"Can we just not go to college and form a girl group?" Desi asks with a lighthearted laugh.
Lily gives her an incredulous look. "And name it 'Fifth Harmony'?" she teases sarcastically.
But apparently her friend can't understand sarcasm because Desi just nods her head enthusiastically. "That's a good one, Lily! We should definitely do it."
Naomi, Carina, Desi, and Amanda's individual laughter rings into the night and suddenly, it's the best sound Lily has ever heard. She sits there with a happy smile on her face. She's really going to miss this.
--
Waking up Naomi and Desi the next morning was one of the hardest things that Lily, Carina, and Amanda have ever done. They refused to budge and at one point, Lily actually thought they were dead because no matter what they did to them, they didn't react in the slightest. Between the three of them, they tried just about everything whether it was sitting on them, nudging them, tickling them, patting their faces, tugging their limbs, screaming at them, etc. Desi and Naomi were absolutely resilient little monsters.
What finally woke them up was Carina pouring water on top of their heads. Never has Lily seen Desi and Naomi's eyes crack open faster and never has she ever seen them filled with so much hostility. Carina looked like she was scared for her life when they both shot up from their beds with the most vicious looks on their faces. Hell, Lily was frightened too and she wasn't even the one who their anger was aimed towards.
The next 10 minutes were basically spent with Naomi and Desi chasing a hysterically crying and pleading Carina around the room.
Once Amanda and Lily played mediators and everyone calmed down, they packed up the car and along they went back home. This car ride isn't much different than the car ride up here. Amanda is driving, Naomi fell asleep as soon as her head leaned back against her pillow, Carina is rambling on about some weird dream she had last night that involved her being friends with a personified banana, Desi is making the playlist for the duration of the car ride, and Lily is staring at her bright-eyed girlfriend while holding her hand. Lily couldn't have asked for better people to be cramped up in this tiny ass car with.
But miraculously, Carina's detailed commentary about her adventures with the walking and talking banana eventually wore her out because then she just silently sprawls across the back seat with her head resting on Lily's lap and legs on top of Naomi's lap. Carina looks up directly at Lily and smiles softly before mouthing, "I love you." Lily caresses her cheek affectionately as she mouths those three words back. Then just like that, Carina's eyes closes and before Lily knows it, she's sleeping.
"You owe me 5 bucks, D," Lily says to her friend with a smirk. "I told you she would fall asleep on the way back."
Desi rolls her eyes and grumbles underneath her breath as she takes her wallet out of her purse and aggressively fishes out a crisp five-dollar bill. Lily blows her a kiss once she snatches it out of her hand and puts it inside her own purse.
Then she places her hand on top of Carina's stomach and leans her head against the window. She smiles down at Carina peacefully dozing away. Might as well try to get some shut-eye since she's off girlfriend-sitting duty now.
-
Lily trudges in through her front door lugging her suitcase behind her, totally drained. Long car rides tend to do that to her.
Her dad is sitting on the couch watching TV when she walks in and he immediately smiles widely at her in greeting and hops out of his seat to help Lily.
"How was the trip with the girls?" he asks, giving her a quick kiss on the head before easily lifting her suitcase up with one hand and resting it on his shoulder.
Lily throws her hands up exasperatedly. "How do you manage to make things look like they weigh no more than a feather?"
"It's called 'the gym'," Matt laughs, before leading them up to her room.
"But anyways," Lily begins as they make their way up the stairs, "the trip was fun. It was really hot and sunny except for there was a storm one night and I got a little burnt but overall, it was good. It was exhausting walking around and stuff though."
"You're always getting burnt," Matt chuckles as he sets the suitcase on the bed. "Ever since you were young, Mom and I had to practically drench you with sunscreen to protect your skin but you somehow always managed to get yourself burnt."
"That is God telling me that I should not spend any time outside. I should probably just stay inside for the rest of my life. Is that a valid excuse not to go to school again ever?"
Matt rolls his eyes. "Nice try, but umbrellas don't just protect you from the rain. All you need to do is just lug that around with you all day and you're good to go."
"It's not a normal day with you until you make a witty little comment," Lily laughs as she sits on top of her bed and tucks her legs underneath her.
