Summer Lovin

5.6

Alex

I went home feeling really satisfied with what just happened. I went home and luckily caught Justin just in time as he pulled up to my house. I got out my car and walked over to him, "Hey! Are you about to leave?"

"Yeah. You get everything from school?"

"I sure did. Also, I made up with everybody. Almost.. everybody."

"Really? That's amazing. Who were the exceptions?"

"Emma." I sighed, "I tried to sort things out but it just wasn't working. She didn't want to be friends anymore and I guess I have to respect that. It's all good though."

"I'm glad." He said reaching for my hands holding them in his, "For once I'm not sad that I'm leaving because I know I'll see you again really soon. I'm so happy we can finally work on us."

"Me too. It's gonna be amazing and I can't wait. We can finally be together after almost a whole year."

"And this time, no breaks. I'll finally be able to just see you after class, and take you on dates on the weekends, and just be there for you- all the time." Justin said squeezing my hand, "It's all just 2 weeks away."

"Our future is 2 weeks away, and I'm glad we can have a future."

"See you in 2?" Justin said beginning to get into his car.

"See you in 2."

•

Justin drove away and I walked into my house happily. For once in a really long time, everything's just going right. I finished high school strong, in a way I walked out with Zoey which is what I've always wanted to do, got Ethan as a boyfriend, and a friend. Made amends with Alexandria, and made one of my bestfriends, Max. Yeah, it would've been nice to have Emma but at this point I don't even care. In two weeks I'll be with Justin at our beach house in Florida, and then I'm moving to New York where I'll get to be closer to him everyday. Life is great. I had the whole day, and I didn't want to waste it. I decided to call Zoey and ask her to hang, thankfully she said yes.

"Hey!" She exclaimed once I let her in, "Justin gone?"

"Yep." I said, "So. How are you? Is everything good?" I asked taking a seat next to her on the couch.

"I'm really good. I got accepted into that college in California I've been obsessing about for years."

"Oh my god congratulations!" I said a bit shocked.

"How about you? You're still going to SCAT right?"

"Actually no." I replied.

"Aw. Why, what happened?"

"No I got accepted. I just.. didn't wanna go anymore."

"Didn't wanna go anymore? Alex that was your dream school.. you declined it?"

I nodded, "I'm going to Marymount."

"Marymount? In New York? When I asked you to come to New York with me for the summer you said no it's too noisy. No too much happens there. No I wouldn't fit in. No there's too many people."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah I know but I had a change in heart."

"Wait." Zoey said slowly putting the pieces together, "You're moving to New York because of Justin. Aren't you?"

"Guilty."

"Have you thought this through? I just don't want to giving up something so huge because of.. Justin."

"No Zoey trust me. I've thought this through. I'm my happiest when I'm with him, and this year being apart from him was terrible and I don't wanna go through that again. So I researched Marymount and it's actually a really good school! Even better than SCAT."

Zoey gave me a small smile, "Aw. Look at you, going off to be with Justin. It's like the perfect romance story."

"Oh shut up."

"New York and California are really far away from each other." Zoey said slowly looking down, "43 hours in car distance."

"Yikes. Guess there won't be much visitation for us huh." I said a little sadly.

"Yep. Maybe once a year. We can meetup on Christmases!"

"Or. Every year we can just plan a summer vacation. That way we'll be together 2 months despite a weekend."

"That sounds pretty great. When are you off to New York?" She asked.

"I'm going to New York towards the end of summer. But before that I'm going to Florida with Justin. He rented this beach house for us and I'm super excited."

"I've never seen you so happy. You're glowing!"

"I know I know I just.. I love him."

"Awwwwwwww." Zoey squealed.

"Yeah yeah, what about you and Sean?" I asked.

"Broken up." She answered plainly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine, it's for the best."

"Well, there'll be others right?"

"Yeah definitely. California has all the celebrities, I'm getting married to one of them."

I laughed, "If you happen to see any of my favs, get their autograph for me okay?"

"Deal."

•

For those 2 weeks, Zoey and I ended up spending everyday together, and it felt like old times. We met up with Ethan and Max here and there, and on my last day we all hung out at my place. I was gonna miss them a lot, and my parents too. Justin messaged me he was at the beach house waiting for me. I was driving and would be there in a good 30 minutes. I was excited to be able to spend this summer with him, and re-connect. I was happy that we were finally going to have a happily ever after. I'm satisfied with the way everything turned out, and I couldn't be happier.