summer romance (e.d.)

forty

ethan

"ana, relax," i laugh a little, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her into me, just to stop her from pacing.

she shakes her head, looking at me in the eyes.

"okay, why're you freaking out?" i ask. "talk to me."

"it's not a big deal," she waves a hand and wiggles from my grasp. but her tone tells me it is a big deal.

"i can't help you if you won't tell me," i warn. "otherwise i just sit here like a slug. not doin' anything."

"good," she remarks, pushing my shoulders down and making me sit on the edge of her bed. "be a slug. let me freak out for a moment, then i'll be fine."

a pit of fear strikes my stomach. "what did my mom say to you?"

she glances back at me confusedly. "what? lisa didn't say anything. did she say something to you?"

"no," i lie. "she said nothing. but seriously, tell me why you're so stressed out."

she whips around and sits down next to me. "ethan, can i ask you something?"

"sure...?"

"what are we?"

my eyebrows fly up. "oh. like, what are we or what are we? because technically we're humans but—"

"no," she shakes her head, pointing between the two of us. "me and you. what are we."

shrugging, i respond, "whatever you want us to be, i guess."

"i don't like that answer."

"fine, okay," i say. "that was a bad answer. i'm sorry. i kind of just... assumed. that we were together. was i not supposed to do that?"

"so you're mine and i'm yours?" she asks, rushing the sentence out quickly.

"yes."

"that makes me so much more stressed," she groans, flopping backwards onto her bed.

"why? can you please just tell me?"

"5 hours and 19 minutes," she replies softly, still staring up at the ceiling.

i furrow my eyebrows. "what?"

she leans up on her elbows. "from stanford to UCLA. 5 hours and 19 minutes."

"oh..." i murmur. "well, you still don't know if you've officially gotten in, right?"

anna rubs her temples. "ethan, your mom is going to write a kickass referral. not meaning to sound cocky or anything, but i think i'm going to get off the waitlist."

"and why are you sad about this, an?" i ask excitedly. "stanford is the place for you. why are you getting upset about it now?"

"because," she groans. "in a little less than two months i'll be on a plane to new jersey to pack up all my things, just to fly back here. and we'll be so far apart..."

i lay down next to her. "nothing is decided yet, anna. just relax. stop worrying about the future and focus on the present. we're here right now, aren't we?"

"i know!" she argues, rolling a little on her side so her face is buried in my chest. "but USC and UCLA are so so close."

i sit up quickly. "no."

she gives me a confused look. "no what?"

"you're not debating on settling for your second choice just to be 20 minutes away from me."

"why not?" she whines. "it's still such a good school, and i was lucky to get accepted in the first place. did you know that i got rejected from yale? and harvard?"

"no, i'm not letting you do that. you're stanford material."

she sighs, then looks back up at me quickly. "i should've just accepted the defeat of not getting into stanford right away. now i'm just stressed out. what if i get in last second? that would make finding a dorm hard, getting enrolled into my classes borderline impossible and—"

just to shut her up, i place a long kiss on her lips. she immediately melts into it and cups my face with her hands.

after pulling away, i whisper, "there. better? they're going to send you their decision with plenty of time to get enrolled and find a roommate. i promise you. they're not setting you up to fail, an."

"and there's always a chance i don't get in," she whispers softly, moving her hands to the back of my neck, playing with some curls of hair.

"and then you'll be 20 minutes away from me, and that'll be okay too."

i've known anna for a short amount of time, but something about her is special. sometimes i'll feel like i know everything i need to know about her, and then she'll surprise me with something totally insane that i wouldn't have guessed.

for example— she loves tomatoes. she'll eat them straight off the vine. diced, cooked, sauced, in a dip, etc. you name it and she'll eat it. i think it's insane because tomatoes taste like the scum of the earth to me, but she loves them.

another thing i wouldn't have guessed— she's really into astrology. like, i know my star sign and all, but she knows a bunch of random things. she tried to explain to me what a rising and moon sign was, but i might've tuned out a little bit. she's an aries, apparently, (whatever that means?).

oh, one more thing— she's been slightly obsessed with harry styles since she was 12. i mean, i get the hype and all, but apparently she used to have an entire folder in her photos dedicated to him. she told me she deleted it awhile ago, but i'm not so convinced. don't get me wrong, everyone has a celebrity crush. she has yet to know about nicki minaj.

sighing whimsically, she smiles a little as she stares into my eyes. "of course."

"either way, you win."