One year later

Presley

 

I pack up my last box and look around my empty room. I can’t stop the tears from falling and I feel so dumb. This is what I want, I had a great life here, the best college experience, so I shouldn’t be sad, but I am.

“Girl, you need to stop crying already, I can’t take it.” Jodi surprises me and I jump. “Well, this is fitting, looks like we’re ending just how we started.”

I jump on her, wrapping my arms and legs around her tightly.

“As much as I love the whole spider monkey thing you’ve got going on here, I’m pretty sure you’re breaking my ribs.” I climb down and wipe my tears.

“I’m going to miss you so much, I don’t know how I would have survived without you these past few years. You’ve got to promise to come visit. Promise me!”

“All right, all right, crazy lady, I promise. I’m pretty sure you will be too blissfully happy once you get to D.C. to even miss me.”

“You mean completely stressed out with grad school?”

“No, I mean completely blissed out by Mr. Hunky, yet silent.”

The thought that soon I’m going to finally be in the same town as Barrett again completely dries my tears. It’s been a very long, hard year. I don’t think anyone thought we would be able to make the long-distance thing work, heck, half the time I didn’t think we would, but we did, and we came out even stronger for it. I’m not going to lie; the beginning was really hard on me. Knowing he was going to be so far away and surrounded by so many girls who were like him and understood him scared me to death. But he assured me over and over that wasn’t what he wanted, because he wanted me. I doubled up on my courses and was able to graduate a semester early with honors. I got into a graduate school not too far from Gallaudet, where he’s going to school. Somehow in between all that I was able to start a non-profit organization called Silent Song.

B’s friend A.J. was a huge help with getting me started. My parents even helped throw a few fundraising charity dinners for me to help us get off the ground. It turned out that B’s little speech at Christmas really earned my dad’s respect. Once he saw that music therapy wasn’t just a passing whim, he got on board. We are still working on my mom. I used the project for B as a prototype. One deaf school at a time, we are taking the Silent Song across the country. Fremont’s Residential School was our trial, and it went better than expected. I have someone on each coast helping me run it. A.J. has been singlehandedly running the East Coast…until now.

“Randy is driving you and all your stuff there, right?” I look down at my watch, sad to see it’s almost time to go.

“Yeah, he should be here any minute. I hate to say good-bye.”

“Then don’t. I’ll be there to visit before you know it. I have to give you time to scope out all the hotties for me.”

“You know it!”

“Okay, give me one last rib shattering hug and make sure Randy takes you by Cast Iron for your crazy tea before you go.”

I hold her tight, trying not to blubber all over her when I hear a very suspicious sniffle.

“You aren’t getting all soft on me, are you?”

“Of course not, you goob, I’m just thinking of how much I hate those freaking leaf blowers.” Leave it to Jodi to leave me laughing.

“Love your face.”

“Love yours too! Open this once you are on the road.” She hands me a wrapped gift and walks me out to the truck.

 

 

“Whatcha got there, Princess?”

“Jodi’s going away gift.”

“Well, you going to open it or what?”

“She said to wait until later to open it. Since we are four hours away, I guess now is as good a time as any.”

She must have used an entire roll of scotch tape to wrap it. After I finally get the dang thing open, there is a huge poof of glitter that covers me, Randy, and his precious truck.

“What the—!” He looks down at his lap and brushes the glitter out of his hair. “Are you freaking kidding me?”

“Sorry, Randy…I should have known she’d glitter sabotage me.”

“Glitter? Great, that stuff is like the STDs of the craft world. As soon as you think it’s all cleared up, it makes itself known in the most unfortunate of times.” I crack up laughing so hard my sides ache.

“Well, what did you get? It better be worth it after all that.”

I pull out my gift and don’t even bother hiding my groan at the bright blue leggings with hotdogs all over them. Randy takes one look at them and shakes his head.

“Hey Pres, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I’m pretty sure your best friend hates you.”

“Nah, hotdog leggings are super kitsch.”

THE END

 

 

 

I have been married to my very supportive husband for 10 years and we have two amazing Autistic kids! I always dreamed of being a writer, but life got in the way. Going through my kids different therapies and special schools and one meeting after the next I needed a way to get away from it all and find my perfect Utopia! Writing has always been cathartic to me. Who wouldn't want to leave their world for a while and step into a new one? I have so many stories and characters just waiting to find a place on your shelf! For Updates and information please go to my webpage at www.jaciwheeler.com