My First Love

College Plans

*note: okay guys, sorry I haven't been updating at all... but to be honest... I kinda already know where this story is going to end and filling up the middle is what's getting to me. Anyways, I really don't want this story to be another one of those high school fics where everything ends when they graduate (and they live happily ever after... blah blah blah) and then a sequel for their college and marriage life. Totes and def not gonna be my style. Anyways thanks to @AngelShinodaLP for the lovely comment and reminding me to get this shizz updated.

Senior year is going by fast. With Spring break gone and past we're getting closer to graduation. That means getting closer to leaving for college. This is proving to be difficult since we're all going to be separated for the most part. The good news is we're all staying in California. Phoenix is going to go to UCLA to study Philosophy, and Chester is going to LA as well, but he's going to LAMA to study music. As for me, I'm going to the Art Center College of Design to study graphic design and illustration. I decided to develop my inner artist, but that doesn't mean the band is going to break up. Since we're all still relatively close, we can still get together. It's going to be harder for all of us, but with our friendship and the love of music, we can definitely make this work. Besides, it would be wrong to leave Xero now, we're starting to get more attention and getting more gigs.

Now, all I have to worry about is Emily. We haven't talked much about college yet. That's mostly because she changes the subject whenever I bring it up. We're still together and going strong, in fact our relationship has never been better. Which is why I guess I'm a little worried for the possibility of us being far apart. And yes, I'm a wimp, I still haven't admitted my feelings to her yet. Chester keeps telling me "man up, or else I'll just tell her for you" which we all know will end up badly. So I've decided that I would tell her tonight. I have a special evening planned. First we're going to go with the guys and play paintball then we're going to go to the pathway by the diner and have dinner. Then that's when I'll tell her, hopefully this isn't too cliche for her.

It's around five and the paintball war is starting to die down. I think we're all exhausted by now. We are got pretty good hits on each other. Although I think Chester got hit the worse since Phi Phi and I are the dream team and we didn't really want to hurt Emily, the three of us basically ganged up on him. Naturally he complained the whole time, but we still had fun with the paint balling. It reminded us of our paint war back at the diner. The cool thing though is that after we put on all of our gear, we also put a white t-shirt over ourselves so that whenever a paintball would hit us, it would leave a mark on the shirt. It's like painting with the t-shirt as your canvas and the art is whatever pattern that turns out at the end. Chester had red ammo, Phi Phi had orange, Emily had green, and I had blue. After getting all cleaned up we met out front and we all looked at our new t-shirts. Phi Phi smiles and says, "well, that hurt like a b*tch, but it was definitely worth it to make new memories, plus we got a new shirt out of it." We all nod in agreement and decide to all wear it some time next week.

With paint balling out of the way, Em and I both head home to get changed and decide to meet at the pathway. She wanted to make the food, so all I had to do was to muster up the courage to tell her something that she should have been the first to know. I get the the clearing at around seven to see that she's already there. She looked breathtaking as always, with her hair in a braid and wearing dark skinny jeans and a red plaid shirt with a black tanktop underneath. I was dressed casually as well wearing jeans and a plain black t-shirt. We both sit down on the blanket as she pulls out the food. I must say, my girl can definitely cook, she made traditional japanese bento boxes and they were phenomenal.

After we were done eating and everything was cleared away we lied down on the blanket and looked at the stars. Neither one of us were talking, but it wasn't awkward, the silence was nice, but I knew I had to break it at some point. I took in a deep breath and then I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to it, "Mike, have you ever thought about how the stars are so far away from us, but they can still bring joy to anyone that sees them? It doesn't matter where you are, you can look up at the sky and when you see the stars, you can't help but stare in awe at them. Sure the moon outshines them and it the main focus of the sky, but still the stars are what people come out to see at night when they're alone." I turn to look at her and see that she's looking at the stars with a slight smile, then she turns to look at me with the same expression. I smile back, "yeah, the stars are beautiful, but to me you're like the moon, the center of attention, full of beauty and there's only one of you to share the sky with the view down here on Earth." She shakes her head at my speech, "no, don't give me that Dear John crap about the moon, I don't want to be your moon, and I never will be. Being the moon is something that my sister is destined for. I want to be the stars in your eyes, not just one, but many of them, so that when you look up in the night sky and you need some inspiration, you can see all the stars and think about the memories we made and smile. I want you to think of the nursery rhyme that can make any kid remember their childhood. I want you to see the stars and know that you're not alone, that even though they are distant, the stars are still there, even in daylight when you can't see a trace of them. So yes, I don't want to be your moon, the center of your attention, I want to be the stars in the background, the very same stars that helps you to smile and know that I'm always with you." I look at her still a little confused about this comparison, but then her words hit me. She wants to be the distant stars because she's going to leave me. I panicked inside and I sit up to open my mouth to speak, but she puts a finger on my lips to seal them, "sh~ calm down. I know I should have told you earlier, but I wasn't sure if it was going to happen. So here goes... I'm going to the Art Center College of Design with you." I couldn't hold in my excitement so I jumped up and picked Emily up and spun her around. We were both laughing after a few more spins we were both getting dizzy and we ended up just holding each other with huge grins on our faces. We eventually had to let go since it was getting late and we both had school tomorrow. We both walked back towards Em's car where I kissed her goodnight and watched her drive onto the road. Then I smiled to myself as I walked to my own car. I didn't get to tell her, but now I know we have more time together, and that's all I can focus on right now. I get into my car and notice there's a napkin on my windshield wipers, I get out of my car to take a look at it. On the napkin was a bunch of stars and the words, "we are the stars of your life" it had the initials CB, DPF, and EC on it. On the other side she wrote, "You have three stars now, you just need to find enough to fill up the whole sky."

*note2: Yay! Now we know they are going to college together! I'm really tempted to just skip to their college life, but I feel like I should do something about prom and their graduation... Ah well.. I'll have to see where my writing will take me. Unless you guys really want to see the end of their senior year. Anyways, thank for being my stars <3