Chapter Text
"I'd leave the memory of you at the station, if I didn't already know the way home."
— Iain Thomas
- summer (after high school)
It had been a month since graduation and Sterling had spent most of it out of her hometown, roaming through Georgia and traveling down the long winding roads. No particular destination in mind— just driven by Blair’s gusto and their dwindling stack of cash.
But they had blown through that pretty quickly and so they were forced to head back home, to the large houses and the familiar drawls of their country club friends and neighbors.
They were about fifteen minutes away from home when Blair skidded into the grocery store parking lot and jumped out. “Let’s go,” she urged.
Sterling gave her a bewildered look but still moved to take her seatbelt off. “What are we doing, exactly?”
Blair rolled her eyes and swung her arms around as she headed across the lot to the store’s entrance. Sterling scurried after her and felt her shoulders relax as she was met with the store’s air conditioning. “I’ve got to pick some stuff up for mom,” Blair said. “Wanna grab the vegetables?”
Sterling nodded and headed down to the produce section, abruptly spinning around and marching back to the brunette. “Okay, um, what kind?”
Blair spread her arms out and gave her a ‘how the fuck should I know’ face. “The green kind, I guess? I don’t know, Sterl. What does mom use?”
“Alright, alright! I’ll just figure it out.”
The shorter twin huffed and waved her away, already pulling her phone out of her back pocket and smiling down at the name on the screen. Sterling watched her go with narrowed eyes and a slight pout— Blair had been very secretive about whoever she was texting, despite their twin swear regarding secrets. But Sterling knew a thing or two about hidden relationships so she tried not to crowd her sister.
As if summoned by the thought of an illicit affair, April Stevens veered out of the baking aisle, her head down as she peered intently at the piece of paper she held in her hand. Sterling felt the corners of her lips twitch upwards and her heart skipped happily in her chest. Of course April Stevens was the kind of girl to write down her grocery list on paper rather than use her notes app.
She found herself sauntering over, her lame attempts at stealth making her feel gangly in a way she hadn’t felt since middle school when she shot up like a weed overnight.
“Paper. The blight of most rainforests,” she stated, wincing as soon as the words fell out of her mouth. Not the best move to walk up to her ex and echo a line from the start of their relationship.
April stepped back, eyes wide in alarm until she realized who the tall blonde in front of her was. “Sterling! What are you doing here?” she asked.
Sterling gestured around them and let her hands flop to her sides. “Just shopping.”
“Right. Me too.” April looked uncomfortably rigid and her eyes bore into Sterling’s, a little wary but mostly melancholic. It had been two years since their failed relationship but any mention or reference to it always made April tense, so Sterling did her best to not bring it up. Even though she thought of it often and constantly wondered what would have happened had things been different.
“So,” she said, elongating the vowel, “When do you leave for school?”
“Two weeks.”
Sterling nodded along. “Nice. I leave at the end of the month.”
April gave her a polite smile and they stood there awkwardly, eyes darting everywhere but at each other. April looked down at her shoes and then back up at Sterling. “I should go. My dad’s waiting for me at the checkout,” she said quietly.
Sterling’s heart began to hammer for an entirely different reason. “Yeah, me too. I’ve got to find some vegetables.”
April turned away from her, stopping only to offer a quick: “Okay, well... bye, Sterl.”
“I— I’ll see you around!” Sterling called after her, bouncing on her toes a little. She shook her head and let out a heavy sigh. She headed down to the produce section and missed the look April threw over her shoulder. Pained eyes belied by a rueful, yet fond grin that sat crookedly on her face.