Chapter 36:
So many things have happened within the last few weeks. I am super excited about starting a new chapter of my life. Tomorrow I will be moving into Stanford, but we have to leave today, since it is a fifteen hour drive . I have almost all of my things packed up in boxes and everything is organized. I take a look around my room. It looks so bare, there is still some of my furniture, but it already seems so different. My mom then walks into the room. "Are you ready to go?" She asks.
"I think so." I say.
"Well, all of your stuff is packed in the car, and we are ready to leave whenever you are." She says.
"Ok, I'll be down in a second, I think that I may have forgotten something." I say.
"Ok, take all the time you need." She says. "Just don't take too much time."
"Alright, will do." I say. I then walk around my room. I then notice a letter that I wrote to Chris, and another one that I wrote to my parents. I then take the letter that I am going to give to my parents and place it on their bed. I then grab my purse and Chris' letter and then walk out the door. I then go downstairs and a feeling of sadness overcomes me, this is the last time that I will be in this house for a long while. I then walk out to the car, and get in. My dad is driving my car, so that we would have more space for lugguage and my mom and I are taking turns driving hers. As we are about to pull out, Chris' car comes pulling into the driveway. He then darts out of his car and runs over to the passenger side of the car. I then roll down the window.
"Jess, I couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye first." He says.
"I'm going to miss you so much." I say. I then look over at my mom.
"Mom, could I have a few minutes with Chris?"
"Yeah, just don't take too long." She says. I then get out of the car. Chris and I walk off to a spot where we can have a few brief moments of privacy.
"I really, really am going to miss you." He says.
"Me too." I say. "But we are both living out our dreams."
"I know, but I never imagined that it was going to be this" He says. He then pauses for a second, I suppose he is trying to say the right word. "hard."
"I doesn't have to be." I say. "With all the technology out there, we have more opportunities than even our parents did."
"I know, but I'm afraid that you'll meet some other guy and forget about me." He says.
"I could never, in a million years forget about you." I say. "No matter who I meet, you are still my guy."
"Oh, I almost forgot, this is for you." He says. "You can open it, when you get to Stanford." He then hands me a letter.
"That's funny, I have a letter for you too." I say. "You can open it whenever you feel like it." I then hand him a letter.
"Thank you, that is very sweet of you." He says. He then gives me a hug. "You probably need to get going."
"I know, but I don't want to." I say. "I love you."
"I love you too." He says. I then walk off with tears in my eyes. He then runs over towards me and kisses me. "I guess this is goodbye."
"No, it isn't." I say.
"What do you mean?" He asks.
"I mean, I will see you soon." I say. "Goodbyes are way too hard, and we will see each other in November, if not sooner."
"I hope that it will be sooner." He says.
"Maybe it will." I say. "See you soon, and I will call you when I get moved in to Stanford."
"Call me, sooner if you want to." He says. "I want to be able to hear your voice."
"I will." I say.
I then kiss him again and walk off. I then go back to the car and get in. As we pull away, I wave back at Chris. I really am going to miss him. He means the world to me, but not only will I miss him I know for a fact that I will miss my family as well. It is going to be hard, but at least I know that I can count on my family to pick up the phone whenever I call, even if it is at two o'clock in the morning and I just need someone to talk to because I had a nightmare. Knowing this makes things easier.
Several hours later, we finally arrive at in the town where the university is located. We then check into our hotel and as soon as I change my clothes, I fall asleep. It is sort of crazy, that this is the town that I will be spending the next four years in. I have a little bit of apprehension about being here. It isn't just a quick drive, in fact it takes about seventeen hours by car to get home. The quickest way is by plane, and even then it could take a little while. The next morning when we all wake up, we grab some breakfast, and then head over to the university. It is massive, but I couldn't be anymore excited. I toured here my junior year and I instantly fell in love with the campus. It is so cool to finally be coming here.
"Jess, we need to check in and get your key and then we can unload your things." Mom says.
"Ok." I say. I then go over to where I need to go and get a packet of information, as if I already haven't gotten a ton of things already. I then look inside and I find my key.
"So where is your dorm at?" Zach asks. I then look at the paper, and mom glances at it as well.
"You are staying in the same dorm that I had when I was here." She says. "I'm sure that it has been updated by now though."
"Do you remember where it is at?" I ask.
"Yeah." She says. "It isn't that far from here either."
We then drive around a little bit, and we finally make it to my dorm. We then start bringing things into my dorm room. It is nice, not too nice but I like it alot. I then start arranging things like I want it to be. My room mate then walks in with her parents. She then starts setting up things too.
"Jess, I didn't know that your dad was NBA star Troy Bolton." Heather, my room mate says.
"Yeah, I guess I left that out when we met for coffee." I say.
"You did." She says. "But it's really cool." I just smile. My parents then walk over to me.
"I think that, that is everything." My dad says.
"Thank you for the help." I say. "It's no problem at all." Dad says.
"This must be your room mate." Mom says.
"Yes, I am." Heather says. "I'm Heather Briggs."
"It's nice to meet you, Heather." My mom says.
"It's nice to meet you." My dad says.
"It's nice to meet you both, Mr. and Mrs. Bolton." Heather says.
"You don't have to be that formal." My dad says. "You can call us Troy and Gabriella."
"Ok, I'll remember that." She says.
"Are your parents here?" My mom asks.
"No, they actually just left." She says.
