Coming Home (Complete)

Denied

"Yea, I can't believe you forgot!" she laughed. "I applied at St. John Fisher, Berkley, Brown and, of course, you're fav, NYU." she smiled, looking at him. "Why did you ask that? You know we applied at the same schools together."

"I know, but I just wanted to see if you would remember." that was the dumbest thing he could say. "Did you get any letters yet?"

“Not yet, but I am hoping soon! It really should be any day now. Did you get any acceptance letters yet?” She looked at him with excitement. “I know you are hoping for NYU!”

“NYU!” he completely forgot to tell her, he got his letter yesterday, but he was half asleep when he read it. "I got accepted to NYU and mom accepted it this morning for me, so I will officially be going with you to the big apple!"

“That’s amazing! I hope I get my letter soon. I really want to know at least one person at the school” she laughed to herself.

“I hope so. They have the perfect music program that I got into. It is an opportunity of a lifetime. I know you will love it.” He hugged her and packed his things and they both left to go to their respective houses.

They were walking in silence when she couldn't help but break it. "Hey, everything okay?" she questioned him. Her voice echoed with concern.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking. Maybe I do want to go to prom, but I don't know." he shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe it's a dumb idea."

"No it's not! What is stopping you?"

"Well, not having a date for one." he put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

"Well, just ask any girl in school, Josh! I am sure you won't get a no. Everyone loves you." he smiled at him, trying to lift his spirits.

"Yea...well...the one person I wanted to ask I think will say no." he said softly. You can sense the disappointment in his voice.

"Well, you never know unless you try!" she was really trying to get him excited.

"Nah, not worth it. She probably already has a date." he looked up to the sky. "It would probably be lame anyway."

She eyed him suspiciously. She wanted nothing more to make sure he was happy, but she didn't want to push the issue. She knew which issues to push and which to let go, and this was definitely one to let go. She approached closer to her house and hugged Josh and went inside, thinking about the exchange that had just happened.

Josh watched her as she walked inside. He had a somber smile. He stood there for a second, breathing in the cool spring air.

"Why was I stupid and waited..." he said quietly to himself. He kicked a rock that he saw on the road and proceeded to his house.

When Lindsey got home, she noticed a stack of letters from different schools. Her eyes went wide as she grabbed the stack, opening them one by one, but her last choice of school was first.

St. John Fisher - accepted. "Okay, I at least have somewhere to go," she said to herself.

Berkley - accepted. "Nice, but it's on the other side of the country, but an option."

Brown- accepted "EEEP! YAY!"

Her face fell on the NYU letter. Her heart was beating. Her hands were shaking. She really wanted to go there with Josh. She loved the city. She loved the programs. She loved the campus when they toured it. She felt like this is where she would belong. She opened the letter.

NYU- Denied

Her face dropped. That was the one school she wanted to go to. She wanted to be with him. Tears started to form in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away. She wasn’t going to let him drop his dreams though. She would do whatever possible to make sure he went. She tucked the letters away, planning on telling him she had been accepted, while sending out an email to Fisher, telling them she would go there. The schools were 7 hours away, but she knew they would make it work, it would be close to home and within a day of driving to him. They are best friends after all, so why was she hiding this from him?

They never brought up the topic of schools after that for a while. She avoided it at all costs.

Lindsey went shopping one day with her mom and her friends to get a prom dress. Josh was texting her, asking for her to send him pictures of the dresses that she was trying on. She was happy to oblige, wanting his opinion. It was important to her. At the end of the trip, she picked out this gorgeous form fitted a line dress that was midnight blue, a sweetheart neckline with crystals all on the bust that spread out to the bottom, looking like little stars were glimmering. To her, this was a dress that would make any man's mouth drop, but she only wanted one.

She took her phone out and messaged him.

*Hey, do you think you can meet me at my house the night of prom? I would love to get a picture with you, whether or not you're actually going. :)

He replied a few minutes later, longer than she hoped. He never took that long to respond.

*I wouldn't have it any other way.

He put his phone away and sighed. He decided he wasn't going to go. He didn't want to see her dancing with other guys, his heart couldn't take it. At that moment, Josh decided that he needed to start distancing himself from her, he was starting to develop feelings and he didn't know how much longer he could keep them hidden.

Time passed and the kids continued on with their senior year, spending time with each other but nowhere as much as they used to. She was hiding from him because of NYU and he was hiding from her because he was afraid of his feelings.

She couldn't hide it from him anymore.

*Hey Josh, can you meet me somewhere, I have something I really need to show you. She texted him

*Yeah, where would you like to meet? Swing?

*Yea, now.

She closed her phone and went to the porch swing, waiting for him to come over. About 5 minutes later, she saw him pull up to her house, hands in pocket. He looked up at her smiling, excited to see her, and then his expression fell. She was crying. She was holding a letter in her hand and crying.

"Hey Lindz, stop. What's wrong?" he rushed over to her and hugged her. She didn't say anything, just handed him the letter. He took it and looked. NYU was plastered across the top. He opened and read the letter, his expression fell as well and tears were starting to form.

"Hey, its okay! We will just go to another school. We both got into Fisher! They don't have a music program, but I can go for business," he said. He cupped her face to try to calm her down. She burst into tears.

"No! I can't let you do that. You need to follow your passions. I just couldn't hide it from you any longer." she said in between sobs.

"Any longer?" Josh was confused. "What do you mean? How long have you known?"

"A few weeks." she couldn't look at him "I couldn't tell you. I knew you would do this. That is why I was excited when you said you had already accepted NYU's offer. I'll just go to Fisher."

"You should have told me! We could have figured something out. I can call the dean. I can call admissions." he stood up and started pacing.

"Its no use Josh. I tried. I guess it was something to do with my essay. It was good, just not great for them. But I guess it was good enough to get into Brown." she laughed to herself. "We will make it work, we always will. Fisher is close to home, so when you come home I will be here and it's only a 7 hour drive!" Lindsey always tried to look into the bright side of things. This was something that Josh admired.

"Fine, you're lucky I love you." he said while laughing. He hugged her hard and pulled away real quick, and looked deep into her eyes. "No more secrets, okay?"

"No more secrets."