You Remember Me, Right?

Chapter 21

Luke watched his friend’s face morph from absolute joy to surprise to reluctance all in a matter of seconds. Her features landed in a set position as she rubbed the back of her neck before averting her eyes.

 

“Look,” Luke said, trying to stop her from overthinking everything, “It’s in London but I promise you, we can get through it together. Don’t we always?” His eyes desperately tried to lock into her own, searching for any ounce of hopefulness that he could latch onto. Beca bit her lower lip, running her hand through her hair.

 

Finally after a few, prolonged moments she responded, “What am I even thinking? It’s an internship, right, with one of the best labels in the world. We have to take it, there’s no other option, but why London? Why couldn’t it be New York that we know by heart or Los Angeles, the heart of the business?” She began pacing the tiles in her kitchen, her eyes tracing her path.

 

“I’m 18 already and you’ll be eighteen soon. Our parents can’t stop us anymore; we could really do this, Becs. You and me like we’ve always planned,” Jesse responded. He swore he could see her mind ticking past, like the gears were turning, trying to figure out how they could deal with this situation.

 

Beca shuffled her feet, “It’s just so much to process right now, Luke. On one hand it’s amazing and incredible but we can’t just up and leave. What about…” Her voice trailed off as she looked down towards the floor.

 

“Jesse,” Luke continued her sentence, “Becs, we’re not going to be gone forever. It’s London not some third world country. They have internet and skype and whatever else there is. You can’t just give up this opportunity for a boy, even if it is Jesse.”

 

Almost as if a switch had turned in her mind, Beca looked up and straightened her posture, “You know what? You’re right. This is the first step to our dream, Luke. No doubt about it, we have to seize the opportunity. Plus, it isn’t even like Jesse and I are dating.” Even though the point she was trying to make was optimistic, only if you knew her well would you notice how her tone was mixed with a sort of frustration and yearning. Beca’s shoulders relaxed as she sat down on a chair next to Luke as he started to relay all the information Mark had given him.

 

…..

They had only a handful of days left and Beca was going to make the most of them. She had told her mother about her plans with Luke and only after hours of begging and hours of yelling had she had gotten her mother to agree. It did help that Luke had secured them his uncle’s apartment for the summer. She also had to deal with the embarrassment that came with her mother calling Mark Whitman to talk about his plans for Luke and Beca as well as to make sure Mark had full intentions to keep them safe and in good hands while they were in London. Luke would never let her live it down.

 

Her father was not as easily persuaded. When Beca first came up to him with her plan, he straight out laughed out loud. Why would he let his little girl go to London, of all places, to live with a boy for an entire summer? Couldn’t he be locked up for bad parenting or something? It took him two days until he would finally listen to her and listen to her mother. Only after speaking to Beca’s mom did his expression start to relax as he understood the care that was put into this so called plan.