The Party Crasher

The End

This last week was equally the longest, greatest week of my life and the shortest most painful time I'd ever spent.

You see, Florence and I passed every moment we could together, bowling, watching movies, comparing favorite books, and having dinner with my parents and the Felixes. We chewed each other's ears off with every bit of our lives we thought was something the other would like to know. It was amazing having a connection like that with someone.

A couple of the outings, Rhys and Jordan joined us. They also enjoyed Florence's company and gave me two thumbs up in approval.

But it had to end, and it did. Yeah, we made promises to keep in touch and visit each other as much as we could. Once school started, homework piled up, and new friends were made, I knew that our time would be limited. And the painful part was saying goodbye to her when she went back home to Connecticut before she had to move into her new dorms in Boston. My heart ached after forming such a strong connection with Florence and losing her for the foreseeable future.

On our last day together, I picked her up and took her to the beach for a picnic. We watched the ships sail by, the surfers try to catch waves, and all the hard-working performers that came from the boardwalk. Venice beach was a bit of a culture shock for her, but we had fun playing twenty questions and our version of punch buggy. The person to find the most outlandish outfit would get us the right to ask a bonus question, one they couldn't pass.

Then we spent the evening strolling through Hollywood, looking at all the famous stars on the sidewalk. We ended the night in my room watching The Notebook and I wiped her tears as she cried for the guy fixing up his house and missing his love. It was too close to home.

After dropping her off, I sat in the car and unconsciously rubbed my hand on my chest, right over my heart. There was a heaviness in there, causing a grand ache.