I placed the cup of steaming hot coffee on the counter in front of me and added the creamy white foam, stirring just enough to get the right blend. The liquid continued to swirl around gently even after I removed the spoon from it, its rich aroma wafting up pleasantly.
Around me, La Promenade was bustling, busier than ever in the peak of the season. People of all ages came to frequent now — the regulars and elderly couples, the tourists, and now school kids who were free for the summer. The cafe is filled with chatter as James went from one table to the next, carrying plates of split-pea soup, croque monsieurs, and all kinds of coffees that filled the space with their inviting smell.
In the back corner of the cafe, Poppy, the college girl that often came to La Promenade, took some orders of cranberry iced tea and a cafe mocha. James had recently hired her, and I spent the first couple of weeks of my summer showing her the ropes, though she had caught on pretty quickly anyway. With the onslaught of customers we'd been having, her employment couldn't have been more timely.
I'm just putting the cup of coffee on a saucer when the door creaked open, and I looked up to greet whoever walked in only to find Will standing by the entrance, grinning as I met his gaze.
I swallowed the butterflies that exploded in my stomach as he walked up to the coffee bar, leaning against it with one arm; his signature casual position.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him, washing my hands in the sink and drying them off hurriedly.
"Can't I come and see my girlfriend without needing a reason?"
He laughed as my face turned scarlet. We had been talking more in the last few days than we had in the last few months ever since our conversation at his house. He would text me as soon as I got off work, and I would call him at night before bed just to hear his voice, always bright and on the edge of a smile, as he greeted me. Hey, Sunshine.
I felt like a soppy schoolgirl for even admitting it, but just hearing his voice and seeing his smile made me feel like I was floating on a cloud. And although neither of us had said it aloud directly, hearing him refer to me as his girlfriend sent a kind of shock through me.
This is real, I had told myself as the days passed, as Jackie's face flashed in my mind before disappearing just as quickly. This is real.
The distinct creak of the door sounded again, and I looked in surprise at another familiar face, but not one of a regular: Danny came up to us once he spotted us by the coffee bar, taking a seat at one of the stools across from where I stood.
"So, what's up?" Danny asked, his gaze darting from my puzzled expression to Will's blank one. "What's going on?"
"Uh...what are you talking about?"
"I got a text to meet you here." Danny was beginning to frown, picking up on the fact that I had no idea what he was talking about.
I turned to Will, who just shrugged in response.
"I didn't send any text. Who sent it?" I asked Danny.
"I didn't recognize the number." Danny shrugged. "I was close by, so I thought I'd just come and find out what's going on." He spied the coffee in front of me, the one I had finished off just as Will had walked in. "Can I have that? I'll pay."
I glanced over Danny's shoulder to the customer that had ordered it, spotting another cup beside her. James and Poppy were still bustling around. It looked like one of them had fulfilled her order already. I nodded at Danny, and he picked up the cup, bringing it to his lips and taking a sip.
A few minutes later, the door creaked again, and I stared as this time Olivia and Ryder stepped through the entrance, coming up to us and taking a seat by the coffee bar, next to Danny.
"You guys too?" Danny asked. "You got texts saying to come here?"
Ryder and Olivia exchanged a glance and Olivia spoke first. "Yeah. I thought it was from your new number or something, Violet." She glanced up at me, but I shook my head.
"I don't have a new number." Something uneasy settled into the pit of my stomach, but before I had much of a chance to contemplate what was going on, my sister stepped into the cafe.
There was a small smile on her face as she walked up to the coffee bar, her light brown hair swinging behind her shoulders. As she approached us, the light catches her hair, igniting it and making the brown appear a fiery orange as she slipped into the stool on the end of the bar, turning to face all of us as we stared at her.
"Willow," I said. "Did you get a text telling you to meet me here?"
"I was the one who sent all the texts," Willow replied. "With Will's help on getting all the numbers." She glanced at him, and he grinned.
I turned to him. "Okay. What did you do?"
The treacherous grin still didn't leave his face. "I think Willow should be the one to answer that."
There was nothing but confusion now whirling in my head. When I spotted Poppy's red hair zipping by, I called out to her. "Poppy!"
"Yeah?" She stopped, doubling back, glancing at the others at the coffee bar for just a moment before her eyes met mine.
"Could you cover for me for a few minutes?" I didn't tell her why, and I tried not to make my tone sound too pleading, but Poppy simply nodded, giving me a thumbs up. "You got it." Then she disappeared again to tend to another customer.
I felt a rush of gratitude and made a mental note to do something nice for her in return as I turned back to Willow, who couldn't contain her smile. The aggravation inside me melted a bit. How could I be irritated when she looked happier than I'd seen her in weeks?
"Alright. Spill. What's going on?" I started to clean up the coffee bar as she spoke, needing to busy my hands and eyes with something as I listened, my heart beginning to pound at whatever it was Willow felt was so important that she brought all of us here.