Matt ruffles the top of his daughter's head with a pleased smile on his face. "It's one of the qualifications required to be a dad. But anyways, I'll let you unpack and do whatever else you need. Mom should be home in a few minutes."
Lily nods before she watches her Dad walk out of her room. Then she falls back on her bed and her head hits the pillow safely.
She notices something bright red peeking out from under her blanket and she curiously lifts it up to find none other than Carina's Spider-Man sweatshirt. Immediately she smiles to herself as she jumbles it up into a little ball and presses her face into it. Carina's natural scent still lingers on it.
She must have left it here the last time she was here earlier last week before their trip and Lily's mind wanders back to that day.
"I promise I'm a good bubble blower!" Lily huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. She and Carina were both sitting on the bed in front of each other when Lily was attempting to blow bubbles and Carina kept making fun of her for not doing the greatest job at it.
"Yeah, right," Carina scoffed incredulously. "The diameter of that bubble was a good 2 centimeters."
Lily's jaw dropped in offense as she narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend. "Alright, you know what? Let me have another go so I can prove your pretty little self wrong."
Carina raised her eyebrows and gestured for her to proceed with her hand. Lily then started to chew her gum. And she chewed. And she chewed. And she chewed. Carina even faked a yawn.
Lily slapped her thigh playfully as the younger girl giggled in amusement. "You're such a little shit," Lily mumbled as she rolled her eyes. She then straightened herself up and held a finger in front of Carina's face, readjusting the gum in her mouth and prepping to begin some ass-kicking bubble blowing.
Carina kept on making these ridiculous faces to try to distract Lily while the bubble was getting bigger and bigger, but it was not going to work. Lily refused to let Carina's antics distract her from proving her wrong. And she succeeded.
Lily was able to blow the bubble up until it was practically the size of her face and she had the cockiest smirk on. She was flaunting it off and shoving it in her face. Literally.
But Carina was not very happy about and in retaliation, she popped the bubble with the end of her index finger and it blew up in Lily's face. Literally.
Carina fell on her back on the bed, laughing her head off while Lily was struggling to peel the sticky gum off of her nose and lips and chin in disgust. "Oh you think this is funny?" Lily challenged after she spit the gum out into a napkin. She then pounced over towards Carina and straddled her waist, placing her knees on either side of her. "You want to laugh? I can make you laugh!"
Lily started tickling Carina's sides, neck, tummy, arms-anywhere that she could because she knows just how much she herself hates being tickled and how much Carina dislikes it too. It was practically torture. Getting tickled relentlessly and not being able to stop it or fight against it is one of the worst things that Lily can think of and that was exactly what Carina was enduring.
She was squirming and fidgeting and fighting Lily off of her while simultaneously giggling in complete dread and distress. But Lily knew her limits and took one of her legs off of her before she leaned down and kissed her cheek instead. "That's what you get, Cabero," Lily said with a smug grin.
Carina sits up and glares at her angrily, the back of her hair disheveled and her breathing still a bit heavy. She then took off her sweatshirt and threw it over towards the side of her bed, revealing a light t-shirt underneath instead. "An eye for an eye," she said much too calmly. "I give you a five seconds head start before I return the favor."
Lily's face has never dropped quicker and she was out of the door before she could even hear Carina start to count down.
Lily smiles to herself as she reflects on the still-fresh memory. She and Carina have such a playful relationship that's filled with so much love and joy that there is literally never a boring day with her. She brightens up Lily's mood just like she brightens up her life. Carina is everything and more to her and those are the moments that she lives for and those moments are the ones that she cherishes the most. And what a beautiful and wonderful thought it is to know that they still have so many more moments like that just waiting for them in the future as their relationship progresses.
"Hey," Lily's mom voice appears kindly, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Long time no see. And what are you creepily smiling about, you weirdo?"
Lily looks up from her lap and at her mom over near the door. The smile still has not wiped off of her face as she shrugs her shoulders casually. "Nothing. I'm just happy."
--
It was weird waking up the following morning for Lily, knowing that she had to go to school. The weekend had gone by insanely quick, but it was also long enough to where they were able to forget about life for a moment and forget about their responsibilities. And now as she is standing in the back of the room of her English class, she's suddenly slung back to reality.
