Jasmine could hardly believe it. Tomorrow was the big day—the day of her college graduation. She had been looking forward to this day for as long as she could remember. Tomorrow, she'd marching down the aisle of the stadium wearing her favorite red dress and heels. As excited as she was for the ceremony, she was even more excited about what it symbolized—that four long years of college were over. She wouldn't miss the all nighters and the due dates that seemed to always be sneaking up on her. And she could definitely do without the constant stress weighing on her mind. She took a deep breath and sighed—the last four years had been intense. But it was over, forever. She felt like a bird whose cage door had been opened for the first time. Finally, she could fly free.
Unfortunately, Jasmine knew this feeling of freedom was only temporary. A Bachelor's Degree in Biology was not the end of her journey but a mere stopping point. In the fall, she would be embarking on the next step of this journey as she attended med school in Boston. It would be a life of new—a new city, new people, new adventures. Easy wouldn't be the word to describe it; med school would be the highest mountain she'd ever climbed. Hard as it would be, this next step would allow her to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. In just a few short years, people would be calling her Dr. Kang. That seemed too strange, too surreal to be true. Thankfully, Dr. Kang was her future self, and she had plenty of time to get used to the idea. For now, all Jasmine could focus on was tomorrow and what she would be leaving behind.
College hadn't been all torture. She had made wonderful friends. She knew she would miss having a roommate who wasn't a competitive med student, and life wouldn't be the same without having time for girls' nights with her friends. Most of all, though, she'd miss Logan. She considered herself very lucky to have had the opportunity to go to college with her favorite guy in the whole world. Sure, their busy schedules had meant that college hadn't been one constant hangout, but they had managed to find time for fun. Logan had always been there with an idea for a crazy adventure. She honestly couldn't count how many times he'd coaxed her out of spending an evening studying. You need to loosen up, he'd say. College is supposed to be fun. She'd always argued with him on that point, but maybe he had been right. She had managed to graduate with honors, and she didn't know what she would have done without the adventures.
Now, all of those adventures were behind her. Logan would not be by her side for the next step of the journey. Instead, he'd be spending his days as an assistant to a mechanic in town. She was happy that they both had plans for life after graduation but couldn't help wishing that those plans meant they wouldn't have to be so far apart. She'd thought it over again and again, but there was no way around it. Her choice med school was in Boston, and Logan didn't want to leave home sooner than he had to.
Her biggest fear was whether their relationship would survive long distance. Long distance was hard for anyone, especially someone entering the harsh world of med school. A sudden thought struck her, what would her new med school colleagues think of Logan? They wouldn't be meeting him of course, but she was sure her new girlfriends would ask about him. Many of them probably would have the type of guy she had always dreamed she would end up with—a classy CEO or a suave lawyer. Jasmine's heart hurt just thinking about the scorn she would probably face from some of her peers. Logan had never been the captain of the football team, but dating Logan Watson had always been respectable. In high school, there had been a number of girls who were jealous of her for being his girlfriend. During college, he had passed his classes, and girls had been pretty impressed with the vintage car that he was fixing up for his big project. It wouldn't be the same in med school. She wouldn't be the one with the boyfriend girls were jealous of. Instead, she would be plain old Jasmine with the boyfriend who'd come home dirty with extra bolts in his pockets. Other girls would be Miss Popularity with snazzy boyfriend everyone secretly wished they had.
Her thoughts went back to what her parents had taught her. They had always encouraged her to excel, but they had never told her that she needed to be popular to do that. In fact, her dad had often talked about popularity being like the wind—here today, gone tomorrow. In the end, what was popularity? A feather to put in her cap? She had been popular in high school and college, but it definitely wasn't the reason she was reaching her dreams. It was her own thoughts about herself not other people's thoughts of her that had allowed her to reach this day. Maybe she wouldn't be popular in med school, but maybe that would be okay.
At the end of the day, she knew she wasn't happy without Logan. Who else could come up with crazy ideas for getting out of work and look adorable doing it? Maybe he was slow to catch on, but when he did, he never forgot. He was so sweet and kind and thoughtful. He'd always be her Loagie-Bear. She was proud of him for making it through college even though he hated to study. Like her, his dreams were coming true. Maybe he'd never be a CEO or a lawyer, but he'd always be her Logan. She was the only one who had to be happy with her decisions; she was the one who had to live with them after all. As long as she and Logan knew they were right for each other, what anyone else thought shouldn't matter. At that moment, Jasmine realized that it really didn't. Maybe her colleagues wouldn't be impressed with Logan, but she always would be. In the end, she knew they belonged together and that together they'd soar.
Author's Note: This is my first venture into the I Didn't Do It fandom. IDDI fans, I'd love to know what you think.