𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧. a true story

⁀➷ 35- HAPPY TEARS

-𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐲-

The days flew by, and soon came the week before the move. 

I was packing the last few things left in my room when I got a text from Tessa.

tessa

tessa 🐢

| hey melllll

| can u come over for a while?

---

Ding-Dong!

The door opened in an instant. 

"Mel! You're here!" She pulled me in. "Come on, there's a surprise waiting for you!!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Tess covered my eyes with her hands and led me into what I assumed was the dining room, feeling the soft rug under my feet. When she removed her hands, I gasped. 

Our entire crew was standing next to balloons adorning the chairs along with boxes of presents. There was one especially large and flat package on the table.

A glittery banner in my favorite shade of purple read, "We'll miss you so so much Mel!!"

I turned to them, tears falling already. "Why are you guys such good friends?"

Tessa, Callie, Lexi, and Harper enclosed me into a hug. The boys joined too- Connor, Caleb, Alec, Ian, Julian, and Asher... I was in the middle of them all, crying.

I finally had the courage to pull away.

"Open this first!" Harper handed me the large, flat package.

I opened it and gasped, feeling new tears rise to the surface. I brought a hand to my mouth, eventually covering my face with both hands and crying. 

"Don't cry again!" Cal wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "Happy tears only!"

"Do you like it?" Lexi asked, laughing. "We spent hours working on it."

It was a beautiful collage, made up of pictures of all of us at school, or on vacation together, at the dance, the fair, and a bunch of other places. 

"I love all of you guys," I managed through sobs.

---

The sun was setting when we finally parted. 

I caught Connor, who was walking home, by the hood.

"Come on, let's go to my house."

Once home, I sat down the presents in my room. All the furniture had been packed, so we sat on the lone mattress that hadn't been wrapped yet.

"Connor..." I bit my lip.

"I know what you're gonna say. What happens when you move?" He tore his hand through his hair. "Honestly? I don't know."

Connor held both my hands firmly. "I love you, sunshine. I don't want you to leave me."

I brushed the bangs out of his sharp siren eyes that shone with affection. "Neither do I. But it's not exactly an option, is it?"

Connor looked down, craning his neck so much I could only see the top of his head. Suddenly, something splashed onto my hand- a tear. 

My eyes widened. This was the first time I'd ever seen Connor cry.

"Aw, don't cry, Connor. We can still keep in touch."

"I keep telling myself that too," he mumbled. "But we both know long distance relationships never work out."

I knew it was true. But how could I admit that when it was the last thing I wanted to hear?

"Connor?"

He looked up.

"Let's just focus on right now for now. We still have nine more days until I move."

Connor suddenly wrapped both his arms around me tightly into a hug. Neither of us said anything.

But I already knew our relationship was doomed.

you know , i really did like connor... and a part of me kinda does still think that we'd still be together and perfect if i hadn't moved away.... 

-emms