~ A Week After Graduation ~
Sade's POV:
"What up dawg," 'Thena said, busting through my door, unannounced as always. With a scrunched face, I peeked my head out from my closet,
"I could have been butt naked, you turd-"
"Yeah well you're not, so we're all good," she shrugged while walking to where I was.
"Asshole-" I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes.
"I heard that."
"Did you noww?" I gasped, slowly turning to her with a sarcastic smile.
'Thena rolled her eyes at me before sitting down on the floor of my closet. There was shit everywhere due to college preparations and getting rid of some things.
"What you in here doing?"
I sighed, "trying to get my clothes in order. My closet's still in winter mode and it's May, plus there's college-"
My sister then groaned and I briefly looked over to find her head against the wall with her eyes stressfully shut.
"I can't believe you're leaving me bruh. The audacity-" I laughed,
"Audacity 'Thena? Seriously?"
Her eyes opened and she gave me a blank stare,
"Yes. It's rude and disrespectful, and I don't appreciate it at all." I glanced back down over my shoulder, giving her a look as well,
"You'll be fine 'Thena, I promise-" she pouted. "You can always call or text me to complain about whatever your heart desires, and I'll visit as much as I can." Her lips smacked as she rolled her eyes,
"I'll be seeing you like twice a year for holidays and you know it-"
"I'll be back during the summer..."
"Yeah, barely..." My sister sighed before standing up to hug my waist, letting her head find my shoulder. "You'll be living in New York Sade. More than likely you'll like it more than you think, and coming back home for the summer, or even holidays, is going to start feeling veeery optional......which I get."
Leaning my head on Athena's, and draping my right arm over her shoulders, a long breath escaped my lips,
"I'd be lying if I said it won't happen because there's a possibility. But just know that I will try my best to see you guys whenever I can. I'm not gonna do y'all like that, alright?" She nodded against my shoulder. Just then, I shifted so she'd lift her head, and faced her, cradling her face between my hands. "It'll be okay, okay? You guys will be fine, I promise-"
My sister's lips then curved into an emotional frown,
"I'm going to miss you-"
"Oh 'Thena-" I immediately pulled her into an embrace, holding her tight as she cried. "You're going to make me cry and I've cried way too many times about this already."
"Sorry," her croaked voice muffled against my chest.
We stood in a comfortable silence as I held onto her and she did so to me.
After a while she spoke up after her cries had died down.
"Hey Sade..."
"Yeah?" She picked her head up to look at me,
"Can you take me to get food?"
Breaking out into laughter, I pushed her off of me,
"See I knew you wanted something-"
"No, I really did come in here to talk to you!" 'Thena defended through a laugh. "I just....got hungry while talking to you," she mumbled, hunching her shoulders.
My hand playfully smacking her forehead caused her body to stumble back a bit, as she giggled mischievously.
"Whatever. Go see if Lyric and 'Mara want to ride."
Cheesing all hard, my sister happily skipped out of my room to yell into the hall, calling out to our other siblings.
"ME AND SADE GOING TO GET FOOD, WHO RIDING?"
"ME!"
"I'M COMING-"
Their exclaimed voices muffled through their closed bedroom doors. Shaking my head while heading toward my desk to grab my phone and keys, I chuckled to myself. I'm going to miss them.
Aria's POV:
"Aria honey, come help me with this please!" My mom yelled from most likely her bedroom.
Leaving my things in the kitchen, I wandered around to the other side of the house where my parents' bedroom was. There stood my five foot, hourglass shaped mother in a rather nice looking attire. I gave her a skeptical look, though she couldn't see me,
"Ouu where you going?" Wearing a smirk, she turned to me,
"Out with your father-"
"Looking like that?" My mom chuckled,
"Yes- why, what's wrong with it?" She asked, turning back to face the mirror and look herself over. I shrugged, walking up to her,
"Nothing I guess, it's just very dressy. Y'all going someplace nice or something?"
"Yeah something like that, he says we're taking some sort of day road trip around town." I gave my mother a teasing yet amused look through the mirror,
"Ohhhh?" She giggled, turning to playfully push me back. I chuckled before going to plop on her bed with a sigh. "And when should Mo and I be expecting you two back home?"
