Spring Break Secret by Holly Rayner
Tom
Tom woke the next morning feeling a warm happiness all throughout him. Louisa was tangled up beside him, still sleeping.
He could have stayed there forever, basking in the morning sunlight coming through the windows, gazing down at Louisa’s gorgeous form.
But there was a loud knock on the door, the overlapping voices of his buddies. “Tom, hey!” they yelled. “We’ve got to leave for the airport in fifteen. Are you all packed?”
“Plus, Nick’s really sunburned!”
“Yeah, come see this! He’s like a lobster.”
More knocking, then Nick’s voice. “Tom, do you know where we put that aloe lotion Jason’s mom made us bring?”
“One minute, guys.” Tom sighed and dragged himself out of bed.
Louisa, awoken by the noise, lifted her head and smiled. “Good morning,” she said, her voice still thick with sleep.
“Morning, beautiful,” Tom said, grabbing his stuff off the floor and tossing it into his suitcase.
“Are you leaving?” Louisa asked, blinking and rubbing her eyes.
“Unfortunately. Flying back to Boston.” Tom hated to admit it, but it was just the truth. “Aren’t you leaving today too?”
Louisa sat up in bed, her smile disappearing as the reality of their situation also dawned on her. “My flight is this afternoon. Classes in Berkeley start again tomorrow.”
Tom didn’t know what to say, so he just focused on trying to fold a T-shirt before giving up and shoving it in with the rest of his messy clothes. He’d send it all out for cleaning as soon as he got back, anyway.
“I’ll miss you,” Louisa said, interrupting his thoughts.
“I’ll miss you too.” Tom felt a strong desire to climb back into bed with Louisa, to hold her tight and never let go. But he knew that if he did that, he would only make it harder on himself.
And on her.
“We could…” Louisa began, tracing a thread on the comforter with one delicate finger. She did not finish her thought.
Tom didn’t say anything, waiting for Louisa to continue. He didn’t know what he was hoping she would say.
“I have a friend,” Louisa continued, finally. “At Berkeley. She tried to stay with her high school boyfriend, even though he was going to school on the other side of the country. They thought they could make things work long distance.”
“Did they?” Tom asked, tugging the zipper closed on his suitcase.
“No.” Louisa’s voice sounded sad. “They ended up making each other really unhappy, always worried about what the other person was doing, miserable about not being able to see each other.”
“I don’t want to make you unhappy,” Tom said, finally leaving his packing behind and joining Louisa on the bed. He sat stiffly on the edge of the mattress, not touching her except for taking one of her hands between his.
“I don’t want that either,” Louisa said, squeezing his hand. “Maybe we should just…let this be a vacation thing.”
Tom could feel his heart breaking in his chest, even as he knew Louisa was completely right. “This is supposed to be my last real vacation for a while. Business school is all apprenticeships and internships from now on.”
Louisa looked about as sad as Tom felt. “Well, I hope it was a good one, then.”
“It was amazing.” Tom stopped fighting himself and leaned over to kiss Louisa again, passionate and bittersweet, wanting to hold onto the memory of her for the rest of his life.
They were again interrupted by Nick knocking on the door. “We’ve gotta go, man,” he called, sounding almost apologetic.
“Hey,” Louisa said, holding Tom’s face close to hers. “Your parents may have planned your whole life out for you, but in the end, it’s up to you. You can make whatever future you want.”
“Thanks,” Tom murmured, giving Louisa one last quick kiss before disentangling himself. “I’ll walk you out.”
As Louisa walked down the driveway of the beach house, her sandals dangling from one hand, she turned back and waved to Tom. He returned it, then clambered into the rental car, which was now crowded with all four boys and their luggage. Kevin and Jason were recounting their exploits from the night before and trying to poke Nick’s burned shoulders, while Nick was trying to dodge their fingers and asking Tom a question about how to get to the airport, but Tom barely heard them.
All he could think about was Louisa, and what she had said to him about his life being his own. He wished it were that simple.