Just for a Moment

Just a few more hours until the bus picks me up to leave campus and start a new year, independently. I sigh as I look around my room; the packed bags, the empty walls, the stripped bed. It’s a lot to take in.

I flop onto the bed and stretch my arms out in front of me; I’m so bored. None of my friends are available to hang out right now because of rehearsal for the Major show, which sucks since it’s my last day. I spent the day packing up and cleaning my room, my chest filling with more and more anticipation as the hours tick away. After lunch I ran some errands like taking the bed covers and sheets to the laundry room.

After flicking the TV on, there’s a knock on my door. I jump up and run to it, excited that someone might be available to hang out with me before I leave. I fling the door open and am more than pleased with who’s waiting on the other side.

“Hi Vic,” I blush.

“Hey Ally bear,” he smiles, letting himself in. He takes a look around the room and shoved his hands into his pocket. He pursed his lips as he scuffed his shoe on the floor. “So you’re really leaving, huh?”

“Only for a little while,” I say standing beside him.

“A year isn't a little while, Ally.”

“You’re right…” I bite my lip and run my hand across my desk.

Ugh. I have to be a grown up and go furniture shopping, pay for my own bills, and live on my own. It’s crazy how fast things go. I walk over to the full body mirror and remember all the times I've stared into this mirror, either hating my reflection or adoring my appearance. I remember my first week of school and how I went all out on my outfits. Winter Fest when I wore that beautiful red and black gown. The night of the major show when, Naomi cut my hair and put blue highlights into it. Man, I spend a lot of time looking into this mirror. I glance over at my waste bin, thinking of the countless of letters I've received from Tally, not Max. I think about Naomi running over to me with her unopened pregnancy test. That girl is crazy. I walk up to it and swear I can see the glint of the razor blade at the bottom of the bin. I cringe and step back, absently stroking my left arm. When I realize that I've been doing this, I bring it up to my face to examine it. Vic walks beside me and gently grabs my arm. He looks me in the eyes as he raises my arm and brushes his finger across my scar, as if he’s saying, ‘I’m here for you.’ I smile at his gesture and look out the window.

I had taken the curtains down, so now I can see the campus from the room. It’s a nice clear and sunny day, no signs of clouds anywhere. It’s the absolute perfect day for the Major show; it will be a nice clear and starry night to see the awesome performances. I’m obviously not in it this year; I haven’t had time to really get my performance together due to all the stress I’ve had. Mrs. Jones empathized with me and after talking to the headmaster, they agreed on giving me other work to do while the groups broke off during class time to practice. I snort and look down at my feet; I never knew the school of my dreams would cause this much drama for me.

Vic clears his throat to catch my attention.

“You’re not busy right now, right? Good.” He grabs my arm and tries to drag me out of the room without giving me the chance to answer.

“Hold on,” I say, halting at the door, “let me change first.”

“What’s wrong with what you’re wearing?” He gives me a once over and raises his eyebrow in emphasis.

“I’m in sweat pants and a tank top, Vic.” I roll my eyes, “not to mention I don’t have any shoes on.”

He mockingly rolls his eyes back at me and slumps into the desk chair, crossing his arms.

“Fine, go change.”

I place a hand on my hip and tap my foot, waiting for him to leave. When he doesn’t catch my drift I fish a pair of jean shorts and my multi-colored tribal print top from one of my bags. I close the door behind me when I get to the bathroom and change, making sure to fix my hair while I was at it. When I’m done I plant myself onto the bed and slip on the all black converse that I had left out for me to wear when I leave.

“Come on,” Vic says, getting up from the chair.

“Don’t rush me,” I sticking my tongue out at him.

“Hey, you could’ve gone in what you were wearing. It looked just fine to me.”

I smack him lightly on his arm.

“What?” He grabs his arm and smirks. “It would have been quicker.”

Vic led me to the student lounge as I tried to contact Lizzy, but she wouldn’t answer her phone. I wanted to ask her to hang out with us for old times’ sake, but I guess she was too busy. When we get inside, the lights are mysteriously off, which confused me. I mean I guess it makes sense, since everyone is getting ready for the show tonight. Which reminds me…?

“Why aren’t you getting ready for the show tonig-”

“Surprise!!!”

The lights flick on and everyone from the group is here with big goofy grins on their faces. I smile when I realize what they did for me and screech in joy. Lizzy rushes up to me and embraces me, her little body pushing close against mine.

“Thank you,” I whisper in her ear.

She lets go and smiles, “you’re welcome, little sister.”

We send the next two hours partying and just having a good time with our friends. I especially enjoyed the ice cream theme. There was an ice cream buffet which I happily helped myself to several times throughout the party. Hey, this is for me after all; shouldn’t I take advantage? I took the time to talk to other people in the group like I’ve wanted to talk with lately; I just wished I would have done it sooner.

After the party, everyone stuck around to help clean then dispersed to prepare for the show. I was a little disappointed when I realized that Jack wasn’t there, but I shrugged it off as soon as I saw Vic approach me. My heart started to beat faster as I watched him, his perfect hair tucked into his notorious black beanie.

“It would be great if you stuck around for the show,” he says, looking past me and towards the outdoor stage.

“It would, wouldn’t it?” I smile, “of course I’m going to stay and watch the show.”

“Cool,” he beams, “see you in a bit, punk.”

I watch him as he runs off towards the studio, most likely to practice with his partners for this year. I don’t even remember when I started feeling this way about him, but everything he does is just cute. Ugh.

Around seven is when the show starts. I sit towards the middle and love the experience of watching the students perform this time around. I didn’t get to last year since I was in the show, and then left right after my performance. I was extremely impressed by Lizzy’s performance, it seems like she gets better each year. I mean I have been watching her since she was eight. I missed being on that stage. Then there was Hannah’s slide show, various pictures throughout the year, including her exotic themed photo shoot including Naomi, Megan, Daniel and I. Since she made it into the top five of her major last month, they squeezed her presentation in. The other performances were great, but the last one definitely put the icing on the cake. Kellin and Vic performed together, and it was amazing. They sang a song called King for a Day, and I knew it sounded familiar since Vic would hum certain parts of it around me sometimes. It’s a great song, and they were so full of energy, it felt like a legit concert!

After the show, I complemented the performers, leaving Lizzy for last. I gave her a big hug, kissed her, and told her that I loved her. I made her promise to me that she would visit, even bring her husband, if she wanted to. That caught her attention, so she agreed and told me to call her when I got to the apartment. She told me that she wouldn’t be able to see me off since Kellin’s parents were here and they were going to spend some time together. I told her that I understood and that I would call her later. She hugged me again, before she scurried off to meet up with her husband.

I returned to my room, checking it for about the fourth time today to make sure that I didn’t leave anything. After I gathered my bags into the hallway, I left the room key on the bed. I closed the door behind me, making sure to leave it unlocked. When I get to the main building, I ask the secretary how much time I had before the bus came. She told me that it would be arriving in ten minutes. I thanked her and smiled happy to have a little extra time. I am happy when I see that Naomi is standing at the bus stop waiting for me. I run and hug her, I think I will miss her most of all.