"Hmmm, maybe tomorrow-"
"Tahmarrah?!" My mom cackled, throwing her head back. "Y'all think y'all grown or something?" Laughing still, she shook her head,
"Aria you play too damn much-"
"Oh I'm for real-" I then stood to make my way toward her closet. "Y'all got a curfew, and tomorrow is way past it-"
"Yeah well you and Mo are very well and capable of taking care of yourselves so I-" there was a swift pause. "Aria get yo ass out my damn closet!!" With a giggling squeal, I fled back to her bed. "You always taking my shit, and I can't never find nothing!"
"Hey! You take my stuff too-" I whined through a laugh,
"Yeah but I give it back-" shit she got me there. "You're a little theif," my mother pointed at me before turning to face the mirror again. Though she was a little correct, I still dramatically gasped as if she wasn't,
"Ah- wha-"
"Yeah, exactly." The two of us shared a laugh.
As it died down, there was a comfortable silence. Taking a second to just admire my mother in the mirror, a bit of sadness crept in once I realized moments like these are about to come to an end. I'd always loved to barge into my parents' room to bother them before returning to my own space. Coming in here to talk to my mom about whatever my heart desired has been something I never realized I wouldn't have forever.
Man this shit sucks.
"I've got a question for you," she said, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Okay, what's up?"
"You and Dylan.....y'all going into college together? Like as a couple?"
I sighed, figuring she'd bring this up sooner or later.
"Yeah mom, we plan to..." I saw her exude a look through the reflection. It caused my eyebrows to furrow. "Why, you don't think we should?"
"He's a football player isn't he?" She asked, diverting from my question. I nodded, where she could see. "And you know what they say about football players in college..." A breath escaped my lips,
"Mom I can't go just based on what people say. It's not fair to me and it's not fair to Dylan-"
"Babygirl, I'm just saying- I just wanna make sure you're using your head as well as your heart. And I want you to be able to live your life in college; find out who you are first without having to worry about what some boy is doing-"
"He's not just some boy to me though ma-"
"You love him, I know. Believe me, I understand sweetie. Just...please be careful, and be smart....for your own sake. Alright?"
Giving thought into her cutting words, I nodded,
"Okay."
Lauren's POV:
Nerves trickled throughout my body with each step I took down my driveway.
I'd been standing inside at my front door for about five solid minutes, just gazing at the mailbox after the mailman left. I hadn't checked the mail since the day before graduation. My father leaves it to me to take care of, so there's probably a shit ton of papers in there too.
The only one that I was concerned about, though, was all the way from Cambridge, England.
This college, this specific school that I wanted to attend, has been stressing me high and low. And usually I'm not one to spaz, but sometimes I just can't help it.
Ever since I was a kid, my father and I have dreamed of me attending the University of Cambridge for college. It's like Oxford University; the Yale to its Harvard. And no, I'm not trying to get in just for him. It's more my dream than his really, my dad is just very supportive.
My mom hoped for me to go there as well. She and my father met there, and she graduated with honors.
As a kid, my mom was my hero, and I was her biggest fan. Anything she did, I wanted to be just like her. Except the army of course, that's just too much. But as far as who she was; being an Egyptian immigrant, learning three languages, graduating in the top twenty of her class with extracurriculars and all, a first generation student, the eldest of five, and joined the U.S. military after college. In my eyes, she was like Wonderwoman. In all honesty, she still is to me.
I really wanted to do this, not just for myself or my dad, but for her. I wanted to graduate knowing I did everything I could to make her proud. And to me, getting into this school was the first step.
After a million deep breaths, I'd finally reached the mailbox, and opened it. With anticipation lacing the air around me, my shaky hands hurriedly flipped through a load of envelopes and magazines.
"Come on, come on, come on-" I nervously muttered under my breath, going through them as fast as I could.
Just then, a gasp emerged from within me once my eyes fell upon a desired title on one of the envelopes. The deep breaths had come to a halt due to me holding my breath all together, as if I'd forgotten the automatic function.
Feeling the need to just rip the bandaid off, I tore the envelope open and unfolded the paper, allowing my pleading eyes to search for the few magic words.
Tears then immediately brimmed my eyes, clouding my vision of the black writing on the white sheet. Without much knowledge or consciousness of my own, I'd began jumping softly, skittering my bare feet, one by one, against the smooth concrete pavement. The next thing I knew, I was sprinting back up the driveway and through my front door.
