The New Girl

Chapter 30

Elizabeth

We are finally going back home. I couldn't tell you that I had the best time there since all the good times were overshadowed by the other things I wish didn't happen. But in the morning we pile on the bus and head back home for school the next day. When we get back home Mrs. Blake is waiting for us in the kitchen. When we walk into the room she's on us in a second. "My babies are home!" she exclaims. I giggle and Tristan beside me rolls his eyes.

When she lets go of us Tristan steps back and says, "Jeez mom, we've only been gone for a week."

She waves him off. "Oh please, I want as much time as I can get with you guys before you go off to college." Her eyes light up. "Which reminds me, both of your acceptance letters have come in!" Both Tristan and I lighten up at the words. It's kind of early, but we wanted to apply as soon as we could. We both applied to the same 5 schools. They were all around the country, but I know both Tristan and I were prefer to stay close to home. She brings us the living room where the letters are sitting in two different stacks on the table. On the left are mine and Tristan's are on the right. We take our seats and Mr. and Mrs. Blake sit on the couch adjacent to us. I look down at them with anxiety. I don't doubt myself often, but this is one situation where literally anything could be the outcome. Tristan and I look at each other. He nods his head and we both reach down and tear the first one open. "So?" Mrs. Blake asks with anticipation.

"University of Connecticut is a yes." Tristan says and I nod to second him. Letter by letter later we both are accepted and we get down to the last letter. NYU. The university the both of us want to go to. We pick them up and rip them open at the same time.

"I got in" I whisper in awe. I look at Tristan for confirmation.

He shakes his head and gives me a sad smile. "It's a no go." he says quietly and my heart sinks. I scoot over to him and wrap my arms around him.

"It's okay, Tristan." I whisper to him rubbing circles around his back. It's hard to not be disappointed. I mean, NYU was the first choice for both of us.

"No it's not, Elizabeth. We were supposed to go to college together. And now the closest one to NYU is Connecticut!" He gets up from the couch and marches up to his room. I glance at Mr. and Mrs. Blake who give me desperate looks.

"Please go talk to him, Elizabeth. He won't listen to us right now. The only person that matters right now is you." Mrs. Blake says lowly. I nod and walk up the stairs and down the hallway slowly to his door. It's closed and no noise is coming from inside. I give the door a knock, and when I don't hear anything I open it up to see Tristan sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands, his elbows propped against his knees. I walk in cautiously while closing the door and I sit down next to him. I wait for him to say something, anything to acknowledge what he was thinking. When he doesn't I start to say something, but then he begins to speak.

"I want us to go to the same school. I love you, I want to be near you at all times. But now that we're going to be miles and miles apart I feel like we won't make it. And that scare the shit out of me." He looks up from his hands and I see that he's been crying. My heart shatters in my chest. I pull him into another hug and he nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck and sucks in a deep breath. "I just don't want you to meet someone better, someone who could take better care of you. Something you would definitely find if I weren't there." Is that really what he thinks? That I would find someone else? I pull back from him and look him in the eyes.

"Please don't say that. That would never happen. I love you just as much as you love me, if not more. Just because we'd be going to different universities doesn't mean we won't work. We would still see each other on holidays, and there's such a thing called cellphones. We'll still be in touch." I look into his eyes for some kind of reaction.