Project Equality

A Big Step Forward

Elysia

On the morning of our fourth anniversary, I woke up with Lauren in my arms. That was pretty much how I always woke up those days. For the first time since we got together in middle school, our anniversary was on a Saturday, so we would get to spend the whole day together. Well, that was the ideal, anyhow. Unfortunately, I knew that later that day, I'd have to go to the admin meeting at Jenna's. For right then, though, I was with her.

Careful not to wake her up, I slipped out of bed to make us breakfast. Sometimes, I still found it hard to believe that it had been that long. I'd loved her for so many years, it was crazy to remember that she loved me too. But she did. And I had a plan.

It wasn't a plan for that day, of course, though I had plans for then as well. But it was for a huge date at the end of the month. There were several classy events, a fancy dinner, and finally, the moment would come. What moment? Well, I'll explain that later.

"Ely?" came a groggy voice from the entry to the kitchen.

"Good morning, my beautiful love," I replied, kissing her gently. "I'm making pancakes."

"I see that. Thank you." She wrapped her arms around my waist as I continued to cook. "Happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary."

"Can you believe that four years ago today, I asked you to be my girlfriend?"

I smiled. "I'm so glad that you did."

"You never would've asked if I left it to you," she laughed. "Now look at how far we've come."

"Does anyone realistically get this long with their middle school sweetheart?" I asked her. "I mean, we're about to graduate and start college, yet we're still in love like we were back then."

"Sometimes, yes," she said. "I mean, I'm sure they do."

"Still, I can't believe how time has flown."

"We've still got plenty of time left," she pointed out. "This is hardly even the beginning."

"You can say that again," I agreed, remembering my plan. "I just wish there wasn't an admin meeting today. Jenna apologized profusely, but there was no way of moving it."

"I know," she sighed. "It's okay, though. We have all day up until then all to ours-"

Before she could finish her sentence, there was a knock on the door.

"Um, I guess I'll go get that," I said, wondering who would be knocking so early in the morning, on that day of all days.

"I need your help." I opened the door to find Hazel, standing in the rain, her eyes darting around frantically as she desperately tried not to cry.

Biting my tongue to refrain from snapping at her, I sighed and forced a smile. "Come inside. We can talk."

"What seems to be the issue, Hazel?" Lauren piped up, coffee in hand as she slid onto the couch.

"I don't know what's going to happen with Andrea," she sighed, sitting beside her. "I have this sickening feeling building up, like we're going to break up or something. She doesn't want to be part of my decision making process for college - like, not a factor for me to consider - and I'm worried that in order to achieve that, it will result in a breakup. She's too good for her own good."

"Do you love her?" I asked shortly, trying but failing to keep the sharpness out of my voice.

"Yes, you know I do! I've been in love with her since-"