She immediately loved the photo and responded.
Peyton:I wish I was there too. We’ll have to go back soon.
I put my phone in my pocket and ran my hands through my hair. I started to feel anxious, restless. This should be a happy day. I was with both my girls. I glanced over and saw that they were trying their luck at the plate coin toss. They were giggling and having fun.
This should be enough. Being with my daughters, having Peyton in my life should be good enough. But it wasn’t.
Lizzy was right,which I had no plans of admitting to her. Telling Peyton that we should just be friends because she was my soulmate and I’d rather be friends with my soulmate than not have her in my life at all was horseshit.
I’d done it because I’d been scared that she was going to choose Trent, or just reject me, and then I’d lose her again.
But I wasn’t sure I could do this friend thing. Yes, she was my best friend, but she was so much fucking more than that. She was the last face I wanted to see before I fell asleep and the first face I wanted to see when I woke up. She was the person I wanted to do late night food runs with and watch cheesy TV with. She was the person I wanted to share my day with, and I wanted to hear everything about hers. She was the person I wanted by my side through this life, whatever may come.
The money, the company, all that was amazing. I’d built all that from nothing and I knew if it went away tomorrow, I honestly wouldn’t care. If the people I loved were healthy and happy and I had Peyton by my side, nothing else mattered.
Fuck. I’d made a huge mistake.
I hoped that it wasn’t too late. I knew that she was at home working and this playdate was supposed to take a couple hours. After this, I’d drop the girls off and go to Nonna’s. I’d pick up some Rocky Road on the way, just to set the mood.
Peyton was always in a better mood when there was ice cream.
“Hey girls!” I called out. “Do you want to go see the classroom?”
I figured I’d get the tour done before we had to meet Handsy.
“Are you kidding me!” Lina grabbed Hannah’s hand and the two skipped up to him. “Can you show us where you and Peyton met for the first time?”
“Sure.” I knew the school was unlocked because they were using the bathrooms in the gymnasium for the people at the fair. “I can walk you by the classroom that I first saw her and also the cafeteria where we officially met.”
“Dope!” Lina enthused.
“Dope!” Hannah seconded, although I think her enthusiasm had more to do with copying her big sister than it did with actually caring.
As we walked down the hallway, I felt like I’d entered a time machine. It didn’t appear that they’d done any renovations at all since I’d left. The walls were still a dingy cream color and the paint was peeling. The tiled floors were uneven and lifting, making them a trip hazard.
Since Alex, Nick, and I had all gone here and we were all doing well, I wondered if maybe we shouldn’t kick some cash their way. I made a mental note to bring it up at our next lunch.
I stopped at Mrs. Zolinski’s room and it was then that, for the first time, I noted the number on the door. 11. That’s the room number of the first place I saw her. I took out my phone and took a picture and sent it to Peyton and wrote:Mrs. Zolinski’s class. Room 11. Coincidence?
“This is it,” I told the girls.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed the special number, Lina pointed. “Look, eleven!”
“I know.” I smiled.
The door was locked but I showed them through the window which seat I was at when I saw Peyton for the first time and where she’d sat.
We kept walking and made our way to the cafeteria. Just like the rest of the building it didn’t look like it had been updated. The tables were all lined up exactly how I remembered them. I weaved my way through to the corner table in the far left where Peyton had been sitting all alone.
“This is it.” I sat down where she had been seated. “This is where I talked to Peyton for the first time.”
“So cool!” Lina exclaimed. “I want to take a picture, but I need to go the bathroom first.”
“I have to go potty, too!” Hannah shouted.
I started to get up to show them where it was, but Lina stopped me.
“No, don’t get up. I know where it is, I’ll take Hannah. And when I come back, I want to take a picture.”
