(For the integrity of the piece I must ask that you please read part 1 here and part 2 here before continuing with part 3 below. Thank you!)
Lexie
sighed as she reminisced about her morning drives to school with Easton. He'd
scolded her a little when he finally realized how out of the way his house was,
but she continued to drive him until his car got fixed. He'd repaid the favor
the following week, when Lexie “accidentally” left the light on in her car and
the battery died. Eventually it became
habit, and they had carpooled to and from school for the rest of year.
Lexie peered into the rearview
mirror, taking in the beautiful sun setting in the east. The sky was filled
with color, navy and magenta collaborating with the icy gray of a winter sky to
create swirls of beauty. As she studied
the sky, Easton's face appeared, smiling that sideways smile from the backseat
of her memory...
****
“Ooh, I love this,” Lisa said
from the passenger seat, leaning over to crank the music as Story of a Girl by Nine Days blasted from the car's
stereo.
“It doesn't have to be that loud!”
Joann shouted from the backseat, where she was wedged in between her current
interest, Shawn, to the left and Easton on her right.
“Geez, okay,” Lisa muttered, turning
down the sound slightly.
Joann started to say something to
Lisa, sparking one of their usual debates. For best friends, they sure did
fight a lot. As chaos took over the car, Lexie reached over to the stereo and
turned it up a little. When she looked into the rearview mirror, Easton was
staring back at her with a smile on his face.
“I love the way she smiles,” he sang
along quietly, a smile plastered across his face. Lexie read his lips and
smiled back before returning her eyes to the road.
****
“Watch where you're going!” Lexie
shouted, laying on the horn as a car pulled out from a side street and cut her
off.
She was about an hour out of
Garrisburg and the sun had almost completely set. A few flurries dotted her
windshield, and she thought about the radio caster who had complained about the
dryness. He must not have watched the weather forecast tonight... Lexie's
cynical side kicked in as she worried about her flight. She was still an hour
away from the airport, and her flight didn't take off until later in the
evening, the red-eye. She hoped beyond
hope that the snow wouldn't delay her flight.
Easton didn't want her to go, which
was why she'd planned this particular flight. They'd had a huge fight about it.
She tried not to think about the hurtful things she'd said, but it took more
effort to push the thoughts away then to drown beneath them.
****
“I just don't see what the problem
is,” Lexie said, anger rising with each word.
“You don't see what the problem is?!
Lex, seriously?” Easton pleaded, and Lexie was surprised to hear the sad tone
to his voice.
“Right, I don't. All I want to do is
travel a little; you've always known that. And this is a really great
opportunity that I don't want to pass up...” she argued.
“But what about us?”
“Oh gosh, Easton. I love you, I
really do, but I can't just give up my life to stay in Garrisburg with you
forever,” Lexie cringed as the words spilled out of her mouth. “I haven't been
anywhere; I haven't... I haven't seen anything yet. I'm 21-years-old and all
I've known is this dinky little town.” She didn't want to mean them, but she
knew they were unfortunately true.
“I never said I wanted to stay in
Garrisburg,” Easton responded. “Where would you get an idea like that? I only
stayed in Garrisburg after graduation because you were here... and the
University was here. Now I'm only staying because of my job; you know that.”
“I do, and I know that it's a great
job,” Lexie said, grasping at straws. Easton made a good point; when they'd
starting dating they knew it was different than a high school romance. They
both stayed in Garrisburg to attend college. “I don't want you to give up this job
to follow me, though. I care about you too much to let you do that.”
Easton had gotten in good with a
publishing company in the next town before graduation. As soon as he graduated,
they offered him the position of one of the retiring editors. It was a huge
opportunity that normally would have gone to someone already working in the
company, but they knew Easton would do a good job. He was the safe bet.
“I wouldn't be following you,” he
said, a hurt tone in his hushed voice. “I would be going with you. I love you,
Lexie, and where you are is where I want to be...”
“And I feel the same way Easton, I
really do... but I have to go. I can't pass up this opportunity.” And I
can't pull you away from your own...
****
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