in between ; noah flynn [completed]

twenty five

May 1st was a very important day for Noah and Talia and many other high school seniors. It's College Decision Day, when hundreds of thousands of high school seniors commit to a single institution for the next four years of their life. 

The couple, though they told each other everything, vowed to never let the other know where they were going for college until May 1st. This created a lot of frustration for both parties because while they were excited for the next chapter of their lives, they've never experienced life without the other. 

This arrangement happened in sophomore year when Noah expressed his fear of being away from Talia. He told her that he hoped they'd end up going to the same college. Instead of being flattered by Noah's inability to function without her, she scolded him and wanted him to base his future solely on himself and not on what she chooses to do. Obviously, Noah wasn't happy but knew that she was right.

Since then, the college conversations were kept to a minimum. 

Another thing that they decided to do was throw a Decision Day reveal party. Their parents were excited for this party because they get to celebrate their children's next step toward their future. Not to mention, they were nervous for the likely event that the two would be apart for the first time in eighteen years. 

Noah and Talia had to make their own reveal method and they did not hold back. Noah's idea was last minute but grand. Talia's was carefully crafted. They were almost more excited about their reveal than they were about where they were going to school.

It was a warm Los Angeles night and the Flynns' backyard was decorated with string lights, streamers, and balloons. Four rectangular white tables were placed parallel to each other on the grassy area, giving a clear view of the makeshift stage where the two would do their big reveals. College-themed cupcakes and cookies sat pretty in the middle of each table, though none of them hinted at the colleges that they chose.

As for food, Talia's and Noah's parents both collaborated and cooked a feast fit for a king. They set up another white table perpendicular to the guest tables and lined it with silver pans of hot food. Talia's dad stood at the outdoor grill, flipping thick cuts of ribeye steaks and saucy chicken thighs. It smelled heavenly and Talia tried to sneak a taste of everything. Noah shot her a look of disapproval as she stuffed a slice of steak into her mouth.

The guests began to roll in around six o'clock. Most of them were family and there were a carefully selected few friends. They made sure to make the party pretty secretive or else the entire student body would invite themselves over thinking that it was an end-of-year bash. 

The first hour or so consisted of the guests grabbing dinner and conversing amongst themselves. Every so often Talia's aunts and uncles came up to her and reminded her of how little she used to be. Now, she was "all grown up". Some even revealed that they made bets about when she would end up dating Noah. She and Noah laughed about this later. 

"Alright, time for your college reveal!" Elle shouted out once the tables were mostly cleared.

All the guests took their seats and eagerly stared at the two graduating seniors.  

"Who's going first?" Lee asked.

"I'll go," Noah said. "I set my thing up right here." 

He whispered to Lee his plan. The younger brother nodded and proceeded to run into the house. 

"As you all know, I was being scouted by schools for football," Noah began, waving his hand around as if being one of the most sought-after student athletes in the country was no big deal, "and I intend on playing football in college. So the college that I committed to is..."