Page 68 of Clichés & Curses

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said in a slightly harsh tone, her shoulders tensed. ‘I was just trying to see if I could get in. I wasn’t planning on actually going there.’

‘Please,’ I scoffed. ‘Northwestern has always been the only choice, more so now that you got in. Why are you even considering other options?’

‘Clara—’

I cut her off. ‘I’ll be fine, Eliza.’ My voice was soft, finally addressing the real reason why she was listing off alternative colleges in the first place. At that moment, I could see her internal struggle: choosing whether to follow her dreams, or be the responsible older sister she had always been.

‘It’s too far, Clara,’ she sighed, giving in to the fight. ‘I can’t just leave you behind like that.’

‘And I can’t let you say goodbye to your dream college for me.’

‘You’re much more important to me than my dream college,’ she said, her voice just as soft. ‘You know that.’

‘I do. But I also know how hard you’ve worked to have come this far,’ I told her. ‘I can’t let you do this, not for me.’

The room was silent as the words we had just spoken lingered in the air.

I opened my mouth and said the last part of the unspoken truth that I knew she needed to hear. ‘The divorce wasn’t your fault, Eliza. You shouldn’t have to bear the consequences of it for my sake.’

‘I had six more years with them together than you did, Clara. Me not going to Northwestern is a small price to pay,’ she replied.

I rose from her bed and went over to her, wrapping my arms around her. ‘I’ll be fine, Eliza,’ I repeated, trying to make her—and myself—believe the words.

She patted my arms as she said, ‘I know you will.’

And we just stayed like that, wrapped in each other’s arms, taking comfort in one another.

It still took a lot of convincing on my side to reassure Eliza that I would be fine on my own, and that she wasn’t selfish for choosing Northwestern for the next chapter of her life.

I won’t lie, though I was happy she ended up going to Northwestern, there were moments during her college years when I wished she was just a two-hour drive away, instead of a two-hour flight away—moments when life got a little too much. But it also gave me the space that I needed to grow on my own.

While Eliza might not be there physically, she was always one call away. Since starting her freshman year in college, Eliza had made sure to always block out time from her full schedule each week to give me a call and for us to catch up, with our conversations ranging from big announcements to small daily occurrences.

And her coming down to visit me was definitely something I would’ve remembered if she had told me.

‘Come in!’ I invited her, after we pulled away from our hug. ‘What are you doing here? And how come you didn’t tell me you were in town?’

‘Well, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if I had told you,’ she said. ‘And it was a last-minute thing. There’s a conference here and one of the journalists who was supposed to come withdrew her place because she got sick, so I thought I would fill in.’

She then added, ‘Plus, it’s an all-expenses paid trip to see you for a weekend. I couldn’t possibly say no to the opportunity.’

I laughed at her. Leave it to Eliza to fully optimize all the opportunities sent her way.

‘Where’s Nina?’ she asked as she made her way to the living room, settling herself on the couch.

‘Training,’ I answered back while rummaging through my fridge for some beverages. ‘Do you want anything to drink?’

‘Water, please.’

Taking out a glass from the kitchen cabinet, I filled it with water before heading toward her.

‘Here you go.’ I handed her the glass and took my seat beside her.

‘Thank you.’ She instantly took a huge gulp, her eyes catching the open Word document on my laptop. ‘What are you doing by the way?’

‘Just some assignments.’ I shrugged. ‘I’m almost done though; I just need to do my conclusion.’

‘Well, I’ll tell you what. You finish this up and I’ll treat you to dinner as a reward.’

---