Chapter 6

She grabs my wrist and stops me on the way. I turn to look away, and she must have seen something hidden under the anger in my eyes. The pain. The sadness. So she says: “I am so sorry, Serena. I know how much you-“ “No”, I interrupt her, not giving the slightest shit if I am not polite. I am done being polite. If Justin were here, he would hold my hand tight and calm down my anger. He would make the world disappear until it’s just the two of us. Then I would calm down and act nice. But now? “No. No, you don’t know anything. You have no idea how it feels. And honestly, I hope you never have to know.” She remains frozen on spot. And without another word, I make my way out of the florist shop. This was a bad idea. Going out, being back there, it was all a bad idea. I should have never left my room. I stop on the staircase of the florist shop and sink down on the floor. My head is hidden in my knees. It reminds me of back then.

I look at him surprised. No one cared before if I cried. Why should he care? He doesn’t know me. I don’t even know his last name. I know his name is Justin, then van Dor-something. Van Dorksten. Van Dorel. Van Dorbel. No idea.“Want to go out for a milkshake?”, he asks me. I am too surprised and nod. Without thinking. Justin leads the way to the city center. I guess that’s the advantage of living in a small town. You have everything nearby. Everything else is a disadvantage. I always wanted to move out of here. And go far, far away. He orders two milkshakes for us and I watch him take the first sip. As soon as I’m sure it’s not poisoned or anything, I take a sip too. It tastes nice.“So, how is training going?”, he asks me after a while of silence. I am so perplex I answer:“Good”. Then after thinking about his question: “Why?” “Because I don’t know much about you rather than you’re a cheerleader. And I thought that you might want to talk about something else instead of why you were crying. So, this seemed to be the safest thing to ask.” “Wow”, I let out, seeming unsurprised when in reality I ask myself why the heck he put so much thought into this. Into me. “You seem to have thought this through.” He chuckles a bit, making a set of dimples appear on his cheeks. Talk about cute.“It’s going alright”, I answer his question from before, a bit more detailed now. “We’re getting ready for nationals.” “That sounds impressive”, he says. I have to smile.“It for sure seems that way.” “You don’t like it?”, he asks me, his tone actually worried.“You said you don’t know anything about me. It’s best to leave it like that”, I reply.“Why?” “Because you won’t like what you’ll find.” He takes a deep breath. Then looks me straight in the eyes. I haven’t ever seen a more beautiful shade of brown. My eyes included.“I don’t mind if I like it. I want to find it anyway”, he says. “Why?”, it’s my turn to ask. “Because you’re the missing piece, Serena Young.”

I have to chuckle at that. How I didn’t get it then. I remember how I went home and googled what does “missing piece” mean. I didn’t find out. Obviously. Until after long after.