Distance
Elle and I had known it wasn't going to be easy keeping a relationship going across the distance. But we had still wanted to try. Especially now that it wasn't a secret that we were keeping from Lee. Not to mention everyone else.
We called each other, face timed, worked out what weekends we could travel to see each other. It seemed as though we had it all worked out to begin with. Or at least we thought we had.
It was difficult seeing people close to us who had relationships going on in the same state. Lee and his girlfriend who always included Elle which just made her miss our relationship more. Not to mention my dorm mate who was all over his girlfriend at every opportunity, as well as close proximity to me. It was starting to feel that they were deliberately rubbing my nose in the fact that my girlfriend was in another state.
I threw myself into my studies not that it helped much even though my grades were looking good. After all, I could still see Elle every time I closed my eyes at night. It wasn't as good as the real thing but it was what was getting me through at the moment. Barely.
Memories of Elle in her prom dress, the little blue dress she was wearing when she got drunk at my party. I tried to not think of her in a bikini. The way her eyes sparkled when she was teasing and her face lit up when she smiled.
It was far too long till the next long weekend or holiday. Why had we thought there were so many holidays and long weekends? What had we been thinking? Don't get me wrong, I had no interest in any other girl, but the distance was breaking us both. I knew Elle wasn't coping any better than I was. The best we could do was make the most of the time we could spend together. Which didn't seem like much.
A small part of me hoped that Elle would apply to go to Harvard. She was smart, so I doubted she would have any problems getting in. There was so much here for her to see such as the Art Museums, the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. There was a women's soccer team so she could keep up the sport. Of course I wasn't sure if she would want to go here but soccer and myself were two votes in favour of it hopefully.
Besides, neither of us was willing to give up on the other. What we had was worth more than one summer of sneaking around and hiding. It was worth being together out in the open and making it across the distance. If we could just last.