Lily takes her letter written by Carina from Friday out of her folder before she slips the letter that she wrote to Carina in it. Considering she knew that she was going to be gone all weekend, she wrote the letter before their trip, and therefore she wrote it before the fight that they had while they were there. If she had written it last night instead, the contents inside of the letter would be completely different. They disregarded the fight just for the sake of the remainder of the trip, but it was still lingering in the back of their minds and Lily knew that.
She suddenly feels arms snake around her midsection from behind and a head resting on her shoulder. "Morning," Carina's voice grumbles. She doesn't sound very enthusiastic today.
Lily turns around in her arms and gives her a quick kiss on the lips in greeting. "Why the long and grumpy face?"
"I'm so sleepy," Carina groans, leaning most of her weight against Lily's chest. "I barely got enough sleep over the weekend and last night I couldn't sleep for shit either. And who the hell wants to be back at school?"
Lily chuckles lowly as she rubs her back comfortingly. "I know, Cara. I don't want to be here either but we have to. Let's take it a day at a time, okay? And we can take a nap after school today. Sound good?"
Carina stands up straight again and her eyes brighten up, obviously very pleased at that. "That sounds really good," she says with a wide grin. What a loser. Any mention of the word 'nap' and she's the happiest little thing in the world.
After Carina retrieves her letter and drops the new one in her folder, they walk back to their seats and talk for a bit before the bell rings and class officially begins. Ms. Ashworth then heads up to the front of the class and politely asks for everyone's attention, which she gets.
"First and foremost," she begins with a warm smile on her face, "I welcome you back to school after what I hope to be was a good and relaxing 3-day weekend, but all good things have to come to an end." That wins some grumbles and groans from a wide array of students in the room. "And you know what else is ending?" Ms. Ashworth looks around the room and chuckles at the confused looks. "You guys have been doing the letter assignment for almost three months now," she proceeds, "and that's about to end because the letter that you write tonight will be the very last letter of this entire project."
Some whispers of disappointment and disbelief scatter from around the room and Carina and Lily are not that much different. Carina turns around in her seat and gives Lily a saddened look. After all, this is the entire reason why and how they got together and to know that it's ending is a bit... weird. Everyone knew that they weren't going to do this forever, but everyone is just so used to it now. And Lily knows damn well that she and Carina were not the only two people who have really connected with their partners. It was a way to talk to someone about anything and everything you wanted without fear of judgment. What's going to happen to those relationships and bonds now?
Ms. Ashworth calms everyone down and gathers their attention once again. "I know that the main thing about this assignment is anonymity, but since it is the last one, feel free to reveal yourselves to your partners. Don't feel obligated to if you don't feel comfortable, but I know a lot of you genuinely like this project because you genuinely like who you have as your partner. Maybe after you find out, instead of only talking to each other through writing, you can talk to each other face to face."
Lily gazes at Carina sitting in front of her and she gets a warm feeling in her stomach. Although they practically have cheated the system and broke every rule that was given to them, she doesn't have a single regret.
"With that being said," their teacher continues, "make this last one count. Say what you want to say to them. Say how this experience was for you. Lay it out on that piece of paper tonight."
Carina turns around in her seat once again and a cheeky grin appears on her face as she looks at Lily as she whispers, "I intend to."
--
"Wait, are you serious?" Lily asks Carina skeptically. "You actually have kept all of the letters that I've written to you?"
After school, Carina invited Lily back to her house and said that they had some reminiscing to do. Lily, as per usual, had no idea what the hell she meant by that, but she knew that she would get an adventure out of it. Who could say no to that?
"Yeah," Carina replies happily as she retrieves a little box from underneath her bed. She then sets it on top of the bed and she wasn't kidding. The box is filled with nothing but a bunch of notebook paper written in various ink colors, all in Lily's handwriting. "I mean, I didn't plan to at first, but I also didn't feel right just throwing something like that away after someone wrote it out to me, you know?"
"I totally understand," Lily smiles widely as Carina gets on top of the bed and sits down right beside her, their knees touching. "Because I didn't throw your letters out either. They're all in a binder I have at home."
