Escaping Nebraska

Julia “... I’d like to present the Westside High School graduating class of 2018…” I grinned over at Manuel in the next row over as we threw our graduation caps in the air. Manuel knew how long I had been waiting for this day to come, and I knew he had been waiting just as long as I had.  Manuel’s family had moved into the house at the other end of the street when we were both just in kindergarten. We were the only two kids our age in the neighborhood and instantly became best friends. We walked to school together, played together on snow days, and spent every day in the summer trying a new adventure. He was there for me when that asshole Drew dumped me, and I was there for him when Melanie cheated on him. I couldn’t imagine my life without him. Now we were finally graduating high school and about to go on to college. We both decided on UCLA so that we could stay close to each other, especially since we wouldn’t know anybody else when we moved to California. Don’t get me wrong, Nebraska is fine and Omaha isn’t necessarily a small town, but I was ready to be in a big city full of new people and new adventures. I wanted to go to an actual beach by the ocean instead of trying to suntan and swim at the nearest lake. I wanted to go to restaurants where they explored different ways to eat food instead of either serving burgers and fries or buffalo wings. I was ready to live.