Chapter 37:

One Last Option

Turning off the ignition and opening the door, the park falls silent.

Unlike the summer, there's no longer any crickets to be heard chirping and the summery haze has been replaced with the winter's chill. As much as I love surprises from Zac, I wish he could've picked tonight's as an indoor one. It's almost December and the days of wearing floral dresses are long gone and instead I'm wrapped up in the thickest, fluffiest jumper I could find.

Walking through the rusty iron gate, my eyes look back in astonishment at the lit path in front of me. As the night has fallen, the lantern's aren't the only thing providing light. The trees have been wrapped in christmas lights and the fountain that sits in the middle dazzles in the flashing illumination.

Although it was still a bit early for the christmas decorations in my opinion, I try to embrace the festivities as soon as I can. Even more so as Thanksgiving isn't something my family celebrates in the same way everyone else does here.

Zac perches on the edge of the fountain, his thick fur coat covers his pink ears. He flashes me a grin, a bunch of amaryllis' in hand.

"What's this?" I question, my pitch rising at the end.

Zac links his arm through mine, leading me on the same path towards the field where my birthday cinema surprise was held.

"Well it's obvious that you've been down recently and it's been a really tough couple of months for you." He says sympathetically before kissing me on the top of my head.

"I hear you reminiscing over the summer all the time, so I wanted to recreate a bit of it for you, to both remind you of how it was whilst also giving you a taste of what's to come after graduation."

Zac pushes the low hanging branches out of the way, walking through the clearing to the field. In the centre of it is a picnic blanket, covered in fluffier blankets to keep us warm. Pillows litter is alongside fake candles, to avoid a fire hazard. Two portable heaters sit either side, glowing a warm orange tint as they produce heat.

Sitting on the blanket feels like stepping into a different season. My body relaxes at the newfound warmth and my mind wanders back to happier days; summer.

"It's beautiful." I say, looking up as Zac as he unfolds the biggest blanket he can find before covering it over my body, protecting me from the biting cold.

"I'm glad you like it." Zac smiles back, sitting beside me.

"You didn't need to do this for me." I run my hand across his frozen cheeks, rubbing my finger across his dimple.

"I wanted to. You needed a pick up and we needed some time together away from school, to clear our minds and act how we used to. I'm worried that your mind's becoming clouded. Plus with election day being tomorrow, it might be a bit overwhelming with Amelia's likely win and party tomorrow night."

"Well I appreciate it but I'm okay." I say back.

"I know that's not true. It's okay to talk about this stuff Lola, we're all here for you and will help you get through this." Zac says before pulling me into his chest, feeling his heart beat rapidly against his chest.

We stay cuddled for a moment, neither of us knowing what to say. He's right, I need to be more open and avoid bottling things up. At this moment, his words and comfort are exactly what I need to relieve my mind of it's dark thoughts, even if it's only for a short while.

"Something strange happened today." I hesitantly begin, unsure of how to approach the topic of the phone call with Max.

"What?" He looks down at me with a frown.

"When my mum had the meeting with Principal Clark, he gave me an apology letter that Amelia had supposedly written to me."

"I can only imagine the rubbish that was in there." He growls, irritated at the sound of her name.

"Trust me, it was anything but an apology. I know we want this date to be happy but I've kind of got some bad news."

"What?" Zac's concern returns to his face.

"She's making her party super secure, so that no one can bring anything in that would set her up. She's even got a list of names and bouncers so there's no way I can sneak in. The group may be able to sneak stuff in, if Sophie sucks up to her and gets there early, I doubt the bouncers will search her but it could still mean that the whole plan fails." I sigh.

Zac curses quietly, throwing one of the pillows towards the closest tree in frustration. He runs a hand through his hair, gripping the ends of the blanket tightly before letting out the breath he's been holding in. I can tell he's trying to compose himself, he doesn't want to get riled up as he knows it won't be good for either of us.

"I'm sure it'll work out. She may be smart but our group is smarter and like you said if they suck up to her, they can sneak it in. It's all going to work out." He reassures me but a part of me can't help but feel like he's also trying to convince himself.

"I suppose I do have some good news." I suggest in an attempt to perk him up.

