Once we graduated high school, my entire friend group went separate ways. Most of my friends went to the closest state university, with only one or two going to some small private school halfway across the country. Being from the midwest, college seemed to be the first chance at escaping small-town life.
I was no different, and I was drawn to other people who felt the need to run away. I didn't anticipate, though, missing people.
College didn't seem like the right place for me right out of high school; I needed a break. I bought an old twelve passenger van and took a gap year, road-tripping around America. Most of the time, it was heaven, but it did get lonely. I had gotten good at talking people online, and spent time talking to people whenever I had a scrap of cell service, or when I could stop into a town nestled into the rocky mountains for some free internet at a local cafe. I headed west as fast as I could, and stayed on that side of my hometown for the entirety of my year off.
As nice as talking to friends and family over video call is, sometimes you just need to be held. I was never one for hookups, especially in unfamiliar areas, it just seemed too unsafe. In fact, I missed one person the most out of anyone:
My ex-boyfriend, Ash.
We didn't break up because of anything other than distance. It was a high school relationship, that's all. It wasn't worth all the work of long-distance dating, so after five months, we split. No hard feelings.
When I was on the road, though, I couldn't stop thinking about him. I missed it all, the late night talks, the fun dates, the tender kisses, and, well, you know...
He went to school in Oregon. The situation kept running through my mind, of me taking my busted van up to his dorm and whisking him away, begging for just one weekend together. Eventually, I bit the bullet. I was in the northern part of California, not far at all from his school. We had texted quite a bit, but seeing each other never came up. Not yet, at least.
Ruby: Hey, Ash! I'm in your area soon and was wondering if you would want to maybe hang out?
Ash: Yeah, totally! When will you be in town?
Ruby: Whenever works for you
Ash: I'm done with class at noon on Thursday. What do you wanna do?
The whole thing went way better than I was expecting. We didn't set up anything too extravagant, just planned to have dinner together. A few days passed, and I made my way to his campus, stopping to take in the beauty of nature around me, since I had three days to drive about twelve hours. Every mile was worth it though, when I parked in the lot outside Ash's building.
He came walking out of the main doors when I texted him of my arrival. He looked more mature than when I had last seen him. His deep brown hair hung longer around his shoulders, and he was more tan, which really brought out his golden eyes, and he has on jeans and a colorful hoodie, all finished up with a big brown backpack full of god-knows-what. I won't even lie, I was still so into him. Upon seeing me in my car, he quickened his pace. Hopping out of my seat, I ran to greet him as well.
"Ruby!" He shouted as he pulled me into a hug. "It has been too long!"
"I know!" I said back.
"Well, what do you want to do this weekend?"
"What?"
"Come on, you don't think I dragged you all the way out here to eat cheap pizza and drink shitty beer in my dorm, right? Let's go on an adventure!"
Oh my god, I missed him.
"What were you thinking of?" I asked, my mind running through all the things we wanted to do in high school but never had the freedom to.
"What have you been doing since you left?"
"Camping, mostly." A smirk creeps across my face. This weekend might just get a whole lot more eventful.
"Fuck it! Let's go camping." He said, hopping in the passenger seat.
"Let's go camping," I murmured to myself with a smile. Once I was in the car, something dawned on me. "Do you have everything you need?"
"In my backpack," He said. "I was hoping something like this would happen," he said with a wink, which filled my stomach with butterflies.
