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Chapter 1

Ten Months Ago – August 2nd

Ash hovered overoff hio of the co hi?”

“I’ this innocent look like everything was fine

“It sure as hell feels like you’re glaring” Iback to the LSU student portal webpage

“It’s just—do you really want to sign up for classes online?” Ash scowls at the screen, ever the guy to hate technology

“The only other option is to sign up in person and that wouldline forever”

“But then you could visit the caer like he’d just made some excellent point “You really need to do that, you know”

I liftedthis talk With Ash, with Mom, with Dad Even Molly hadet through to e But honestly, I didn’t care about the campus

I wanted to be here, with Ash On the track with my friends I wasn’t ready to pack up and h the scholarship I received e All those years of ho myself with slow internet and used school books was supposed to be o to college, get a job and have an awesome life free from debt and dead end jobs Mom had wanted it for me and I had wanted it as well But now, I suddenly felt entirely too young for college

“I could just wait a year,” I said,the mouse around in circles on the e next year”

“But then you’d be a year behind,” Ash said He turned around, leaning against the co eyes “The sooner you’re out of college, the sooner you can travel the country with me”

“Or I could just not go to college,” I said with a goofy expression Those words were blasphemy around here and I knew it

“I’ you screw up your future because you want to spendhis head “Let’s pick your classes and then tomorrow if I have to shove you injust to make you take a tour of campus, I will”

I gave hirin “I love how you’ll resort to violence for me”

“It wouldn’t be violent,” he said, looking up as if it were a real possibility that he was thinking it through detail by detail “I’d wrap you up in your co on the way down the stairs Plus, the burrito effect would be great for keeping your arle me Then I’d just toss you in the bed of et there so you couldn’t jump out”

“Oh right,” I said, laughing I punched him in the stomach “Not violent at all”

“You’re one to talk,” he said, rubbing his abs

When I’d finished signing up for the first official see life, I printed out the schedule and held it up like it was some symbolic tome

Ash and I celebrated with a kiss and then plopped ontoon the television Ash took all the pillows that had been neatly arranged onthe ultiled up beside him and used his chest as my own personal pillow It was harder than a real pillow, but I liked it that way Ash leaned back and I tucked into hi his scent

He wrapped his ar theh these four years of torture, I hope you’ll still be here waiting on me”

“Where would I go?” Ash said, kissing my forehead

I listed off the places on ers “Anaheim, Orlando, Salt Lake City, Paris”

“None of those placesto me”