Chapter Ten
The day Nick left was one of the hardest days of the first seventeen years of my life. I had finally gotten a boyfriend and he was leaving. Reluctantly, I got up and changed. Then I went into the kitchen, where Nick and Brian were talking.
"Hi," I said, sliding onto the bench next to Nick.
"Hi," the guys both said.
Nick pulled me towards his side and gave me a kiss. He kept his arm around me as he talked to Brian.
"Are you packed?" Nick asked his friend.
"Pretty much," said Brian, "I just want to go and get some last minute stuff for my parents."
"Okay," I said, "Do you want to go now?"
"I can probably get Kevin or someone to take me," Brian said.
"No," I said, "I can take you."
"Are you sure you don't want to spend some alone time with Nick?"
"Yeah," I said.
"It's going to be hard to say goodbye," Nick said, "Spending time alone might just prolong it."
"Exactly," I said.
"Okay," said Brian, "When do you want to go?"
"We can go now," I said.
"Okay," Brian said.
He went to change his shirt, leaving me and Nick alone.
"Are you going to be okay?" Nick asked me, looking me straight in the eye.
"Yeah," I said, "Are you?"
"I hope so," said Nick.
"Hey," I said, "It's not like we've been together a long time. We've only been together from last night."
"Yeah," Nick said, "But it feels like a lot longer."
Yeah," I said, "But we'll see each other again."
"Of course we will," said Nick, "My parents want to come back over the summer."
"If I send you a ticket to my graduation," I said, "Would you come?"
"Of course," Nick said, "I mean, if I can. If we're not working."
"I want you there," I said.
"Then I'll be there." Nick gave me a kiss.
"I'm ready!" Brian said, coming back into the kitchen.
"Okay," I said.
I ran to my room to grab my purse and my keys.
The three of us went down to the car and headed out.We returned home at about two in the afternoon. Everyone was leaving at five thirty for Honolulu.
"I guess we should start packing," said Nick, as we walked up the stairs.
"Yeah," Brian agreed. "Man, I wish we could have stayed longer."
"But we have to go back to work next week," said Nick.
"We need to take longer vacations," said Brian, "This was a lot of fun."
"You guys should have stayed longer," I said, "Came earlier or something."
"Now I wish we had," said Nick, "If I had known it was going to be like this, then I would have said something when we planned."
We walked into their room, where Aaron was playing video games.
"Come on, little bro," said Nick, "We have to start packing."
"But I don't want to," Aaron said.
"We have to," Nick said, "Come on."
Aaron reluctantly started helping his brother and Brian find all of their stuff and start packing it up. I stood back for a while and then started to help. Jane and Bob came up about ten minutes later to make sure their sons were packing.
"We're leaving for the airport at four," Jane said, "So be ready by then."
"No problem," said Nick.
The parents left and Nick and Brian went back to their packing. Aaron didn't have as much stuff out so he didn't have to pack as much. I went to my room and picked up one of the packages with a purchase I had made that day. Inside the package was a gold chain with a pendant hanging from it. The pendant was a gold surfboard with "NICK" written on it vertically in Hawaiian script. I had bought it while Nick and Brian were in another store. I walked back to their room with the package in my pocket.
"Hey, Nick," I said, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure," Nick said, shoving something into his pocket. He followed me out of the room and into the living room.
"Maybe we should go into my room," I said, "Brian might feel compelled to listen in."
"Good point," said Nick.
We went into my room and shut the door.
"This is for you," I said, pulling the package out of my pocket and handing it to Nick.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's something so you remember me," I said.
Nick opened the box and took the chain out. "This is really nice," he said, "Thank you so much. But I'll never forget you."
"I'm just making sure," I said.
Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out a package. "I bought you something too," he said, handing it to me.
"You shouldn't have," I said.
"Open it," said Nick.
I opened the package and found a small velvet box. Inside the box was nestled a gold ring. It had two overlapping hearts, one with a "J" and one with an "N." "Oh my gosh," I said, "This is beautiful."
Nick took it from me and slipped it onto my ring finger on my left hand. "This is so YOU never forget ME," he said.
"I could never forget you," I said, "Never."
Nick leaned down and gave me a kiss.
"Nick!" Brian called, "Come here!"
"I'd better go see what he wants," said Nick, pulling away.
"Okay," I said.
Nick opened the door and headed back to his room. BJ came running in.
"So?" she asked, "What happened?"
"You're so nosey," I said.
"Of course," said BJ, "What happened?"
"He gave me this," I said, showing her the ring.
