“That may be true, but it doesn’t change anything. You are moving away. I’ll be moving away too next semester. Our lives are on two different paths, and we have a lot to experience. This summer… the times I spent with you were special, but it was here in Lawton.”
“Come to Mississippi,” I blurted out. “Come be with me.”
She gave me a sad smile. I didn’t like how that felt. “No. I’m not following you. Football at Ole Miss is your path. I don’t want to go to Mississippi. I want to find my path and what I want to do in life. I can’t be that girl. I can’t let your dream determine mine.”
I understood what she was saying, and although I wanted her to have her own dream to chase, I wanted her to be with me. “You can’t find your dream at Ole Miss?” I asked.
“Asa, once I would have. I was wrong then. I’m eighteen years old. I can’t fall in love and start changing my plans because of it. You were right about not being able to do exclusive relationships. You don’t want to do them, so you can’t do them.”
“No! I changed my mind about that. I want one. With you.” Did she not understand that? “I love you.”
She reached for the door handle. “I love you, but I love myself, too, and I need to let you go. For me.” She opened the door, then looked back at me. “Go play football and start a new life. One that makes you happy. One where the pain you suffered here fades away.”
I watched her get out of the truck. I felt like she was taking my heart with her. I wanted to beg her, but I heard her and I understood. This wasn’t about me. It would be selfish to beg her. When she looked up at me, my chest ached. “Good-bye, Asa Griffith.”
I would drive away from her, but I couldn’t say good-bye. It was too final.
“You’ll always be the one,” I said instead.
She closed the door and stepped back.
Then I drove out of Lawton, Alabama.