Set Her Free

14.

A week has gone by and so much has happened since the day of my graduation. The police still haven't found Andrew which means he's still in Switzerland lurking. Justin and Ariana have been getting along really well which is gross but what can I say? Zach and I have gotten so close that he can face-time me like five times a day. The other day I even spoke to his best friend Levi who didn't speak much at first but once he got comfortable, trust me he never shut up. My mom almost went back to her old habit of wanting me to only go to Harvard but Uncle Phil managed to talk her into letting me go.

I woke up at 6 am to do some last minute packing in case I forgot anything and I felt so nervous. Soon I'll be back in the US, my old home, and all the nasty memories will come running through my head, but I'll be meeting Zach ,and I'll be going to a school of my choice, not my mom's so that's a win. The ride to the airport was short, and once we arrived I felt uneasy. Uncle Phil helped me check in whilst I said goodbye to my mom and Ariana.

"Call me every day okay?" my mom hugged me and smoothed my hair as she tried hard not to cry.

"Mom I'm just going for a few weeks, I'm not going to get married."

"What if you do?" Ariana popped in on the conversation.

"Shut up idiot," we pull each other into a hug. "I'll leave you two to talk," my mom walks over to Uncle Phil leaving Ariana and I alone. We were still holding each other in a tight embrace and I could hear her sniffle. It felt as if I was not going to come back and see them ever again, "I want to know every update on you and Zachary okay? When you first see each other, your first words to each other, your first date, everything!"

"Whoa whoa too far with the date part, but don't worry Ari, we'll be in touch every day."

"Good, and I don't want to hear that you met someone new and you guys have become best friends ad you forget about me, I'll fly all the way to Yale and grab that best friend stealing bi-"

"Okay Ariana relax," I had to shut her up before she even stopped me from traveling, "No one is stealing me from you, I could never replace you okay?"

We hugged each other once more before my name was mentioned on the speakers to come to the gate "I love you Lizzy!"

The journey was about 8 hours and I had slept throughout the flight from the moment I got on the plane. It was now 8 pm in New York but I couldn't call my parents to let them know I've arrived, they were probably asleep by now considering the time difference. After I grabbed my bags I recognized Levi standing at the entrance of the airport along with a number of people who had their luggage's by them. As I got closer I could tell he saw me because he plastered a faint smile on his face and gestured to me as he spoke to the people, then met me halfway, "Liz Anne, how was your flight?"

"Didn't feel a thing, I slept through the whole flight." He laughed as he helped me drag my bags to where everyone else was.

"Everybody, this is Liz Anne Bourne joining us at our summer camp," a couple of them waved, said hi, looked at me from bottom to top, few whistles here and there as I waved back at them all. We exited the airport and all took our seats in the bus as we made our way to Connecticut, New Haven which was a two hours drive. By the time we reached the university, it was almost 11 pm. Apparently we were supposed to get a tour of the campus but because of the time, we were all assigned to rooms to sleep in for the night.

I settled my bags on the side of the room and pulled out shorts and a t-shirt to take a shower. After that I took my face wash out of my handbag to do my nightly routine before I slept. The moment my body plopped on the bed, there was a knock on my door.

"Come in," I yelled because I wasn't going to get up, I was in the most comfortable position. Just as the door swung up, Levi walked in followed by...

Zach.

I was screaming on the inside, my heart was doing cartwheels, the butterflies in my stomach were trying to escape, going berserk, I didn't know how to act, whether to get up and hug him or just shut my eyes really tight and wish all this was a dream. "Wait why would i want this to be a dream," I said to myself. He looked way better than the last time I saw him, his shoulders were broader, is hair was longer, falling on his forehead in the most beautiful way. He was wearing black sweatpants and a white tank top which exposed his huge biceps.

"LIZ!" Levi screamed as if he hadn't already seen me and I blinked a few times before snapping out of the trance. His scream was followed by Zach smacking him on the back and making his way to me. I quickly got off the bed, resulting in Levi whistling at my exposed long legs and Zach pausing and looking down to observe the view in front of him. I tugged at the bottom of my t-shirt to pull it down but it was of no use, they still looked.

"How're you doing," Zach leaned in and bent down a bit to hug me, breaking the awkward silence and trying to keep his eyes on my face and not my legs.

"I'm good, just really tired."

"You better get some rest. Tomorrow we're going to do a lot of walking," Levi said as he leaned at the side of the door. "I'll leave you two now but Zach, you better get your ass back to our room in five minutes, the clock is ticking." They made some weird eye contact before Levi left us alone. I fell back on the bed and hid under the blankets as Zach pulled a chair to sit opposite me.

"Wow, well he's a demanding girlfriend," I said and laughed out and Zach followed me in sync.

"Yeah that girlfriend of mine is very demanding, he's work!" he snapped his fingers to sound sassy which made me laugh in hysterics.

Wow, you laugh like a motor that's out of fuel."

"Well you brought out my ugly laugh so that makes you important." I fake wiped a tear and gave him a sheepish smile.

"Well you must be really tired right now so I'm not going to take much more of your time, my baby is probably about to come cut off your head because you're taking me away from her."

"Oh no we most definitely don't want that to happen, I have a future ahead" I laughed when he got up as he tucked the chair into the table and kissed my cheeks , "Goodnight Liz," he said before speeding out of my room leaving me shocked and out of words. My hand rubbed against the spot he kissed before I slid under my duvet in slow motion, trying to figure out how to sleep after what just happened.

The night went by fast and before I realized, it was 9 am with a hyper Levi knocking on each dorm door to wake us up and tell us to get ready. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, took a shower and put on my biker shorts and a bandeau top with a hoodie before making my way out. The corridors were crowded, everyone making their way downstairs. The place was beautiful. The hallways were long and the spaces were large, the ancient halls filled with lights. Outside was even more beautiful, the trees and greenery filled the entire campus and the grass was neatly trimmed as student gathered in groups around the lawn, learning, listening to music and promoting clubs. It felt different, a good kind of different.