While We're Here

Chapter One

Like most people, every so often it occurs to me that I often take life for granted. Day in and day out, as life passes by, I fail to realize how lucky I am to be living. How lucky I am to be breathing. To be exploring. Life is full of different chapters and experiences, but most of all, life is full of growth. You're never not growing. On a Friday in August, as I'm loading my bags into my parents' car, I'm reminded of that.

Arguably, one of the biggest stages of growth in one's life is when they attend college.

For me, that stage begins now.

"Are you sure you have everything, Olivia?" my father asks me as he locks our front door. "You're moving across the country, it's not like we can drive to your dorm and drop something off."

Noticing the bitterness in his voice, my mother rests her hand on his arm, calming him. Ever since I decided to go to Ridgewater University in Oregon, I've noticed a sense of tension from my father. Everyone in my family has gone to school in our home state of Minnesota, and I'm the first to leave.

"You still have your acceptance at University of Minnesota waiting," he mumbles as they approach the car. My older sister, Alicia, rolls her eyes at him and opens the door to the back seat.

"Ignore him, Liv. He's just sad." she whispers as we get in. I shrink in my seat. I've dealt with his bitterness for months, and I still hate it. Luckily for me, I have Alicia on my side. She's been supportive of my decision to go to Ridgewater since day one. My father on the other hand, is another story.

My mother sits in the passenger seat, her arm planted upon my father's across the center console.  "Brian, if she doesn't go to Ridgewater, she'll leave Claire all by herself. She can't back out now!"

My mother isn't wrong. I can't leave Claire. We made a pact to begin at Ridgewater together.

Claire Goodman. My best friend of thirteen years. We met in Kindergarten when we were five. She got accepted to Ridgewater before me, but I flew to Oregon with her to tour the campus. Ridgewater is her dream school; her parents even met there while attending. I hadn't even applied to the school until after our tour. Walking around the campus, surrounded by tall trees and green belts of grass, I knew that is where I wanted to be. The two of us had always imagined the possibility of going to college together, but we didn't expect it to actually happen.

Not only are we attending the same school, but we're rooming together, too. I know people say you shouldn't dorm with your best friend, but I have faith in us. After all, we stayed in the same bunk every summer at sleep-away camp. We've been best friends for so many years, nothing can break us.

I look out the window as my father drives to the airport. It hasn't hit me that this will be the last time I see my hometown for months. It's August now, and I won't be returning home until Christmas. We pass the small shopping center near my house, and I smile when I see Country Burger, the old diner I worked at during the school years. Our neighbors next door, an elderly couple named The Mason's, have owned it for over thirty years.

As I'm staring out the window, Alicia places her hand over mine. "Are you ready for this, little sister?" she asks, giving my hand a squeeze.

I take a deep breath and smile, "I am."

"You'll have to tell me all about the parties and the boys at your school. They probably won't be as good as U of M's boys, but I still want to know," she winks.

I roll my eyes at my sister. Alicia has always been boy crazy. She can't keep a boyfriend for more than six months because she gets too bored. I don't blame her too much, though. She is gorgeous. We both have long, brown hair from our mother, and bright blue eyes from our father. It's a rare combination I'm grateful for.