Carina stops and turns her head to look at Lily for a moment with nothing but adoration in her soft, brown eyes. She then leans her head in to rest their foreheads together. "You know what? It's funny how before we even knew how important we were going to be to each other, something in us knew."
"And something in us will always know," Lily whispers sweetly, pressing her lips to her cheek. She then digs to the bottom of the box and grabs the last letter in there. If they were going to stroll back down memory lane, they might as well do it right.
Lily whips it out and feelings of pure nostalgia come rushing back. The pencil was kind of faded, but it was still readable. She remembers being a little frustrated and annoyed with the entire project because what the hell was she going to speak to a stranger about if you literally don't know their name or face or anything? Her main motive at the beginning was just to get it done and over with. But then as days and weeks went on by, her main motive was to get to know as much as she could about her partner, aka Carina. She was nothing but intriguing and she loved talking to her. She still does.
Lily flattens out the paper and holds it to where she and Carina are able to read it together.
Dear stranger (?),
So I guess you're my partner, huh. I've never exactly done this before. Hell, I don't think anyone has ever done this before so I apologize if I wind up being the most uninteresting person you've ever talked to. Or written to. But I suppose that since this is the first letter of what I expect to be many (Ashworth was vague on the due date), I'll get better at it. And this is the beginning of the ending of our high school career so might as well learn to get out of our comfort zones and branch out to do things we've never done before, right? And I don't think I've ever written a handwritten and formal letter like this before.
It's weird to think that you could be someone I'm incredibly close friends with, or you could be a total stranger who I've never spoken a word to in my life. But this is an opportunity to potentially get to know you if you are a stranger and it sounds like a pretty cool idea. We are bound to get to know each other throughout this entire experience, even if I can't know the most critical things about you. Like your name. This should be interesting, nevertheless, and I'm looking forward to reading what you write to me.
Well, I'm not quite sure how to close this letter so I'm just not going to hahaha. I hope you have a great day :)
Lily covers her face with her hand in embarrassment while Carina laughs in amusement. "This is so ugly," she mutters behind her fingers. "I literally had no idea what to write and I was so awkward about it. I didn't even write a closing statement! Oh my god."
Carina pats her on the back reassuringly, all the while still giggling over the letter. "I mean that is how you got your nickname from me, Ms. Don't-Insert-Name-Here. And I got my nickname from you not that long after while I was telling you about my Harry Potter movie marathon that one day."
"She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named," Lily finishes quietly with a smile on her face. "It's so lame. But then again, so are you so it fits perfectly."
Carina opens her mouth to argue, but she simply closes it instead and nods her head in agreement. "You got me there. But anyways, let's pick another one so I can see what else I can make fun of you for."
Carina and Lily spend the next couple of hours sorting and sifting through random letters that Lily has written to her in the past. Of course they couldn't read through all of them, but they were able to just see the progression in their relationship grow and blossom as time went along. Things got so much more personal and lighthearted and easy. It's practically how they are today.
It brought back a lot of memories from before they officially met and although some of the letters were incredibly cheesy and embarrassing, it was great for Lily to see the smile on Carina's face as she reread them.
What a lovely feeling it is to know that that was probably the same smile that she had on her face when she read it the first time around.
-
When Lily walks into English class a couple of days later, she is surprised to see that there are a bunch of people in the room, some who she's never even seen before. But what they all have in common is that they all have a letter in their hand. Then it all makes sense. All of these people are Ms. Ashworth's students from her other periods and they came here this morning to read their last and final letter. Lily is positive that identities were going to be shared and apparently everyone was too anxious to wait to find out who they've been writing to.
Lily smiles to herself. She definitely knows that feeling.
Carina isn't at school yet so this would be the perfect time to read her letter by herself. So after making her way towards the back of the room, Lily eagerly skims through the folders with her finger until she gets to 'Joelle, Lily'. She then reaches inside and takes out the only thing in there.
Now as Lily is holding the folded up piece of paper in her hands, she is feeling a multitude of emotions right now that range from excitement to melancholy. She felt the exact same way when she was writing her letter to Carina a couple of nights ago. It was quite possibly the most personal and heartfelt thing she's ever written in her life because Ms. Ashworth said to make it count and that is exactly what she did.
