You and Me To Infinity

Chapter One

It was past midnight on finals week. I, like countless other students, was cramming. My roommate Elisa had told me that getting a good night's sleep would help me much better on my biology exam, but I considered that complete bullshit. So I sat hunched over her desk, reading the extremely expensive textbook that I barely used all semester.

A thud came from behind me.

"Ohmygod!" I squealed, turning around and pointing a ball point pen at the shadowy figure standing by my bed.

"It's just me Chlo." He said, chuckling. His voice warm and inviting. He had crawled in through my open window.

"Shouldn't you be partying with the football team tonight?" I asked.

"Why would I be partying when the only person I wanna celebrate with is you?" he replied. This was the Tony I loved. The Tony that asked me to the winter formal sophomore year, the Tony that would come over and make me cookies when I was sick, the Tony that I followed to USC.

Everyone warned me about following Tony to college. My mother, my sister, almost all of my friends. But regardless, I did.

Now I was days away from getting my degree and Tony was days away from the NFL draft. His degree? Well that was on hold for now. He didn't need it to catch a football.

"Are you nervous about the draft?" Tony asked, seemingly reading my mind. I shook my head. I wasn't nervous about the draft, I was nervous about what came afterwards. I knew that I'd follow him regardless of what team he'd be drafted onto, but the thought of leaving my Southern California bubble terrified me. I'd never even left the state and I saw no reason to. For me the whole world was in California.

I was already taking a leap by flying with Tony to Chicago.

He took my hands and started kissing me. Softly and gentle at first but getting harder and harder by the second. He pulled me out of my chair. His hands traced the hem of my shirt before pulling at it. His grasp on me got tighter and tighter and then, I pushed him off. Just a gentle push and he stepped back.

"I have to study." I said.

"It's only going to take twenty minutes tops." he urged, grabbing my hand and pulling me closer.

"My roommate is sleeping right there and I have my last exam tomorrow." I replied, growing annoyed. He stepped away, frowning at his feet.

"Are you nervous for the draft?" I asked.

"Maybe. " he mumbled, his eyes still fixated on his feet. His hands anxiously fidgeted at his sides.

It wasn't like Tony to be nervous. It was in his nature to be solid and stoic and unmoved in a worrisome situation. But the Tony that stood in my dorm room that night was far from it. He was as anxious as he'd ever been. He looked terrified.

I gently took his hand and softly kissed him.

"I'll be right there beside you. You're going to get drafted to an amazing team and win ten Superbowls." I assured.

He chuckled and kissed me back. His lips soft and tender as they pushed into mine.

"How come you always know what to say?" He asked, pulling away, our faces inches from each other.

"I'm secretly a psychic." I joked.

He smiled and moved back towards the window. His face lit by the dim light of the street lamps along the path. He gazed out onto the campus. The campus we'd called home for the past four years. I watched as he swung a leg over the windowsill and ducked out of my room. He turned back for a moment. One leg still in my room, the rest of him balanced on a ledge. He'd done this a thousand times before.

"Thursday, Chicago. You'll be there right?" He asked.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."I replied.

With that I watched at the boy I loved hopped off the ledge and into the hedge, off into the night.