Song: "TT" - Twice

College - "So that's it. You're just going to leave..."
Word Count: 1021 words
****************************************************************

A small breeze whipped my hair as I looked at the paper in my hands. I moved one of my hands up to my ear to push my hair behind it, but to no avail the hair slipped right back, continuing to be whipped by the wind. The immediate relief that I had felt by reading the words written on the page was now subdued by the feeling of sorrow. A sigh escapes my mouth. My thumb glides over the crest of the university on the paper.

A sudden crunch of leaves catches my attention. My eyes wander towards the direction of the sound. I see the nice young man that I have grown quite fond of over the past year. I watch from the porch step I'm sitting on as he walked quietly towards the side of the house where my room is. Probably to climb up to my room only to find me not there. I call out to him. "Mario!" I yell.

His head snaps over towards my porch. A small smile plays on his lips once he sees me. He takes his time as he makes his way over to me. I take this time to fix my hair a little. "Hey," he says softly as he sits down next to me. "Hey," I reply back, not sure what to say. "How you feeling?" He asks, placing a piece of hair behind my ear. "Good, I guess."

He gives me a slight look of confusion then notices the paper in my hand. "What's that?" I place the paper to the other side of me. "It's nothing." My heartbeat quickens. "If it's nothing then why are you getting nervous?" He points out. "I'm not nervous," I say. His smile disappears, replaced by an annoyed facial expression. "Yes, you are," he says, gently taking the paper from out of my hand. There was no use in resistance. I waited as he started reading it aloud.

"Dear Y/N, I'm pleased to inform you that you have been accepted for admission to Stanford University for the fall semester 2018." He stops reading and looks at me. I couldn't tell what he was feeling, his facial expression was blank. "Y/N this is amazing, but I thought," he began, softly, "I thought that we were going to State together, and then you would go on tour with me." I take a deep breath.

"Stanford has been my dream school for as long as I could remember," I reply. "And I have always wanted to be on a world tour, but I'm missing most of the tour so I can go to State with you." He put the letter to the side and held onto my hands. "Mario, you know I love you, right?" He nods his head in response. "I just can't keep living my life on the sideline of somebody else's." He looked confused and slightly hurt. "I will always support you on your dream, but I have to follow my own as well."

I could feel my eyes start to water. "There will always be more tours, and conventions, and meet and greets. You will always be busy," I could see the struggle in his eyes as he tries to understand what I'm saying, "It's not your fault Mario. It's your life. It's your dream, but it's not mine.  And I just think that, maybe, our dreams are not on the same path anymore like they used to be."

"What are you saying?" He asks. "I'm saying that it wouldn't be smart of me to not take advantage of this opportunity." He lets go of my hands and stands up. "So that's it. You're just going to leave for California and I'm not going to see you for what? Like four years?" His voice cracked as his eyes started to water.

"It's not like going to State would be any different. You were always gone in high school. What makes you so sure that college won't be the same?" I question. He runs one of his hands through his hair. "I'm not, but I know that somehow we'll make it work." "And you don't think we could make it work if I go to Stanford?" He leans against one of the posts.

"Stanford will have all these smart guys, smarter than me, and better looking than me," he drones on. "How do you think I feel? You're going to be on tour with a lot of pretty girls, prettier than me, and they can live your dream with you." I look down at my lap.

He quickly sits down next to me. "Hey, look at me," he puts my face between his hands so that I'm forced to look him in the eye, "I don't want any other girl. I only love you." I nod my head. "Besides, it wouldn't actually be my dream," he pauses, "if you weren't a part of it." I don't know how I got so lucky. I pulled him closer and wrap my arms around him. I can feel him playing with my hair, soothingly.

"I'm going to miss you so much," he mumbles. "I'm going to miss you too," I say, a few tears rolling down my face. As we pull apart he places his hands on either side of my face again. This time wiping away my tears. "No other guys, promise?" I chuckle. "As long as you promise no other girls." "Deal," he says, giving me a soft kiss on the lips. I smile into the kiss and pull away.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" I ask. He smiles. "So I'm allowed to come over now?" He asks. "Probably not, but I'll make us something to eat anyways," I say, truthfully, standing up. "I love you," he says. I pick up the paper and grab his hand, "I love you too, now let's go." We both laugh. No matter what happens in the future, I will cherish these moments I have with him.