Our Journey

“Will you please telling me what we’re doing?”
“You will find out soon enough”
“Tyler, tell me what is going on right now, or I refuse to take a step further!” He casually looked back at her when he realized she had planted her feet into to the ground. He turned to face her, and with a huge smile across his own, he swept her into his arms.
“Why must you always be so stubborn, is it not possible for you to go with the flow for once in your life?” She did not move; she only leaned her head against his chest with a frown on her face. He gently set her on her feet, when he realized she was not smiling as before.
“What’s wrong my love, did I upset you?” she could not help but to smile at his childish remark, and she turned towards the direction they first were headed; he glided to her side grabbing her waist to move her along at his speed. She could only sigh in contentment; she was with the only person that matter and the only person she has ever truly loved. He wrapped his other arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
“I love you, Lillian.” Even after being best friends for over five years and then becoming more than friends, four years ago, chills still ran up and down her spine at the sound of her name coming from his lips. It took her a few seconds to process what he had said, but before she could respond his lips softy touched hers.
He had finally come to a halt in the middle of a field, in the park where they had been walking through. She could see a large package a few feet from them and someone walking with their back towards them in the far distance right behind it. She quickly eyed it, but made a point not to stare; she found her way to his eyes and looked into them. They seemed to be jumping with excitement, but still had a calm aspect to them. He whirled her around and lightly pushed her towards the parcel. Now it was her heart that was fully exhilaration as she slowly stepped towards the box.
Carful not to damage whatever was inside she slowly ripped off the solid green paper and lifted the lid. She carefully pulled out a small teddy bear. Tears immediately filled her eyes as she remembered the first time they had met.

