The Dating Game

Chapter Forty-Seven

Juliet

It was just another uneventful day of school – well, uneventful to a certain degree when it came to Justin and my lives at school, being deemed freaks – but by the time I got home, my whole outlook on it amended.

Dad called out from his study, "Sport, the colleges you applied to have replied back. They're in here with me!"

Apparently in the moments of normality before the shock had inhabited my body, I was merely meandering up the stairs until those dreaded words were uttered. Shock and abhorrence now dominating my body and all other accompanied emotions that I would have preferred to be more accustomed with, I now had to traipse back to Dad's study. It was the utmost shameful walk I have ever done.

"You got a response back from both West Chance College and the Manhattan School of Music in New York. Why did you apply to West Chance College, sport? They mainly focus on the academic learning rather than the creative arts."

Applying to colleges outside of this state would be deemed venturing out into the deep, relentlessly ferocious oceans and I am a poor swimmer, Dad, was what I actually wanted to say.

What I really replied with was, "It's close to home, and I don't want to leave you on your own."

Dad smiled as if he was filled with sentiment and nostalgia. "I understand what you mean, sport, but this is your own future and I don't want to stand in the way of it. You're going to travel out someday and when you do, I'm going to be sat waiting here patiently for you. I can cope on my own, you know."

Smiling, I nodded.

"So, are you going to open the responses? They're quite big envelopes, sport."

"Now?"

"Yeah," he prompted. "Start with West Chance College first. Does Justin know where you applied to?"

"No, I haven't told him."

Delicately fondling the letter, it felt like a bomb. Maybe not in the physical form of one, but mentally it felt like I was holding a bomb that was going to detonate imminently. Eventually deciding to be conclusive about this whole fear of colleges, I bit the bullet and began tearing the first one which was from West Chance College.

Scanning the first few lines, I gasped. "I got in, Dad," I breathed, "I just need an A in Music and then anything above a B in my other lessons." I paused as realisation sank in. "I got in."

Dad smiled at me in prior to standing up and holding me close to him. "Of course you would, sport, you're an amazing musician. Now, what about the Manhattan School of Music?"

Handing the West Chance College reply back to Dad, he read through the letter as I nimbly tore open the top of the Manhattan School of Music's reply. Retrieving the piece of paper out from the white envelope, I repeated the protocol of scanning the first few lines. This time, the realisation took a lot longer to sink in.

"I got in.... I got in..." I kept repeating. "Dad, I got in!"

Overwhelmed with contentment, Dad hugged me tightly for several minutes as I stared down to the floor. My stomach, previously been churning, was now calming like after a storm when the weather begins to settle primarily. Throughout the embrace, on the other hand, all I could think about was what Justin would say.

"What do you need to get in?"

"An A in Music and a B or higher in the rest of my classes like the first."

Dad pulled back and smiled down at me. He kissed my hair and said, "Now, I think you had better tell Justin the good news, don't you? I can hold dinner if you want until you get back."

"Thanks, Dad."

Running upstairs, I put my bag upstairs but kept a hold of the letters back from the colleges. I quickly called Justin to notify him of the impromptu meeting at the park and he obliged, declaring he'd be there in a few minutes. Hastening my pace down to the park, my nerves were beginning to bundle together again, rather than unwinding and calming me down. Now I was just tense and anxious.

Sitting on a bench at the far end of the park, Justin took awhile before he finally detected my presence. He sat down next to me, fleetingly wavering before asking what was going on. Then I held out my college replies and he took them daintily off me.

"You applied to college and these are the replies back?" he clarified.

"Yeah," I breathed. "I applied to West Chance College and the Manhattan School of Music. I got in both. You can read the letters if you want."

Justin nodded, withdrawing the letters from the envelopes. "That's great news, Juliet. You should definitely go to the Manhattan School of Music in New York. It would be great for you." His less than half-hearted speech was a little concerning.

"Is something wrong?"

"I got a college reply back today, too," he said, stuffing the letters back into the envelopes and handing me them back. I put the envelopes on my lap. "It was from West Chance College. I applied for the Music program there, like you. I got in, too – well, I got the conditional offer like you."

"That's good," I said, "but how come you only applied there?"

"College requires money, and that's something I don't have. To go to West Chance College would be free. To go to the Manhattan School of Music would be expensive."

I frowned. "I didn't think about that. You know, I could always go to West Chance with you. I don't have to go to Manhattan. I would rather stay with you."

"Don't you dare do that," said Justin sternly, holding his hand against my shoulder. "I'm not going to let you amend your dream just because I'm going to be stuck here. I can write to you – I would love writing to you – and we can Skype, and visit at holidays. It'll be fine."

"But it'd be a long-distance relationship," I said, gulping. "Not many normal couples survive a long-distance relationship?"

Justin tilted his head, smiling at me before wrapping his arm further around me and bringing me closer. "Look at us. Are we really a normal couple?"

Chuckling I said, "No, but I love it."

In the next moments where silence lapsed, Justin's hand caressed my arm as I leaned into him, resting my cheek against his chest. He leaned his head down onto mine and then said, "You're going to go to Manhattan, and we're going to make this work."

Despite how emotional I was beginning to feel, I held the tears back. But the words just came tumbling out. "But what if I'm in New York and something happens and I end up in hospital? No one's going to be there and I'd have to wait for you and Dad to come out to me. I wouldn't see anyone..."

"Nothing's going to happen," he said. "Absolutely nothing. You're a strong-willed girl, and you're going to smash these exams, graduate from West Chance High, and you're going to go to the Manhattan School of Music, and you're going to graduate from there, too. In fact, we're both going to graduate from here together, and then you're going to live your high-end dream in New York and make me envious when you send postcards, alright?" There was an evident smile in his voice which was perceptible when he spoke.

Smiling back, despite all of the insecurities and doubts governing everything else, I said, "Promise?"

"Pinkie," he said back, lacing his pinkie with my own.

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Author's Note:

So yeah, this was a short chapter, but how did you guys find it? I apologise for the filler, but I want to showcase more of their relationship. But they got into the colleges!! Do you think Juliet will stay with Justin at West Chance College or she'll go to Manhattan? Leave your predictions in the comments please!! :)))

Thank you :) x