Under The Stars

ZIA’S POV I picked up my brown leather bag and sauntered to the train that we had been waiting for, for a couple of hours. It is a chilly morning so I held my trench coat tightly to my chest as I pushed through the massive crowd. I scanned through the seats and I felt a general wave of euphoria since mine was near the window. Old habits never die. Taking my seat, a smile crossed my face as I let my thoughts run wild through my head. A year ago, if someone had told me that things would turn out as they have right now; I would have laughed hard in their face. But again, look at me now. Life is truly full of surprises. A YEAR AGO “Zia come on we are going to be late!” Kate shouted from the huge steel door. Kate was my best friend for as long as I could remember. We lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same high school and recently we had started working in new subway drive through. This was the last summer before we joined college. We were so excited and spent most of our time talking about it. I particularly kept on talking about how much I wanted to join Yale. I mean who wouldn’t want to; it was one of the best universities. “Come on,” She snapped me from my thoughts. I grabbed my leather jacket and rushed out. Every Friday night, Kate and I went to the movies and watched all sorts of movie genres. Our favorite was romance since we always fantasized for that perfect relationship when the right comes and that is after college. At this moment, I could not imagine that soon we were going to be far from each other. Life without her would be, well I did not want to think about that at that moment. Kate handed out money to the cashier whose tag read Charlotte and we grabbed our popcorns and made our way into the theatre. We preferred the front seats and once we were there, I slid into my seat and munched into the popcorns as Jason Momoa’s latest movie, Aqua man, showcased on the huge screen. ** THE NEXT MORNING I woke up to an old classical playing in the stereo. That particular song had been my dad’s favorite for as long as I could remember. I smiled as I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. “Hi bug” my dad beamed at me while pouring coffee into my favorite black cup. I leaned in for a hug and couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. It had not always been like this, at least not until two years ago when my mother left. We had always been a perfect family at least that is what I thought. The events of that fateful Friday were very fresh in my mind. Once I dropped home from a long day of school, I found my dad seated on the couch head buried deep in his hands. To say the house was in a mess would be an understatement. Everything seemed off and I knew something was amiss. “Mom” I called out heading upstairs. No answer...I rushed downstairs and hugged my dad. “Where is she?” I ask amid tears in the slit ends of my eyes. “She left” That all my dad could say, and I did not bother to ask the reason why at that moment. It was in his place to tell me what happened when he was ready. Till now, I still wonder why she left without saying goodbye, and whether they had gotten into a fight but I never bothered to ask. Not talking about it was the least thing I could do to help my dad get over the sadness that had engulfed him to date, since she left us. “Would you like some pancakes?” my dad asked as he set the table for breakfast. Vanilla pancakes were my favorite and my dad knew crystal clear on how to make them perfectly. I sat down, digging into my plate as my dad went out to check the mailbox. “This one is for you” I heard him say. Taking the letter, my heart skipped a beat when I looked at the address, it was from YALE University. I quickly tore the envelope and read through the letter. I couldn’t help it but scream as the details of the letter sank in. I had just been accepted to Yale University to study Biology. I could not believe it. I had been working so hard in high school to get a spot at the best university and sure enough it had paid off. “Dad look I got admission to Yale”, I screamed as I handed the letter to my dad. He picked me up and hugged me tightly. Tears of joy rolled down my soft cheeks and I was so sure my dad was super proud of me. “I have to call Kate” I beamed happily. “Iam so proud of you love” my dad jested his face graced with a yellow smile and then released me from his tight hug. I skipped off to my bedroom and called Kate. “Hello” “Hey Kate, you will never believe what I just received.” “What?” “I got an admission letter to Yale!” “Really? That is so exciting!! Iam coming over right now” “Okay, bye.” I smiled and fell back on my bed, closed my eyes and felt so contented with how everything had turned out. Kate came over for lunch and my dad was more than happy to prepare all kind of delicacies to celebrate. I always wondered why he was not a chef in some big fancy five star restaurants because he made the best food, even when mom was still around. “So how do you feel about this” Kate asked. We had left dad downstairs watching marathon on the TV before we proceeded to have a girl talk on the balcony of my bedroom. “I don’t know honestly, am exited but still scared. I will be so far away from everything that am used to. Far from Dad, you, home, even this town.” “Don’t worry am sure you will be okay.” “You think so?” I implored. “I know so.” “I will miss you a lot Kate.” I scoffed as I embraced her. “I will miss you too.”