Playing Favorites

We're Not Moving

"I have NO desire to stay in Illinois." I tell Emma, moving one of my checker pieces.

"Come down here." She simply replys.

"I told Sarah that." Emma jumps me with one of her pieces and take it. "I hate you."

"So its a possibility?" She smiles widly.

"I hope but dont know. Its an idea."

"I would LOVE if you guys came down here! I'll be staring college in the fall at the community college thats like 10 minutes away. We could go to school together!"

"Em, theres so much more to it though." I sigh resigning from the game. "We'd have to find somewhere to live, somewhere for Sarah to work, where I go to school is not a big deal, but there also the matter of us just completely uprooting our lives in Chicago and I'm not sure Sarah is down for that."

"Yeah, she's been living there for what, six years? I dont know, maybe shes ready to come home? Emma shrugs.

"Why did she move anyway?" I ask. I watch her mouth close and she is holding her lips tight. "Are you okay?"

"Girls, dinner!" Sarah's mom yells from the dining room.

"Thanks Catharine!" I yell back.

We make our way to the kitchen and grab some wine before heading over to the table. I'm not going to press on the matter but I wonder why that question made Emma freak a little.

"How are you doing in school, Ry?" Catharine asks as we all sit.

"Pretty good."

"Good? Her grades are back up, she's been accepted to her top 3 colleges, has two scholarships. Shes doing amazing ma!" Sarah boasts.

"Wow sounds great!" Sarah's mom is so sweet, I love her.

"Actully I got accepted to my top 4." I smile a little wider.

"Oh what are they?"

"Purdue, Ball State, University of Illinois, and Florida State."

Sarah looks up from her steak and potatoes with a look I can't read. "I didn't know you applied to Florida, love." Sarah gives a small smile.

"Yeah." I shrug.

"That's so far from Chicago though, baby."

"All of them are Sarah." I can feel my hands start to sweat. "I'd be moving no matter where I go... I just thought you were coming with me."

"Can I talk to you upstairs?" She isnt actully asking. She puts her fork down with a bit of force and it clanks on the plate before falling to the floor.

Nervously I follow behind my girlfriend until we reach our room. "What are you trying to do?"

"What...? Am I missing something because I thought wherever I went you'd be going with me. That was the plan."

"It was but.. Riley I'm not moving back here."

"Why we've talked about it before, you miss your family, I just don't get-"

"Drop it Riley." She speaks sternly. "We're not moving to Florida."

I feel like getting angry but I feel it in my bones that something's wrong. "Why did you leave Florida in the first place?" I cross my arms over my chest.

"I don't wanna talk about it, Riley. I'll be downstairs in a few minutes." I just stand there, confused.  "Go please."

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I ended up not writing at all while I was on vacation so that sucks but here's a little somethin!