"What's that?" A cheeky smile appears on his face.

"In this letter she told me that she was able to get the pictures and information against me through Emily, she used to be my best friend from home-"

"That's good news?" He interrupts, scrunching his face up in a mixture of confusion and disgust.

"No!" I laugh.

"Anyway, Amelia said that I apparently did have a friend back in England. Remember Max? I told you about him whilst we were watching TV."

"The one who was like a big brother to you?"

I nod. I hadn't told Zac about the fact that Max liked me and the kiss we shared on that night and I'm glad I didn't, especially now that Max and I are speaking again. The last thing I need is Zac getting jealous over my last remaining English friend.

"So I called him." A smile escapes my lips which is soon mirrored by Zac.

"That's so cool! What did he say?" I can tell that Zac is genuinely happy for me, he can tell by my reaction that finding this information out and the phone call has made me the brightest I've been for a while.

For the next ten minutes I tell Zac about the conversation, laughing as I describe what Max would've been doing whilst speaking to me. Zac listens with intent as I tell him more stories about our friendships, even delving into the lesser known stories about our time spent playing music together.

Zac even suggests that I should invite him to America one day but I brush it off. Although I wouldn't admit it, it'd be my dream to bring him here. I know it'd be somewhat risky, mixing the past with the present and it slightly scares me that I could be opening a can of worms by allowing Max back into my life. I suppose for now, we'll just have to take baby steps.

***

"Anyway, I've got more to surprise you with." Zac suddenly says after a few minutes of drawing patterns with the stars.

"More? Zac I've told you before, you need to stop with all of these surprises." I let out a laugh.

Zac pulls the picnic hamper up from our feet, slowly taking out it's contents. At first he pulls out an antipasto platter, covered in a mixture of German, Spanish and Italian meats alongside a variety of different cheeses. He then pulls out a pre-sliced french stick of bread and a small pot containing olive oil. After digging a bit deeper, his hand reaches for the box of greek style olives with chunks of feta cheese dotted around them before finishing the banquet off with pita bread and hummus.

"Woah, what is all of this?" I ask, my eyes widening as they absorb all of the food laid out in front of us.

"I said I was going with a summer theme so here's our very own mediteranean feast." He beams.

"Oh my, is that mozzarella cheese and serrano ham? They're my absolute favourites. I'd eat them all the time when I was younger and we'd go on family holidays to Spain. My dad would always make sure to buy meat to bring back with us as I loved them so much."

I smiled, thinking back to the days spent on the sunny beaches, digging a hole deep enough to bury my dad in whilst my mum sat on the sun bed, scribbling away at a puzzle book. The rays of sun kissing my skin until I was covered in a golden glow. I'd spend hours keeping myself busy with sand art until the sun would slowly creep behind the horizon, creating a tropical array of colours in the sky above. My dad made sure to take a picture at the end of the day of me next to my sand castles, my skin coated with sand before taking me to get an ice cream. A scoop of strawberry and a scoop of chocolate in a wafer cone with sprinkles, 'Daddy's special treat for his darling daughter' he used to call it, always making sure to spoil me rotten.

"One more thing!" Zac interrupts my day dream, leaving my mind alone in the ice cream shop in the same way my dad left me; abruptly.

Zac's hands return to the picnic hamper before two wine glasses emerge. After handing me mine, Zac grabs a cool bottle of white wine, the perfect drink for this kind of food.

"Where did you get this?" I ask, looking at the label.

A white grape wine, mixed with passionfruit, two years old from New Zealand. I'd see my mum drink this before, she always had a great taste in wine. She used to tell me about the wine tasting dates that her and my dad would go on, something she refuses to talk about nowadays.

"From my parents' wine cellar. Hopefully they won't mind, they've got so many that I doubt they'll notice one bottle missing." Zac smirks.

"I'll get my mum to buy me a nice one so that I can give them one for Christmas." I reply.

Licking the corner of my mouth, my hand lurches forward, ready to snatch a piece of cheese from the plate by the side of me. Just as I pick it up, Zac slaps my hand causing me to drop it and my eyes dart up to his face, full of fury.

"What was that for?" I say angrily.

