Afternoons

I'm not jealous!

"But I want to be with you as well!" Zoe whines as she hangs onto my arm.

We are currently in our last class. I was just telling Zoe how I will hang out with Galiana today and with Eleanor tomorrow.

"And you can! But another day," I smile at her.

She frowns and looks at the girl sitting on my other side. She glares at her. Eleanor somehow feels eyes on her so she turns to look at Zoe. Zoe then sticks her tongue out at her.
Zoe huffs and sits back on her chair.

"We made a deal, Alexina," she reminds me of what happened back in freshman year.

"I- i know..." I sigh.

"Well then?" She raises an eyebrow at me.

I shrug. "You I would never...but she's different. And it's only a day, Zoe."

She shakes her head. "Liar. It's been a few weeks actually."

The bell suddenly rings and Zoe quickly gets up from her chair. "Contact me when you have time."

"Zoe-" I attempt to grab her hand and also talk but she runs out the door.

I huff in frustration. Eleanor notices that I'm not rushing out the class like usual so she slows down.

"What's wrong?" She asks.

I shake my head. The "deal" we have consists of not ignoring/leaving behind/ replacing each other if we ever find someone.
And it's not that I'm doing that, I just want to divide my time between everyone.
Although I do believe I've spent a lot of time with Eleanor. But I did enjoy those times...

"I think Zoe is jealous," I state.

"Why do you say?" Eleanor questions.

"She wants to hang out but today I have plans and tomorrow I'll be with you," I explain.

Eleanor hums in response. We walk out the school together.
Since dad is also in town, he made sure to tell me that he will be picking up all of the kids.
Except me.
I have my baby girl for that reason. Talking about my bike, I will be handing her over next week so she can get a little fixed up at the shop. I'm excited for that.

"Maybe you should actually give her a bit of your time..." Eleanor trails off.

"Yeah, I told her I would the day after tomorrow," I say.

"No, I meant as in tomorrow."

I turn to face the sunkissed beauty. "But we are hanging out tomorrow-"

"No, Zoe and you are," she smiles.

I shake my head. Seriously?! I had plans already! I was supposed to take her out for some nice dinner (we will never again have dinner at my house) and then we would go pick out some ornaments for the tree.

"Oh come on! She deserves your time! She deserves much more actually," she thinks aloud.

"But-" she cut me off again.

"No buts. You and her. Together. Tomorrow. Okay?" She gives me the 'mom look' and I hate it.

I look away but nod. "Fine."

I hear her squeal. I feel her warm, soft lips make contact with my cold, red cheek. A smile instantly appears on my face.
She smiles and blows a kiss my way as she begins to walk backwards.

I walk towards my bike and I notice there is a piece of paper on the seat with a rock on top, to keep it from flying away.
I throw the rock somewhere and I pick up the note. The handwriting was messy but legible. The person was definitely in a hurry when writing this.
I look at the bottom of the paper and see the name, Taylor, written.