(For the integrity of the piece I must ask that you please read part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here before continuing with part 4 below. Stay tuned tomorrow for the conclusion! Thank you for reading!)
Lexie
shook off the memory as the snow picked up.
She slowed as snow hit the window in huge clumps. She realized she'd been crying when her
windshield wipers took away the snow and the road was still blurry in front of
her. As she swiped a tear from her cheek
she began to wish she'd never said such horrible things to Easton. Besides, it
had been his influence that had instilled the dream of travel in her heart; she
should be thanking him, not yelling at him.
She did want him to go with her, but she felt as though it would be
ruining his career. He just got the job at Carlson and Sons Publishing, and it
would look great on his resume some day.
But he'd only been there a couple of months. If he left now, what would
that look like to future employers? She could be ruining his whole career, just
to keep him in her life. Thoughts batted
back and forth as she continued to drive.
Maybe I should stay... I could
turn around right now and go running into his arms, beg for forgiveness. But then I wouldn't be true to myself; do I
want to give that up for a relationship?
But it's Easton... oh gosh, what should I do? I can't stay cooped up in
Garrisburg forever, and I know that eventually we'd leave, but I'd be giving up
my own dreams for him. But I can't
expect him to wait around for me to find myself; what if he's moved on by the
time I get back? He doesn’t deserve this. He’s always been there for me, and
I’m stupid to think he won’t always be there… Before Easton, Lexie had been
perfectly happy staying in Garrisburg.
Five years ago, she wouldn't have even imagined the possibility of
leaving Garrisburg; people just didn't do that.
Garrisburg was the kind of town that people lived in forever. They
raised their families in the same house that they had been raised in, sent them
to the same schools where the same teachers might even still be teaching. It was a big deal when a 'lifer' picked up
and moved on.
****
“You've never been out of the
country?” Easton asked Lexie. They had been eating lunch together ever since
that first day that Lexie had approached him.
“Well, no. I've been out of the state
though. My grandma lives near the Outer Banks in North Carolina and I used to
spend the summers there when I was little,” Lexie responded, playfully shoving
him in the side with her elbow.
“But that's still in the country...
Don't you want to see what life is like in other parts of the world? Like, say,
Italy. My dad was stationed near Vicenza for a few years when I was little,
then we moved to the UK, just outside of London for awhile, and from there we
went to Bamberg, Germany before moving to the states. I learned so much in all
of those different places,” he said, his eyes glossy with memory. “I don't
think I would be the same person that I am if I hadn't lived in all of those
places.”
“I guess that makes sense. Was
London beautiful? I've heard about it... It sounds nice.”
“You should go someday; you would
love it.”
****
And here she was, on her way to the
airport to fly to London, and she couldn't even celebrate it with Easton. He'd gotten so angry when she told him she
was going... no, he'd been hurt. She
decided it would be easier to go if he didn't know when she was leaving.
Goodbyes were never her strong point, not that she'd ever really had to say
goodbye before. Maybe I don't want to
say goodbye to him either... maybe I should turn around, go get him. It had gotten completely dark out, and the
stretch of highway she was driving on didn't have streetlights. A car ahead of
her slid a bit on the ice, and Lexie's knuckles turned white as she held the
steering wheel a little tighter.
The next ten seconds were a blur. A
deer jumped out from behind a cluster of trees, and Lexie jumped on the breaks.
As she did, she hit a patch of ice and her car started to spin out of
control. Lexie squeezed her eyes shut
tight, letting out a frightened scream as she tried to control the vehicle but
couldn’t.
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