Doors.

Two Months Later:

It was the night before I was to move into our dorm. Naturally, I was spending it with John. We were spending it like we were filming it the music video to Carrie Underwood's The Night Before Life Goes On.

We walked around the town, one last spin, feeling like we owned it. We went to the place where we first kissed, the diner where we had our first date, and the park where we often went after school. These places were apart of our two year history together. Now, it was time for us to reach that critical point when all boundaries were tested. Could we truly be together even when we were destined to be apart. We used to see each other everyday. Now we would be lucky if we could see each other once a week.

We began to walk the familiar path in. He held my hand, not saying anything. I didn't either. The silence was enough for now.

We reached my snow white colonial house.

“So this is it”, he said softly. I couldn't detect any emotion in his voice.

“This is it”, I said.

“Do I say goodbye?”

I nodded. “I don't think of this as a goodbye. I think of this as a see you later kind of thing.”

He put his arms around me. “Plus”, I added. “I'll only be an hour away from here. That's with traffic. With out traffic you're looking at a half of an hour to 45 minutes”.

“Do they allow boys to visit?” he asked.

“I go to a state school. Of course, they allow you to visit. Of course, you have to have a valid license, which you have so we don't have to worry about them letting you in or anything.”

“And you'll be home almost every weekend?” he asked carefully.

I nodded. “Not EVERY weekend, but close to it.”

“Good”, he said, smiling. “Don't be a stranger.”

I smiled, and kissed him, the last bittersweet kiss until God knows when. I'm not going to be sad, I told myself.

“I love you. I'll call you tomorrow afternoon”, he said, letting go of his hand. It wasn't gone for a whole two seconds, and I already missed the reassuring weight of his hand over mine. It was a comfort to know that I wasn't alone in the world. Now, I was going to be alone in this world, and that comfort wasn't going to be there for me to hold.

The next day, we packed Dad's red Volvo station wagon. Most of the contents of my room, ranging from school supplies to stuffed animals have been packed into the surface area of the square trunk. My entire life was in dark brown cardboard boxes. It was ready to see its new home. I was ready to see it's new home.

“Ready?” Mom asked as she got into the front seat.

“Yes”, I said. “I'm surprised that you didn't bring the camera.”

“Oh don't worry”, Dad said as he was pulling out. “That's why they invented cell phones for.”

I rolled my eyes as we passed out of town limits. It was past all of the things that used to scare me. Now they seemed so little, so insignificant. I wonder if it's because I've gotten bigger, or I've grown up. This was the beginning of the newest stage of my life. The trees on the highway began to pass by me, slowly disappearing. The sunshine bathed me, and I began to soak in it's rays through the window.

Finally we pulled up to where I would be spending the next four years. The academic buildings were fairly new with modern architecture, and clear windows that the sun reflected on, and had yet to be scratched by years of use. The resident halls were behind them, in their own little alcove on campus.

Dad parked the Volvo under a tree. I got out of the car, and began to take in my surroundings. The day was beautiful, no clouds littered the sky. Kids, some looking like they were still in middle school, others looked like they should be in grad school or that they should be joining the workforce instead of moving into a dorm had something in their hands, ranging from boxes, to stuffed animals, to other personal items. Some even had backpacks that looked like they were loaded with rocks.

Dad opened the trunk. “Have you heard from Chelsea?” he asked, grabbing one of the heavier boxes.

I glanced at my snow white iPhone. “Nope”, I said, grabbing my duffle bag.

“Where's your residence hall?” Mom asked, taking one of the boxes.

I got the notice out of my pocket. “I'm in...” I scanned the map. “I'm in Brownstone.” I got the map out of my other pocket. “Of course, it's the farthest one away from here.”

We began to walk. Dad began to ramble about why there should be all girl dorms with no male visitors allowed whatsoever, while Mom assured him that John wouldn't like it very much. John, who felt like a whole different world away from here. I wondered what he was doing now. His senior year would be starting tomorrow. Did he have his AP work done? Was he ready to begin to look at what would be his new start? Would that future include me?

Unfortunately, I didn't have that much time to think about this. A perky, peppy, bleach blonde wearing a USC T-Shirt and booty shorts stood in front of the building greeted us. “Welcome to USC, home of the Trojans!” she exclaimed. “Be a part of the USC community! Be sure to get involved!” Well she seemed obnoxious.

“My name is Mandy and I'm going to be your RA”, she said, shaking my hand. Oh great, I thought. It would be one long semester with Dolly Sunshine.

“Hi Mandy!” my dad shook her hand. He seemed a little too excited too see her. I hope Mom didn't see him.

“What's your name?” she asked. I felt like I was a cute little dog that you find on the street, and you ooh and ahh at it condescendingly. I'm a person, not a dog damn it.

I smiled politely. “Alexis. I'm in room 224.”

“Do you need help finding it?” she asked.

“No. But if I do, I know where to find you.”

She opened her mouth in shock. I'm sorry Blondie, but not everyone isn't as dim as you, I thought as I pressed the button to open the elevator.

As I found my room, I realized that life was similar to opening and closing doors. Like when you get married. The most common practice was to get carried through the threshold. More often then not, we don't know what's behind those doors.

My room door was open. Behind my door, was Chelsea.