Uppercut (A James Maslow FanFic)

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

(AN: There are a lot more chapters to come!!)

The plane ride didn’t seem to last the full two and a half hours that it was supposed to. I was pretty distracted though. I guess I just hadn’t been paying a lot of attention to what was happening around me.

My mind raced as I stared out the window, watching as we flew over different states. My sadness about leaving had calmed down a little. I hadn’t cried since my last goodbye to James but, I still felt depressed about leaving him.

Devon had fallen asleep after a little while. I was glad for that. I didn’t really want to deal with a crying baby on a very crowded airplane. That would’ve been an awkward situation.

“Were you serious when you told James that you wanted to go to college?” Alex’s voice brought me out of my daze. I looked over at him and saw the curiosity in his eyes.

“Yeah,” I nodded, pushing the hair behind my ear. “I know it’s kinda late for applying but, I figured it’d be a good idea to go this year.”

“Well, I think community colleges accept applications all year round,” Alex smiled at me. “I think it would be good for you. It’d give you a head start.”

I just nodded my head. “I think there’s a daycare there. So, Dev could go there while I was in class.” 

“Do you know what you’d go for?” Alex watched me as he awaited my answer.

“I don’t know…” I furrowed my eyebrows in thought. “Maybe… nursing or something? A lot of people seem to be doing that so, it should be a good field right?”

“Yeah probably,” He shrugged. “I would imagine that hospitals would be in constant need of nurses because they’re constantly getting new patients.”

I thought about it for a few seconds before I spoke again. “When do you…leave?” I glanced back at Alex, changing the subject.

“In about…” He pursed his lips and thought for a moment. “Two weeks. I think it’s, like, sixteen days? …Yeah, something like that.”

I stared at him, the same depressed feeling I had when I said goodbye to James returned. I’d have to go through another painful goodbye in two weeks. Could I handle it?

“Wow, I looked away from him and stared down at my hands in my lap. “That’s… sooner than I realized.”

He put a hand on my knee and I looked back at him, meeting his green eyes. He was awkwardly leaning around Devon’s car seat. “I’m not moving out of state, only about a two hour drive away. I plan on coming home during the time off for Thanksgiving and Christmas…”

“It’ll be different without you…” His eyes were still holding mine.

“I know,” He licked his lips and let out a small laugh. “It’ll take some getting used to.”

I nodded in agreement and looked away. Alex removed his hand from my knee.

It would certainly be different. We had both gotten so used to spending time with each other over the years. He was the only person from school that I still talked to. We could talk about anything, and it was so easy to. That first day in the cafeteria, I never imagined that Alex’s decision to sit with me would’ve completely changed my life. I never would’ve guessed that that would be the start of an incredible friendship.

“You could come with me on Moving In Day,” Alex spoke up and looked at me with hopeful eyes.

“I-I don’t think I could,” I hoped that he would understand my thoughts on the topic. “I mean… I wouldn’t want to take away the time that you have to spend with your parents. I know your mom’s bound to be overemotional about it and…I don’t want to get in the way of that, you know?” I looked up at him, slightly nervous about how he would respond. I hated it when I let his hopes down. “It’s the last time they’ll see you for a few months and it just seems too much like… a personal family event.” The thought of watching his parents bawl their eyes out and drop him off at college made me uncomfortable. I couldn’t intrude on that!