Our Story, chapter 13
May 18th, 1999
I sat on the floor leaning against the side of the couch. I was packing all of my belongings into big brown moving boxes. It seemed impossible to fit four years of memories into a few cardboard boxes, but after a few days of diligent packing and sorting, an end was in sight. I periodically looked up from my spot on the living room floor and stared out the open window. The warm, sweet smelling, May air filled the room and blew the light curtains wildly. I softly sang "Church On Sunday" to myself as I thought of Billie. I missed him. I hadn't seen him since spring break and was unsure when I would be seeing him again. We had agreed that I would move to Oakland after graduation, but our plans were still not finalized. We hadn't spoken in three days and I was beginning to wonder what he was up to. My daydreams were suddenly interrupted by the clicking of the key in the front door.
"Hey." Jill said plainly as she stepped into the apartment. She and I had become such close friends over the years that we decided to get an apartment off campus during our senior year. I was going to miss Jill the most when I moved to California. She was the one that kept me grounded, and made sure I didn't let Billie get away with any shit.
"There is a package for you downstairs." She said as she put her keys in a small bowl on the coffee table. "I would have brought it up for you... but I didn't really feel like it."
I laughed as I stood up from my spot on the floor and opened the front door. I ran down the stairs to the front of the building and picked up my package. It had no return address on it, but instantly I knew it was from Billie Joe. I ran back up the stairs and put the package down on the floor where I had been sitting. I went into the kitchen and rummaged through several boxes before I found a steak knife to open the package with.
"Oh God. I hope this isn't going to be another one of those sappy c.d's." Jill said as she rolled her eyes.
"What do you mean, another sappy c.d?!" I said, pretending to look offended.
"Honey, come on." She responded. "I know it's cute, and I'd absolutely die if a guy wrote an entire c.d of songs about me, but if I have to hear any more shit about going to church or making compromises, I think I'll kill myself."
I smirked to myself as I slowly opened the flaps of the box. I opened it to reveal a Polaroid picture of Billie and myself taped to an envelope sitting atop a mountain of packing peanuts. It was a picture that Claudia had taken of us on the tour bus. Billie had his arm around me and was leaning down for a kiss. We had no idea she was taking the picture until we were interrupted by the flash of the camera. I took the picture off the envelope and opened it. Inside was a plain piece of lined paper that said 'This time I won't take "wait" for an answer. Love, Billie Joe.'
"That's it?" I asked myself out loud.
I reached my hand into the pile of styrofoam peanuts and started to feel around for anything else. I didn't find anything. Frustrated, I picked up the box and dumped its contents out onto the floor in front of me. I heard the faint taps of the packing material hitting the hardwood floor, and the loud pang of something else.
"Oh! What was that!?" I yelled as I got on my hands and knees and began to search for whatever made the sound.
I ran my hand over the floor to see if I felt anything hard, but couldn't find a thing. I lifted up the area rug; nothing. I searched under the coffee table; still nothing. Annoyed and discouraged I stuck my hand under the couch and frantically searched for the mystery object. Finally, I felt something small and hard.
"Oooo! Found something!" I squealed in delight.
I pulled the object out from under the couch and blew the dust off it. I looked down into my hand to see a small light blue box with a light blue bow. Instantly my heart started to race. I pulled the ribbon off to reveal the word "Tiffany" written in silver script. I screamed, which caused Jill to come running in from her bedroom.
"What happened!?" She asked frantically.
All I could do was hold my hand up closer to her. Her eyes widened as she saw what I was holding.
"Open it! Open it!" She screamed as she knelt down next to me.
I slowly opened the box. Inside was a ring. It was platinum with a large princess cut diamond in the center, flanked by two smaller emeralds.
"It's a different ring." I said just above a whisper.
I cupped my trembling hand to my mouth as my eyes started to water. I felt like I was going to black out. I felt myself start sweating, and stood up quickly to get a glass of water. Jill followed me into the kitchen with a huge grin on her face. She took the box out of my hand and examined the ring.
"This has to be at least three karats." She said in amazement.
"I think I'm going to faint." I responded quietly.
"I would too if I just got a rock like that!" Jill said as she tried the ring on her finger.
I walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch. I placed the glass of water on the back of my neck to calm myself down. After a few minutes I felt better. I picked up the box and began to put all the packing peanuts back into it, but noticed there was something else inside it. There was a second white envelope taped to the bottom of the box. I ripped it off and opened it. Inside was a first class one-way ticket on American Airlines to Oakland International Airport. The date of the flight was for the day after my graduation.
"Whoa." I said as I sat back down on the couch. "I'm actually going to do this."
