Page 120 of When Ben Loved Tim

“They just proved otherwise,” I say, her feelings my only concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Allison says. “I didn’t have my heart set on going there anyway. Okay, I did, but it would be hard to move so far away from Dad. He’d be all alone. And I’d miss him.”

“Well you aren’t going to miss either of us, because I’m not going. Let’s try our luck again.”

We both pick up letters from the next school, which is just a few hours away. We’re enthusiastic about it too, even though it doesn’t specialize in the arts.

“At the same time?” Allison asks.

“Yeah,” I say with a nod.

We mirror each other’s movements while watching each other remove and unfold the letter. Allison gives into curiosity first. I study her face until it lights up with a smile. I quickly check my letter before grinning.

“You got in?” Allison asks.

“Yeah! Did you?”

“Yes!”

We both squeal with delight before hugging each other. Then we go through the acceptance letters more carefully, taking turns reading important details aloud. We don’t bother with the third school. Neither of us were passionate about going there.

“Tuition will be a lot cheaper,” Allison says. “That’ll make my dad happy. Ronnie is going to cry though.”

“Why’s that?”

“The school he got accepted into wasn’t far fromthosepeople.” She glares with disdain at the rejection letter. “He was hoping we could keep seeing each other.”

“You could try a long-distance relationship.”

“During our first year of college? I don’t think either of us wants to be tied down. Not when we can’t really be together. Which is a shame, because I do love him.” Allison sighs. Then she shrugs. “Oh well. I’ll make sure we go out with a bang. I won’t be waiting until prom now.”

“Really?” I ask. “You’re finally going to do it with him?”

“Yes,” Allison replies. “Although it’ll be sad that my first time will also be one of the last times. With him, anyway.”

“That is sad,” I say while contemplating it. “But also reallyreallyromantic!”

“Right?” Allison says, fanning herself with the acceptance letter. “What about Tim?”

I grimace. “He’s not sure yet. His parents are pressuring him to go to some Catholic school, which would suck, because it’s either a three-hour flight or a twenty-hour drive from here.”

“You could always try a long-distance relationship,” Allison says innocently.

“I might.”

“No!” She thwaps me. “That would be so boring! Make him apply to our school. It’s a liberal city. I doubt any of his friends will be there. His parents certainly won’t.”

“It’s kind of last minute.”

“He’s kind of charming. And he’s got a couple different talents to use as a lure. If it’s not baseball, they might like his paintings.”

My mind starts to race with the idea. I’ve been so focused on keeping us together in the present that I haven’t spent much time contemplating our future. This could fix everything!

“I love you so much,” I tell my best friend.

“I love you too,” she says, turning around and resting her head in my lap, the acceptance letter held above her. “Now let’s read through this one more time.”

I listen to her narrate, but my mind soon begins to wander as I imagine moving to a new town with both my best friend and my boyfriend. We could share an apartment. Meet on campus for lunch. Go to parties and make terrible mistakes. It would be a beautiful mess, sharing our lives together like that. Now I just need to make it happen.