Forbidden Literature

36| Challenges

Leaving the lake house turned out to be more difficult than I thought it would be. Not only are we leaving behind wonderful memories, but also our freedom of being a couple. At Lake Ella there were no constraints, no fear, just us. Returning back home felt more like waking up from a really good dream. As we drove back into town I could feel the heaviness of our reality suffocating us. I wasn't ready to go back today, although in truth I don't think I ever will be. Our time together was too perfect to leave behind.

When Jasper dropped me off at my place I was surprised that I wasn't ready to let him go. You would think that after spending every second with each other for a week it would get tiring, but as his black car faded into the distance my chest tightened. I wanted him to turn back around so badly, to wrap me up in his arms, and stay just a little longer. But we both knew that it was time to go back to who we really are: a busy professor and a student approaching finals. Our dream was officially over.

The next day when it was time to return to school I was a mess. No matter how interesting the lecture was, which ninety-percent of the time it wasn't, I couldn't focus.

My thoughts would drift back to memories spent like dancing under the stars at prom with Jasper or the time spent curled up on the couch watching Gone with the Wind when it rained. But most of the time it went back to my personal favorite, when he confessed his love for me. His words repeated in my mind like a broken record drowning out whatever the professor had to say. I was thinking of a different professor.

Tuesday night we couldn't take the separation any longer, and after he finished up a meeting he came over to my place to supposedly grade papers while I worked on my own. With Sara knowing about our relationship she said she didn't mind him coming over. Plus, she would be out tutoring so it really didn't matter.

When Jasper showed up, we went to my bedroom and began our work. I had to admit it was odd seeing him here. His smoldering presence looked so out of place in the small, feminine space. It was very amusing, something I could get used to.

However, I soon discovered the challenges of having the man of my dreams in my room: he made it impossible for me to write a paper.

"Is this you in high school?" he said pulling out of my thought process yet again. I looked up from my laptop to see him eyeing a photo in my collage above my bed. It was the one of me and Sara at a pep rally for our homecoming cheering for our team.

"Yep," I went back to typing.

"Your hair was much shorter," he paused. "I like it. Although to be honest you look amazing no matter what your hair is like."

"Mmm," His compliment went completely in one ear and out the other as I tried to figure out how to open my next paragraph.

The silence that I longed for ended abruptly when he walked towards my dresser. "Who is this?"

With a huff I looked up again to see him holding a jeweled picture frame. He angled it for me to see. "That's me when I was around eleven and that's Granny next to me. We were on a cruise."

"And on the other side of you?" he pointed to the taller boy waving to the camera, a large smile on his face.

The corner of my mouth tugged up at the memory. "That's my brother, Ben."

"The traveler?" he noted placing the frame back.

I went back to my paper for the fifth time, "Something like that."