"Oh." Mom says.
"Well, we're going to head out." Dad says.
"You guys are staying the night at the hotel, right?" I ask.
"Yeah, it would be better to start out tomorrow." He says. "If you need anything, just call us. We are going back to the room to change, and then are probably going to get something to eat. You're coming with us right?"
"Yeah." I say.
"And your room mate and her family are more than welcome to join us, if they want to." Dad says.
"I'll ask, and then let you know." I say.
"Alright, sounds good." He says. "See you in a little bit."
"Alright, bye dad." I say. "Bye mom."
"Bye sweetheart." They both say at the same time. They then leave.
I then start going through my clothes and start putting some of them in my drawers and in my closet. After a little while, my family and I go out to eat with Heather and her family. We have a good time, except for the fact that Heather keeps on gawking at my dad. She keeps going on and on about how cute he is, and then keeps going on and on about how great of a basketball player he is. I'm surprised that her parents aren't embarrassed, but I guess that it will be alright. I will be living with her until at least December but I have a feeling that it may end up being the entire four years, or at least I have a feeling that is what she is going to want. When we get done, I go to my dorm and get changed for bed, I know that the next couple of weeks are going to be very, very hard for me. I know that every moment that I can, I will spend with my family. One thing that I have learned is that I need to truly cherish moments that I have with the people that I love so dearly. After a short amount of time, I drift off to sleep.
Some time has passed, and my family is preparing to leave to go back home to Albuquerque. Fortunately, I am able to see them before they leave. I am standing in the parking lot at a restaurant and it is bittersweet knowing that most likely this is the last time I will get to see my family for a while. I am excited about new adventures, but at the same time I am apprehensive about it all. It is a hard thing to comprehend.
"Jess, I'm going to miss you so much." Zane says. "Who's going to be there to cheer me one during all of my basketball games?"
"You'll still have all of us, buddy." Zach says.
"Oh, yeah." He says. "But it still won't be the same."
"I know, but don't worry I will be there whenever I can." I say.
"You better." He says. I laugh and give him a hug.
"I'm really going to miss you." I say. "Zach, I'm going to miss you too."
"I know that you will." Zach says. "And I'll miss you too. Who else will I have to get advice about girls from?"
"Well, you could ask mom." I say.
"You know what I mean." He says.
"I do." I say. I then give him a hug. I then move over to Caleb. I know that he isn't one to hug people that often and so I plan to just give him a fist bump, but he surprises and actually gives me a hug.
"I know that I rarely show it, but I love you so much and I'm going to miss you." He says, and he is almost in tears.
"Don't cry, you'll end up making me cry." I say. I then start tearing up. "I'm going to miss you so much. You all mean so much to me, but don't worry, I'll be back before you know it."
"I know, but it is going to be super hard." He says.
"But, if anyone can handle it I know that you can." I say. "You are a great guy, and just enjoy everything experience you have."
"Thank you, and I will." He says. He then gives me another hug.
"Now, its my turn." Mom says. "Honey, I'm so proud of you and I know that you will do a great job here at my Alma mater."
"Thanks mom." I say.
"And know this, I will always be there for you whenever you need me." She says. "Call me whenever you want."
"Ok, I will remember that." I say. I then give her a hug, and then take Brie from my mom and hold onto her for a minute.
"Things are going to be so different without you around." She says.
"It's going to be different here too." I say. I then hand Brie back to mom and then I walk over to dad. All I can do is just hug him. I don't say that I have favorites, but I'm a daddy's girl.
"I'm so proud of you, and I know that while it is going to be hard to be away from home, I know that you will be fine." He says. "You are going to excel here, I can already tell."
"Thank you, dad." I say. "I don't know why, but it's just so hard to say goodbye."
"Well, word of advice never think of it as goodbye, just as see you later." He says.
"That's what I told Chris." I say.
"See, you already know the right things to say, but you need to start listening to your own advice." He says. I just laugh.
"I know, but that is something that I need to work on." I say.
"Yeah, you do." He says. We both then laugh. "No matter where we end up or how far apart we all are, just remember this one thing, we're all in this together."
"I'll try to remember that." I say.
I then give him one more hug, and then they all load up, and I wave goodbye to them. I wait until they pull out of the parking lot, I then get into my car and drive a short half mile distance back to the university. After I park, I walk up the stairs to my dorm. No one is around, and it is kind of quiet. I for the first time feel alone. I then quickly remember that I have a letter from Chris that I never opened. I then pull it out of my purse. I then open it up and start reading it.
Dear Jessica,
It's crazy that for the first time in seventeen years we are more than five hundred miles apart. It seems unfathomable. I know that the next few months are going to feel like forever, but I'm hoping that they will just fly by. I can't wait until December when I will get to see my best friend again. I'm excited for you, and I know that you will blow everyone out of the water at Stanford. Remember that if you ever need anyone to talk to, I am around and will talk to you about anything. I don't want for you to hesitate to call or text me. It might help the time to go by quicker. Anyhow, I love you so much and wish the best for you as you are at Stanford. Good luck, and remember We're All In This Together.
Sincerely, Chris
Well that is the end. Thank you to all that have read the story. I really have enjoyed writing this. I would love to hear feedback about this story!
Also just so you know (And I'm sure that you all do) I do not own any of the songs or characters used in this story, except for my original characters that I created.
Also, if you are looking for a continuation, check out the sequel 'Through It All'