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“Want me to come back early so you won’t be alone on New Years?”
“Nope, I’ve been invited to a few parties. I’ll be fine.”
“We’ll see. I haven’t spent New Years without you since we were like eleven years old. No need to break tradition now.”
I love my best friend. She can read me like a book and knows how much I’ll miss her over the holidays, but she also knows I would never ask her to give up her family time for me. God knows, I already disrupted her life enough. To this day, I’m not sure her mother forgives me for Quinn being in Virginia.
The day of my high school graduation became a blur after Holli and Bryce’s announcement. It wasn’t hard to stay away from either of them, especially when we walked into my favorite Mexican restaurant for my celebration dinner and Holli became ill. Bryce had to take her home, and I never saw him again that night.
The next day, I set about changing my entire future. There were several schools I’d been accepted to prior to deciding on UT. One of my top choices was University of Virginia in Charlottesville. I called them and spoke to the Dean of Admissions and did everything short of begging to get my slot back. Somehow, I even got Quinn’s back, too, explaining she was my roommate. The only caveat was we had to attend summer school, which started three weeks later.
I wasn’t sure of Quinn’s reaction to the drastic change in plans, but she was surprisingly excited. When I sat down and told my parents that night, my dad hit the roof, but my mom was more accepting. She followed me to my room and sat on my bed as we made of list of things we needed to do. When we were finished, she pulled me down next to her and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
“I know why you are doing this, Devon, and I completely understand.”
Tears stung my eyes and a sob escaped.
“Are you upset with me?”
“Not at all.”
“Aren’t you going to tell me how unreasonable I’m being? How I need to grow up?”
“Not at all.”
“Nothing? Not even that this is a rash decision I may regret?”
“Nope.”
“Why?”
“Because when your heart breaks, my heart breaks. And I saw your heart break yesterday at two-thirty p.m. Watching the light die out of your eyes was one of the hardest things I’ve had to witness in your life. I’ve known for years how you feel about Bryce Randolph, and even though your level of devotion worried me, I understood it. Part of me wishes you would have gotten over it through the last year, but you continued to live your life and become this beautiful young woman.”
“You don’t think I’m acting like a silly, eighteen-year old, lovesick fool?”
“Well, yes, but that’s okay. You fell in love with an amazing young man. Bryce is one of the finest people I know. He’s noble and respectable. His decisions are selfless. He’s determined to serve his country with honor, and, until yesterday, I’d never thought poorly of him. But when he walked into my house with that girl and killed the hope and longing you had, on one of the most important days of your life, I lost respect for him.”
I couldn’t control the sobs that racked my body.
“Mom, it hurts so much. Such a stupid thing to say, but I’ve had a crush on him forever. He made me feel safe and special, and one night, many years ago, I spilled my guts and told him I was crazy about him. Instead of embarrassing me, he told me he hoped I felt that way when I was eighteen. And I still do! Every other guy I have ever gone out with can’t compare to him.”
“Young love is devastating, Devon, and you never gave anyone else a chance. The reason I didn’t talk to you sooner is because I fell in love with your dad the first day of sophomore English. You’ve heard the stories of us being high school sweethearts, but it wasn’t always easy. Even with my own self-doubts throughout the years, I never stopped loving your dad. I saw the same love on your face the last few years when you looked at Bryce.”
“You don’t think I’m too young?”
“No, but now things have changed. I’m going to support and help you move on. Bryce was sad yesterday. It was obvious, but he’s going to do the right thing with that girl. It’s the kind of man he is. Will he be happy? I don’t know, but it’s my job to make sure you’re okay. Whatever it takes and however long.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too. Now, let’s get some rest before we tackle getting you ready to leave for college. I thought I had seven weeks to get used to my baby leaving. It may be you consoling me soon.”
The next day, we started a whirlwind of packing and shopping. My brother had a conniption when he learned what I had done, but when he s
aw the hurt on my face, he realized something was wrong.
Bryce tried several times to contact me, but I was able to avoid him. He took Holli back to UT campus and started his own summer semester.
Since my departure was so rushed, we did a small dinner with Quinn’s family as our going away party. At the last minute, the Randolphs found out and insisted on coming. They were so wrapped up in the news they were going to be grandparents, they didn’t ever ask me about my change in plans.
