Two Thousand Miles Away

Chapter 26

Jacob

"Oh my gosh, it's snowing!" Ella squealed as we walked out of precalculus. One thing I learned very quickly about Ella was that she loved snow. The first snowfall in Boulder is normally in October. But it'd been weirdly late this year - November 9th. I'd heard a lot about how much it disappointed Ella.

I wrapped my arm around my girlfriend. "You're such a dork."

Ella whipped around on her heels, turning to face me. "Snow is no joking matter. I've wanted it to snow for weeks now but has it. Nope."

I laughed and turned her around, sliding my arm back around her shoulders. "Okay, I get it. This is important."

Ella made a dramatic move of grabbing her hat out of her pocket and plopping it on her head with a smile. I tapped the Colorado logo. "When did you get that?"

Ella took the hat off her head and examined the logo as if she didn't know it was there. A small smile fell on her face. "My dad got this for me when I was 13. I was getting really into Colorado by then and he surprised me with it on Christmas."

I thought about what she said for awhile. She always knew what she wanted. I didn't understand how she could stick to one thing for so many years. But I guess she wasn't as much running towards it. She was trying to run from her past to a brighter future. I hoped that she found it.

We walked in silence back to Ella's dorm. Tomorrow we had our homecoming game and my brain was already focused on the win. As we walked, I thought about the fight Ella and I had weeks ago. It was wrong of me to go off on her about, well, me. I'd dragged this whole penpal thing out for way too long. I never should have came up with the lie in the first place. But now I'd dug myself into a very deep whole that I wasn't going to be able to get out of.

"Do you wanna get something to eat?" Ella asked as she kicked at the snow already piled on the ground.

I nodded and bit my lip. I let my arm direct her to the nearest little cafe thing. When we reached the small study, cafe thing we quickly found a table and stripped ourself of our winter coats.

Ella and I frequently hung out here to study. There was a coffee shop on one side and a Subway - Ella's favorite restaurant - on the other. I walked over to the coffee shop to get our drinks as Ella went to grab our subs.

When we came back Ella gave me my italian BMT as I handed her the coffee. We ate in silence for a few minutes. A phone beeped and Ella grabbed her phone. She sipped her coffee as she texted someone. I stared at her phone case. It was clear but had flowers on it. She used a popsocket even though it was out of trend. She said that it saved her phone from death many times. Which is true, I've seen it.

She stared at a text, her coffee lid was on her lips but she wasn't drinking it. Then suddenly, as if a switch was flipped, she slammed both items on the table. I started to laugh but then got glared at. "You okay?" I asked as I sipped my white chocolate mocha.

Ella glared again. "I don't know Mr. Fru-Fru-Drinks. Do I look happy?"

I placed my hand over my heart. "El, you've wounded me."
Ella rolled her eyes - the reaction I was looking for - and sighed dramatically. "Dad says that I can't go home for Thanksgiving."

I attempted to put on a shocked face but I really wasn't surprised. We only got a four day break for Thanksgiving. If you couldn't drive home then you weren't going home. "Why?" I asked as I drank more of my mocha. I was proud to be Mr. Fru-Fru-Drinks.

"It cost so much to fly home and I'd already be losing two days just with flying. Dad says it's just not worth it." Ella sighed again and placed her head in her hands.

"You could come home with me," I offered, not even registering what I'd said. When my brain understood what I said I realized I didn't regret my offer at all. Weird.

Ella's head popped up. "What?" she asked, a nervous smile on her face. It was like she was excited but wanted to make sure that this was for real.

I leaned back in my chair, feeling more confident about my offer. "Come back to Durango with me. You can meet my family and stuff your face with my mom's amazing food.

"Um...Okay," Ella said.