Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
1968 Two weeks before Ella's 18th birthday
"Missouri!" I screamed out as I held the letter from Heather in my hand. "Freddie what the hell do I do?" I cried as landed dramatically beside him on the bed.
As the years of me hating London continued I found that I loved at least one thing about it, Farrokh. Although I rarely call him that now. Nearly a year after we met I started calling him Freddie. He said he didn't want to have a true Zanzibar name. He longed to have a more "normal" name and I told him I thought he could pull off Freddie. I honestly loved Farrokh but he insisted on something better. He loved Freddie, although everyone else still calls him Farrokh.
"She's living her life Ella, you can't possibly be angry with her for accepting a scholarship to Missouri." I whipped my head around and looked at my best friend.
"Of course I can! We've had these plans for ten years! I turn eighteen in two weeks! I was supposed to go back to her and we were going to spend our lives happy in North Carolina!"
"Do you want to go back?" He asked while staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Not without her!" I cried out and this time my voice cracked. Freddie looked over at me and sat us up. He whipped the tears from my face as I sat in front of him.
"Darling you can't make plans at the ripe old age of eight and expect life to be okay with it. You are made for much more than North Carolina," he said while tucking my dark hair behind my ears and planting a kiss on my head.
"No. I was supposed to work here. Then turn eighteen and leave. That was the plan that was supposed to be it."
Freddie pulled me in and hugged me. I held on to him, the closest friend I have and now that Heather betrayed me, quite possibly the only one.
"I will always love you, dear. Am I enough?" He asked in a dramatic tone he used quite often.
I couldn't help but laugh at him. Freddie always made me laugh. It didn't matter what he said or did, that was just Freddie. His presence made me happy.
"Of course you are."
"So are still leaving?" He asked as he pulled back and looked at me.
"I don't know," I answered honestly. Then, as if it was just occurring to me for the first time, I looked at Freddie and realized I did not want to leave. I didn't want to leave him, or Al's, or my parents. I had been planning out a dream that wasn't even mine, but rather a small little girl who had only just now grown up.
