The Beautiful Monster

2 YEARS LATER,

The entirety of Osland University seemed to breathe out a collective breath of relief as the last day before spring break finally ended.

Students in their last classes of the day rushed out of the buildings in waves, hurrying to go back to their homes to prepare for the coming week of fun and relaxation.

It was exactly what they needed after a long, hard school year.

Alyssa didn't rush all the way off campus, though. She lingered around the fountain in the center, peering down at her reflection and realizing that this was her last spring break at Osland University.

She was a senior now. So much had happened these past two years.

She turned her head slightly as she watched her reflection, smiling at the red glow of her hair and the new highlights that Zoe convinced her to get.

It made her hair look like fire. She flipped her hair back as she straightened up, adjusting the thin material of her white and black striped crop top.

She needed to get going. Someone was waiting on her.

Alyssa ventured through campus, letting her eyes sweep over the buildings that she used to have classes in and the benches she sat on with her friends.

She couldn't believe that she was graduating in a few months. Time had flown by so fast, but the past two years were exciting, stressful, and full of lessons. It was time for the next chapter now.

She walked to a parking lot on the edge of campus, soon seeing a familiar black Challenger roll toward her.

She smiled as the passenger side window rolled down, and Elias pushed his sunglasses down to peer at her.

"Hey, beautiful," he greeted her with that usual charming smile of his.

Even to this day after years of being together, he still made her blush.

She opened the door and got into the passenger seat, not skipping a beat as she leaned forward to kiss him.

Her fingers brushed through his dark hair, drawing the short strands back from his forehead.

Elias gently caressed her arm as his eyes briefly fell shut. He slipped into the kiss, his lips pressing and moving against hers until they broke apart.

"I'm so glad break is here," he murmured as he grinned at her.

"We're going to have so much fun," Alyssa replied with a bright smile. She no longer spent her breaks cooped up in her dorm room.

When she had the chance to get out and go somewhere, she took it. She wanted to explore the world, to see what she hadn't seen yet. She was only twenty-two once.

"I just have a few more things to pack," Elias told her as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed to his apartment.

Alyssa gave him a pointed look. Her bags were already packed and ready to go.

They were leaving for their trip tomorrow and had been planning this for two months now. How was he not ready?

"What?" Elias asked when he noticed her looking at him. "We're only going to be out of town for a few days. I don't have to pack that much."

"You're such a slacker," Alyssa teased him. Honestly, he was the opposite of a slacker. He had worked just as hard as her these last two years.

As he took on more business courses, his grades soared, and she couldn't wait to watch him succeed after college.

After college. As excited as Alyssa was for graduation, life was going to look a lot different after that.

She shook the thoughts from her head, not wanting to dwell on them right now.

She wanted to focus on the Summer Jam Music Festival that they were going to for spring break. It was a few cities away, so it was a perfect escape for a little while.

"But you love me," Elias pointed out as he winked at her.

Alyssa laughed lightly as she nodded. He certainly was right. She loved him with everything she had, and she owed so much of the happiness and fun she had experienced these last two years to him.

He helped her discover so much of herself, and she knew there was still more to find out because she grew with him. They bloomed together.

"Yeah, yeah," she replied teasingly before settling back in her seat and enjoying the ride as rock music murmured from the radio.

When they arrived at Elias' apartment, Alyssa collapsed on the couch, sprawling out casually. She was here as much as she was in her own dorm room.

She didn't expect to be in a dorm room as a senior, but it helped her save money. She needed plenty of it for when she went to medical school next fall.

After years of research work, shadowing, volunteering, actual work, and studying, she was finally accepted into NYU's medical school.

It was her number one choice, and they had a stellar pediatrics department. It was perfect, but not everything about the situation was actually perfect. There were some difficult things that Alyssa had to figure out.

She had to move to New York, which was across the country, and that was going to happen soon.

She had to figure out where to live before medical school started, but she couldn't bring herself to make a decision yet because of Elias.

They hadn't talked about what they were going to do after graduation. They had their own separate goals.

She wanted to go to medical school, and he wanted to start his tech consulting business. New York would be a great place for him to do that, but she didn't want to push him to go anywhere that he didn't want to.

She just didn't know what to do because he hadn't even asked her to move in with him in the few years they had been dating.

If he wasn't ready to live with her now, she doubted that he would be ready to move across the country with her and live with her there.

She couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't asked her to move in with him yet. Maybe he liked his space. Maybe he didn't love her that much.

None of the reasons that she thought of made her feel any better, but she didn't have the courage to ask him.

Maybe he was waiting to surprise her after graduation, but she couldn't wait that long. She had to figure things out soon!