"I haven't poured the wine and said cheers yet." He chuckles at my eagerness.

He unscrews the lid of the bottle and the pale gold coloured liquid splashes against the edges of the glass. Bringing it to my nose, I embrace it's fruity aroma, in the same way my mother does, before swirling in my hand as I watch the beverage swish in tiny ripples.

"Okay, one more thing and then I promise you can eat all the food you want." Zac starts to say before laughing again.

"You know how I've been saying that all of this is to remind us of summer?"

I frown back at him, confused at what he's getting at.

"It is the truth but there's also something else." He tries to stop himself from smiling and I can tell that he's dying to tell me something.

"What?" I ask.

He takes my hand in his, forcing me to stare into his animated eyes. His stare is swoon worthy, no hint of discomfort in sight.

"The reason I've picked this food specifically is because I've booked us a holiday to Italy for after graduation." He curls back his lips, showing off a shy smile.

"WHAT!" I shriek, pure elation vibrates around my body.

"I checked with your mum and it's all booked. We leave on June 14th and fly home on June 28th."

"Oh my god." I begin to cry, speaking over Zac.

"We'll spend four days in Venice, four in Rome and then four in Milan." He counts the places off using his fingers.

"What about the other two?" I ask, wiping the tears away from my cheeks.

"Here's my final surprise..." He says, another secretive smile hiding behind his lips.

"We'll be spending two days in London before flying back. Baby, you're going home!"

Zac wraps me up in his arms as I sob tears of delight into his chest. Never in my life did I think that anyone would do something like this for me and it's all a reminder of just how lucky I am, as well as how far I've come from this time last year. A year ago I was worried that I'd be spending the foreseeable future behind bars and now a year later I'm looking forward to the future of travelling around Italy.

Moments like this remind me of just how beautiful life can be sometimes. Even in the darkest moment, light continues to shine through.

***

Creeping through the house as the clock flashes midnight, I attempt to not wake the rest of the house up. I'll be sure to give my mum the tightest hug for agreeing to Zac's plan in the morning but I'll let her sleep for now.

Taking my coat off and placing it on the back of my desk chair, I grab my phone from my pocket, catching a glimpse of an incoming call.

It's from Sophie.

"Hello?" I whisper.

"Hey, sorry for the late call but it's important." She says back and straight away I can hear the uncertainty in her voice.

"Is everything okay?" I immediately ask.

"Lola, the plan's ruined." She breaks the news.

"What?" I automatically reply, more shocked than I should've been.

"I mean, I know that she's keeping strict security at the party but I'm sure there's still a way. The plan can't be over yet." I give a better answer after getting over the initial shock.

"It's not that. We found out that she's been paying other students to keep an eye on you. They've all seen us meeting up last weekend and speaking to you outside of school. She's going to find out that it's all been a lie." Sophie rambles, struggling to catch her breath.

Running to my window, I peek through the blinds, wondering if someone is out there, watching me. My hands forcefully close them as my heart drums speedily.

"People have been watching me?" My voice is shaky.

"Yes. You must've been right all along. It's messed up I know! She told me after school today as we got our nails down."

My heart drops to my stomach at the idea of Sophie and Amelia spending time together, whether it be real or not.

"What do we do?" I panic.

"None of us know if she definitely knows or not yet. Knowing Amelia, she won't tell us she knows like a normal person would, instead she'll expose it in a horrible way like she did to you."

"It's never going to be the same again, is it?" The defeat in my voice is heavy.

"Hold on. There's still one last option." She says, a slight glimmer of hope seeping through her words.

"What?" I ask.

"I can't say too much yet because if this fails then we really will be screwed. All I'm going to say is make sure you're in the auditorium tomorrow morning." She sternly demands.

"But tomorrow is election day. I thought you were going to keep me away from it so that Amelia can't use me to win." I say, going over the plan we were supposed to follow in my head.

"I know but that can't happen anymore. I'm serious Lola, make sure you're there."

We both fall silent as I try to process the conversation. I know Sophie will refuse to answer my questions but I can already tell that sleep will no longer be possible tonight.

"Lola?" She breaks the moment of silence.

"Yeah?"

"I mean it. You need to be there."