E + N

Thinking 'Bout Love

Guess we caught up with tellin' a lie
Now you're leavin' me lonely
I could get in my car, end up drunk at some bar
But that was the old me
Remember the night that we slept on the floor
And you told me you loved me?
Bet you don't ever think 'bout that's kinda like a light went off
And now you're dead set on givin' me up
You talkin' like we're so far gone and
There ain't no use stitchin' it up
We could do the long haul
We could ride it out, I know the ride's rough
But try us
You're just thinkin' 'bout tomorrow I'm on the road while you're waitin' at home
But I swear I'll be right back
You'll find some man with no rock 'n' roll band
And maybe you'll like that
Remember the lake when it started to rain, babe
And I just held you, yeah
Bet you don't even think 'bout that (think 'bout that)It's kinda like a light went off
And now you're dead set on givin' me up
You talkin' like we're so far gone and
There ain't no use stitchin' it up, no
We could do the long haul
We could ride it out, I know the ride's rough
But try us
You're just thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I'm just thinkin' 'bout love (thinkin' 'bout, thinkin' 'bout love)I'm just thinkin' 'bout love (thinkin' 'bout, thinkin' 'bout love)
Oh-oh-oh-oh (thinkin' 'bout, thinkin' 'bout love)
Oh-oh-oh-oh (thinkin' 'bout love)It's kinda like a light went off
And now you're dead set on givin' me up
Talkin' like we're so far gone and
There ain't no use stitchin' it up, I know
We could do the long haul
We could ride it out
I know the ride's rough, but try us (try us)You're just thinkin' 'bout, I'm just thinkin' 'bout
I'm just thinkin' 'bout love

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Elle's POV

The first day of senior year has arrived and I've officially survived being 3,000 miles away from Noah for three weeks. It's been a little bumpy but honestly, things could be going much worse. I've been trying to give Noah some space to get settled, not wanting to come across as a stage five clinger. I know he wants to make the long-distance thing work, but I also know that things can look a lot different from across the country. I just don't want to strong-arm him into a relationship and end up having him resent me for not letting him have the full college experience. and, Okay, maybe putting a little space between us has also been a way of protecting my heart in case he does decide he doesn't want to be tied down. Like it's going to hurt less somehow if I pull back slowly, rather than a hard and fast break. I know that's not fair of me, but it's almost an involuntary defense mechanism at this point. The less I dwell on the distance, the less it hurts, but our communication had kind of become collateral damage.

I'm sitting in homeroom, frantically writing notes for our Kissing Booth presentation, when I get a text from him.

NOAH: Hey, what up?

I stare at my phone, debating on replying right away or not when the teacher starts speaking. I guess that answers that. I'll just text him back at lunch, I decide as I lock my phone. But when lunch comes around, I'm bombarded by more questions about Noah and condolences on our "breakup". It doesn't seem to matter how many times I say it or how many people I tell that we're not broken up, they've taken our distance as a relationship death sentence. At this point, I just don't have the energy to confront all the emotions swirling inside my head and I would like to sort through more before I talk to him. I'll just call him tonight after I've had some time to think it over more.

He texts me again sometime during my next class, clearly impatient.

NOAH: You there????

I'm about to respond, just to let him know I'm not dead in a ditch somewhere when the secretary bursts into the classroom.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt," she says and then looks at me. "Elle Evans, there's a phone call for you in the office. It's your father. He said it's urgent."