The Bright Lights

Bright Lights

Alex didn't know why the plane ride felt so long; she was in first class and had free food and Wi-Fi. It was always three hours and forty minutes from JFK to DFW. The only thing she was looking forward to was seeing her boyfriend Jack. He was multiracial with green eyes and smelled like pinewood. She was also looking forward to seeing her mom and dad. Alex took a few sleeping pills after being bored for a while and dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

Alex woke up to the sound of the perky flight attendant welcoming the passengers to Dallas, Texas. All she wanted to do was get off the plane and go home. By the time she reached baggage claim, her luggage was waiting for her along with Jack. As soon as she saw him, she pushed her way through the people waiting to receive their luggage.

"Welcome home!" said Jack, in his deep, sultry voice that Alex had loved about him.

"Thanks, I missed you a lot." Alex replied, still groggy from the sleeping pills. Alex had been away at the Léman Manhattan International Boarding School, in Manhattan for the last three months. She gave him a slight smile just so that he would know that she was happy to see him.

"I thought that we could get some lunch, and then I can take you home to see your parents, they've been talking about you coming home for the last three weeks." She nodded and wrapped her arm around his waist, as they walked out of the airport.

The car ride was a quiet one. No one spoke, but they were both glad to be in each other's company. They got takeout from Alex's favorite restaurant, Chipotle. They ate lunch at Lakeside Park. They spent hours talking about colleges, senior year, and everything under the sun. Eventually, Alex mentioned that it was getting late and she wanted to see her parents.

Jack was holding Alex's hand on the way home, swirling his index finger against her palm. He did this whenever he could tell something was wrong.

"Why are you being so quiet?" he asked.

"I don't know." she lied. Jack always hated the fact that Alex could be really closed off.

"Whatever." he sighed

"What's your problem this time?" she was now irritated.

"You always do this! You always close yourself off, like you can't trust me! I've told you everything about my past and you can't tell me one little thing that's making you upset!!!" Alex knew that he was right. He told her everything about his childhood. She knew about his abusive father and how his mother left him when he was twelve. He had moved out when he was seventeen and was majoring in engineering at Southern Methodist University. All she wanted to ever do was be honest with him, but she felt like he wouldn't take her seriously.

"I'm upset because this is my last summer at home and when it's over I'll be in Cambridge, (she was accepted into Harvard University!) and you'll still be here in Dallas. How are we supposed to stay together if we are 2,000 miles apart?" By this time she was crying and Jack was laughing.

"What's so funny?" she said bitterly.

"I wanted to tell you this tonight; I was accepted into MIT to study Civil and Environmental Engineering! And my school conveniently happens to only be four minutes away!" Alex's face immediately brightened at the news.

"So now, let's go see your parents!" Jack flashed his perfect smile towards Alex.

As Alex walked into the house, it was dark and silent.

"Surprise!" her parents yelled. She was so happy to see her parents.

"How are you, honey?" her mom said, while hugging her daughter.

"I'm good. Even better now that Jack told me some good news. How are you guys"

"We are great now that you're home with us! And Jack why did you tell her? We wanted to wait until after dinner." her mom said with a mock stern voice.

"I'm sorry Judy, she started crying in the car and I had to tell her." He said jokingly.

"Now if we are all done catching up, let's eat dinner." Alex's dad was very impatient when it came to dinner.

When dinner was over, Jack took Alex to get ice-cream from Cold stone Creamy. Alex unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned leaned over to kiss Jack because she was so happy with the news he told her earlier.

"I love you more, than you could ever possibly know!" she whispered into his ear. Just then, the bright, white lights of the Mack truck were last thing that Jack and Alex saw.