THEN
DECEMBER 1991
Love is a Wonderful Thing—Michael Bolton
"It's only been a few days, and I already wish I was home again. But, luckily for me, Christmas break is less than a month away, and it lasts longer than a week. Can't wait to see you again."
"… reinvigorated. Thanksgiving was everything I hoped for, and I finally feel like I can do this. Thank you for being there for me, and I love knowing you're back home supporting me."
"I've been looking for a letter, but it's probably lost somewhere in between. You'll just have to write more often, so I don't have to go weeks without hearing from you. I miss you like crazy."
Three letters in ten days.
Each one is a reminder of how dumb it was to act like everything was normal. We didn't make out or anything, but we were joined at the hip for most of his visit. It felt good, right even, but it's not fair to spend months apart, to ask him to wait, while he's on the other side of the country.
Edward,
I enjoyed our time together, too, but it feels like we're right where I was trying to prevent us from settling. You can't let your experience there be tied to Forks.
To me.
College is supposed to be a lot of work but equally as fun, not sitting in your dorm pining for a high schooler back home. That's just ridiculous. I hope you don't meet someone else and move on, but I do want you to have the option if she comes along and steals your breath.
I want you to soar, untethered.
Not forever.
Just for now.
I love you, but you have to let me go,
Bella.
Silence.
It's been two weeks since I mailed that letter and there's been no response. If I was an optimist, I'd probably think it's a good thing, that he listened to my passionate plea. But I'm not, and I know him like I know myself. He won't respond with words on paper but in person with actions.
He'll show up again.
And I'll be weak.
So I grow a spine.
And make a plan.
It's hard to pin down an exact time and place, so I beef up my acting chops for the long-haul operation. Riley Biers is a cool guy who moved here in September. He meshed with my crowd right off and blended seamlessly into the fold.
He once told me I put off a "do not approach" vibe, and I agreed that it was intentional. That's the extent of our boy/girl gab, so it's weird to ask this favor of him, but he's chill about it.
"I can't believe this, Bella," Alice says, huffing. "Riley's cool, but you shouldn't put other people in the middle of this mess."
"What mess?" I turn on my stereo to drown out the argument. "I broke up with Edward, and he needs to accept it."
"Stupid." Alice rolls her eyes. "You're the only person I know who'd break up with someone they love like crazy."
"My bad," I snap, swiftly changing the station so I don't have to hear Love is a Wonderful Thing again. "I didn't realize I'm supposed to be a cookie-cutter girlfriend."
"You're trippin'." Her face falls, and she comes over, switching off the radio. "I just don't understand."
"I'm doing what I think is right." Tears roll down my cheeks, and she pulls me into a hug. "And I need you to accept that."
"Of course, B." She rubs my back as I sob. She has to realize this is killing me too, and her opposition doesn't help. "You'll always come first, so if this is what you want, then I'm in."
As soon as we're out for winter break, the game is on. Every day, Riley and I hang out, whether it's at the diner for a meal, him at my house, or even at the rink once or twice, we make it a point to be seen. The Forks' gossip mill is bound to be yapping.
It's two days before Christmas when everything I've been both anticipating and dreading unfolds. Jasper, Alice, Riley, and me are at the diner when the Trans Am rumbles into the lot. I watch him leave the car and head for the door, but like he senses my presence, he comes to a stop halfway across the lot.
Averting my eyes, I focus on Riley. I smile and lean in, sucking in a deep breath before I press my lips to his. I can tell he's stunned at first, but after a few seconds, he melts into it. His fingers dive into my hair, and we open our mouths. Neither of us uses our tongues, thankfully, but it makes the kiss seem more intimate than it really is.
And by the time we break apart, all I see is Edward's brake lights as he spins tires out of the parking lot.
Someone anticipated she'd do smth like this. *sighs*
Another perfect poem…
Neither knows each other
Right now
Let's see where
They
Really
Are
R
That new small town I mentioned before is where I met the hubs. I met his brother first. Strangely enough, I can't remember how for the brother (my age, 16 then), but I remember the very first time I saw his older brother (18). We were in the McDonald's drive-thru and he pulled up beside us in the car w/a friend of his and demanded Jesse take the car home so he could get it. They shared this 1976 Camaro that was primed several different colors, gray, yellow, that burnt orange shade, and it was called the Cheetah Camaro lol.
