~Lindsey POV~

Fuck. I promised myself I wasn't gonna cry about it. I promised myself that I was gonna stay strong for her. I didn't want Nicky to see me cry, but here I was bawling. I was holding it all in for the past couple of weeks. Feeling like I just hit the restart button I took a deep breath and sat up.

I couldn't bring myself to look at her, so I stared at the ground. She reached her hand up and brushed the hair out of my face. 

"I won't let you go there," she whispered and cupped my face in her hand.

I hated that. I hated that because it made me want to cry even more. I took her hand in mine and looked at her. 

"There isn't anything you can do."

"I'll find something that I can do," she replied with full determination.

She didn't understand at all that it was useless. It was useless to try and stop my parents. I felt another wave of tears come, so I tightened up my jaw and looked towards the sunrise. It was rising higher.

"We should probably get going," I mumbled.

"Yeah."

Nicky stood up first and held her hand out. I grabbed it and held it the entire way back to the car. I dropped her off and got back home before my parents woke up, hoping that they didn't suspect anything. I parked outside and crept inside the house. Seeing that it was safe I silently hopped to my room two steps at a time.

I collapsed onto my bed and it hit me that I would be leaving just next week. I thought about all the times Nicky and I had spent together from field day all the way up to Halloween. I looked at the suitcase that was waiting to be packed and made up my mind. I was gonna live out this week so that I don't regret it.

~Monday~

I was walking on the sidewalk along the field and saw Nicky across the street.

"Nicky!" I yelled, "Wait up!"

She looked towards me and smiled as she waved.

"Yo!"

"I'll walk you to your next class," I said.

"Are you sure you won't be late?"

"I know how to manage my time."

This was how I was going to spend my final week with her. By being with her as much as possible. And our friends too. Once lunch rolled around I met up with Nicky grabbing her lunch from her locker.

"There you are!" she said, "Here, I brought you a bag of chips."

"Ooh. How did you know I was in the mood?"

She shrugged, "Just a hunch."

We walked to the lunch table and sat in our spots. 

"Hey, you're back," said Elgort.

"Yes I am. You guys want to go out for off campus lunch tomorrow? It's on me."

Prudence piped up, "Are you sure you want to pay for all of us? It might be expensive."

"I insist. But if you want to bring your own money to lighten the load that's totally fine," I smiled.

~Tuesday~

I woke up and looked at the still empty suitcase sitting in the corner. Annoyed by its presence I tossed it in the closet. I grabbed my platinum credit card, ready to pay for the food of Nicky and everyone. During lunch we went out to The Creampie Factory and had quite a feast. The best part was how the hostess looked at our group and instantly seated us at a fancier looking table. I was grateful that everyone had brought their own money so I payed less. What a considerate group of people they are. I'm lucky to be around them.

~Wednesday~

Wednesday was a short day which gave a great opportunity to take Nicky out personally. I went over to her house because having her back at mine wouldn't fare well with my parents. We made ourselves some turkey sandwiches complete with, a veggie combo of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and a few slices of cheese. Once we made our sandwiches we packed them into a picnic basket and grabbed a bag of chips. I took her out and we ate in the middle of a park taking in the chilly sun. As usual there was warm weather before snow the next day.  

~Thursday~

It had snowed all morning and most people couldn't make it to school. With the lack of people most teachers decided not to teach any lessons. During second period I sat on my phone while listening to Katerina complain to her girls about how she was supposed to be at home drinking hot chocolate and fucking her boyfriend. I thought it was funny seeing how she had a toxic relationship and an alcoholic boyfriend. 

I brought out my airpods to tune her out, but as I did the classroom door creaked open. Through the creak in the door was Nicky with a winter hat on. She smiled and beckoned me to come over. I walked outside the classroom to meet up with her.

"Here," she said as she tossed me a coat, "we're playing in the snow." 

She took my hand as she led me outside and I was greeted by was a packed snowball to the chest.

"Oh! Sorry Lindsey!" It was Saffron.

I bent over and formed a snowball of my own to get revenge. I hurled the snowball straight at him. We had a snowball fight for what seemed like forever until one of the teachers called us in for lunch. We all laughed and joked about how we couldn't feel our fingers as we walked back inside. I glanced at Nicky who was already looking at me and she flashed a smile. She made me feel a little warmer inside.

~Friday~

Today was the last day before I had to leave and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I looked at the suitcase that I had taken out of my closet. Then I looked at the clothes that were folded on the floor. Somberly I packed all the clothes in the suitcase.