What Would Have Happened Pt. 1 contd.

(Listen to Crazy, Katie Herzig)

Our final school semester for the year was almost over.  Maddening hours spent the last few weeks before graduation had put Tyler into a frenzy.  I couldn't seem to keep him focused for anything.  We spent every free hour together, either playing volleyball, studying, or just sitting out underneath the stars, listening to the beautiful silence.  In a way, I almost felt like he was distancing himself. There was something just under the surface that he was determined not to tell me, straining across the wordless gap surrounding us.

Tyler bounded down the hallway, trying to gauge Ash's local.  "Hey, we need to talk."
  Timidly, she brushed her finger on his chest, her mind raced to conclude the unknown.  "What's going on?"  Hesitation filtered out the fear.
  "Nothing.  I just need to ask you something."

Tiptoeing to the end of the hallway, Ash slipped through the screen door on her back porch. She could view Tyler's truck in the shadows of the street, his engine lightly humming.

Applying light pressure, she eased the door to close.  Sweeping her gaze over him, she managed to make out the twinkles behind his dimmed expression.  "You don't look too happy."
  He shrugged.  "I guess I'm not."
  "Want to talk about it now?"
  "There's not much to really say.  But I need to know what you think, first."
  The silence spoke for her, revealing too little.
  He cleared his throat.  "I got accepted to UA on a football scholarship. I thought it was going to be a long shot, but they want me.  I be gone for awhile, but its soon enough that i won't get to see you for much longer.  They start practicing toward the end of next month.  I want to know how you feel about this. I mean, you're gonna be here, and i'll be down there.  It's about 7 hours away.  I just don't know how...."
  "How we would make it that far apart?"
  "Yeah."
  "I guess we'll find out.  But honestly, i think it's awesome you got accepted.  That's been you and your dad's thing now for..ages.  I feel like the world would have gone out of alignment if you hadn't gotten accepted there." 
  "You really mean it?  Are you really, REALLY, happy? Or are you just saying this to make me happy?"
  Batting proud lashes at him, she curled into his side.  "Now tell me, how many girls can say that their boyfriend is gonna be the star football player for 'Bama?! Not many! Of course I'm excited, baby."
 

And I really was.  I wanted what was best for him.  For him to have everything, and for nothing to be out of his reach was all that mattered.  In the back of my mind, the sense of loss had already started registering, but I pushed it away, hoping it would go away with time.

Tyler had made his salutatorian's speech flawlessly, laughter peeling through the gyms auditorium at the right moments, tears accompanying his brief reminisces.  Barbeque was eaten, cake was split, and overall jovialty was shared over Tyler's acceptance.  Sitting back, Ash day dreamed, adoring the love of her life from a distance, watching him interact with the different members from his class and family.