, practically drooling over him.
“That's Caleb,” Abby smiled, feeling the same way as Nicole. I couldn't help but agree.
“Also known as Steven Straight,” I said, laying down on the couch.

“Hey, do you guys want some lunch or something?” I asked, sitting up about twenty minutes into the movie. My stomach wouldn't stop grumbling.
“Yeah, i'm pretty hungry,” Abby said, pressing the pause button and getting up from the chair.
We walked out into the kitchen and went through the freezer until we found something that looked appetizing.
We pulled out a bag of Tyson chicken nuggets and threw them in the microwave so we didn't have to wait long for them.
We just sat at the counter and ate them before going back into the living room to finish the movie.
After three nuggets though, I was full and once again the plane crash and the news was replaying in my mind.
“Mace, are you okay?” Nicole asked me, waving her hand in front of my face and stuffing another chicken nugget in her mouth.
“What? Yeah, yeah I'm fine, just zoning out,” I said with a weak smile. That was the closest thing to a smile in two days.

“She's thinking about the crash,” Abby said, practically reading it in my eyes. “The way she's staring.”

“No, no i'm not,” I said, shaking my head and looking back at Abby. I stopped. “Fine,” I sighed, looking down at the counter where my hands were tapping the counter to the beat of Out Of This World.
“Come on, let's just go watch the rest of the movie,” Nicole said, getting up from the counter and grabbing the white plate from Pier 1 that was sitting on the counter. She rinsed it off and carefully placed it in the dishwasher and we walked back out into the living room to finish the movie.

We sat down where we had been before, pressing the play button and continuing.
“Whoa, I did not see that coming,” Nicole said, looking up just as Reid and Caleb were fighting in the bar in the movie. I rolled my eyes.



The movie was just getting pretty intense when they showed Caleb laying in bed. Just then, a scary figure appeared on the screen. I was grabbing the pillow from the couch and squeezing it nervously while watching the movie. The doorbell rang and the three of us jumped and screamed. I was breathing heavy and put my hand over my heart, actually laughing. Abby and Nicole sat there doing the same while I stood up from the couch.

I felt somewhat nauseous when I first stood up, but it quickly went away. I fixed my blue camisole and walked out to the front door. My heart was still pounding, but I didn't see anyone there. “Probably UPS or something,” I said to myself before grabbing the brass door knob.
I turned it slowly and opened the white door and stepped out. I closed the door behind me and I started freaking out in my mind.

There in front of me stood a five foot eight teenage boy. Wearing green converse, dark skinny jeans and a green Ed Hardy t-shirt and a medical tag around his neck. A loose curl hung in his face and I studied him standing there on my front steps before realizing what was happening.

I covered my mouth with my hand, and then my other. “Nick,” I whispered. I buried my face in my hands before letting the tears come out. He slowly walked up the steps and put his hand on my back, pulling me close to him.

I pulled my hands away from my face and wrapped them around him. I buried my face in his shoulder and he kept holding me as I cried.
“Macy, I'm so sorry,” he told me, stroking my hair. I wanted to forgive him so badly, but I couldn't catch my breath no matter how I tried.
“No, Nick,” I said, pulling away and wiping some of the tears away. “Everything was my fault. I ruined it all and I couldn't even fix it. I don't know who I was, I hate who i've been. I lost myself and...” I spoke. I took a breath. “You shouldn't be the one apologizing. I should be,” I said, staring into his dark brown eyes. “I'm sorry,” I said while bursting into tears and throwing my arms around him again.

We rocked back and forth for a couple minutes and I just couldn't stop crying. He smelled like Abercrombie cologne, a smell that triggered all the good memories we had before he left, making me cry even more. “Breathe, Mace,” he told me.

“You okay?” he asked, pulling away for the second time. He glided his thumb across my cheek, wiping away the tears.
I shook my head. “Nick, I never thought I would see you again,” I told him. “Plus, I figured you hated me and-” he stopped me in mid-sentence.
“Macy, I could never hate you,” he told me, sounding like I was stupid to even consider that. “I hated what you had said and done and become. People change but I could never hate you. No matter what,” he told me.

I started to think about yesterday morning again and I couldn't keep it off my mind. My lip started to tremble and I was staring at the sign on our front door that read 'Cead Mile Failte' which is Gaelic meaning a hundred thousand welcomes.

“What is it, Mace?” he asked.
“the crash,” I told him, almost silently.
“You thought I was on it?” he asked. I nodded my head. “Come here,” he beckoned for me to come closer to him again. For the third time I threw my arms back around him and we stood there for about six minutes.
“The reporter,” I gasped for air. “Said that it could be you. Your family. She said that rumors were swirling...”
“Macy, you know rumors are almost always false,” he whispered, looking into my eyes. His face softened.
“I know but, it just seemed so real and...” I started. “I didn't want to believe it, but I did even though in the back of my mind I knew it wasn't you, I just couldn't convince myself,” I said, wiping the tears off from my face.

“Well, no more worries. Cause it wasn't me, and i'm right here. I never hated you and I never could. Macy...” he said, stopping. His hand on my face and it looked like he was about to tell me he loved me. That's what I wanted to hear all along, but not now. It wasn't the time and the place and it was just better to wait.
We stood there hugging again. He kissed my forehead. We knew we were still in love with each other, but it was better to take it slow for now.



“Macy are you-” Nicole stopped in the doorway, seeing me and Nick on the front poor. Nick looked at her and nodded, but I didn't turn my head to see her. She smiled and closed the door, leaving Nick and I alone again.

“You okay?” he asked me, stroking my hair again. I shook my head, never wanting to let go of him.

“Never let me go,” I spoke so he could barely hear.
He grabbed me tighter, knowing he had to sometime, but knowing he didn't want to either.

“I won't.”