Pinky Promises and Late Night Whispers

“Do you ever dream about leaving here?” Corey whispers fingers laced through my own as we lay beneath a piece of the starry night sky.

“I-I guess,” I whisper back with a small shrug, “I like it here though,”

He turns to me and I can barely make out his face in the darkness that had surrounded us since we had arrived at the lake, “If it wasn’t for you, Allie, I would be out of here,”

Slightly smiling, I tip my head back to look him full on in the face, “If you ever leave, let me know first, okay?”

“Only if you promise to let me go and move on,” his voice holds laughter like he is joking, but I can tell he is as serious as he had ever been.

I hold out my pinky finger, “Promise,” I whisper.

“Promise,” he loops his pinky finger around my own and pulls me close. Resting my head on his chest I hope he will keep his promise.

-

“Congratulations, Allie!” My friends and family celebrate pulling me into hugs and planting kisses on my blushing cheeks. I thank them all while subtly looking around for Corey who I find seconds later standing off to the edge of the crowd.

I motion him to my side and smile when he jogs over and gives me a feathery kiss, light enough that I barely feel it on my lips. “You did it, Allie.” He says, smiling down at me, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear.

“So did you,” I tug on his blue tie that matches his stunning eyes, “we’re graduates.”

“Do you remember freshman year, at the lake?” He asks out of nowhere, grabbing my hand and tugging me over to a wooden bench.

I laugh as he drags me along, “Pinky promises?”

Smiling at the memory he says, “Yeah.”

“Of course, so which college have you picked?” I change the subject quickly from the past to the future worried about where he is going with the topic.

He starts to answer but just then my Aunt calls me over for family pictures.

He squeezes my hand before I leave and smiles unhappily, his frown lingering in my mind for hours after.

-
That night I lay in bed thinking about the night he had brought up earlier. Of course I had remembered; how could I forget the promise he had made to me so long ago? Just like he can tell I’m thinking about him, I hear a tap on my window like a small stone and I hurry over to the window glancing out, catching Corey’s shadow.

He places a finger to his lips and motions for me to come downstairs.

I quickly tie my hair up and wince when my door squeals as I open it, but seconds later I’m racing down the stairs and swinging my front door open; but Corey doesn’t stand there. He doesn’t meet me with a kiss or one of his genuine smiles.

I just find a heart, a heart that had recently been drawn on my screen door in white window paint. It takes me only a second to realize what this means, he’s gone.

Memories of us together flash through my mind one after another; our first kiss and date, senior prom, late nights at the lake, and so many more wonderful memories. Moments that at the time I had never wanted to end.

A single tear runs down my cheek but I brush it away, he had finished his part of the deal. It was time to live out mine. I press my right hand to the center of the heart for a second and then return to my room.

The heart lasts for a week before a harsh rain storm washes it away, I counted the days it remained, sorrowful that it was gone but ready for the future, whatever it may bring.

I think about Corey as I head to the small community college in the fall. Close to home, what I had always wanted.

Corey, he had wanted more and now he is getting it, getting to see the world and lay down his responsibilities for some adventure.

He doesn’t need me to hold him back in this little town anymore.

He’s free.