what goes around comes around | gc

1

assembly
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"Come on Nessa!" My room mate complained, waking me from my slumber. "You slept through both your alarms again." I felt my comforter being snatched away from me and a loud groan escaped my lips. "For fuck sake Elle! I'm sure I've got plenty of time, let me have 5 more minutes." My hand reached out for the duvet but she wouldn't give it back, which made me increasingly frustrated. "You do realise class starts in 20 minutes.." My eyes widened as I suddenly realised how late it was, pulling me out of my drowsy state and into panic mode.

Without having time to think, I threw on a graphic tee and some leggings before lacing up my sneakers. My bag sat on the ground so I slung it over my shoulder, using my free hand to grab some gum from my nightstand as there was no time to properly get ready. "We have English first, right?" I asked, slightly out-of-breath from all the sudden movements I'd been doing. Elle nodded and opened the door for me so we could walk to class together, arriving outside the lecture hall after 5 minutes of speed-walking.

A notice had been taped against the glass, informing students to head to the cafeteria for a 'special assembly', which I was very happy about. I'd do anything to avoid hearing Mrs Spencer's whiney monotone voice during first period on a monday morning, even if it meant sitting in a packed, sweaty hall for a few hours. Elle and I crossed campus and entered the food hall, taking our seats near the back so we could be the first to leave. "Good morning everyone. We're from the Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia and today, we'll be talking about careers in the army."

Everyone around us started muttering and gently groaning, signalling it was time to look out of the window. I zoned out, only occasionally taking in a few sentences that each speaker would say as they swapped positions at the podium. It wasn't until I heard an oddly familiar voice that I looked back at the stage, my lips parting with shock. "Oh my god.." I exhaled as my body straightened out from its previous slouching position, gaining the attention of Elle. She followed my gaze and furrowed her brows, asking "What's wrong? Do you know this kid or something?" I nodded in response, not taking my eyes off the boy.

"I've learnt useful skills like-" His voice trailed off once he saw me and I watched as his hands fumbled with the prompt cards in front of him. "L-like team-work and d-discipline." He began to stutter and quickly finished his speech, returning to his seat on the corner of the stage. For the rest of the assembly, we couldn't keep our eyes off each other and many feelings that I'd pushed away for all these years started coming back to haunt me. Although it was refreshing to see him, I couldn't help but think about the pain he'd caused me, especially after he broke his promise.

He never came back for me..

[after the assembly]

"Vanessa!" I heard his voice call out to me and, although my mind told me to keep on walking, I looked back at him. Carl Gallagher was stood by the fountain, arms outstretched and ready to embrace me in a long-awaited hug. "Come on V, you know you want to." My feet were hesitant at first and I bit my lip as I debated whether or not to just ignore him, but eventually I started taking slow steps in his direction. My arms wrapped around his waist and we stood there for a few minutes, allowing us both to figure out what to say to each other.

"You broke our promise.." I mumbled into his chest with my mouth screwed up into a pout. Carl sat me down on the edge of the fountain and let out a sigh, his eyes dropping to stare at his combat boots. "I know and I'm really fucking sorry Nessa.. but don't think that I didn't try coming back for you! Every month I'd put some money aside for a ticket back to Chicago, which took me over a year to buy because everything was so fucking expensive. By the time I got home, you'd packed your bags and left but of course I didn't know that and your mom was too drunk to remember anything." I felt his hands intertwining with mine, causing anxiety to brew in the pit of my stomach and my eyes to start darting about in hopes that James wasn't around.

Eventually, I pulled my hands back to my lap, observing the frown that slowly appeared on Carl's face. "What's-" I cut him off by saying, "I'm glad you're here and it's been really nice to see somebody from home.. but I can't do this again. You'll be back on the road in a few hours and I don't wanna be-" Now it was my turn to be interrupted. "See, that's where you're wrong Wilkes. I've got a months break before our last leg of the university tour and now that I know you're here, this is where I'll be." His classic Gallagher smirk crept onto his face, causing a small smile to appear on mine. Damn, that kid was infectious..

We ended up chilling in the coffee shop on our campus and used this time to catch up on everything. Hearing about the endless fights Carl had gotten into at military school made my stomach ache from laughing so hard and I'm pretty sure we'd pissed off everyone sat at the nearby tables. "What are the chicks like there? Any that sparked your interest?" I wiggled my eyebrows at him. "What chicks? That place is dryer than the sahara desert when it comes to pussy!" This set me off laughing again and I struggled to keep myself from peeing on the arm chair I was perched on. "Here seems alright though. How's your love life been?"

"Vanessa! Where have you been? I've been waiting outside your english classroom for almost an hour!" James yelled from across the cafe as if on cue and my body froze. "And who the fuck is this guy? You know how I feel about you meeting up with people without my permission." I slid out of my chair as he came closer to our table. "Sorry, we had an unscheduled assembly." My throat grew dry as Carl stood up with an outstretched hand, ready to introduce himself to James. "Hey, I'm Carl. Me and Nessa are old friends from the west-"

"Whatever." James cuts him off before grabbing my wrist and pulling me closer to him. "You're meant to spend time with your boyfriend, not him or anyone else. You got that?" I nodded quickly and turned back to Carl, who was staring at us with a concerned expression on his face. "You've got my number, call me." I whispered to him as I collected my backpack from the ground. His head nodded ever so slightly and I shot him a smile before being briskly escorted out of the store by James.

[end of chapter]

hola chicas! this is the first chapter of the sequel and i hope y'all enjoyed it. james has been in the story for two seconds and i already hate him, maybe some of y'all do too which is good,, man he's a fucking asshole.