You're here!" I squealed as I jumped into Cody's arms and hugged the life out of him. After a ten minute hug, he laughed as he let go of me. I took a step back to take a look at his appearance.He wasn't anything like I remembered.No longer a brace-face, his hair was longer and styled upwards, his eyes looked brighter, he was no longer and skinny and lanky guy but instead was pretty well built and much, much taller now. I had to admit, Cody was really, really attractive now which was weird seeing considering we always knew him as the nerdy, brace face, little boy.Of course I had facetimed him over the years and saw his posts on social media but actually seeing him in person after all years felt a little overwhelming."You look amazing, Jabz. No longer looking like a shy little girl hiding behind her hair."I laughed as we walked into my house, "I still am a shy little girl hiding behind my hair, when I want to be, Co. You however, don't fit the whole nerd stereotype anymore."Cody q

was sitting outside on the bleachers by myself at lunch—when Zac came over to me. He didn't say anything. He walked up the bleachers and sat down beside me, silently. After a moment, he spoke quietly. "It's cold outside, you shouldn't sit here. You're going to get sick." He took off his coat and placed it over my shoulders.I looked at him flatly. "I don't care if I get sick, Zac.""I do." He just looked at me. Both his gaze and voice were gentle. I ran a hand down my face sighed. "I'm—I'm sorry I lost it this morning."Zac shook his head frantically, his eyebrows pulling together. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Bloom. I'm the one who—well, I apologize for Shane being a dumbass.""He didn't know." I shrugged. "Not his fault. It's not anyones—I just don't like my birthday."Zac turned to look out at the empty field. "I hate Christmas." I looked at him. "It just reminds me of how fucked up my family is—reminds me how much my family isn't even really a family." He chuckled dryly.