Hazel's Hitchhiker

60: Hello Austin, Texas

Hazel

The big day was here. Neither Joey nor I slept that entire night in our tent. We tried, but the fact that we were literally twenty minutes away from the campus left us in anticipation. The fact that we were also a couple and had sex also played a part. Could the sun just rise already? Towards the end of the night, Joey realized that I was still awake and began kissing me. Once again, we ended up doing the dirty deed in our tent a couple more times.

The sun finally came up. It was morning. As fast as we could, we took the tent down and cleaned up camp. The car was ready to go and so were we. My new man offered to do the driving. When the keys went into the ignition, he held out his hand for me to grab and so I did. With the car ready, the car took off and we let go of each other. My stomach was in knots at what was about to happen within the next twenty minutes. This was going to be the most life-changing thing ever. These short few minutes felt like a long eternity. This whole journey was almost a week long. And we had been through so much together. During this long wait, my phone was pulled and went straight to the picture of Joey and me at the Grand Canyon.

"Can I post the picture of the two of us?" I asked.

"Definitely. Go for it, babe." He responded looking nervous and excited.

Babe? He called me babe. Usually, I wanted to vomit every time I heard a guy call their girl a babe, but for some reason, this felt different. I was a babe and it made my heart feel mushy. I loved it. Without another thought or care, my phone found itself on Instagram. I knew exactly what the caption would be.

"The new lovebirds."

After posting it, the likes started flooding in. Amber was the first one to comment. She was excited as her comment was all capitalized with too many exclamation marks. She couldn't deal with our cuteness apparently. With the picture on Instagram, it also went to Facebook as I changed my relationship status. My sister Hannah was the first to like and comment. She had never been more excited for me. Thank goodness my dad wasn't on Facebook like he used to be. The man hates social media.

The thought of my father reminded me that I still had that draft of the text message ready to be sent. Was I still going to send it to him? No, not yet. I wanted to enjoy all the attention that we were getting on social media without the judgment of my dad.

Joey

"Shit, Hazel we're here. We're here. Look, we're here."

Hazel's face lit up in joy and she screamed reminding me of the time we shared last night. Of course, we had actually made it to campus about five minutes prior, but I hadn't realized it. Hazel was glued to her phone and I felt a little lost not knowing where we were going. Once we came across this old and tall building with a clock on it as well as a statue of George Washington next to it, I knew we were there. Shit, we were here on campus. So many things happening all over my body. A mix of emotions began to flood me. Hazel sat there and got a picture of the glorious sight on her phone and put it on her stories. With my car put in park, I did the same.

"We need to get a picture of us next to George Washington when we get the chance," she claimed.

"Absolutely."

Getting the car out of park, I continued to drive trying to find where we were supposed to park. Students were flocking all over the streets and the grounds of the campus. If I wasn't careful, the car could hit someone. Hazel and I weren't going to be residing too far from each other. After about another twenty minutes, I knew where I was going and I was able to find a good parking space close to our dorm.

"Ready for this?" I asked.

Hazel

"Let's do this," I replied back placing a kiss on my man's cheek. Just like that, Joey got out of the car and began stretching. Everything inside of me was too afraid to get out of the car. Instead, I decided to glare at the text message that was going to be sent. Was I prepared to send it? I don't know. My heart was beating like a drum with my palms shaking like a maraca.

Taking a great and deep breath, the text was no longer a draft and it was actually sent to my father. Shit, did I actually just do this? Immediately, the liberty to turn off the phone was taken and placed into my pocket. In a couple of days, I would turn on my phone and deal with the anger of my parents. For now, this was our special day to enjoy. It was time to seize the day. Stepping out of the car, the small wind blew against my face. A few leaves fell to the ground. The air somehow felt refreshing. The number of students around us was intoxicating. What a great day!

"Ya'll need some help with your bags?" asked what looked like a cowgirl.

Joey

Some dude in a cowboy hat followed the cowgirl and offered to help. They introduced themselves as Brad and Josie who apparently started dating a week ago. After Hazel and I introduced ourselves, they began to pick up our bags leaving us when a little bit more to carry.

"You're going to love it here dude," stated Brad. "Austin is literally the best city in Texas. You like poker? I love myself a good game of poker."

Did I like poker? What kind of question was that? "I love poker. Remind me sometime to tell you a funny story about a poker game I won in Vegas."

"Oh, I look forward to hearing about that one."

Seconds later, Perry and Olivia found their way towards us after responding to a text. They agreed to help. Crap, were we making friends that quick? These people could never replace Phillip.

Hazel

After an hour of getting our dorms set up with help from our new friends, Joey met me in my dorm and a tour was given. Once the tour ended, I wanted to head straight to the Admissions Office to change my major. Joey agreed to tag along. The two of us stepped outside and with more of that fresh and somewhat humid air upon us. Even though I had experienced this great air, it felt like my first time experiencing it again. This air felt like freedom. A girl could get used to this.

"How amazing is this?" I asked. "Shit, how amazing is this?"

"It's more amazing than I ever thought it could be," my man responded.

With another smile on my face, I took a wisp of that fresh air that could only be found in Texas again and lightly chuckled. "Welcome to Austin, Joey. Welcome to Austin."

Our fingers naturally connected and together we took a beautiful walk to the Admissions Office for one final life-changing experience. Who would've thought we'd ever make it to Austin? It seemed impossible in Kingman when my car broke down. It seemed impossible in Vegas. It almost seemed like Joey wouldn't make it when we hit Avondale. And who couldn't forget about that experience in New Mexico? Damn, what a crazy journey. Even though it was crazy, I was beyond grateful for all of it. Hopefully, these next four years would bring a positive journey. Austin was ours. It was ours for the taking. We escaped our persecution. We had made it to our destination which was our freedom Welcome to Austin.

Can you believe it's over? I can't. Thanks so much for sticking with this story. I really hope you all enjoyed Hazel's adventure.

Will Hazel and Joey have an amazing four years?