The Worst Week of my Life

As Nick walked through the doors of Dalton Academy that fateful morning, it seemed like only yesterday that he had first walked through them - a frightened boy, taken away from everything he knew. Time had flown by so fast. In less than 2 weeks he would be graduating, leaving behind the grand halls, the blazer, the Warblers….and Jeff. His best friend, there for the good times and the bad, almost since the first day. He had been allocated the seat next to him in English class- and that as they say, had been that. Same sense of humour, same sense of mischief, same taste in music. Inseparable in everything. Good friends to others - especially Trent and Blaine - but always as a pair. Of everything that Dalton meant to Nick, not being around Jeff anymore was going to be the hardest thing to lose.

Of course, he had not planned on that. When college applications had been made, they had 'wanted' different courses. Jeff saw his future in art; Nick often wished that he could follow. Years of Duval tradition meant that he, as the only son, had to follow in his father and grandfather's footsteps and instead apply to law school. He was okay with that - he did kind of like the idea of helping people achieve justice. The problem was that his father's alma mater, Harvard, did not offer the course that Jeff wanted. Both Columbia and Yale did, but despite their law schools being every bit as good, if not better, his father would only ever accept them if Harvard said no. On his application there, he had made so many mistakes and tried to make himself sound as undesirable as possible, so that he would receive that flat rejection. Somehow, it hadn't been enough. Probably it had been the Duval name that had lead them to ignore all his blatant errors and omissions. He would not have put it past his father to have intervened on his behalf either. Whatever, he had been accepted, as he had been at both the others.

Only he was not given any choice as to which college he would attend. He had arrived home on Friday evening to discover that his father had opened his letter from Harvard, and called up to accept and confirm on his behalf. Nick had argued that it was his decision; that his father should not have been opening his mail in any case. It was, of course, to no avail, his angry outburst only leading to his mobile phone being taken away and to being grounded for the weekend, missing out as a result on the first of the big Warbler graduation parties at Trent's. It was admittedly to be only one of many, but he felt guilty at letting Jeff down - they had the most perfect prank planned, but it required them both. Worse still, it had delayed the inevitable moment when he had to tell Jeff that he would not be able to go to college with him. That their plan to share a dorm room was over, and that at the end of term, the days of their epic straight guy/gay guy friendship were effectively over.

That moment had finally come the previous day. That Monday, both of them had a free period between their last class and Warbler practice. Nick had asked Jeff to meet him in one of the small study rooms. He had arrived in his usual state - exuberant, happy, a bright smile plastered across his face and that twinkle in his eye that hinted of fun. Nick had no other option other than to come straight out with the truth. That his father had taken control of his life; had punished him for daring to have thoughts and opinions of his own over his college career. That he had no options left, following his father's blunt statement that he could chose another college, if he had enough money of his own to pay for it. Jeff had just sat and listened, sympathising with him over his father, pointing out that Harvard and Yale were only 2 hours or so apart, and that was nothing really. That they could visit each other on weekends; could skype and call daily. The separation would not end their friendship.

Nick did not believe a single word that was coming out of Jeff's mouth. He was saying the right things, but his face was betraying the deep hurt he was feeling. It was an act, a pretence - just like the sudden realisation that he had a book to hand back before he left school that night was a lie. He ran off so that Nick would not see just how upset he was. He didn't want to make the choice forced upon him any more painful. The problem was that Nick knew exactly how he felt - he always knew how Jeff felt. In Warbler practice, Jeff reappeared, but sat next to Trent, not in his usual spot by Nick. All through the rehearsal, he did not look at Nick once, and his voice, usually so audible and clear through the others, just wasn't there. At the end, he grabbed his bag and took off at speed. Nick went to follow, to grab him, try to comfort him, but he was stopped in his tracks by Sebastian. "So, Nicholas, any reason why I found Jeff crying his eyes out in the Science corridor on my way here? I'm making the assumption that you have something to do with it, given that he could not even look at you the entire time he was here, and chose to sit, for the first time in recorded history, nowhere near you…."

Nick ended up telling Sebastian everything. How his father had taken all his choices over college away; how he had then broken the news to Jeff, knowing that the other boy would be devastated, but what else could he do? His father had promised to cut him off without a cent if he defied him and chose to go anywhere but Harvard. His only hope was that with time, Jeff would come round, accept the situation and realise that his friendship with Nick was far too precious to throw away. He would be so close, and he would go and visit him every weekend without fail. Talk on skype every day. What else could he do? Sebastian could only sympathise, but knew deep down that Jeff might never recover from the shock of losing Nick as his college roommate. They all knew, apart from Nick, just how strongly Jeff felt towards him. As for the whole long distance thing, Nick seemed to have forgotten how that had turned out for Blaine and Kurt….