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“Hi, my name is Tyler Collins. Did you just move here?”
“My name is Lillian, and yes I just moved here from Texas. Another foster care family, another relocation, another school.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m glad that you managed to end up here!” She smiled sheepishly not knowing how to respond to his excitement; she was the furthest thing from excited. This was her sixth school in her eight years of schooling, this being her first year of middle school, she hoped it would be easier to ease into her classes, but still she couldn’t shake the uncanny feeling in her stomach. This constant ache seemed to control her life. This feeling was her fear. Fear, what a simple thing to most, but to Lillian Scot, fear was everything, terror controlled every decision, every move her body made was focused around the constant panic she felt.
“So, what are your classes?” This boy is not making my goal of invisibility easy, why could not he be just like every other person that just sees straight through me, were her only thoughts.
“Umm, the basics, English, History, Math, Science, and Spanish 1”
“Cool, same as me.”
“You sound truly please.” She had meant it as a simple statement but it ended up coming out as a question. She just could not seem to wrap her mind around the fact that this boy continued to talk to her; he did not see her as invisible like everyone else.
“I am!” he practically shouted and the teacher gave them both a looked that declared the conversation as good as over. Although she was relieved, Lillian could not help but to feel happy about her classes as she looked at her schedule for the fourth time in that class period.
Ringing of the bell sent everyone jumping out of his or her seats; she had not realized that the class was over until Tyler touched her shoulder.
“Where are you going to eat lunch?”
“Huh, oh umm, I’m not sure I had not gotten that far in my head, my goal was to make it to lunch not necessarily through it.” A like chuckle shook his body as he nodded his head at her remark. She had meant to be funny but honestly did not believe he would find what she said so amusing.
“Why don’t you eat with me?”
“I had a feeling you were going to say that. Sure why not.” They walked through the enormous campus, this had been, by far, the biggest school campus she had ever been on, even only being a middle school, it was twice the size of the largest Elementary school she had attended. She was pleased with where he had gone to sit; she had spotted the bench when she walked on the school grounds; placed under a huge oak tree it gave off a very calm welcoming feeling. Her love of nature was one of the reasons this particular spot appealed to her, but it also was secluded off in the corner from where everyone else sat and discussed, that was also a factor in her instant liking to it.
“Don’t you sit with any of your friends?”
“Nope, I would rather come sit under this tree and read.” His casualness surprised her.
“Read, really, you are not like any other boy I have ever met, you sit under a big tree and read rather than hang out with your friends, you are very polite, and you are attracted to strange people, I mean just look at me. It is very odd for you to even be still talking to me, most people run as soon as they look at me.” Once again, he laughed at the words spilling out of her mouth, but this time he let the chuckles roar.
In the midst of his laughing, he managed to ask her, “Am I really that different?”
“It’s not a bad thing, I’m just saying,” she said quickly hoping she did not offend him, and that his laughing was simply covering his hurt feelings. His chuckles quickly trailed off to a silent giggle, as he started asking her another question.
“So, you like that I’m different, but why do people run at first sight?”
“Most people tend to think that just because I’m in foster care I’m unstable and the majority of people don’t what to get close to someone if they’re going to half to become a stabilizer. However, people do not stick around long enough to find that I am a strong person, yes, I may be a little emotional, but I am just like everyone else. So I guess you could say that people are afraid to be my friend.” She shrugged her shoulders with the last sentence, and looked at his face. He had a concerned but somewhat happy look placed on it. She desperately wanted to know what he was thinking, and she started to regret rambling on as she did.
“Don’t worry, I have no fear, I like you and nothing is going to change that, not even the fact that you are in foster care.” She smiled at is response but could not help but wonder if it was the truth. Tyler broke their silence, with once again another question,
“Is it too bold to ask what happened to your parents?”
“No, not at all, they died in a car crash when I was two years old.”
“Oh, do you ever feel sad about it?” He cringed at his word choice, wishing he could take back what he had said, he started to interrupt her answer, but she paid no attention and proceed to reply to it.
“Yes, often, but…ok don’t laugh.”
“Scouts honor,” he said while saluting.
“When I was brought to the orphanage I had a brown teddy bear in my arms that I would not let go of. I later found out that my parents gave it to me the night they were killed. I still have it and when I hold it I feel comforted, I feel like I’m holding a part of my parents’ safe in my arms.”
“Well, I’m glad you can find solace in something.”
“You have the highest vocabulary, of any 13 year old I know, let me guess, straight A student?”
“Yes, but you don’t seem all that uneducated yourself, let me guess, straight A student,” he said with a smirk. She simply smiled back knowing she had lost, but still she seemed to be getting happier the more time she spent around him and them more conversation they had. It was very unusual for her to start having a discussion with someone, even if it was a 13-year boy, the first time she met him or her.
The next day she was sitting on the same bench as the day before, going over the next lesson in math, trying to get ahead. He came up from behind and set a bag on top of the bench in front of her; she jumped up almost hitting him in the chest.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s alright, what is this?” she asked staring at the package that was three inches from her face.
“Open it!” She grabbed the bag and ripped out the tissue paper. When she saw what was in the bag, she was reluctant to remove the contents. She slowly pulled out a big brown teddy bear; it had huge luring eyes that look very cheerful.
“Now if you start feeling gloomy at school you can hold tight to this bear, you won’t have to wait until you’re at home to feel comforted. You can just go to your locker and grab him anytime you want.” Tears filled her eyes as he explained his gift.
“Don’t you like it?” he asked warily.
“Tyler, I love it, it’s the best present I’ve ever gotten, thank you.” She wiped her tears from her face and stood to look at him. She hugged him with all her might,
“You’re welcome.”

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“Don’t you like it?” he asked with a wide smile already spread across his face. Lillian jumped off her knees and into his arms.
“Better reaction then I thought, can’t wait to see the next one.”
“The next one, what is this, a scavenger hunt? What are we ten?”
“I thought you would be excited that there are more presents.”
“Nowhere in that sentence did I mention not being excited, I simply mention the fact that way you are giving these presents is a little childish.”
“Since when have you been appalled to childish behavior?”
“I’m simply stating fact.”
“Well, if it’s too childish for you we can go home and I can return the gifts, it’s not that hard, I still have all the receipts.”
“No, no, no, I’m not appalled; I’m whether fascinated, we must continue,” her tone more playful. As you wish. She grabbed the box and bear, then his hand and they continued on their journey. They walked deeper into the park, and he did not stop walking until they reached bench at least a quarter of a mile from where they had stopped before. She was not paying attention to distance they walked, and suddenly felt surprised when he stopped in front of nothing particular. There was simply a long white box on top of a bench two feet from them, and a man walking with his back towards them once again. Once more, he had to push her towards the box, because she had made no sign of movement even after she was sure he had stopped for a reason.
Not as reluctant as before she took the lid off the lengthy white box, when she looked inside a small, blissful smile grew across her face and eventually reached her eyes. She picked up the purple Heartsease, and brought it to her nose to drink in the wonderful aroma this beautiful flower gave off. She twisted around to look at his eyes, and what she saw took her back in time.

