Switched

Chapter 8

Sleep wasn’t even an option, I’d be leaving in less than twenty-four hours. Drew lied to me. How were we supposed to make this work if we couldn’t be honest with each other? I’m so happy to be in his arms like I am right now. My tears kept to silently fall as Drew rubbed my back.

    “I love you,” I whispered into his collarbone. Drew kissed my forehead as his only response.

    I looked at the clock and it was almost six-thirty. Twelve hours from now I would be boarding a plane.

    “You should be at work,” I said.

    “Not today,” he responded. Drew sat up taking me with him.

“Today, I’m calling in, and I’m taking you somewhere, today is your last day here, and we are going to make it count.”

    “It’s going to take me forever to get ready for the trip, though,” I said absentmindedly.

    “Okay, well, we can come back here and pack, but for now, you’re mine, you’re not a princess yet, you’re my princess, and we are going out.”

    “Fine, but can I shower first?”

    “Nope, not a moment loose, put some clothes on and let’s go.”

“Okay, well close your eyes so I can get dressed.”

“Babe,” he chuckled.

“What?”

“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, so chill, just get dressed.”

I did as he asked and threw on the nearest pair of jeans and one of his shirts.

    We went into the kitchen and surprisingly no one was up yet. Drew grabbed his keys off of a hook on the fridge, grabbed my hand, and led me to the car. We drove for awhile, but it seemed like seconds when we pulled up to our old elementary school.

    “What are we doing here?” I asked getting out.

    “Well, we aren’t going back to school here, we’re gonna go to the playground. It’s where you and I first met, I was hiding in a tree and you just had to be stupid and kick a ball so high that it hit me.”

    I giggled, “You fell outta that tree so fast and your nose didn’t stop bleeding for hours.”

    “After that we started sitting next to each other during reading, yup, this is where it all started.”

    We sat under the old oak tree and  silently remembered every minute of our separate childhoods, but honestly, was that even my childhood to claim anymore? My childhood should’ve been in Aristole. Not here, but if I was raised in Aristole, would I be the person I am? Would I somehow still feel this love?

    Drew pulled my hand and led me back to the car. We drove for about twenty minutes, and I felt like I knew where we were going. We pulled up to a small cafe. Our first kiss. Instead of going inside we just sat inside the car side by side. I didn’t have the butterfly feeling, instead I was just completely tranquil. I looked over at my fiance and kissed him, just as I did that first time.

    “You’ve gotten better at that,” he said pulling away.

    “Well, I’d hope so,” I giggled.

    The first time we kissed I had no idea what I was doing, I was twelve and we went inside and I got a smoothie and he got a black coffee. I just got this rush in my stomach and as he continued to talk, I leaned over the table, and pushed my lips against his, my eyes were wide open and I saw his eyes glitter back at mine. His breath was warm and tasted of bitter coffee, but even then, I knew that I wanted that feeling on my lips forever.