My feet didn't stop until my body collided with my dad's in the upstairs hallway. Stumbling back a bit, he chuckled,
"Lauren honey, why're you running through the house like the Flash?"
I couldn't speak, really. The only thing I could do was smile as big as my cheeks would allow while excitedly jumping and holding the paper up to his face. It furrowed in confusion,
"What's this?" My dad rhetorically asked before taking it out of my frantically moving hand and reading the words himself.
By the second, his eyes grew wider, and he'd soon come to match my excitement.
"You got in?!" He questioned, excitedly holding out his hands. Shining the brightest beam, I quickly nodded. "YOU GOT INNN!" A squeal escaped my lips once my father scooped me up and spun me around, a proud laugh spewing from him. "Oh my God, you got in," he said more to himself.
Smiling against his shoulder, I hugged him tight before my feet found the floor again. "I got in," I repeated back to him in more of an emotional whisper.
My dad just took a moment to gaze at me with fatherly love, adoration, and pride behind his eyes.
"Your mother would be so proud Lauren-" My head immediately hung as I tried to push back the tears coming forth. "Even if you didn't go to Cambridge, she'd be proud still, but this.....it's amazing sweetheart. I'm so proud of you," he muttered before pulling me into another tight embrace.
Not attempting to fight my emotions any longer, I allowed the tears of joy to escape, staining my dad's gray t-shirt.
I got in.
~ Later On That Day ~
My girlfriend has been out with her sisters most of the day. As soon as I got back into my room after showing my dad the letter, I texted her. Without telling her the news just yet, I only asked if she was busy later because I had something I wanted to talk to her about. She called me as soon as she got it, frantically yet playfully asking if I was breaking up with her. It made me cackle.
Long story short, Sade's expected to be here within the next hour. So here I am now, ordering in our favorite food and desert while setting up candles and putting a vinyl on my record player.
About fifteen minutes later, I heard the front door open, followed by shuffling. Immediately smiling like a kid whose mom is picking them up from daycare, I fled down the stairs.
Sade giggled once seeing me excitedly running toward her, and she managed to drop whatever was in her hands before catching me as I jumped in her arms. My legs wrapped tight around my girlfriend's torso and she squeezed me with a loving groan that made me smile as my face nuzzled into her neck.
"Hiiii my loveee-" she kissed my shoulder. "Mm, you smell so good-"
"So do you," I smiled and kissed her cheek before drawing back to get a look at that beautiful face of hers. "And hi Emerald-" a soft kiss was placed on her lips, "I've missed you." Sade smiled sheepishly , and I kissed her again, a bit longer this time as my legs slid down her body to allow my feet to find the floor.
It was very true, despite us literally seeing each yesterday. I don't know, sometimes I just can't get enough of her. And Sade welcoming my clinginess with open arms only makes it worse. It's not all the time, thankfully, but a random feeling will often creep in and I will crave her presence at every hour of every day; even if it's just to sleep. The feeling is always lingering, but right now it's bad.
Her lips broke away from mine as we both let out a breath of air. The two of us just gazed lovingly into each other's eyes before my father's voice interrupted.
"Ewwww get a roommm!" He yelled from the kitchen.
Curling her lips inward with a sudden shyness, Sade's head dropped as she nuzzled her face into my neck. Holding her close to me still, I giggled and craned my neck back toward my dad,
"What are you still doing here? Don't you have 'guys night' tonight?"
"Yep! And I'm late-" He hurriedly grabbed his things off the counter before rushing in our direction. I shuffled the two of us out of the way a bit. "Sade, just because you hide your face doesn't mean I can't see you-" we giggled as she drew her head away from me and looked at him as he opened the front door.
"Sorry," Sade grimaced. "Bye Keith." My father waved to us both and was out of the house without another word.
Wearing a grin on my face, I stepped away and grabbed my girlfriend's hand to pull her into the kitchen with me. She then paused which caused me to be yanked back.
"Baby wait, I have something for you." I turned to find her with a gift bag in her hands. My eyebrows knit with unexpected emotion. "Consider it a graduation slash early birthday slash I love you gift," she smiled holding the bag out for me to take.
"What no, I didn't ev-"
"Aht nope-" Sade quickly walked up to me and pecked my lips to quiet my protest. Putting the bag in my hand and grabbing my other one, she pulled me into the kitchen to sit at the island. "Come on, I need to see your face when you open it," my girlfriend gestured towards the gift bag now sitting on the counter.
