A Summer to Remember

ways to get my mind off Adrian leaving.
    “I can. I just thought you might want to spend sometime alone tonight.”
    “No. That’s the last thing I need.”
    “Okay, how about a girls night? Pizza, movies, popcorn?”
    “Sounds amazing.” I forced a smile.

    The drive home didn’t seem long enough this time. Whenever I wanted time to move slowly, it seemed like everything went in fast forward. We dropped Lily off at her house and drove to our place. The drive was quiet. I thought about breaking the silence several times but I was afraid if I even tried to speak, I would fall apart. I was pretty sure the lump in my throat had become permanent.
    When we got home, Adrian went into his parents’ house to say goodbye and I decided to head up to the apartment. When I walked in the door and looked around, I noticed that not much had changed. He was only taking clothes with him, so the only thing that was empty was the dresser and his bathroom drawer. I could think of it like he was at work, except we wouldn’t be spending nights and weekends together. Who was I kidding? There was no way around this; it wasn’t going to be easy.

    When the time came to go to the airport, I called Lily to come pick us up. She and I both decided it’d probably be best for her to drive since I’d be in no shape to drive after he left. She was there in a few short minutes and we were on our way. How was I going to do this? I really didn’t think I could. We should’ve just said our goodbyes at the house. I’d never cared for airports.
    Adrian placed his hand on my leg. He sat next to me in the backseat. I knew he was just trying to comfort me, but it made me sick knowing I wouldn’t be able to be this close to him for the next few months. I tried to make the best of our last few moments together, so I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes to help hold the tears back.
    “Ava, I’m just going to drop you guys off and circle around. Call me when you’re ready to be picked up.” Lily pulled into the drop off section of the airport.
    “Sounds good.” My voice crackled. Adrian and I got out of the car and he grabbed his suitcase from the trunk. I followed him in and waited to the side while he found a kiosk and checked in.
    “Well, I guess I better get to my gate.” I nodded and he pulled me in to his chest. I couldn’t hold it back any longer. I fell apart. “Please don’t cry. Just think how fast the summer went by. Winter will be here before you know it. Especially with school and Lily keeping you busy.”
    “I can’t do this. I don’t know how I’m going to do this.” I managed to get out between sobs.
    “Yes, you can. And you’re going to do this because we’ll Skype every day and you can call or text whenever you want. You also have a great friend to stay with you. I’m sure you’ve gotten through a lot harder things than this.” He was probably right. But at the moment, I couldn’t think of anything I’d been through worse than this.
    “I love you.”
    “I love you, too, Ava. We’ll get through this. I know it.”
    “You’re right.” I wiped the tears from my face. “You better get to your gate.” He pulled my face towards his and kissed me slowly on the lips. I tried to take in every last detail I could before he let go.
    “Well, well, well. Look who it is!” I heard a girl’s voice from behind me. It sounded familiar but I couldn’t quite remember why. When I turned around, it was Sam. “Funny seeing you here.” She smiled at Adrian, acting as if I wasn’t standing right next to him. “Oh wait…you took that job in Florida, didn’t you?”
    “Yeah I did,” Adrian answered.
    “Are you on the two thirty five flight outta here?” she asked, still ignoring me.
    “Yeah.” Adrian looked at me.
    “What a small world. So am I!” My stomach dropped. I had been hoping and praying we’d never have to run into Sam again and now here she was. And she was going to be on the same flight to Florida as Adrian…great! “We should probably get through security. Our plane leaves in a little bit.” Sam smiled slyly while trying to appear helpful.
    “I’m going to spend a few more minutes with Ava.” Sam looked at me.
    “Well, nice seeing you again, Ava.” She gave me one of her fake smiles. I knew she was just trying to get me. “I’ll see you in there.” She rubbed Adrian’s arm as she walked past us to the security line. It took everything in me not to reach over and rip