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“Do you have special plans over the break?” Tyler asked.
“Nope just dinner with the Joe and Margi, Why?”
“Do you want to go to dinner with me on Saturday?”
“Sure, where do you want to go?”
“I’m not sure, any place you haven’t been in a while, and would like to go?”
“Pasta always sounds good, how ‘bout Lui’s?”
“Sounds good to me.”
For the next four days the first thing Lillian did when she woke up, was cross the day off on her calendar, she was overly excited for the weekend to come. Her enthusiasm did not come from the fact that it was Thanksgiving break in just two days, or that she had a four-day weekend, her excitement came from her plans on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Tyler and her had been best friends for over a year now and had become very close; they talked about everything, the good to the bad and everything in-between. However, within the length of their friendship, Tyler had never formally asked her out to dinner, now that he had, Lillian was ecstatic.
A smile never left her face, by the time Saturday rolled around her jaw ached because of the constant position it was in. Nothing could shake her good mood, and nothing tried. She supposed that even the forces of nature knew that they would fail before they even attempted to take away her happiness. The day passed quickly, but still not as fast as she hoped. When it did come time for her to start getting ready, she became quite nervous. Within an hour, she had shower, dressed, and was waiting for him by the door. When the doorbell did ring, Lillian jumped from her seat, to only hear the end of Joe and Margi’s comments about the evening,
“…and have fun.”
She was at the door in a second and through it within five.
“You look great,” was all he managed to get out when she walked passed him, heading towards the car.
“Thank you, so do you.” She was still nervous and did not want to say anything unintelligent in front of his mother, so she kept her answers short and sweet. When they finally got to the restaurant, and were walking to the entrance, she commented on his sweater, “That color looks great on you; you should wear it more often.”
“Thank you.” He seemed just as nervous as she was and that made her feel a bit calmer. They took there seats, ordered, and spent the whole night chatting and laughing about everything. Their conversation consisted of whatever was on their minds; one would ask a question that would lead into a spiral of more and more inquiries. Both enjoyed every second of the night, and even though this was not much different from any other time, they spent talking to each other, a realization clicked in both their heads.
They decided to walk across the street for ice cream, when they fished dinner a half an hour before they were to be picked up. He held the door open for her as they left the restaurant, allowing her to be a couple steps in front of him. He slowly came from be hide her and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers. A smile grew across his face when she tightened the grasp. He did not let go of her hand until she walked through her front door.
It was only 9 o’clock, but when she came home, she found Joe and Margi asleep on the couch. Feeling exhausted herself she went to her room to ready herself for bed. When she walked through the door, the first thing she noticed was the bright purple flower that lay across her pillow. She easily recognized it as Heartsease, but could not figure out why it was there. She walked towards it and found a note by its side.
I cannot get you off my mind will you be mine?
-Tyler

