Forever & Always?

Chapter Thirty

        Two days left. It was a Thursday night. The air was still and the night was calm. I kept thinking about staying home. I could not leave Daniel. I simply couldn't. However, I had to. I had to. Right? I needed an escape from my mind. I decided to go for a drive. I was in some sort of trance, not knowing where I was going, just driving. Completely mindlessly, I ended up at the curb next to the mountain. I looked out my window. The stillness of the night reminded me of the night of prom. Daniel had brought me here on a night so similar. It's quite amusing, really. You can go to a place your entire life. You can change and your feelings toward that place can change, but through it all, that place stays the same. Although, it is quite painful on occasion because the familiarity of that place can also bring back many memories. Perfect memories that anyone would pay anything to have back.

       Continuing on in my trance, I left the car and walked to the mountain. I walked up the steep sides of the intricate land mass. An old feeling washed over me. A sharp pain struck my chest. I allowed myself to cry, however, no tears were coming out. I wanted to release all of my emotions and just let it all out, but my body was not cooperating with my mind and I could not do anything but continue walking. Even that was becoming a struggle. I reached the top of the mountain; I was now breathless. I put my hands on my knees and looked down at my feet. I looked up after a moment. About 100 feet away was a figure, sitting on the edge of the mountain, looking out. I walked toward them. They looked to me.

"Daniel." Daniel got up.

"Daniel!!!" I yelled, running to him. I jumped into his arms. He held me, tight. Neither of us kissed each others face or moved our hands up and down one another's back. We just held each other as tight as we could. After about five minutes, Daniel said,
"Oh my God, Marie. I'm in love with you. I'm in love with you and it hurts so bad." I started bawling. I turned my head and began crying into his neck.

"I don't wanna go, Daniel. I don't want to," I whined, continuing to bawl. He did not respond. He knew I had to go. I knew I had to go. This was a chapter in my life. It was time to start a new one. If starting a new one meant leaving the old one behind, than I had to do it. I would never be able to finish my book without turning to the next chapter. And I had to finish my book. I was desperate to know the ending. And who knows? Maybe an insane plot twist would come and I would end up with Daniel after all. Who knows? Maybe I would go to Stanford and they'd say, "Oh my goodness, I am sorry but we accidentally sent you an acceptance letter rather than a denied letter. Please pack up and go home." Who knows? Maybe I would not even make it to Stanford and my car would spin out and fall into a lake. Who knows?