As soon as I come downstairs my mom looks up from the book she's reading and breaks into a wide grin.

"You look so gorgeous honey," She exclaims, in complete surprise. I'm one hundred percent sure of what she's about to say.

"You look just like I did when I was your age, with your hair like that,"

I was right, she mentioned how I look like her. More like her than I ever did. I know it's supposed to be a compliment but it just feels like she's disappointed I don't look like this every day.

Sensing how I feel, mom quickly says, "I didn't mean it like you don't always look good, it's just-"

"I understand," I interrupt, assuring her, "Now we should leave, I know you wanted to get there quick,"
Her smile returns.

"You're right, let's get in the car," Her excitement is evident in her voice. I'm pretty excited too, since I'm finally going to figure out what this mysterious place is.

Luckily, the car ride wasn't as long as I'd expected, only taking fifteen minutes to get there. Mom insisted on taking me to a local coffee shop near our destination first though so here we are, on the line looking at the extensive menu.

"I remember coming here almost every day during college," My mom reminisces.

"Everyday?" I question, shocked. I don't get how you could get coffee every day without dying.

"Practically," Mom says,  "I would mostly get my usual, but sometimes try something new. That's where I got all my energy from,"

I could picture my mom walking here with her friends everyday, from her college campus. Wearing her stylish outfits that she always spent so much time obsessing over, bouncing around energetically.

"It sure has a huge menu," I mumble distractedly, gazing up at its multiple sections hanging on the wall.

"That's exactly why I could never stick to just one order, no matter how hard I tried," The woman at the front of the line grabs her drink and turns around, leaving only one person before it's our turn.

"I'm thinking about getting the Hazelnut creme frappuchino," I think aloud.

"That's a great choice, I tried it just recently, it's a new addition," Mom doesn't mention what she's planning on ordering but I quickly find out when she tells the cashier both our drinks. She settles on something new, the Iced mint mocha.

They call our order name and when I get a sip of my drink I immediately realize why mom loves this place so much. The taste satisfies me and isn't too bitter or sweet, just perfectly in between the two. That's always a huge problem I have with coffee and the reason why I've never loved it that much. But this is actually amazing.

"Wow! I'm glad I ordered this. I've been dying to try it," My mom declares. She looks up from her drink and notices my enjoyment.

"Looks like you're loving yours too," I nod in response while taking another sip.

"Come on, you're going to finish all that before we even sit at a table," My mom yanks my arm, guiding me to a table in the corner of the shop. It's a lilac colored circular table and the matching circular chairs are a light blush color. There's a big window directly on the side wall of it and the gleaming sunlight shines through.

"This a gorgeous view," I observe, admiring the dancing of the trees in the outside air.

"I know, it's very calming, I'm surprised this table wasn't taken today," She marvels at the fact. My mom starts chatting more about this coffee shop, the view, etc while I look around, taking in the beauty.

I glance at the wall close behind me and see a spectacular amount of signatures filling the white brick with color. My eyes wander across it, taking it all in and all of a sudden a certain name jumps out to me.

Poppy's name written in tiny red letters in a distant corner. Not just her first name though, her last as well. Poppy Reinhart was scrawled across an inch of it, barely noticeable, but noticeable enough for me to see. Though, the strange thing was it most definitely was not her handwriting. I knew her beautifully messy, half cursive, written letters by heart. This writing on the other hand, was so plain, so basic, so not Poppy.

How many other Poppy Reinhart's could there possibly be in this area? Probably not many. This is too much of a coincidence to not be her. But that brings us to the million dollar question, when did she stop by here to write this? Oh, how I wish I knew the answer.

"Ivy? What are you looking at?" My mom's voice startles me out of my thoughts. For a moment, I contemplate sharing what I just discovered with her.

"Uh, I was just taking in the view of this place, it's got a really nice vibe," My words come out sounding flustered. It's better that I don't tell her, I decide. It's just going to make things between us too difficult.

"Well that's fair, it is an amazing place," My mom says slowly while looking at me with suspicion.
"Yeah, and I've been thinking and I just can't hold in my excitement about where we could be going," I quickly change the subject.

Me and my mom then begin starting a conversation about it, how excited she is for me to find out, and how it's something I've really been needing. Whatever that means.

During our entire conversation though, all that stayed in the front of my mind was what I saw. I'm losing focus because of it but I hope once we arrive at our destination I could shake myself out of this haze.

What I saw most likely meant nothing. It was just an old signature of Poppy's before she developed more fancy handwriting. I could've sworn her mentioning she came here once, unless that was a different cafe similar to this one. Nonetheless, it isn't a big deal and I don't know why I'm twisting it into that.

Although, even after that reassurance my stomach still churns with uncertainty and I can't tell why.
"Ivy, hello? Earth to Ivy," My mom's voice startled me out of my thoughts, waving a frantic hand in front of my face. I blink back into the real world.

"Are you ok? You zoned out again honey," My mom asks in a concerned tone when I don't respond.

"Yeah of course," I lie, "just thinking about how good this drink is," I take a sip of the liquid and swallow it down along with the sick feeling inside my stomach.
I look down, then realizing that I had drunk the last sip, only ice cubes now piled up in the cup.

"Looks like we're both done now, time to visit the place we've been waiting for!" My mom declares after savoring her last bit of iced coffee.

"Finally! I've been waiting forever," I exaggerate.
My mom excessively thanks the workers for their service and the amazing drinks and then we're out the door.

On the way there we pass by some seemingly interesting stores but my mom doesn't allow us to go in since according to her 'we have no time.' I don't get why she's in such a rush anyway.

"So, I forgot to mention them but did you see the wall of signatures behind us in the cafe?" My mom questions, breaking the calm silence. Oh no, why is she talking about this? Is she on to me?

"Oh yeah, I did a little, it seems pretty cool," I say in an even tone.

"It's too bad we didn't get to sign our names,"
I shrug nonchalantly, making sure to stay relaxed.

"Oh my god!" A look of realization strikes mom's face. "We're almost at our destination, close your eyes," She changes the subject, thank goodness.

Before I could speak she clasps her hands over my eyes so that I'm completely blinded.
"What?!" I totally wasn't ready for this.

"Don't worry, this way," She leads me straight and then makes a sharp swerve that startles me. I walk a couple more inches on what sounds almost like black top when she stops me.

"Are you ready?" She asks, sounding like she's trying her hardest to contain her excitement.
"I guess so," I respond while butterflies flutter in my stomach.

She releases her hands to reveal a giant burnt orange brick building. I look to my left to see a giant electronic sign that reads "Redwood High School." My jaw drops to the floor.

"Your new high school I enrolled you in," My mom explains, the excitement now evident in her voice, "I feel as if you're finally ready for a real high school experience,"

My amount of fury is so high I can't even find words. Not only am I mad that my mom didn't talk to me before this major decision but also because this is the school Ryan attends now.

"What the hell?!" I finally cry.

hii! i kinda ended this chapter on a cliffhanger hehe! pls vote and comment what you thought! thanks guys!

- mari 💜🩷