Page 58 of Somewhere Only We Know
“We’re game.” We all agree and finally place our orders for lunch when our waitress comes back to our table.
We recap each other on our respective nights. Seems we all don’t remember much of what happened once we entered the casino. Once we all have food in our bodies, I for one feel better. And when the afternoon turns to evening, we regale on the weekend and look forward to the future.
28
NATE
COLLEGE, DECEMBER, SENIOR YEAR
Itoss on my beanie before I step out of the Empire School of Design and into the cold December afternoon. The weather has been calling for snow for the last week and it seems that today is the day. Light snow falls from the sky but not enough to stick just yet. My last final of the semester is done. Now I need to buckle down and get my senior project in motion. The house I’m designing is coming to shape and with the little details Jax has talked about they’ve made the blueprints all the more real.
I’m planning to spend a week with Jax and then spend the rest of my break back home before coming back up here for our final semester. Jax and I have gotten used to my coming and going during the holidays. But it still doesn’t make it any easier. Jax does her best to hide her feelings regarding me going back home, but like the trooper she is she doesn’t voice a thing. That’s what makes her perfect for me.
I shake off the snow and trudge to my dorm. My roommate, who is on the golf team and rarely in our shared room, is all packed up and already headed back to hishometown. Do I know where that is? No. And that makes me a terrible roomie. My goal is for us to at least be friendly with each other next semester. Better late than never.
Me: Packing up and then I’ll head to your house.
Jax:
Less than an hour later and I’m headed to Jax’s house. The snow has continued a steady fall. Big, fat snowflakes fall faster and I’m a bit worried that we’ll get snowed in.
“Hi, baby,” I hear from Jax when I close the door and I see her standing on the stairs.
“Hi, Bee.”
I am deliriously in love with this girl. She is my future.
“I have your Christmas present.” Jax tells me as she hops up and down with barely contained excitement. One thing about my girl is that she loves giving gifts. I think she likes others to feel joy.
“Can I guess what it is?” I ask and step closer to where she’s standing on the stairs.
She shakes her head and rests her arms on my shoulders. “Nope. Go put your stuff away and then I’ll give it to you.”
“Okay.” I lean forward and peck her on the lips before moving around her and up the stairs and dropping my stuff right inside of her room.
“Did your stuff even land on the floor before you sprinted back down here?” Jax asks with a laugh.
“Nope.” I proudly say and drop onto the couch next to her. The fireplace has warmed the sunroom and the large bay windows let in all of the natural light, bathing Jax in a soft glow.
She grabs a rectangular box from the coffee table and places it in my waiting hands. I try to shake it but nothing moves. My eyes flick up to hers before I’m tearing the wrapper off.
It’s a picture. I can’t even describe in my mind what or how she did it. On it is the baseball field with the Botanical Gardens in the background. It’s us. And in perfectly written cursive is ‘Somewhere Only We Know’.
“Jax, this is–”
“It’s us,” she finishes for me.
“Yeah, Bee. It’s us.” And it is. It’s where all of our big moments happened, where big feelings were felt, and where life changing decisions were made. “I love it.”
With my birthday in September and Christmas a few months behind, I told Jax only one present. Not that I need anything from her, because being with her is the only gift I need. But her tendency to spoil those she loves knows no bounds so I know that me putting a limit on what she could get me probably angered her.
“Merry Christmas, Natey.”
“Thank you, Bee.”
Jax cuddles into my side and we watch the snow fall as it blankets the backyard turning it into a winter oasis. Moments like these, the quiet ones where we can just be, are ones that mean more than any championship or big accomplishment.
“It’s hard to believe we have a few more months of college left,” Jax breathes out.
