CONSUME

[34] end

***

"All packed up?" My mother asked, as we walked out to the car, Axel and I hand-in-hand. 

"Yup, I think so," I smiled.

It's weird because though I am so sad about leaving behind Axel and his family, and my friends, I feel more excited than anything. I mean, getting out of this small town is what I've wanted, and I know that bigger things lie ahead for me. And for that-- I can't wait. 

"Ready?" Axel asked me, as my mom got into the front seat of the car, while he stood beside me just outside by the trunk, where my mother couldn't see us. 

"As ready as I can be," I bit my bottom lip. Looking up at him like this now, I knew that I was going to miss him like hell. 

I gave him a tight hug, jumping into his arms. We'd said most of our goodbyes and feelings last night while we were... I mean, I'd better not think about it or else I'm going to miss him even more. But that just meant that we didn't have much to say to each other right now. 

Which made this a little easier. 

He reached down and kissed me, and the fact that it would be the last time in a while made me sad. 

The fact that we'd decided to do long-distance eased me though. At least I knew that he'll be here for me when I come back, and that I can call him or text him whenever I want. 

Breaking our kiss he looked at me one last time. 

"I love you Kammy."

"I love you, Axel." I said, before releasing myself from his embrace, turning around and just immediately getting into the passenger seat of my mom's car. I didn't want to look at him again because it would only make it harder.  

"You okay?" My mom asked. 

"Yeah," I said. And I think it was true. This is hard but I think I'll get over it. Like I said, I'm ready to be focused on moving to California. "Let's just go," I smiled at her, and I watched as she put the car in drive. 

And this was it. I am driving to the airport, off to college, leaving behind my best friend, and boyfriend. 

But I'll be okay, as long as they stick by me, even if it's from hundreds of miles away. 

My mom and I drove in silence, and I'm just happy I haven't had to say bye to her yet, and that she's coming to California to help me move. Because if I had to say bye to her today too, then I definitely wouldn't be as okay as I am now. 

And soon, we got to the airport. We hauled out the suitcases from the trunk, and struggled to load them onto a cart, and while I was attempting to stack my suitcases on top of each other, I felt my phone chime. I figured it was Axel, or Noah, or maybe just a random Snapchat and so I let it be, because I can reply to that later. 

But then it chimed again.

And again, and again. 

Like someone was spam texting me. I furrowed my eyebrows but still didn't bother to open the message because whaetever it was I could deal with later, and right now I needed to focus on checking in my bags. So that's what I did. 

We began to walk through security, and we got pretty much all set for the flight, even grabbed some snacks as we waited for the gate. Thankfully we timed ourselves just right, and it was already time for us to board the plane. 

I stepped foot onto the aircraft, my mother following close behind. As we got seated, I felt my phone go off a couple times again. I figured we have quite a bit of time before take off since other passengers were still boarding the plane and situating their carry-on suitcases in the overhead bins above, and so I pulled out my phone from the pocket of my sweatpants.