_________________________________________

Still staring into his eyes, she could only laugh at all of the clichés in their relationship. They meet in the 8th grade and become best friends, by the 9th grade, they are dating, and by the 10th grade, they are inseparable. The one difference between them and a true cliché is that neither of them could have guessed that they would be utterly in love with each other by their senior year.
“So, you love me unconditionally and you can’t get me off your mind, am I missing something?”
“Must there be some special occasion, for me to tell my true love, that I love her and think of nothing else?”
“Not, fair. You can’t answer my question with a question,” she whined.
“Fine, answer my question first and then I’ll answer yours.”
“No I guess there is no need for a special occasion for me to tell you I love you and you’re all that’s on my mind; your turn.”
“No, you are not missing anything, but you are making this a little less fun with all of your childlessness and questioning.”
“I’m sorry, I promise to stop.”
“You speak as if you already know there is more coming,” he said laughing.
“Well, is there?”
“Yes, but I just love how you assume that you know me so well.” Still laughing he grabbed her waist and pulled her forward, not letting her grab the box that was still on the bench.
“I don’t assume, I know.”
“Well then, if you know me so well me so well, why don’t you take the lead,” he said slowing his quick pace and letting go of her waist.”
“Just because I know you does not mean I know what you’re thinking.” She could not stop smiling she was too happy to let anything ruin this moment. When he did not respond she simply kept walking and he followed. They wandered aimlessly for about five minutes before he finally asked,
“So are you done knowing me so well?”
“Fine, I can just go back to being a 13 year old girl who knows absolutely nothing about you, except that you are a mature, intelligent young boy.”
“So, that was your first impression, what no good looks or charm?” He said while making a silly face that she laughed at.
“Nope, none what so ever.” Now it was his turn to laugh at her comment. He had grabbed her waist once again and pulled them in the right direction; she had them heading east, when they needed to being going north. It was only a slight detour and she had no idea where they we headed, that it made no difference to her.
When they did get to their next destination she still was wondering whom it was that placed the presents.
“So, who is the guy that brings the boxes, I see the same guy walking in the exact direction as the boxes were placed.”
“My, love, stop worrying about the setup of my charade, just enjoy it. You are very observant, I know, but for once can you can, you simply enjoy yourself?”
“Yes,” she said in a timid tone.
“Good, know go open your box.” She did as he said; she was enjoying herself, but as he said she was very observant, for her to simply go with the flow and not ask questions was very difficult. She did her best and made her way to the box that was lying in the grass. This time the small box was wrapped in a shiny blue paper, she was less careful than before and destroyed the paper the second her hand touched it. She ripped the lid off but sat motionless what was inside, when she was able to move she slowly removed another tiny box, A Kiss, written on top in the finest script she had ever seen. Her heart jumped back and forth between emotions, she felt bubbles floating around in her stomach, but the reason for that feeling was the cause of something that is simply described as, pain.

