Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 14068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 70(@200wpm)___ 56(@250wpm)___ 47(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 70(@200wpm)___ 56(@250wpm)___ 47(@300wpm)
The sun shines brightly overhead, with rows of folding chairs and colorful banners on the campus quad. All around me, the graduates are laughing, chatting, already making plans for tonight.
I look at my own cap, the tassel dangling on the side. It’s supposed to be a happy day. I mean, I’m finally graduating. It’s not that I hated school, but I didn’t enjoy it either. It was a means to an end. I get my diploma, work, and won’t need my parents’ support anymore.
But I can’t find it in me to celebrate. If…If he’s here, maybe…maybe this day will be different.
He’s not.
He’s probably settling in Venezuela. I can picture him being busy with work, going home to a girlfriend, and them spending the night in…
I shake my head. Stop. This obsession needs to stop. He’s gone. Far away from me.
We shared one night. That’s all.
Except that night, I came alive for the first time in my life.
I doubt I’ll ever feel that way again.
One by one, our names are called until it’s my turn. I walk across the stage, almost dragging my feet. The university president hands me my diploma and shakes my hand, and we pose for a photo, a well-practiced smile plastered to my face.
I descend the stage and start to head back to my spot when I notice something in the corner of my eye.
I whirl around and see him.
Jacob.
Standing beyond the crowd, towering over everyone else.
My breath catches in my throat, and tears prick my eyes.
We stand there in suspended animation, everyone else fading into the background. I hear cheering and applause, the sound muffled, and I’m barely aware of the others tossing their caps in the air.
I don’t know how long we stay like that, but I blink and he’s standing before me. I’m so used to seeing him in denim jeans and plaid shirts that this formal look knocks me off my feet.
He’s wearing a crisp, white shirt, sleeves rolled above his forearm and paired with dress pants.
Jacob shoves his hands deep in his pockets, uncertainty crossing his ruggedly handsome features.
“Hi.” His voice is like a caress, and tiny hairs behind my neck stand.
“Hi.”
“Congratulations.”
I nod, unable to say anything. Is this a dream? A hallucination? Did my desperation conjure up an image of him?
“Why are you here?” I blurt out, the first traces of anger flowing through me.
He stumbles back a step like I just hit him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come. I just wanted to congratulate you. Again, I apologize. It won’t happen again.”
He turns his back on me so fast I don’t have time to process what he just said. But his strides are so long that I have to run to keep up with him.
“Jacob, stop!”
I grab his arm and pull as if I can actually hold him back.
Jacob’s shoulders tense before he faces me like he’s bracing for an attack.
“I-I didn’t…” I shake my head. If I’m going to move on, then I should at least give him a piece of my mind. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in Venezuela?”
He frowns. “What do you–”
He realizes what I’m talking about. His eyebrows inch upward, mouth forming an ‘O’.
“I saw the letter and your plane ticket. Why are you still here? Did they reschedule your flight?”
“Is this why you left without a word?”
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Yes.”
He curses under his breath.“Jenna, I was never going to leave.”
My chest tightens, and all of a sudden, my gown feels too heavy, too constricting even though it’s flowing freely over my dress.
“W-what do you mean? I saw your ticket.”
Running his hand across his brow, he shakes his head in disbelief. “They did that to essentially force me to accept their offer. I was never gonna go because of you. I couldn’t imagine being away from you. Didn’t matter if I was gonna work at the library until you graduated. I need to see you. I need you the way I need air to breathe.”
Oh. My. God.
“Jenna, I thought you left because you regretted what happened to us. I’ve been waiting outside your apartment, waiting for even a glimpse of you. But if you don’t want to see me–”
I don’t want to hear anymore, so in full view of everyone, I launch myself at Jacob and kiss him.
His arms automatically wrap around me, lifting me off the ground. Neither of us cares what others think. One week of not seeing him and I’m a shadow of my past self. But with him now, it’s like he breathed new life into me.
I’m alive again.
He is mine and I am his.
That’s the first and last time we’ll ever get separated.
He pulls back from me, an uncertain smile on his lips. “I need to ask you something.”
My forehead scrunches. “Okay. What is it?”