"That's really nice," BJ said, "What did you give him?"
"A chain," I said, "With a surfboard pendant with his name on it."
"You two spent a lot of money on each other."
"It's okay," I said.
"So you're going to E-mail me, right?" asked BJ.
"Yeah," I said, "Tomorrow."
"Good," BJ said.
We went down the hall to check on the boys. They were sitting around on the floor, playing video games.
"Did you finish packing?" BJ asked her brother.
"Yeah," said Nick.
"So you're ready to go?" asked BJ.
"No," Nick said.
"I was asking for it," BJ said.
I laughed.At four o'clock, everyone started loading up the cars. I was going to be taking Nick, Brian, Aaron, and BJ to the airport in my car. Brian and the others wanted to give me and Nick some time alone, but there wasn't enough room in the van. Nick jumped into the front seat with everyone else in the back.
"So we'll give you guys some time alone when we get to the airport," Brian said to Nick.
"Thanks, man," said Nick.
When we got to the airport, the guys and everyone checked their stuff in. That took about forty five minutes since there were so many of them and so much stuff. When we finally got into the waiting area, Nick and I went off to the side by the payphones to say goodbye. I wasn't going to wait with the guys until they boarded the plane. I just couldn't watch Nick get on the plane and leave.
"I really don't want to leave now," said Nick.
"I don't want you to leave," I said.
"I have to," Nick said, putting his arms around me, "I can't just leave the group and stay here."
"I don't want you to do that," I said.
"I'll call you as soon as we get to California," said Nick, "And I'll E-mail you as soon as I can."
"Okay," I said, "You better."
"Don't worry," Nick said, "I'll find a way to see you again soon."
"Yeah," I said.
"Hey, Nick!" Kevin called, "Your mom wants to talk to you for a minute!"
"I'll be right there!" Nick called back.
He turned to me. "I'll be right back," he said.
Nick ran over to his parents. I saw his mom hand him something and then Nick ran back over to me, a big smile on his face.
"What's up?" I asked him, as he put his arms around me once again.
"What are you doing over Spring Break?" he asked.
"Nothing, as far as I know," I said, "Why?"
"Because," said Nick, "Look what my parents got."
He handed me an envelope. Inside, was a round trip ticket coupon for a ticket to Tampa, Florida.
"What in the world?" I asked.
"My parents bought you a ticket to come and visit me over Spring Break," said Nick, "We're going to be home all month in March, so I want you to come and visit me."
"What?" I asked, "I don't know if I can, Nick. I don't know if my parents are going to let me."
"The thing with your parents is already taken care of," Nick said, "My parents talked to them last night. They said it's fine as long as there's someone there to supervise. Brian volunteered."
"Really?" I asked.
"Of course," said Nick, "We worked out all the details...okay, so my mom worked out all the details."
"Oh my gosh," I said, "You're joking right?"
"Nope," Nick said, "All you have to do is decide when you want to come up."
"Thank you so much!" I exclaimed, reaching up to give Nick a kiss.
"Thank my parents," he said, "But don't thank them like that. That's supposed to be saved for me."
I laughed. "Come on," I said, "Let's go thank your parents."
"But I don't want to thank my parents," said Nick, "And they know already."
"Nick," I said.
"They know," he repeated, "And they also know that I want to spend some time alone with you before we have to leave."
"Okay," I said, "Fine."
When it was finally time for the guys to go and wait at their gate, Nick and I had to say goodbye.
"Are you sure you're not going to come up to the gate with me?" he asked.
"I'm sure," I said, "I can't watch you board that plane."
"I understand," said Nick.
"But I'll walk with you over to your family and friends," I said.
"Okay."
We walked over to where everyone else was. I gave them all hugs and said goodbye. Then came Nick's turn.
"So I'll see you in March, right?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said, "More than likely."
"I'll be waiting," said Nick, giving me one last hug.
He kissed me one last time and then they went to go wait at the gate. I walked with my parents back to the cars.
"Did he give you the ticket?" Mom asked me.
"Yeah," I said, "I got it."
"Do you want to go?" asked Dad.
"Of course I do," I said, "If I can."
"You can go if you want to," said Mom, "And if Nick's willing to let you stay with him."
"Thanks," I said.
My parents got into the van and I got into my car. After they had pulled out of the parking lot, I turned my engine on and was about to leave too. Then I saw a plane take off that I had a feeling was the one the guys were on. A single tear rolled down my face as I watched the first boyfriend I had ever had fly away.
Onto Chapter 11