_________________________________________

It was Spring break of their sophomore year and they could not think of anything they would rather do than spend it with each other. Lillian’s foster parents had different plans though; they intended to take a trip to the mountains. Lillian made it clear that she did not enjoy the outdoors and with no more conversation, Margi and Joe arranged for her to stay with a friend for the three days they would be gone. There only wish was to make her happy and they succeeded, Lillian would stay with Matthew and Jenny, Margi’s cousin and cousin-in-law; they lived only 5 miles from Tyler’s home, so she would be able to spend the days with him and sleep at Matt and Jenny’s house.
They decided to make a day of going to the beach, Tyler wanted to surf, and Lillian chose a book to keep her company while he was appreciating the waves. She decided on a murder mystery, And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie, usually she would pick something less full of death, but she enjoyed suspense, and did not feel like a romance novel today. The day was going magnificently; they both were having a great time in their activities. He came running up to her about an hour after she had started reading, and was thankful for the distraction, she loved reading but need to take a break. He lay next to her panting; she placed her cheek on his chest and fell into motion of the constant rising and falling. She closed her eyes and was completely at peace, she could feel his heart slow to match hers and they lay there perfectly content with their surroundings.
She sat up when the ache her side became unbearable from the position she was in; he stayed on his back while she look out to sea. He sat up and kissed her on the cheek, stood and grabbed his surfboard, and then ran back out to the sloshing waves. She sat stunned. He glanced back at her and laughed at the expression on her face. He had never kissed her before, not even on the cheek and she was completely overwhelmed she did not remember how to move. After the initial shock wore off, she grabbed her book and laid on her stomach to hind her surprised look from him. She easily dove back into the material, and did not need any more distractions; she was able to get to the half waypoint when her phone rang.
She jumped up and started throwing things into her bag, she staggered around picking up everything as fast has her body would allow. He immediately saw her packing up and swam and as fast as he could back to shore.
“What is wrong?” She jumped at the sound of his voice. With tears running down her cheeks, she threw herself into him. He wrapped his arms around her hugging her best he could. He looked for her face; he wanted to know what caused this sudden distress. He finally let her go and grabbed her shoulders; it looked as if she was going to fall over any second.
“Lil what happened?” he practically shouted.
“It’s Joe, he was hit by a truck, and no one could tell me if he is ok, they just said I need to get to the hospital. What if he is dead?” Her voice high and barely audible because of the sobs that shook her entire body.
“Oh my gosh, sit down.” Tyler was as shocked as she was but could tell that if he let her go she would topple over. He took out his phone and called his mother and then Jenny. He finished what Lillian had started, he packed up their stuff and within 20 minutes, Jenny arrived and they were off to the hospital.
Her leg would not stop shaking, she knew it was at least a two-hour drive and the thought of not knowing if her dad was dead, made her a nervous wreck. Tyler never let go of her hand, he was just as nervous, but more for Lillian, he knew if Joe were dead, she might die right along with him. Seat belts were not bothered with; after a half an hour of driving, a wave of exhaustion swept over her, she pulled her legs up to her chest and leaded into Tyler’s body with her own. His arms know were around her upper torso and she lay her head against his chest. With silent tears running down her face, she eventually fell asleep in his arms.
The moment they walked through the doors, someone was at their side, at first asking question and then giving answers. The only question Lillian had on her mind was if he was alive, thankfully to her it was the first one answered.
“Yes, he’s alive, he is in critical condition but he is going to make it.” The nurse told them on their way to his room. Lillian stopped moving and fell to the grow, her face in her hands, crying in relief. Everyone stopped but Tyler quickly told Jenny and the nurse to keep going, they would be there in a minute. He sat in front of her waiting for her to look him in the face. He smiled sheepishly when she did eventually look at him.
“Let’s go, so you can see him.” He helped her stand and they quickly walk to the room.
After Lillian had said hello and spent time with Joe and Margi, she sat with Tyler in the waiting room waiting for Margi and Jenny to come out. He handed her a small white box, which had the words, A Kiss, on the top.
“What’s this?”
“I got it while you in the room.” She took off the lid and stared at the emptiness for a long while before pulling her head up to say that it was empty. Before she could begin to speak, his lips met hers and he kissed her for the first time.

_________________________________________

She stood and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his stomach and pulled herself close to him.
“Thank You.” She said smiling.
“For what?” He smiled and then kissed her.
“That!”
“Oh, ok. Your welcome.” He said chuckling. “We must keep going it’s getting late.” She picked up her kiss but he insisted on carrying it.
“Ok, it is just an empty box, but if you would like a kiss from me you can certainly have one.”
“I would love one, but that is not the reason.”
“Than what is?” instead of answering he took his kiss not waiting to receive it.
“Fine than don’t tell me.” She said pouting. He started walking forward on to the next location but she did not move.
“Come on Lil, stop being so stubborn, you will find out soon enough, I promise.” She quickly fell into to step with him and even though she was letting her curiosity get the better of her, she was still the most content person on earth. They continued to stroll only for about 10 minutes and the second she spotted the box covered in a bright purple paper, she walked towards it and opened it.
She pulled out a lengthy, dull yellow ribbon. She could still remember the first time they tied themselves together with a ribbon just like the one she held in her hand at that moment.

