Forever and Always His

Epilogue

Epilogue

                                5 Years Later: Age 22

                Dear Riley,

                                I came back to town two weeks ago and went over to your house. Your mother answered the door and said that you weren’t there. She also told me that you transferred colleges during your second year. You finally did it, Riley; you got into the college of your dreams. Congrats. Although I was really hoping to see you, I know that you’re following your dreams of becoming a writer, and Brown University is just the place for you to do that.

                                I also heard from your mom that you are coming back really soon- for Aerial and Alex’s wedding. My family was invited, as well. I’m really hoping to see you there. The last time I saw you was at graduation, and the last time I spoke to you was halfway through our freshman year in college. I know things didn’t end well between us, but I miss you.

                                                                                                                                                See you soon,

                                                                                                                                                     Everett

                I gulped, staring down at the letter written in fine ink in my palms. The edges of the sheet were crumpled- most likely because I was clutching onto the letter with such force. My lips were parted and I was pretty much speechless. This was the first time I’ve had any sort of communication with Everett since I ended our relationship during our second semester in university. Things just weren’t working out for us. He was studying in California and I was across the country in Rhode Island. We were in different time zones, making it hard for us to call each other. I remember that I had to go through three whole weeks without speaking to Everett. I called him every so often within that period of time, but every single time I dialed him, he wouldn’t answer. Occasionally, I’d get a text from him telling me that he was busy, and he’d promise to call back. But, he never did. It was then when I finally realized that it just wasn’t going to work out for us.

                It was a Saturday evening, nearly midnight. While my two roommates left campus to go clubbing downtown, I was studying for my midterm. My head was aching and the words on the textbook had started to become blurry from me trying to memorize them for three hours straight. I rubbed my forehead with exhaustion, rubbing my tired eyes. Just as I was about to close my textbook, my phone buzzed right beside it. Everett’s name came flashing on the screen, surprising me. This was the first time he’d tried to reach out to me in the past three weeks.

                I sighed, debating on whether or not to answer his call. Part of me was telling me no, mostly because I was extremely overwhelmed. But, the other part of me was shouting yes, because I missed him, a lot.

                I finally made up my mind and reached for my phone, pressing the green answer button before holding it up to my left ear. “Hello?” I softly said, leaning my elbow against my desk.

                There was a still silence on the other line before Everett spoke up. “Riley, hey.” He paused. “Are you up? You sound pretty tired.”