When Summer Ends

The Diner

When I wake Monday morning, Rylie is already gone. She had her early classes Mondays and Tuesdays and was always gone before I woke up. We both had a busy week, and I blow out a breath before rolling out of bed to get ready. I don't worry too much about my appearance, opting to throw on a sweatshirt and jeans and put my hair into a messy bun.

I run over my schedule in my head, wondering what food to pack for the day. Classes would go until 3:00pm, and then my shift at the café would be from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. I could eat dinner at work, so I just needed to pack lunch.

When I see the bag on the counter, my heart swells. Next to it sits a covered plate with two slices of avocado toast. Rylie had made me breakfast and lunch.

I'm dating a character from a book. People like this shouldn't exist in real life.

I make a mental note to somehow make it up to her later. A note sits on the counter next to the food, and I scan it quickly.

Good morning, love!

I had some extra time and made some food for you today. Good luck at school and work! I've got class until 10:00pm today, so I'll be home late. I fed Harvey and took him out before I left, and I'll stop by on my break between classes to check on him.

See you tonight! Love, Ry

I did not deserve this beautiful woman as my girlfriend. I was sure of it. I quickly gather my things and kiss Harvey before heading out the door. It's a little bit chilly for 9:00am, and I zip my jacket up as I make my way to my car.

My commute to school isn't too long, and I make it to my first class and slide into my seat as my professor enters the room.

My first classes each day were normal math, science, English classes while the last few were my photography related classes. It was easy to guess which ones I liked better. The homework for the photography classes was always much more enjoyable, too.

"Good morning, everyone! Let's jump right in with last week's homework, and then start on the quiz." The professor says.

I really hated math. Luckily, the class goes by quickly, as do the next three. Since I have a little break before my next class, I head to my normal lunch spot and go over my homework as I eat.

Rylie had packed me leftover soup in a thermos, cobbler, and a dr. pepper. She knew me so well. Once finished, it's time for my photography classes. Luckily, they were all close by. Paying attention was always so hard for me in my morning classes, but it was no issue in these ones. As soon as I sit down, the professor launches into a discussion on lighting and shadows, and I start taking down notes.

In my final class of the day, the professor announces our final project due at the end of the semester.

"This will be focused on portraits. You can choose multiple subjects or just one, but I want there to be a theme should you choose multiple. You can choose location, theme, and the subject, but I want to see you put in effort, and show what you've learned this semester on lighting and the main focus on a photo." He goes into more detail, and I start thinking about what I want to do, but don't have much time before we're excused for the day.

I look at the time on my phone, and hurry to put all my stuff away when I see that we ran longer than normal. It was nearly 3:30, leaving me barely enough time to make it to work on time. Thankfully, traffic isn't too bad yet, and I arrive with five minutes to spare.

"Nice of you to show up, Aspen. I was beginning to worry." My boss, Larry says from behind the big counter.

Yeah, right. Worrying about your employees is not something you're familiar with.