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“Hey, don’t knock it until you try it. Have you had Canadian maple syrup?”
“You could see the Colosseum. You could swim with dolphins—and you’d choose maple syrup?”
“I’m a simple man, with simple tastes.” He purses his lips and to my surprise—he’s completely serious.
“You’re very bizarre, you know that?”
“Yeah, well, you love it.”
It’s true. I do.
“Let’s go to the high school,” I try to say with authority, but it comes out in a yelp.
Sean narrows his eyes in curiosity. “Why?”
If we're going to have one last day before he leaves, I want it to last as long as possible, so why not go to where it all started?
“Let’s just go. Trust me,” I yell as I pull his arms up, dragging him over the side of the truck.
We’re only ten minutes away from the school. My legs become jittery as Sean takes a sharp right and sets off.
He pulls into the parking lot at the very back end, furthest away from the school. We are the only people here, given its summer.
He flips the key to the truck, turning it off.
“You know, I thought I’d feel different about leaving.” He pauses for a moment, staring out the window. “I thought I’d be excited, but—”
“You’re moving away from your home town. It’s okay to feel that way,” I interrupt.
To me, it sounds amazing to start over in a new state with people I don’t know. It’s a new adventure with nothing set in stone and you can leave everything behind. I just wish I didn’t have to be the thing he left.
“It’s not that,” he says intensely. “It’s you. I can’t bear the thought of leaving you. I know how you feel. How you don’t wanna wait for me to come back, and that’s okay. I understand. We just found each other at the wrong time.”
I have no words. I don’t think there is anything I can say to that, because my mind hasn’t changed. I can’t wait for him.
“Can we just…” He turns to me and pauses. His eyes move over every inch of my face before opening his door and jumping out.
Maybe I’ve been wrong to hold onto him all summer. I’ve been too selfish with his feelings, and now he’s upset.
He walks around the front end of the truck and over to my door. He swings it open quickly.
I’m completely taken aback by the abruptness of it all.
He reaches over my waist, staring straight into my eyes. His own are suddenly dark, as he clicks my seatbelt and takes it off of me. He grabs my left leg and pulls it toward him so I’m hanging off the side of the truck.
I think my heart has completely stopped.
His face is perfectly aligned with mine, and I’m frozen in place. I can feel my hands beginning to tremble on my lap—the only part of me that can move.
He keeps his hand on my leg and secures his grip around my skin. He takes a deep breath, and the only way I can tell he’s nervous is by the staggering in his voice.
“Can we just have this one day, where we forget about the fact that I’m leaving? Can we pretend like we have all the time in the world together?”
His seriousness continues to confuse me.
“But—” I begin, but he cuts me off by placing his fingers over my mouth.
He looks back up at me with a fiery blaze, sending a rush of adrenaline through me.
