August
"The bus gets her in ten minutes." I take out her suitcase, setting it on the floor. She takes her bag and ties it between the suitcase handle.
"I don't want to say goodbye." She takes a tissue out of her pocket and dabs her eyes. "You know how much I hate goodbyes."
I take her hands in mine, taking a deep breath. "Oh Genevieve, I prepared this speech in my head but now that I actually have to say it, my mind is blank." I look up at the sky in hopes of not letting tears stream down. "You have been my best friend since we were innocent middle schoolers. We've practically become family through these years!"
She slightly laughs, wiping tears away from her face.
"And now we're going to be across the country from each other for the next four years, maybe even more after that." I sniffle, "But I know we'll continue being best friends. And when I'm missing you the most I'll be thinking about all the fun days we spent together. Like the many vacations we took together and our beach trip in Malibu this summer."
"And how we got drunk at a hotel together the night before we went to Disneyland with our families. We were fucking fifteen! I forgot this we even snuck in the booze!" She laughs.
"That was just you, Gen. You nearly puked in my lap." I laugh, wiping a tear from my cheek. "But you get the point. I can't imagine not just driving over to your house and talking for hours anymore. From now it'll just be through phone calls. Send me some postcards from New York, yeah?"
"Be safe out there, Genny. You're going to be a girl in a big ass city and it may seem pretty in the movies, I bet it ten times scarier. Unless I'm in class or have an emergency, I'll always make sure to pick up your calls. If not my messages and voicemails are always open." I warmly smile. "And do not replace me with some New York girl over there!"
She flutters her lashes, "God, you haven't called me Genny since middle school! And I promise not to replace you and I'll send you postcards whenever I get the chance."
"How much time do I have for my speech?"
I glance down at my phone and say, "Five minutes."
She breathes out shakily, "I suck at using my words, but I'll try. Selena Rojas, Sel, my best friend in the whole world, Sel. You're the sister I never had. And for a short period of time, the girl I wanted to be. You have listened to all the gossip I had and comforted me when I got my heart broken or missed my parents."
She pushes a strand of hair out of her face and continues, "Trust me, not having you by my side while I discover New York will be painful. It's not like I can call you over and we go to our spot as I tell you about the experience I had with a stranger or I go over to your place and lay in your comfy bed as I tell you about the cool dress I designed. We're two completely different girls with different dreams, and in order to find ourselves, we have to do that apart from each other, across the country."
"I know you will do great out there in Colorado. I also know you'll be one badass vet in the future. What I'm trying to say is good luck out there. I'm just one call away from listening about what Grayson did this time. Now you have to promise not to replace me with some Colorado girl!"
I laugh, swiping the tissue under my eyes. "Promise."
The bus stops right at the bus stop a few feet away from us. The part we've dreaded the most.
YOU ARE READING
The shy boy from math class
Teen Fiction[RE-WRITTEN 9/24/20] [COMPLETED 3/10/21] Selena Rojas thought that her math tutor, Grayson Taylor, would be someone temporary that she'd forget after senior year. *** Selena never thought that during the worst month of her life, the shy boy that sat...
