Your Forever Love

Didn't we agree on forever? (pt 1.)

Miranda had just walked through the door when she heard her mother call her name.
"Miranda is that you? Oh, honey, you've got mail!"
Miranda threw her stuff to the ground in the mud room. She ran to the half-moon table in the foyer, where her parents set the mail. There she found a single navy and white envelope addressed to her. "Hampton University" it read with the school's logo on top. Miranda was frozen with fear. 'I can't open this,' she thought to herself. She darted upstairs to her room and immediately made a B-line to the baby blue landline on her dresser. After typing in "34#" she listened to the phone ring twice and then was met with a voice on the other end.
"Hello? Hey Mandy!"
Janiece, Kia's roommate answered the phone.
"Hi Jan, is Kia around?"
Miranda heard shuffling in the background, which she assumed was them trading places.
"Mandy? Hey girl! Wassup?"
Kia said into the phone. Miranda smiled, she had missed Kia being here in Serendipity Falls. They tried to talk at least once a week.
"Kia, the letter! It came! I- I got a letter from Hampton!"
Miranda stared at her name through the little clear plastic on the envelope.
"Miranda Bailey, just open the damn letter"
She could almost hear Kia roll her eyes. Miranda took the envelope and carefully ripped it open. She took at the read and scanned it. It read:
"Dear Miss. Miranda D. Bailey,
Congratulations! On behalf of the Hampton University School of Science, it is with great pleasure, to offer you an acceptance in the class of 1997!..... We also would like to offer you a full-ride scholarship. This means your tuition, room, and board are all expenses paid with the Prestigious Presidential Scholarship..."
Miranda and Kia started screaming in disbelief on the phone. By the time they had stopped screaming, Elena had rushed up to her room to see what the commotion was about.
"MIRANDA? What is God's name?! All this yelling? You could wake up the dead."
Elena said with her hand on her hips at the bedroom door. Miranda jumped up off the bed and excitedly shoved the letter into her mother's hands. Elena scanned the papers and it wasn't before long she started screaming as well.
"My baby! I'm so proud of you! Tonight, we CELEBRATE!"
Elena turns on her heels to go back downstairs. Miranda and Kia continue talking on the phone.
                     "Mandy! We're going to have so much fun next year. I can't wait for you hit campus."
Miranda sighed deeply. She was excited that she got into her dream school, but that meant she and Ben will be at different colleges next semester. It was a part of the deal that they had made. They both were to apply to their dream schools and then apply to their second choices. A school that they chose together and if they were accepted into their dream school, they had to go. No questions asked. They both got accepted to the second choice and then Ben ended up committing to play football at his dream school. Now they both were waiting for Miranda's acceptance into Hampton. She explained this all to Kia. But Kia didn't want Miranda to be miserable like she was. She decided to break it off with Daniel because they were states apart.
"But I don't want to hold him back. He going to be a starter for the team. What if he meets someone but he can't act on it because he's tied down to me? I want him to experience everything."
Miranda said rubbing her face in frustration. She didn't understand why Kia doesn't think it was a good idea.
"Mandy, that boy loves you. And we all know it. I just don't want you to be miserable like I was freshman year. I missed Danny... I miss Danny so much. Honestly, I regret calling things off... and what about you?"
Kia questioned.
"What about me? I'll be too busy in my studies to worry about boys. I'll be surrounded by textbooks."
The friends laughed,
"Oh no, I will not let you be a hermit on campus. You will be active, even if I have to drag you by your braids."
Kia said seriously. That was another thing she regretted was being locked up in her room all of freshman year, and isolating her own self.
"How are you going to tell him? What if he doesn't accept you breaking up with him? Mandy, that boy loves you so much."
Miranda sighed, she knew that. Hell, she loved him maybe even a little bit more. He was her best friend. The first person she wanted to tell everything to, the person who made her laugh even when she was way passed the point of pissed off. How could she just turn that off? And all because they were going to be states away from each other? But she knew they had to, it was what was best for them, more so him, to be free. They said if you truly loved someone you should let them go. She loved Ben enough to free him, so he could actually enjoy all of what college had to offer him. Miranda fell backward on her bed with the phone still to her ear.
"I'm not saying after we leave for school, I never wanna speak to him again. I still want to be friends. We'll just have to hang out whenever we are home. I don't think I can just stop talking to him. Maybe we can call every week, just to keep in touch. I don't know, but everything will be alright."
Miranda tried to say it convincingly enough for her and Kia to believe. Kia congratulated her once more and the two girls hung up the phone. Miranda laid quietly in the silence that enveloped her.

Still buzzing from the excitement from last night, Miranda was outside waiting for Ben so they can walk to school. In her hands were her notebooks and the acceptance letter. Finally, Ben appears and she swoons at his smile. It's the smile that she noticed is reserved for her. He crossed the street and greets her with a kiss on the forehead.
"Good Morning, Beautiful."
He intertwines their fingers waiting for her response. Miranda smiled weakly, remembering in a few months this routine will no longer make her mornings.
                    "Morning,"
She barely says above a whisper. "Damn it," she thought, she hated that her voice betrayed her. Ben looks at her, studying her expression. The navy and white envelope catches his eye. He points to and asks
                    "Baby, whatcha got there?"
He said smiling mischievously. Miranda perked up again, so she can tell him the news. She slides the already-opened envelope from under her books and into his hands. Ben excitedly opened the envelope and took out the letter and skimmed it. All he saw was "congratulations", "acceptance", and "full ride". He grabbed Miranda into a huge bear hug and picked her up off the ground. He spun her around in his arms, and Miranda giggled loud in his ear.
                      "Benjamin Warren put me down. NOW!"
Ben placed her back on her feet and stepped back smiling from ear to ear at her. She loved that he was so excited for her.
                      "Miranda! I'm so proud. Baby, we have to celebrate tonight...."
Ben started rambling on and on, but Miranda didn't hear most of it. She looked at the boy before her. Someone she had been with her whole childhood and now they had to separate. That weak feeling in her stomach came back to her as she watched the love of her life excitedly rambling. Ben placed a kiss on her lips this time and Miranda couldn't help but deepen it. Deep down she knew she had to cherish moments like these. Before she knew it her hands were caressing the sides of his face. She broke the kiss stepping back, but still close enough for her to admire him. She laced their fingers together and they continued their walk to the school.

The bell rang and Ben rushed out of his last period. He beat his girlfriend to her locker and waited patiently for her to finally get there. Ben was still buzzing from Miranda's good news from this morning. He was so proud of her. She had gotten into her dream school and was going to accept the offer because of their pact.