"Give me your phone." Willow's voice was more demanding than I'd ever heard it before.
I eyed her suspiciously but complied, passing it over to her. "Why?"
She didn't respond as searched through it, pressing and scrolling a few times before she got what she needed. She turned the screen back to me as I gathered a few used cups from the bar and put them in the sink. "Have you checked your email recently?"
I blinked at the screen, squinting at the email she had opened up. My eyes scanned fast over the lines of text, barely even taking the words in at first until I slowly dragged them up to the subject title of the email.
RE: BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC NOTICE OF ADMISSION
My heart stuttered like an engine stalling, my mind suddenly an utter blank as I blinked at the words.
"What is it?" Ryder asked, twisting to try to see the screen from the stool he was sitting in.
It took me several moments to drag my gaze back up to Willow, whose eyes are shining with uncontainable excitement.
My heart pounded in my chest as I shook my head. I don't understand.
"I got a pretty good video of you guys performing at Woodlands. Not professional quality or music-video worthy, but I got the whole thing." Willow wiggled the phone to emphasize her point. "And...I may have sent that video to the Berklee College of Music admissions committee."
My jaw dropped, but Danny cut in before I could reply. "You sent the video to the committee? How? Even when I was trying to reach them about the plagiarism incident with Ethan, they were pretty hard to get a hold of."
Willow's smile widened, glancing at Will. "They were already there at Woodlands to judge the Battle of the Bands. Will and I got to talking with one of them about all of you. How you managed to make it to the third and final round, but due to personal reasons, couldn't participate in the final performance."
My cheeks prickled, threatening to turn red in shame, but I kept my eyes on Willow.
"So I sent them the video of your performance after the show. Shall I read you their response?"
Willow's so bubbly and barely able to contain herself that no one says a word to stop her. We all just stared at her, Will with a grin since he was somehow in on it.
"Dear Violet,
On behalf of Berklee College of Music, it is my pleasure to inform you that you have been accepted into our undergraduate program for Song Production and Songwriting for the coming fall term!
Here at Berklee, we pride ourselves on creating the best of the best and helping artists grow. Our committee reviewed the video you submitted of ECHO's performance at Woodlands Music Festival. The committee was impressed at your outstanding performance and original songwriting capabilities and has unanimously decided to offer you a full scholarship for the program. We cannot wait to have you here at Berklee and look forward to seeing you here.
Please review the attached checklist for preparation so you can be ready to rock your fall term!
Sincerely,
Matilda Peterson
Director of Admissions."
"Violet!" Olivia's the first to break the stunned silence, and her yelp made a customer sitting behind us flinch, his coffee swaying dangerously in his cup. "That's amazing!"
I'm still in shock, only fragments of the email sticking in my head, on repeat like a broken record. Outstanding performance and original songwriting capabilities. You have been accepted into our undergraduate program for Song Production and Songwriting. Has unanimously decided to offer you a full scholarship into the program.
"That's not all," Will interjected, his eyes beginning to crinkle at the corners as they always did when he smiled. He nodded his head to Willow.
"It's not just for Violet," Willow said, looking at me, Danny, Olivia, and Ryder. "It's for all of you. You should all be getting an email within the next day or so. But when Will called the director yesterday, she had you had all been accepted to Berklee on full scholarships." Her smile turned into a full-blown beaming grin. "Because ECHO rocked their world."
This time, there's hardly a pause between Willow's words and our reaction. Ryder whooped so loudly that almost everyone's head turned our way, but we couldn't care less. Olivia put her head in her hands as if holding back happy tears. Danny stood up and tackled Willow into such a powerful hug it almost looked like she could snap in half, but she was laughing. Then I stepped around the corner and tackled her too, squeezing tight, until we were all hugging her and probably half-suffocating her. When we break apart, all it took was one look at each other and we hugged each other too, Olivia with tears now running down her cheeks.
"ECHO's going to Berklee! ECHO's going to Berklee!" Ryder began to chant, taking our hands and pumping them up and down in a half-crazed dance.
I laughed and shook my head, Danny laughing too, and Olivia kissed Ryder on the cheek as she threw her arms around him in a tight hug. All of our tears, all of our laughter; it was all in disbelief. We couldn't believe what had just happened, but it did. We were going to Berklee. All because both Willow ensured our hard work would pay off. Willow, the shy one, the one I held in my arms after school when she was crying, had gone and done all this for me and ECHO in return. It's then when it hit me: she doesn't need to rely on me anymore.
And then there was Will. Her partner-in-crime in this whole scheme. During the impromptu celebration, I glanced up at him. Sometimes, it felt like I needed to look at him to ground myself, to stop myself from drifting away, to know that what was happening was real. Before I knew it, tears began to fill my eyes as Will grinned back at me, keeping my feet on the ground even when my heart was in the clouds. This is real, I told myself.
This is real.
