Until Now (Harry Styles)

Chapter 1

Boxes. Boxes as far as the eye can see. Well, as far as my small, one bedroom apartment allowed. That’s right. My apartment. I spun around, arms outstretched, the centripetal force gathering all the blood at my fingertips. A sensation I will never get over. Everything around me in the boxes that spanned my small kitchen and common room was mine. Second year at Eastern Connecticut State University was going to be a blast. No more dorms. No more community showers and lack of air conditioning. Sweet freedom was all mine.

“Whoa there, ballerina Barbie.” My excitement was interrupted by my father’s mocking tone. I halted and the room continued to spin around my head. When the world settled I stared at my dad. He was a tall guy, strong jaw line, brooding face. Very dad-like. In his hands was the last box of the lot. “You sure you need all of this stuff?” He asked, setting the box down on top of a large blue tote much like the others around the room.

“I use all of these things.” I explained. He rolled his eyes at me, obviously not believing me.

 “She really does.” My mother came wandering in through my front door, her dark blonde hair pulled back into a straight ponytail. She was holding a stuffed bear that I had had for as many years as I can think back to. She was sniffling and her blue eyes were watering, making the color even more vibrant. “You forgot Mr. Snuffles.”

“Mom, you did this last year. I thought we were over this already.” I groaned, stepping towards her. I took the bear from her grasp and tossed him over to the couch to my left. The look on her face was priceless, but it was just a bear. I pulled her into my arms, enveloping her in a tight hug.

“You have to call everyday.” Her voice was shaky, but she composed herself quickly and ran her fingers under her eyes after she pulled away from me and stood at my dad’s side.

“I’m not doing that, mom.”

“She’s not doing that, Suzanna.” My dad repeated. He hooked an arm around my mom’s small waist. How in the world did I get all the curves? “Let’s get going.” He pulled her towards the door. My mother protested, coming up with every reason to stay, but my dad pulled her away nonetheless. “We’ll see you in a few weeks, Ashleigh!” He called out before shutting the door, and that was that. That was my parents leaving me on my own, in my own apartment, free to do what ever I pleased.

I kicked off my shoes, got my phone out with some headphones and pressed play on one of my favorite bands, The Fratellis. Chelsea Dagger blared through into my ears and I danced my way around the boxes. Tomorrow marked the new semester at Eastern and the day was already half way over. Time to unpack. I pulled my lengthy hair into a messy bun at the top of my head. I grabbed the first box, pulling back the cardboard until it popped open. My smile grew when I saw what was on top. It was a collection of pictures from our family trip t Arizona. My fingers ran over the glossy surface of the photo of my brother and I. It was my new favorite picture of the two of us. I hopped over a few boxes to make my way over to the kitchen and magnet the picture to the fridge door.

Mitch decided the year that we graduated high school that he didn’t want to go to Eastern. Instead he went to New York to work on his dream of Publishing. He said something about twins going to the same college after high school was weird. I’ll never understand him.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, momentarily stopping the long list of music playing.