"It's here! It's here it's here it's here!"
Nora looked up from here book and listened as her eldest child-correction her 18-year-old daughter- ran through the house shrieking. She quickly glanced over to her husband, who had some quizzical look on his face. Before they could react, Casey burst into the room waiving a piece of paper.
"I got in! I did it!" she exclaimed as she proudly held up her acceptance letter. Simultaneously, both parents leapt out of their seats and cheered, throwing their arms around their university-bound daughter.
"Oh Casey, we are so proud of you!" Nora exclaimed happily as she tightened her arms around her daughter. The excitement was infectious, as she soon began jumping up and down.
"I just can't believe it! Even with applying late, they accepted me into the program," she cheerfully laughed as she reread the acceptance letter. She then passed it off to George, who read the letter before passing it to Nora.
"I can't believe my step-daughter is going to Columbia University! We haven't been this excited since Derek got drafted early to the New York Rangers!" George shook his head in prideful disbelief. Three years ago, he never would have imagined his lazy, rude, obnoxious son skipping college to pursue a career in professional hockey let alone his step-daughter getting accepted into one of the best colleges in the United States.
"I have to tell Derek! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it!" she squealed as she made her exit, but not before grabbing her cell and running up the stairs. Both parents looked at each other and exchanged a concerned look.
"Derek, I did it! I got into Columbia!" Casey exclaimed over the phone.
"Case, that's amazing!" Derek replied. Casey flopped back into her pillows and started kicking the air.
"I just can't believe after a summer of us being apart we can be reunited. Fate really is on our side." Casey smiled broadly. Right before graduation, Derek was approached by a scout for the Rangers with a great offer Derek couldn't refuse. Even though, Nora and George really wanted Derek to wait and go to college first, Derek was 18 and old enough to make his own choices. A few days after graduation, Derek moved stateside to New York. Unfortunately, the new couple was separated by a long-distance relationship and Derek's hectic practice schedule. They only communicated thru their cells and social media. Casey had applied to the finance program on a whim after learning of Derek's move. Prior to him leaving the couple had been dating for a year, making the time apart even harder for her to accept.
"So, I can move in with you next month then, right?" she knowingly stated. She couldn't wait to snuggle in bed again, seeing he needed it more than she did. They were used to sleeping in bed together late at night.
"Wait, what?" he sounded surprised.
"Well, yeah, isn't that the whole point of this?" she asked.
"Case," he groaned. "Can we discuss this later?"
Perplexed, she sat up. "No Derek, we can discuss this now. Why are you being weird about this?"
"Casey, it's just my place is really small, and I'm never here, and…" he trailed off.
"Well, yeah, I know that, but I'll be at campus a lot so it's not like I'll be home a lot either. Staying with you would be cheaper than living on campus plus we would get to be together in our downtime. Derek, what does this have to do with anything?"
"It just came as a sudden shock, Case, that's all," he sighed over the phone.
"How do you figure?" she retaliated. "You knew I was applying. You knew there where was a good chance I was going to be accepted and moving down there. So how is this a shock?"
"I don't know, Casey. I don't know." Casey exhaled a frustrated breath into her bangs. Clearly, he was irritated, but with no reason.
"I've got to go," she promptly said. "Thanks for ruining this, Derek."
"Whatever, Case. Bye"
Her brows snapped together, as she threw her phone at watched in satisfaction as it skipped across the floor.
'How dare he do this! Why wouldn't he want us to live together? A year ago, they were excited about sharing an apartment off campus when they both thought of attending Queens together. He took all his stuff when he moved to his new place: his bed, his desk, and his chair. I even helped pay for new furniture and now he doesn't know if he wants me to live there?' Scoffing, she violently threw herself back on her pillows, trying not to let the angering thoughts take over the joy of her accomplishment. She would talk to him again about it once they both calmed down.
For days, it was nothing but fighting. Cruel, spiteful, under the skin fighting.
It was crystal clear that Derek did not want Casey to live with him, and she wasn't backing down. They had been living together for three years and dating for over one. There was no reason why they should be moving backwards.
The past week though, he began avoiding her calls. When he would answer, they were brief and excluded any emotion. However, time was closing in and she needed to finalize her plans to move. Casey stared at her phone and was anxious; she needed to talk to him without a fight. She needed to know what was going on with their future. Nerves rattled, she picked up her phone and dialed his number.
"Derek?" she quietly said when he answered. "We need to talk."
"I know," he sighed.
"I don't want to fight with you, but please, I need to know what's going on." Casey looked around her room at her belongings, hoping that they would be boxed up and ready to move by week's end. There was a long stretch of silence. "Derek?"
"Casey, I…" he let out a deep sigh. "Casey, I don't think this is going to work out."
"Derek," she meekly replied. "I don't understand this. We lived together before, why wouldn't we now?"
"That was different Case. We had different rooms. We shared a bathroom with three other siblings." He sighed. "I didn't mean living together wouldn't work out, Casey. I meant us. We are not working out."
Her eyes widened as she felt goosebumps prickle her skin. "Wait, what? Where did this come from?"
"These last few weeks we've been fighting so much about us living together. It made me realize that I'm not ready for this," he explained.
"Derek if it's this big of a deal we don't have to. I'll get my own place, Derek please think about what you're saying!" Casey hastily said. She was losing him and she was panicking.
"No, Casey. Please, when we were home in London it was different. But coming out here alone made me change. I need to continue to grow out here, Casey, and not be tied down."
"But Derek- "
"Casey, I met someone."
Quickly, Casey hung up the phone. She didn't just hear that. 'No, there is no way he just said that. Derek wouldn't meet someone else, not when I was going to school to be near him. No. Derek couldn't, he wouldn't.' Her stomach knotted as tears surfaced. Shaking her head, she swallowed back the sob etched in her throat and picked up her phone calling him back. He answered.
"Casey…"
Words betrayed her. She sat there holding the phone up to her ear, waiting for him to say something, anything, that would take back the words he just said. But nothing came but bittersweet confirmation.
"I'm sorry Casey."
"Derek, no…" she finally sobbed, her heart crumbling as he said goodbye to her. She keeled over and held onto the phone, clutching the silent device. She rolled over into her pillow as she bellowed sobs of anguish, having no idea where to go from here. She was ready to follow him across the world, and all he gave her was a phone call goodbye.
An obnoxious buzzing woke Casey out of a deep sleep. After her mind finally registered it was her phone ringing, she frantically grabbed it and looked at the caller ID, silently praying it was Derek. Instead, she was greeting by an unfamiliar number. Usually she let unknown numbers go right to voicemail, but she shrugged and accepted the call.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Good morning, is this Casey McDonald?"
"Yes, this is. May I ask who is calling?"
"Of course, my name is Lori Brooks and I am calling from the registration office at Harvard University. You had applied to be part of the upcoming fall semester but was waitlisted. I was calling to let you know, if you're still interested we have an open slot for you," the woman briefly synopsized.
"O-oh," she said, caught off-guard, "Of course."
"I see that you live in Canada, in the London area. Would you like us to set-up a virtual meeting with your designated counselor to help get everything situated? If so, we could schedule something as early as tomorrow morning?" Mrs. Brooks suggested.
"Yes, that would be great," she replied. AS the two of them exchanged information and conferencing ID's, Casey couldn't help but be baffled by this random opportunity. Truth be told, she had forgotten she had applied to Harvard thinking she would never get in.
She stared at her phone. Hours ago, the love of her life broke up with her, closing a chapter to her life and yet minutes ago a new one had the potential to begin.