The Story of You and Me

Chapter 40

I drop the last box onto my bed and then head outside to say goodbye before my mother leaves to catch her flight. As I head back downstairs I think of the tearful goodbye I shared with Kyle as we both prepared to head to opposite ends of the country. It was the furthest we'd ever been from each other and I already missed him like crazy.

I step out of the dorm building to find my mother staring around with a slight look of disgust on her face. "You know there are so many other schools closer to home that would've been a better fit for you Dylan. I just don't think..." I cut her off.

"No." I say and she whips around to look at me, "Excuse me?" She says, her expresion sharp. I shake my head, "I can't take this any more, in fact I won't take this anymore," I gesture around myself.

"This campus is beautiful and the California air is great but honestly it will be better when you're gone." She takes a step back like I've slapped her but I continue on anyway, I need to say this once and for all.

"This is supposed to be a happy but nostalgic day and you're ruining it. Most parents would be so proud that their daughter got a full ride to Stanford University to get her medical degree. Most parents would encourage their children to follow their dreams no matter what but apparently you aren't capable of that, at least not when it comes to me."

"My entire life you've held me to this unachievable standard and always considered yourself so much better than me. I'm here to tell you that I'm done. I'm done with it all. I'm done not being good enough because I can finally see what Cole always saw in me. A strong, beautiful person who can be whoever she wants to be. But to you I will never be that, to you I will never be good enough... I'm tired of just trying to be good enough."

"I'm tired of trying to please you when that obviously can't be achieved. So I'm done. I'm done trying to please you because in your eyes I will never be able to. In your eyes I will never be good enough."

"So let me tell what's going to happen. You're going to turn around and get in that car. You're going to go to the airport and get on that plane and head back to North Carolina where you can be superior to everyone else. But not me, I'm not going to be trapped under you anymore, I am free and strong and smart and beautiful. Maybe you can't see that, hell I couldn't see it for a long time but I can see it now and let me tell you, I like what I see and you can't take it away."

"Now I'm only going to ask once and then I'm going to turn around and head back inside so that I can start my new life. I'm starting over Mother, and I don't need you and your standards to do that. Now, please. Just. Leave."

She stands there for a moment, opening her mouth angrily but I don't want to hear it. I shake my head and turn on my heal, stalking back towards the dorm. I don't need her standards, I don't need her disapproval.

She starts to call after me but I keep going, stepping into the dorm and letting the door shut behind me with a great sense of finality. I'm finally free.

The feeling is a little bittersweet though and by the time I've reached my dorm I feel tears in my eyes. Once the door is closed they start to fall. I sink down onto my bed and let the tears stream down my face unashamedly. I'm finally free.

The next thing I know, there's a knock on the door. I get up and go over to it, wiping at my eyes and hoping that I don't look too awful for whoever is on the other side. I reach the door and throw it open before stopping dead in my tracks.

There, standing on my doorstep, all the way over here in California, is none other than Cole Hartford.