Forever Yours

chapter sixteen

The little bell on the door chimes signaling the baristas that we've walked into the coffee shop. Joel and I have made Heart Coffee our favorite hangout spot. We get our usuals and sit in our spot by the window. I wanted to talk to him about what we're doing about college, because I don't know if I could be away from him. I've been nervous to have this talk, but I just have to do it.

"So," I start, Joel looks at me, letting me know I have his attention. "Have you applied to any colleges yet?"

He takes a sip of his tea then says, "Yeah, two so far. I know you have your heart set on Gonzaga, so I applied there too."

My eyes go wide, and I have a huge smile on my face. "Really?" I'm so excited to hear this, that I almost throw myself across the table to kiss him. But I try to keep my cool.

"Yeah, but, um, I also applied to USC." USC, the University of Southern California. Over one thousand miles away from Gonzaga. It's fine. I'm not freaking out at all.

"Oh," is all I can manage to say.

He reaches across the table and grabs my hand. "Hey, don't worry about that yet. We've still got so much time; we haven't even gotten into anything yet. We'll figure it out." He always knows how to make me feel better. And I've also learned, he's always right.

But I know that I'll never change my mind about Gonzaga, so we both have to get in. Mia too of course. I never wish to be apart from my best friends.

I lean into the table, closer to Joel, "No matter what, we'll always be together. Promise?"

Joel smiles and brings his hand up in front of my face with his pinkie out, "Pinkie promise." I take his pinkie with mine and we pinkie promise. I bring our hands to my lips to kiss, and he does the same, sealing the promise.

"So, how's your dad's dinosaur thing going?" Joel asks to change the subject.

"Good, actually! In December, we're going to Washington D.C. to see the premiere. It's going to be this huge party, a grand ball thing. Dad says it'll be fun. We're supposed to be gone a whole week, right after Christmas. The premiere is on New Year's Eve."
Joel gets a sad look on his face, "I won't see you on New Year's Eve?" I shake my head. "No kiss at midnight?" I shake my head again.

A mischievous grin crosses my face, "Well I guess you'll just have to give me all the kisses now." I wink at him and brush my foot against his leg. Trying to tell him I mean more than that and I mean it right now.

I sip my last bit of coffee as Joel says, "Let's get out of here."

That night, Joel takes me stargazing in a small town nearby, he says it's the best place you can see the stars. We stop in a small park and set up a blanket in the grass. We lay down and watch the stars for hours. It reminds me of our first date, watching the stars in Joel's backyard. It reminds me of how far we've come since then. How in love I've become with him since then. I look over at Joel as he stares up at the sky and I think how lucky I am to be with him. To share moments like this with him. To just be in love. I look at him and see my other half, my whole world. He's taken all my broken pieces and put them back together. And I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am for that.

Joel has shown me what true love is really like. It's not heart wrenchingly painful as I thought it was. Not like how I experienced it with Jack. True love is beautiful. It's kind and warm and gentle. It breathed life back into me when I thought I had nothing else to be happy about. On our first date, Joel told me if I needed sunshine, I could have some of his. And it happened, I got all the sunshine I needed with him and more. All the happiness I needed to feel complete again.