Carina seemed to have done the exact same thing too because as soon as Lily unfolds the letter, she is immediately met with her atrocious and tiny handwriting that fills the entire page up.
Dear Lily,
So I guess this is the last letter, huh? It's funny to think about how I knew you before I knew you. How we talked and laughed and joked around before we've ever talked and laughed and joked around. How I confided in you and trusted you without ever pinning a face or name to you. How you touched my heart before you ever touched me.
Some people would say that us being partners in this entire assignment is all just a coincidence, but I don't think that's the case. You don't meet people by accident and this damn well was too strong and too strange to be nothing but a mere coincidence. This was meant to happen and God, am I glad it did.
It's also funny to think about how a little high school English assignment was what brought us together and our English teacher practically played cupid without even knowing it. That's so weird to think about??? We have a middle-aged blonde woman to thank for, well, everything. If it wasn't for her and if it wasn't for this, we might not have ever crossed paths. I might not have ever experienced you as a person and that scares me to think about because you are the best thing that has ever happened to me.
We've been through a bunch of ups and downs throughout the course of our relationship, but I wouldn't want to be riding on this crazy rollercoaster with anybody else in this world. We've fought, we've said ugly things to each other, and we've cried, but I don't care about any of that. We fought this weekend and I still very much regret what I said to you and I'm still sorry about it, but I know we can move forward from that like we've moved forward from everything.
And those stupid little fights aren't even what I care about. I care about all of our hugs, kisses, laughs, and smiles. I care about that one time where I made you laugh so hard in the kitchen that you slipped and threw your cupcake on the wall. I care about that one time where you and I were walking and you accidentally ran into the pole because you were looking at a baby bunny. I care about that one time where there was a thunderstorm happening and I didn't even have to ask you to come because you were already on your way. I care about those nights where we're both on the brink of falling asleep, delirious as hell, and we just giggle at nothing. I care about that one night where you took me camping for our one-month anniversary. ((That's self-explanatory.))
Those are the moments and memories I cherish. Any fight that we have had before and the fights that we will inevitably have won't ever outweigh those things I listed on top of many others. You've managed to give me a lifetime of so much love and happiness into these magical couple of months and I'll never be articulate enough to properly express how grateful I am for that and for you. But I can try to show you.
I'll be there when you call me in the middle of the night without saying a word but I'll still keep you on the line because I know you like the thought of my presence, even if it is just me snoring loudly into the speakers. I'll be there whenever you're having a bad day and you silently crawl into my lap with your legs around my waist while you cry on my shoulders. I'll be there to kiss every little paper cut you get and kill every bug you see (even though I'm terrified myself) and warm you up when you're cold and play with your hair when you have a headache and carry you around when you're too tired to walk. I promise to do all of that and more.
I don't know what things are going to be like 5 years from now, but I hope and pray that it's beside you because everything I've never done, I want to do with you and you're my favorite place to go to when I've had a good or a bad day. But I'm not worried about the future. I have you now and that's all that matters.
So, yeah, it may sound odd about how we, just a couple of teenager girls, were practically set up by their English teacher, but that is going to be one hell of a story to tell one day. And it just might be my favorite book yet.
How about once more for old time's sake, yeah?
Yours Truly,
She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named
P.S. I love you.
Lily is aware that she looks like a mess right now. She's smiling so hard that her cheeks are hurting, but sentimental tears are peeking out of her eyes at the same time. She knew that Carina was going to make things sappy because that's the type of person that she is, but God, that girl knows how to tug at Lily's heart. She makes things incredibly personal, like every single word she writes to you will only ever be written for you.
A box of tissues is carefully placed on Lily's desk and she looks up to see Ms. Ashworth's friendly face. Lily laughs as she takes one and dabs her tear-stained cheeks. Wow. How embarrassing to be crying in front of your teacher.
"I've never read any of my student's letters before because I promised I wouldn't," Ms. Ashworth says softly, her bright blue eyes smiling kindly at Lily, "but I do know everyone's partners." She gives her a subtle wink before she points towards the door and Lily's gaze follows it.
Carina.