☼ ☼ ☼
Will met me outside the cafe once my shift was over; the others had already left. The summer air was balmy and clung to our skin as we walked to his car, the gravel crunching under our shoes.
I stopped just in front of the Ford truck, and Will stopped abruptly next to me, meeting my gaze.
"Why did you do all that for us?" I asked quietly. I knew he knew what I meant.
He tilted his head at me. "Still don't trust me?" he teased.
"You know that's not what I meant," I said, my voice quiet.
The air is silent between us for a moment, and I take the time to gather my thoughts.
"I was going to text you to come to the cafe today anyway," I said, my heart beginning to pound. "Because there's something you need to know."
Will looked at me curiously, the breeze ruffling his hair. "What is it?"
"It's about...it's actually about the whole college thing."
I reached into my pocket to take out what I'd brought with me that very morning. I knew what I had to do, what I had to say; but now that I was here, in front of him, with his eyes on mine, I was so nervous that my fingers trembled as they closed around the envelope.
"I know you told me once what your plan was. About skipping college altogether and getting your pilot's license and traveling the world. I also remember your mom telling me once that going to outer space and being an astronaut has been a dream of yours since you were five."
A flash of emotion flits across Will's eyes, but he doesn't say anything, letting me continue.
I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. "Well, I still haven't forgotten about that dream you told me about." The envelope rustled as I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it over to Will. A red-and-white emblem proudly decorated the top left-hand corner of the official-looking paper.
He stared down at it, his face blank. Then he looked back up at me. I nodded, unable to speak because now my heart was in my throat.
He slowly turned the envelope over, fishing out the letter that was inside, his eyes scanning the top of the paper and widening as they did. All is silent for a couple of minutes as Will had the letter in full, and when he finally took his eyes off the letter and back on me, his voice came out hushed and hoarse. "Violet," he said. "How...how did you...?"
Never before had I seen Will so speechless.
"Believe it or not, Ethan helped me with this," I admitted. "He told me you had already filled out most of the application yourself. He just had to find it and submit everything in, since you hadn't done that part."
Will stared at the paper, at the emblem in the top left-hand corner that matched the one on the envelope.
"I know it's technically none of my business," I said. "I know that it's ultimately up to you what you want to do with your life. It's your decision now on what you want to do. But I think we both deserve to be able to chase our dreams."
As I spoke, I watched as the letter moved — no, not moved, trembled — Will's hands were trembling as he gripped the letter. The letter of acceptance. The one that admitted him to MIT's Aerospace Engineering undergraduate degree program.
I took a step closer to Will and took his hand without thinking about it, and they stopped shaking instantly. He looked down at my hand, then back up at me.
For so long, I had been suspicious of Will's actions. For so long, I thought he had something to gain out of being so generous. Now I knew that wasn't the case at all. He was one of the only people I'd ever known who'd gone so far out of his way to help us. To help me.
This time, he asked me the question, the one that had been burning in the back of my own mind for months. "Why?"
I'd already asked him that very question before, and he had told me the truth as candidly as possible, right there in the middle of the bowling alley that Saturday night, the music blasting and people chattering all around us. Because I know how much your music means to you. I just wanted to help you, Sunshine.
This time, I finally understood the answer.
"Because I love you, Will. And if you'd told me I would feel that way towards you even a few months ago, I never would've believed it. But you were always there. No matter where I went, I you were always there. I couldn't escape you even if I tried. You and your stupid smile, your stupid hair, your stupid deal with me, your stupid promotion ideas, your stupid performance, your stupid brownies-"
I'm suddenly lightheaded and dizzy on my feet as my words came out in a rush, but something in me fluttered wildly as Will's face, previously blank with shock, transformed into a wide, infectious grin.
"My stupid brownies? That's an insult to Willow's baking skills."
I buried my face in my hands, making a sound halfway between a laugh and a groan, but Will's hands gently move them away.
"Also, MIT is about fifteen minutes away from Berklee," I rambled on without meeting his gaze, my face beginning to warm, though not from the summer heat. "Not that we won't be busy as college students, but we'll still get to see each other. Apparently they have the very best coffee shops, probably nothing like La Promenade, but-"
His words stopped me in my tracks and sent a shock coursing through me.
"I love you too, Violet." He tucked a stray lock of hair around my ear, making the skin there tingle. "And if you'd told me I would feel this way a few months ago too, I would've probably admitted that you were right."
I looked up at him, his smile as easy and genuine as ever, crinkling the corners of his eyes.
Somehow, standing there in the empty parking lot save for Will's truck, a knot in my stomach began to ease. Everything about relationships and love after the breakup with Ethan a couple of years back had felt hard — a puzzle I could never solve, a glimmering hope and innocence I couldn't quite get back. But Will — Will made everything feel easy again.
I reached up and kissed him in the middle of the parking lot, the summer breeze drifting lazily around us.
only one more chapter to go! <3
what do you think of violet's confession?