Alexa and Katie in the Future (Part 1)

Chapter Twelve - Katie

I was so close to being home with Alexa that I couldn't stand it. I was so giddy as we got off the exit closest to my house. Just five minutes before I would see Alexa! It had been way too long.

As I got closer to home, I remembered that I would get to see Aidan too, which made me even happier. The smile on my face was permanent.

"You must be so excited to see Alexa," my mom smiled.

"More than you know," I grinned.

"Just don't forget about her with all of your new friends at school. You both are still going to need each other so much," my mom suggested.

"Mom, I love you, but I don't need the psychology side of you to jump in. I will never ever forget about Alexa," I laughed. Considering the fact that I hadn't really made any new friends, Alexa was one of my only friends besides Hannah, Reagan and kind of Gwenny.

I wondered if I would be able to see Hannah and Reagan when I got back. Sometimes they visited family during Thanksgiving, and we really hadn't talked since I left for college. I realized how alone I was because I lived so far from everyone else.

When I turned into the driveway, I immediately got out, ran inside my house, and very quickly greeted Joe and Jack. Then I sprinted up the stairs to the tree that Alexa and I shared between our houses. The tree always meant something to us, but it seemed to mean even more now.

I opened my window and saw Alexa was already in the tree. Even better, she was wearing the sweatshirt that I sent her from NYU! We were practically twins because I was wearing the sweatshirt that she sent me from UNC.

We hugged and started talking right where we left off on our last FaceTime call, which felt like way too long ago. Everything was so perfect, I never wanted it to end. I hoped that Alexa felt the same way.

"Girls! It's time for Family Game Night!" Lori called from the yard.

"We'll be right there!" Alexa yelled back.

"I'm so glad that we get to have this week together," Alexa smiled.

"Me too," I smiled back.

We walked together through Alexa's house and to the kitchen to start playing games, and I got an amazing surprise! Aidan was sitting on the couch, waiting for me.

"Aidan!" I squealed. I didn't typically act all giggly like a middle school girl around him, but it had been too long to hold in all of my emotions.

"Wow, you were up there for hours," Aidan smiled while rolling his eyes.

"There's no way we were," I sarcastically said.

"No, really, it's like 9:00."

I couldn't believe that Aidan had been here all that time and I didn't even know!

I sat on the couch next to Aidan and put my head on his shoulder. It felt so natural that I didn't want to leave when Alexa tugged me over to the table. That was when I noticed what Aidan was wearing.

"Wait... Did you get that shirt for me?" I asked.

"Well, sort of," Aidan smirked.

His shirt matched the one Alexa was wearing, but I never sent him a t-shirt from NYU.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I was accepted into the NYU Art School!" Aidan exclaimed.

"Oh my gosh! Aidan, that's amazing!" I ran into his arms and hugged so tight that I could feel him struggling to breathe. He was going to be with me for school for the entire next semester! Maybe even the next 3 years!

"I'm so excited to spend the next 3 years with you, Katie. I've saved up a ton of money from working at Wired, and my parents said that they could pitch in some money too. For the rest of it, I'll just take out some loans, but I think it's going to be pretty cool," Aidan explained.

I turned to look at my and Alexa's family, questioning with my eyes if they knew about this, but they didn't seem to. I was so flustered and excited that I didn't know what to do with myself.

"What a better way to celebrate than to play some games!" Dave held up his glass of wine.