A Romantic's Guide To Tears And Chocolate

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"Miss. Becket, wake up!" I snapped out of my thoughts and glanced at my professor. She was glaring at me while pointing to the board where the various fashion concepts were displayed. I gave her a sheepish smile and muttered an apology. Professor Collins rolled her eyes and began teaching her lesson again. I really do need to focus if I ever want to be a fashion designer, but I have a lot on my mind.

Every Sunday night, my boyfriend of four years and I have a Skype session but he canceled our session last night. You see, my boyfriend, Luke, is currently stationed in Afghanistan. We always find time to video chat with each other on Sunday nights, but he called at the last minute and asked to reschedule our session. He never asks to reschedule. I can't help but worry something is wrong.

Professor Collins' timer rang, pulling me from my thoughts again. I grabbed my bag and made my way back to the dorm. As I was walking, I pulled out my phone and looked at my lock screen. A picture of Luke and me on our first day of high school was displayed on the screen.

We both had light brown hair, although his was in the same swept up look he always had it in. My hair was always pulled back in the same ponytail. His bright green eyes were lit up with that same cheesy grin, while my dull brown ones held the same shyness behind them. Even at fourteen, he easily towered over me.

Luke and I have been best friends since our birth, October 15, 1995. Our mothers had both given birth on the same day at the same hospital. They became fast friends which began the budding friendship between Luke and I.

Even in high school we had managed to stay close. He had been the much desired Mr. Popular and I was the quiet nerd. Most looked down on our friendship but Luke never gave up on me. He always hung out with me instead of the cool kids. We even had the same friends. His best guy friends, Reece and Caleb, had accepted me into their trio along with my only other friend, Sarah. Reece and Caleb had been much like Luke, except they were total players. Sarah was a nerd as well, but she was much more outgoing then I. It had always been just the five of us, although I was always closest to Luke.

I smiled to myself as I unlocked my phone and was met with yet another picture of Luke and me. It was junior prom, only three months after Luke and I had gotten together. Although Reece and Caleb went through girls like tissues, Luke had never had a girlfriend before, just like I had never had a boyfriend. Our friends had always joked that we must secretly be in love. I always brushed it off with a laugh, but I had been dying for it to be true. I had been in love with Luke since we were only nine years old when he saved me from almost falling out of our tree house.

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"Lukey, look at me!" I started twirling around our tree house in my princess dress. Luke was watching me with a smile on his face as he started dancing too. We were both laughing and having so much fun we didn't notice the weird noise the floor was making.

As I stepped forward to show off another dance move, the floor gave way beneath my weight and I was falling through the floor. My dress caught onto a piece of the floorboard which left me hanging eight feet off the ground. My eyes widened as tears formed and I screamed for Luke.

"Hold on Rosie, I'll get you!" Luke yelled to me as he reached for my hand. I stared into his big blue eyes that held so much worry, but I could tell he was trying to remain calm for me. I grasped his hand and he pulled me as hard as he could. After a few tugs, I was back in the tree house. Luke wrapped his arms around me and held me tight as I sobbed into his shirt. Luke began shushing me as he rocked us back and forth.

"Shh, Rosie, it's okay. Don't worry, I've got you. I will never let anything or anyone hurt you again," he promised with so much truth in his voice that I had no choice but to believe him.