Shaking my head while narrowing my eyes at her, I began diving into the medium yet large sized gift. After grabbing a hold of the first thing, I gave her a look before pulling it out. She replied with an air smooch followed by an adorable smile that makes my heart melt.
"You know I hate when you do shit like this," I said, pulling out five-pack of Victoria's Secret body mists.
I told her once, around Christmas time, how much I loved their scents and she's been buying them for me since.
Sade emitted a fake gasp,
"What-show love and affection for my darling girlfriend," she batted her eyes while resting her chin on her propped up hand.
Cutting my eyes, I gave my girlfriend a knowing look, trying to hide my smile. She beamed in amusement, knowing I was referring to the time she surprised me with a 'just because' gift on a random Tuesday back when we first started dating, and I cried because I felt bad for not getting her anything.
She did it again a few months ago. The next day I took her to her favorite restaurant and followed it up with a gift bag full of three books, two vinyls, a sweatshirt, accessories, candles, and a two page, handwritten letter. She told me it was the nicest and most personal gift she'd ever gotten, for she's not used to getting them in the first place, just giving them.
Afterwards, I made sure to change that, and quickly. She says I spoil her too much, but it's only too much if you don't deserve it. And I just know she's about to try some shit for my birthday, but I got something for that, little does she know.
~ Two Hours Later ~
After opening the gift, our food arrived and we ate. Sade made sure to address what I needed to speak to her face to face about before we could even dive in. The second I told her, she sprung from her stool and tackled me with a tight hug and kisses all over my face. She was damn near more excited than I was, which had me skeptical at first because it meant I'd be in another country.
My girlfriend then told me how excited and proud of me she was. It made me a bit emotional because receiving that much support for such a thing has always been a bit foreign to me, before her.
Unfortunately, this now meant that the two of us would be overseas, away from each other. This meant that after this summer, I wouldn't be seeing my girlfriend again. I immediately thought of that as soon as I texted her earlier, and even throughout the evening after she'd arrived. Sade would get this worried look and ask me what's wrong, but I'd just tell her I was tired. I have a feeling she knew what it was too because she didn't even bother pushing past the lies. In knowing the minute she did, we'd have to talk about it. And I don't think either of us wanted to, like ever.
The time was now pushing midnight and Sade had fallen asleep in my arms after we cuddled up in my bed and watched a marathon of Disney princess movies. There's no telling how long she'd been asleep and I chuckled to myself remembering that she claimed she wouldn't be the first to knock out. It was her that was so excited for the marathon in the first place.
Personally though, I couldn't really sleep. Not in a bad way or anything, I just .... Thoughts of today, and the past two months if I'm being honest, roamed my head.
After talking to my dad about the acceptance letter today, I wanted so badly to tell my mom. It was then that I was painfully reminded that she's no longer here. I wouldn't be able to see her face light up or hear the excitement in her voice. Though my dad told me he himself was proud, and she would be too, it hurt badly when I realized I'd never actually hear those words from my mother.
Even though she was always away, my mom has always made sure that I knew she was my biggest cheerleader, no matter how far she was. Anything I wanted to do, she and my dad were behind me a hundred percent. When I told her I liked girls, she claimed she already knew and couldn't wait to meet my first girlfriend. And she would've loved Sade. When I told her I wanted to attend Cambridge University like her, she gave me all the info I needed to ensure an acceptance.
With diligence, I followed every step she provided to me. And from the looks of it, it worked. I just wish like hell I could tell her.
It was then as I glanced down at my sleeping girlfriend in my arms that I remembered something she told me.
Write it down.
When my mother first passed away, it was Sade that advised me to write letters to my mother just as she did to me when she was here. More than anything else, that helped me through my grief the most.
Making sure not to wake Sade, I shuffled out of bed and went to my closet to retrieve the box full of papers.
I started writing, and after two pages and plenty of tears, I'd stopped, feeling refreshed and rejoiced with much more clarity.
This summer's going to be hard, knowing what's to come. And moving back to Europe after leaving my girlfriend is sure to be a pain in the ass. As well as leaving my best friends. But after writing a much needed letter to my mother, I couldn't help but think that it'll be alright; this can't be the end.
~~~~~~~~~~
Last five, let the countdown begin.....
~~