Shades of Blue (ONC 2024)

Part 9

After four long years, I was finally a high school graduate.

There were times when I never thought that I would make it and that high school would last forever.

However, I walked at graduation and was finally done.

Of course, my family came to watch the ceremony, and my parents made it known they weren't thrilled when Lexa and I kissed after the ceremony, and we didn't care who was watching.

I noticed once again that Lexa's mother, Estella, had dark hair. I decided to ask Lexa about it the day after graduation, when everyone was packing up their belongings to leave for the summer, or in my case, for good.

I told my parents that I wanted to walk down to The Coffee Bean to say goodbye to Shay, and Lexa decided to take a walk down there with me.

"I couldn't help but notice that your mom hasn't had blue hair for Family Day, as well as graduation," I said to Lexa as we walked side by side, "Did she dye it?"

Lexa shook her head, "She's wearing a wig. A super realistic one, it must have been a fortune. She feels...insecure sometimes. About the fact that she has blue hair. She has told me before that she doesn't like how it makes her stand out, or the looks it gives her."

"I understand," I said, "Though from that photo you showed me, she looks great with blue hair."

"I agree," Lexa smiled at me, "No matter what, you'll never catch me in a wig. I've grown to like my blue hair."

When we got to The Coffee Bean, Shay came out from behind the counter and wrapped me in a tight hug.

"I know you're going to be a few hours away but don't be a stranger, okay?" she said to me, "Come visit anytime. Text me, call me. Whatever you want."

"Thank you," I said to her, "For being a real friend to me the whole time I've been here."

"I'm going to miss you, Annabelle," Shay said, giving me a sad smile.

I had decided on a small, private college called Arcadia University, which was about an hour away from my parents, and close to three hours away from the town Rosewood Prep was in. Lexa decided to go to college in the city of Philadelphia, which thankfully, was less than an hour away from the college I chose.

When it came to our summer break before college, Lexa's parents lived close to two hours away from mine, so I knew seeing her wouldn't be an everyday option, plus, I knew her coming to my parent's home wasn't really an option.

I traveled quite a bit with my family during the summer, and the whole time, I just missed Lexa. During the times when I was not traveling, and was home, I would make my way to her. Her parents had no issue with me staying over their home.

Her family knew that I was aware of Lexa's secret, she had told them I was. Seeing at least one of them, glow blue was not an uncommon occurrence at her home.

Toward the end of the summer, Lexa and I decided to plan our own mini vacation, for just the two of us. We decided on Ocean City, Maryland for a weekend getaway.

On our first night there, Lexa and I took a walk on the boardwalk at night. The breeze from the ocean nearby felt incredible as we walked together, hand in hand.

"I'm so glad we're doing this," she said, "It's been really nice having you at my house in between your vacations, but I love that this is just the two of us, together. No parents, our own hotel room. It's a dream."

"Being here with you right now is a dream," I said to Lexa, shooting her a smile, "I sometimes still can't believe we went from being fuck buddies who refused to acknowledge our feelings to this."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Lexa smiled back at me, "I love you, Annabelle."

"I love you too, Lexa."

Lexa leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

I knew that we only had a couple of hours before Lexa's blue aura appeared, and she started recharging. We would have to go back to the hotel room, but before that, I wanted us to walk on the beach and sit by the ocean, which was exactly what we did.

Lexa sat beside me, her hand on mine.

"This is officially the best vacation I went on this summer," I said to her, watching as the waves gently crashed against the sand.

She turned to me, "Really, even better than London and Bora Bora?"

"Yes, and I mean that. Being here with you is better than the both of them combined."

Lexa smiled at me softly, "That means a lot, Annabelle. You never fail to surprise me, and learning that this has been your favorite vacation has certainly surprised me."

"You know, you never fail to surprise me as well," I nudged Lexa, "Being half alien and all."

Lexa rolled her eyes but smiled, "Ha ha. You're hilarious."

"On a serious note, there still is so much more for me to learn regarding that...I still have questions. But I never want to force you to open up. I know it's not easy for you to just casually talk about."

"You're right, it's not. I still have this fear that you're going to find it to be too weird or something, and want nothing to do with me."

I looked at my girlfriend earnestly, "That's not going to happen, Lexa. Ever."

Lexa looked down at the sand for a moment, and as she looked back at me, she said, "There is actually something I wanted to talk with you about further...regarding me...not fully being a human."

"You can tell me," I said. My anxiety rose, but at the same time, I was glad Lexa wanted to open up to me more.

"Those from Atlantica have an extremely long life expectancy," Lexa said, looking right at me, "As in, like, hundreds of years."

I was silent for a moment as I took in what Lexa just said to me.

Finally, I asked her, "You're going to live hundreds of years?"

She nodded, "As far as I know. I've been wanting to tell you, Annabelle. I just...well, I didn't quite know how. Up until meeting you, I never put a lot of thought into it. Now I have been."

"Why is that?" I asked Lexa.

"Not to sound morbid here...because if things work out with us like I very much hope they do, I'll lose you long before I one day pass away. And that thought really terrifies me."

I felt immediately weighed down and saddened by Lexa's statement, yet also touched that she even was thinking that far ahead.

I looked at Lexa and laced my fingers into hers against the sand.

"Thank you for telling me," I said to her, "I know it's much easier said than done...but let's try to not think about that too much right now. If all goes to plan, I'll be around for quite a while longer. We have plenty of time together."

Lexa smiled softly, "I'll focus on that. I'll focus on the here and now as well, and enjoying this vacation with you. Which I have to tell you, I'm not sure if I believe it is even better than Bora Bora."

I broke out into laughter, cutting the tension, "I promise you, it is! Anywhere with you is where I want to be."

Lexa laughed as well, "I feel the same, Annabelle. Anywhere with you is where I want to be as well."