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“Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, Penn, and Cornell.”
“Ok, which one do you actually what to go to.”
“You know it’s been my dream to go to Cornell, but I wouldn’t mind Brown or Penn.”
“Ok, I have applied to all of those, are you sure you don’t want to try for the west coast.”
“Absolutely not!”
“May I ask why?”
“If you have not, in the four years that I have spent almost every day with you, realized that I hate the heat, than you have not been paying much attention.”
“No, I’ve noticed, but I never believed the weather would persuade you not to go to a certain college. The only reason I am saying is that I applied to Berkeley, and was accepted. I was just wondering if you would like to try and see if you could get in as well.”
“What? You applied to Berkley; I thought we promised to only apply to the same colleges so we would not have the problem of being separated. You promised me, and then you try to shrug it off by asking me if I want to apply! If you wanted to go then you should have just asked. Not go behind my back and apply without me knowing. We were supposed to make this decision together; it is our future, not yours. And now you want to go to Berkeley, right?”
“Not necessarily I just saw it as an option. I had no idea it was going to upset you so.”
“You broke your promise, I just wish you would have talked to me about what you wanted to do, I would have been open to listen, but you went behind my back, did you truly believe I would not consider it?”
“I don’t know?”
“I think I’m going to leave now, I will see you later.” She gathered her thing and headed home. Tyler just sat dumbfounded at his kitchen table not even trying to persuade her. She told herself repeatedly that even if he tried to stop her nothing could have convinced her from her decision of leaving, she just needed to be alone to think. However, she did tell herself, that she would have considered staying if he did ask.
A week went by and she dodged every call, walked straight into the bathroom whenever he spotted her, and cried every night wondering why she was torturing herself by staying away from him. His week was spent in deep thought as well, he wished more than anything that he had been able to say something, anything to her before she left him just sitting there, but he also had to think about his decision on which college he would go to. He applied to Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, Penn, and Cornell but was not accepted into any accept Cornell; he had not gotten a letter from them yet. His choices were now narrowed down to Berkeley and Cornell, if he was accepted; what if he was declined from Cornell, would she be willing to come to California with me. Thoughts like this rolled around in his heads, almost every second of every day.
Finally, exactly seven days after she left him, he came to after her. It was early Saturday morning, he was positive she would be awake even if it was only 7a.m. he knocked softly on the front door and Joe came to answer after only the first knock.
“May I speak with Lillian?”
“Sure, Tyler, she is in her room.”
“Thanks.” Her trotted up the stairs, with his hand in his pockets.
“Knock, knock,” he said opening her door, not actually knocking before entering.
“Tyler,” her voice was light and her face immediately brightened when she heard his voice. “I’m so glad you came…”
“I’m sorry, I took so long.” He said interrupting her. “I’m sorry I went behind your back, I guess I was just afraid that you would not be open to change, and I figured if I took the first step, you might feel more confident with the idea. Still it is no excuse for my stupid actions, once again I’m sorry.” His eyes were full of guilt and regret and there were purplish black marks under both of them, it seemed as if he had not slept in days.
“I’m sorry I overreacted, and that I have been avoiding you this past week; I have been acting very immaturely.” Her eyes on his hidden hands the whole time; he seemed to be fiddling something inside his jacket pocked and it distracted her so much, that she could not look into his eyes. She walked over to him, pulled his hand out of his pocket, and stuck hers in the place where his had just been. She pulled out a long yellow ribbon.
“Lil?”
“Yes,” she said while running her fingers across the ribbon.
“Do, you own a dictionary?” she looked up and tossed him confused look. “Next time you’re using it, look up the word patience and then start having some.” He grabbed the ribbon from her hand but did not let go or her wrist. He tied it around both of their hands and wrists and intertwined their fingers. There now, we will be together no matter where we are this ribbon will connect our hearts until the day we die.

