First & Forever

Chapter 21: William

FEBRUARY

A guy from Yearbook huffs, moving to set up his camera. "There you two are. Took you long enough."

Elle and I exchange knowing smiles as her cheeks flush the sweetest shade of pink.

Don't we know it.

We get our pictures taken and start back to class, people filling the halls as the bell rings.

I slide my hands into my pockets, nervous as to where her head is at. "So, we - uh. We should probably talk about what that meant."

She worries her bottom lip. "Yeah. Kind of hard to here though. Um...lunch? In our spot?" Her eyes light up. "It's not that cold today."

"Perfect." My eyes gravitate to her lips. "Were you always that good of a kisser?" I tease, drawing my brows together.

A laugh escapes those pretty lips. "Only you know the answer to that, hotshot."

We sit through second and third block, time moving impossibly slow. But today when she moves her hair over to the front of her shoulder I lean forward, lightly tracing the constellation of freckles down her back with my finger. Gratified when I notice her breathing change as I touch her.

I reach for her notebook while we wait for the bell to ring. "Do you still have it or was it collateral damage?" I glance up at her as I flip through the pages.

She laughs, leaning an elbow on my desk. "It's still in there."

I stop on the page with the senior year bucket list. "Ahh, may I?" She blushes, nodding yes. I cross make out in the senior hall off of the list and shoot her a wink.

She tilts her head with a knowing smile. "And to think, I had almost given up on that one."

When she turns to put her books back in her bag, I glance down at what's left of the list, snapping a picture of it with my phone before she turns back around.

"Ready?" she asks, taking her notebook.

"Why don't you grab your coat. I'll get food for us both and meet you out there."

"Sounds good. See you there."

"Elle..." She turns, looking over her shoulder.

I nod toward her lower half. "Nice jeans."

"Nice sweater," she counters and we both smile at how we know exactly what the other is thinking.

*****

I get to the stadium before her, waiting in our usual spot and start getting nervous about what I'm going to say. There's no doubt that I want her - no - need her in my life.

Every morning I wake up and instead of getting over her, I just become more certain that she's everything I could ever want. I mean, the way that she so effortlessly brought a sense of peace to my entire world with that first kiss this morning? That's proof enough. And standing there looking at her, selfishly I knew that if I actually do let her go, I'll be looking for a girl like her the rest of my life.

But as true as all of that is, there's still a huge elephant in the room. A gray historic elephant... West Point.

The conversation that we had when I ended things, it all holds true. It's still not fair to ask her to wait around for me, so where do we go from here? Is there even anywhere to go?

"I can hear your thoughts from here, Will," Elle teases as she walks up the stadium stairs, buttoning her navy peacoat.

I huff a laugh, leaning back against the concrete bleacher behind me. "Is that surprising?"