That night, he sent several text messages to Jeff, but received the response that he was expecting - none. He had half hoped that he would be told to get lost. The next day, when Jeff did not appear at school, officially because he had come down with a bad headache, everyone looked at Nick as if he was to blame. He had made him so upset that he could not face him. People avoided talking to him altogether, with the exception of Trent and Sebastian. Both of them had been left in an awkward position. They could understand why Nick had to follow his father's wishes - college was expensive and with no parental support, downright impossible. If he refused to go to Harvard, he wouldn't be going anywhere. Their plans for college would still end up in the bin, and Jeff would be left feeling even more guilty. The only way that things could possibly be sorted was if they went to their respective colleges at first and one of them then transferred. That was a possibility that Nick wanted to investigate.

Jeff finally returned to school on Thursday. He did so only because of an intervention orchestrated by Trent the day before, when, on seeing that Jeff was absent again, Nick had burst into tears. Trent had therefore decided to call up someone that both parties respected, but to leave the big gun, Wes, as his last resort should the first plan fail. That evening, both boys had been called by Blaine, who had been brought up to speed in a long call from Trent. He had been blunt with them both. Nick had been told that he needed to stand up to his father now, or he would be facing a lifetime of being told what to do - where to live, to work, who to marry. His first job was to call Yale and accept his place, then try to figure out how he could escape Harvard. Jeff had been told that if the worst came to the worst and he found himself in New Haven, whilst Nick was in Boston, then they could meet somewhere in the middle on the weekends. Blaine knew just how much the friendship meant to Jeff, and encouraged him to make sure that Nick knew just how much he cared. Even Blaine feared that Jeff was going to end up with a broken heart.

To everyone's relief on that Thursday, the two boys were actually able to be in the same room, and were civil with each other. However, everyone noticed that Jeff still could not look Nick in the eye, and his smile was gone. His answers to questions were monosyllabic. At lunchtime, he vanished, and was eventually found by Trent, crying in the library. The change in his friend made Nick equally depressed. He spent the day walking around in a black mood, as if he had just been told that the world was going to end. In some ways, for him at least, it had. He had managed to destroy the most important friendship in his life because he had been weak and had not stood up to his father. He had done as Blaine had suggested and accepted the place at Yale too, and had resolved to talk to the only people that might help him - his maternal grandparents. They had offered to pay for things for him in the past - just maybe they might help him out with college. He just needed a chance to speak to Jeff, to tell him that their plans could be back on track. Hope he would understand and forgive him. Fill what he was quickly realising was a massive hole in his life, and in his heart.

He didn't get the chance that day. By the time he had left his last class, Jeff had already gone home. Instead, he decided to go and visit his grandparents on the spur of the moment. All his hopes now lay with them. He knew that they disliked many of his father's opinions, and most of his decisions. Hopefully, this would be one that they also disapproved of. He had only one chance to state his case; to make his argument and convince them that his life would be better if he went to Yale instead of Harvard. He put on a hangdog expression, which from the moment he walked through the door had his grandmother's full attention. Today, that face was not difficult to maintain. He explained to them about the plans that he had made with Jeff, and how happy they had both been until the day that his father had taken the decision out of his hands because of a Duval family tradition. He continued by telling them about his father's promise to cut him off if he did not comply with his wishes, meaning that unless he made his life miserable by going to a college where he knew no-one, he would not be going at all. (That of course was a lie - Wes was at Harvard, but what they didn't know….) By the time he left his grandparents that evening, he had a promise of money if he needed it.

On his way home, in a state of euphoria, he sent a text to Jeff - 'All plans back on - will be going to Yale after all.' There was no immediate answer, but that did not concern him unduly. Finally, as he was driving up his street, his phone buzzed. Once he was parked up, he grabbed it, expecting a positive answer. When he looked at the message however, he found to his horror the response 'Don't bother - have just accepted UCLA.' He managed to get himself out of the car, through the front door and into his bedroom before his legs gave way underneath him. He found himself sobbing his heart out, his head throbbing, his chest tight. It was too late. He had lost him, his best friend. He was going to be on the other side of the country now. He would never see him again - ok, that was a tad melodramatic, he would probably see him at Dalton reunions, but that would be it. All of once, he realised just what he would be losing. The most important person in his life. Without him, life would be miserable, dull and totally cheerless.

In the last three days, everything had been cold and bleak. He couldn't imagine what his life was going to be like if he never saw Jeff's smile again. Not to mention being without his laughter at his corny jokes. Not being able to sit quietly and watch dvds together. Not being able to plot elaborate pranks together, or plan ones to play on each other. He wasn't going to let this happen. He had to show Jeff that he had to come to Yale with him. That he was prepared to stand up to his parents, no matter what the cost to himself. His family cutting him off would not matter, as long as he had Jeff there with him. He could survive anything with him by his side. He just wanted to see him smile again - nothing else mattered. He just wanted to throw his arms around him, pull him into a hug and never let him go. No matter how much Jeff protested about it - in fact if he did start to complain then he would just have to silence him with a kiss…