_________________________________________

She stood and walked over to him, without actually looking at him. Her face was in his direction but she was seeing into their future. She could picture them 5,000 miles away from each other, talking on the phone, but both miserable because they could not be with one another; this picture scared her more than anything did. She grabbed his wrist with her gentle fingers and started to tie hers to him, her hands started to shake that she could barely grip the ribbon in her hand. He pulled back his wrist and grabbed her face between his hands.
“Everything will work out, no matter what happens, we will make it work,” he reassured her. Tears streaming down her face she expressed her worries,
“But, what if…”
“What if nothing, I will always love you nothing can ever change that, and if we do have to work on it, I know you and I can do it.” He said interrupting her. She simply nodded and wrapped her arms around his body. He too, embraced her and after he knew she would be able to walk her kissed the top of her head and shifted her to his side.
“We must keep going my love.” She said nothing; she only leaned into him as they walked at a slow, comfortable pace. Her tears quickly dried up and she was once again had an at ease grin resting on her face. He picked up his speed when he saw that she was feeling better.
“I know you are eager to just shower me with gifts, but must you walk so fast?”
“Yes,” was all her said. He had a huge grin across his face, and that ended the conversation as quickly as it started. After what seemed as if they walked for miles, he led her to a fountain in the middle of a huge garden. She was not far off in her assumption of miles; they walked a mile and a half, to a huge garden, from the park. Sitting on the seat surrounding the oversize fountain was a manila envelope, the kind you receive when you get a bundle of letter from everyone in your family at once. She looked at his face asking if it was hers with her eyes.
“Go ahead.” He said looking in the direction of the orange package sitting on the seat. She did not want to let go of him so she walked forward in the same position dragging him alone with her. She sat down picking up the envelope and he followed her movement. She was much calmer; she opened the seal with ease and slid the papers onto her lap. The second she saw the words Cornell and accepted, she jumped up and quietly shouted with joy moving her body up and down on her toes.
“I got in, I got in,” she said in a louder tone.
“There is more.” She stopped in her place and stared at him with curiosity and bafflement in her eyes.
“Look at the second page.” She rapidly turned to the second page, practically ripping the first one off to get to the second. This time when she read the words Cornell and Accepted she fell to the floor and started crying; the one difference was that she also read Tyler Collins. He pulled her off her feet and into a hug that lift her off her ground. He kissed her on the cheek and whispered into her ear,
“I told you everything would turn out fine.” She arched her neck and back so, she could look into his eyes. She freed one arm and playfully smacked his.
“How could you let me go through that knowing that we both got in?”
“I’m sorry but I just could not help the chance to see your face when you saw that you got in, if you opened it at home without me there I would have missed it, and boy was it a sight to see.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Letting me be first that you got into, Cornell,” she said while her smile expanded by miles.
“Oh, well then, you’re welcome.” He returned her smile with one of his own.
“Come, on lets go,” he said urging her forward.
“There can’t possibly be more.” She said not believing that he still had more to give her in one day.
“My love has no end.” Then walked hand in hand for only 5 minutes before she commented on the smell in the air.
“I smell tulips, my favorite.”
“I know, that is the point.” He said with a chuckle. She spotted them before they were even in any sort of reach, thousands of tulip petals in the grass about 20 feet ahead of them.
“It’s beautiful.” She said in awe.
“Ok, this is going to sound super silly but, will you close your eyes?” he asked in the most serious voice he could manage. She giggled before complying with his request. He was back at her side within a few seconds and he asked her to open eyes.
“What am I looking for?” she asked after he gestured towards the massive multitude of multicolored petals.
“Oh, wait I see it.” She walked towards the flowers and picked up the box with the words A Kiss on it.
“Would you like another kiss?” she asked him after picking up the box. He laughed.
“No, open it.” She carefully took the top off the small white box, and she second she saw the contents her jaw dropped to the floor.
“Tyler?” she said whipping her head up, but before she could finish he was already on one knee.
“I can’t imagine my life without you, you brighten up my day in every way possible, and I love you for everything that you are. Lillian Marie Scot will you marry me?”
“Yes, I will!” she said while jumping onto his arms. She ended up knocking him off his knees and onto the ground. They lay in the bed of tulips in each other’s arms.
“I love you,” she said with a serious look on her face, “More than anything in this world, you are my everything. I cannot wait to spend every second of every day with you.”

_________________________________________

“Umm what about Elizabeth?”
“Too, common.”
“Rose?”
“Too, flowery.”
“Brooke?”
“Oh, umm, I like that, I really like that.” He started to laugh. He moved across the bed to lay his head on her stomach, he kissed it and said,
“Your mommy is too funny.”
“Mommy, that sounds so weird.”
“Better get used to it,” he said still laughing.
“Brooke Ann!” she said with a jumping motion that almost threw his head off her stomach.
“Hmm, Brooke Ann Collins, I like it.”
“See baby, I’m not as funny as he lets on, he just likes laughing at me,” she said nonchalantly to her stomach.