I sat on the floor leaning against the side of the couch. I was packing all of my belongings into big brown moving boxes. It seemed impossible to fit four years of memories into a few cardboard boxes, but after a few days of diligent packing and sorting, an end was in sight. I periodically looked up from my spot on the living room floor and stared out the open window. The warm, sweet smelling, May air filled the room and blew the light curtains wildly. I softly sang "Church On Sunday" to myself as I thought of Billie. I missed him. I hadn't seen him since spring break and was unsure when I would be seeing him again. We had agreed that I would move to Oakland after graduation, but our plans were still not finalized. We hadn't spoken in three days and I was beginning to wonder what he was up to. My daydreams were suddenly interrupted by the clicking of the key in the front door.
"Hey." Jill said plainly as she stepped into the apartment. She and I had become such close friends over the years that we decided to get an apartment off campus during our senior year. I was going to miss Jill the most when I moved to California. She was the one that kept me grounded, and made sure I didn't let Billie get away with any shit.
"There is a package for you downstairs." She said as she put her keys in a small bowl on the coffee table. "I would have brought it up for you... but I didn't really feel like it."
I laughed as I stood up from my spot on the floor and opened the front door. I ran down the stairs to the front of the building and picked up my package. It had no return address on it, but instantly I knew it was from Billie Joe. I ran back up the stairs and put the package down on the floor where I had been sitting. I went into the kitchen and rummaged through several boxes before I found a steak knife to open the package with.
"Oh God. I hope this isn't going to be another one of those sappy c.d's." Jill said as she rolled her eyes.
"What do you mean, another sappy c.d?!" I said, pretending to look offended.
"Honey, come on." She responded. "I know it's cute, and I'd absolutely die if a guy wrote an entire c.d of songs about me, but if I have to hear any more shit about going to church or making compromises, I think I'll kill myself."
I smirked to myself as I slowly opened the flaps of the box. I opened it to reveal a Polaroid picture of Billie and myself taped to an envelope sitting atop a mountain of packing peanuts. It was a picture that Claudia had taken of us on the tour bus. Billie had his arm around me and was leaning down for a kiss. We had no idea she was taking the picture until we were interrupted by the flash of the camera. I took the picture off the envelope and opened it. Inside was a plain piece of lined paper that said 'This time I won't take "wait" for an answer. Love, Billie Joe.'
"That's it?" I asked myself out loud.
I reached my hand into the pile of styrofoam peanuts and started to feel around for anything else. I didn't find anything. Frustrated, I picked up the box and dumped its contents out onto the floor in front of me. I heard the faint taps of the packing material hitting the hardwood floor, and the loud pang of something else.
"Oh! What was that!?" I yelled as I got on my hands and knees and began to search for whatever made the sound.
I ran my hand over the floor to see if I felt anything hard, but couldn't find a thing. I lifted up the area rug; nothing. I searched under the coffee table; still nothing. Annoyed and discouraged I stuck my hand under the couch and frantically searched for the mystery object. Finally, I felt something small and hard.
"Oooo! Found something!" I squealed in delight.
I pulled the object out from under the couch and blew the dust off it. I looked down into my hand to see a small light blue box with a light blue bow. Instantly my heart started to race. I pulled the ribbon off to reveal the word "Tiffany" written in silver script. I screamed, which caused Jill to come running in from her bedroom.
"What happened!?" She asked frantically.
All I could do was hold my hand up closer to her. Her eyes widened as she saw what I was holding.
"Open it! Open it!" She screamed as she knelt down next to me.
I slowly opened the box. Inside was a ring. It was platinum with a large princess cut diamond in the center, flanked by two smaller emeralds.
"It's a different ring." I said just above a whisper.
I cupped my trembling hand to my mouth as my eyes started to water. I felt like I was going to black out. I felt myself start sweating, and stood up quickly to get a glass of water. Jill followed me into the kitchen with a huge grin on her face. She took the box out of my hand and examined the ring.
"This has to be at least three karats." She said in amazement.
"I think I'm going to faint." I responded quietly.
"I would too if I just got a rock like that!" Jill said as she tried the ring on her finger.
I walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch. I placed the glass of water on the back of my neck to calm myself down. After a few minutes I felt better. I picked up the box and began to put all the packing peanuts back into it, but noticed there was something else inside it. There was a second white envelope taped to the bottom of the box. I ripped it off and opened it. Inside was a first class one-way ticket on American Airlines to Oakland International Airport. The date of the flight was for the day after my graduation.
"Whoa." I said as I sat back down on the couch. "I'm actually going to do this."
