All Along | ✓

Chapter Fourteen

—

"A sky full of stars and he was staring at her."

- Atticus

—

Luna's POV

—

Eleven Months Later

—

I'm nervous, even though I know I really shouldn't be. It's been a year since I last saw Oli. He hasn't been home since last Christmas. Zoey and Claire have flown to see some of his games, but he hasn't had the chance to come home again until now.

It's weird. Because he's still my best friend and we still talk almost everyday. But I've changed. And I know he has too. I'm 18 now. Oli's 23. I'm not a kid anymore and I don't know how to be Oli and Luna again. We haven't been together in so long, I'm worried I'll forget how to act around him.

Things have changed so much over the last few years. We used to see each other almost everyday when I was a kid. Then he went off to college and I was only seeing him at my birthday and Christmas, sometimes in between if I was lucky. And now that he's playing basketball professionally, I'll only be seeing him once a year, potentially twice if I'm lucky. And it's only for a few days.

But even bigger changes have happened in the last six months. I got into my dream school and I've just finished my first semester. At Harvard.

I moved to Massachusetts at the end of the summer and moved into the dorms. I cried when I got my acceptance letter. The first person I called was Oli. He was so proud of me - still is and tells me all the time. But it complicates things. I won't be able to come home every Christmas break.

My grandmother lives in New York, so it's likely my parents will fly up to spend Christmas with her and I'll take the train there and stay with her over the break. We haven't been able to spend Christmas with her in years. I'll miss my dad's family, of course, but it's only while I'm at college. Hopefully I'll get into Harvard Law after I get my undergraduate degree. I'll be spending eight years in Massachusetts.

And college is not exactly cheap. So, I won't have the money to fly across the country every year. My parents said that we could potentially take turns, them coming to me one year and me to them the next. That'll mean even less opportunities to see Oli.

On the plus side, whenever Oli has a game near me, he promised he'd save me a ticket. So I will get to see him if he's ever in town, just not every birthday and Christmas like I'm used to.

A knock on my bedroom door jolts me out of my thoughts and I turn towards the sound. The door's open, my dad standing there with a sheepish little smile. "You alright, kid?"

I nod, quickly putting the lid on my mascara. I'd gotten lost in my thoughts while doing my makeup for the evening. It's Christmas Eve and we're having dinner with Claire and Zoey like we always do. They're picking Oli up from the airport as we speak. "I'm good, Dad. Am I running late?"

He shakes his head, "No, no. I'm just checking in."

I stand from my seat on the floor in front of my mirror and turn to smile at him. "Weird having me back?"

"The good kind of weird," He smiles a little smile identical to my own.

I look around my childhood bedroom, feeling nostalgic. A lot of my things are still here, because I moved into a small dorm. My bed's still the same, my photos on the wall. Reminds me of being a kid, even though I haven't felt that way in a long time.