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Lying across the couch, I stare at the black box Virginia gave to me minutes ago and slowly unwrap it. There’s a letter at the top:
Emerald,
It’s almost been five weeks since I’ve seen you, since I’ve heard from you...I know you’re heading off to college soon, but I want you to know that I’m moving for a while. Nonetheless, if you ever decide to answer my phone calls or text messages, there’s no distance that’ll ever be too far for me to get to you.
I will come wherever you are, whenever you realize that you belong to me and I belong to you.
Carter.
I suck in a breath and try not to cry.
I miss him. Everything about him.
His touch. His kiss. His laugh.
The way he talked to me late at night, the way he fired back sarcasm better than I ever could.
Everything.
Not a day has gone by that he hasn’t called or texted me at least once, and my heart cracks a little more each time that he does. Nonetheless, deep down, I know I made the right decision.
He’ll see it soon too.
That’s how it always works in the books without the happily ever afters. The characters grow together and then they grow apart; not because they want to, but because they have to.
I fold the letter and set it aside, crying when I see what else is in the box.
It’s me.
A small painted picture of me.
I’m wearing my black first date dress, standing in the ocean, and my eyes are gleaming in the sunlight.
There’s a black raven sitting on my left shoulder—looking nonchalant, and at the bottom of my picture there are four words in white cursive: Ravens always come back...
I wipe a tear away and immediately take the photo into my bedroom, placing it front and center on my mantle. I run my fingers across the paint—oil and acrylic, and then I lie down on my bed, staring at it until I fall asleep.
***
“Miss Anderson, how many more classes are you going to drop?” My advisor rolls her eyes and hands me a new schedule.
“Why do you care?” I stand up. “You’re getting paid to do this. Be happy that I’m giving you something to do.”
I’ve only been on campus for a week, and people like her are already pissing me off. Everyone knows that the first two weeks of college are a free for all, a sampler if you will.
The “Add/Drop” period signals fourteen days of unrestricted class swapping. If you don’t like the way a professor’s syllabus looks, or if you find the teacher’s voice annoying, you can drop the class with no penalty and replace it with something else.
Of course, the average college student only changes a class or two at a time, and they usually only drop two or three.
I’ve dropped thirty so far.
Nothing is holding my interest, and I’m pretty sure this newest elective class my advisor signed me up for will be getting dropped tomorrow. The name of it is “405.” There’s no formal title, and if it’s as bad as that “Bird Watching” class she signed me up for yesterday, I’m going to pay her another visit at the end of the day.
Since it starts in half hour, I head over to the building.
As I’m walking, my phone vibrates and I pull it out of my purse. Carter.
I watch it ring and ring, wanting to answer it, but it goes to voicemail. I scroll through the few text messages he’s sent this week and sigh.
No matter what I do, I can’t get him out of my mind. It seems as if every day away from him worsens the pain in my heart.
When I get to the classroom, I see that it’s empty so I decide to call him back.
“Emerald,” he answers on the first ring.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
Neither of us says anything for a long time.
“We need to talk, Emerald.”
“About what?”
“You know about what.” He sounds upset. “I’m sick of this shit and I know you are too.”
I sigh and decide to give in. “I have class in a few minutes and another one in two hours. And AA right after that. What time are you free today?”
“Whenever.”
“Nine o’ clock tonight?”
“That’ll be fine. I’ll call you.”
“Okay...” I feel slightly better already. “I’ll talk to you then.”
“Looking forward to it.”
I smile and hang up.
“Is someone sitting here?” A male voice to my right says.
I look up and see one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen in my life.
He’s dressed in a simple red polo short and khakis, with the words “Crimson Tide” engraved onto the pockets. With jet black hair, light grey eyes, and a smile that is currently making me melt, he’s fucking perfection.
“So...” He smiles. “Is this seat taken?”
