What It Takes To Be Happy

Freshman year, I was nobody. I wore my sweatpants and hoody every day, and I didn’t talk. Ever. Sophomore year, I got a sense of style, but I was still anonymous. Junior year, I got a best friend. Lizzie. Senior year, I got quite a few friends. I wasn’t miss popularity or anything, but I was part of a real group. Still, after four years of slowly climbing the social ladder, I’d never had a boyfriend worth mentioning. As of today, I am officially a high school graduate. And I’ve never even had my first kiss.

 

“Hey, Sophie!” I turned around and saw Dylan, one of the guys I’d been hanging out with recently. “You’re rocking that trash bag!”

I laughed, looking down at my graduation gown. It did look a lot like a giant trash bag. “Thanks man! You too! Are you going to the bonfire tonight?”

Every year the seniors have a class bonfire out at the lake the night of graduation. I’ve never been to one, obviously, but from what I’d heard it’s basically that time everyone’s been waiting for�"no more cliques, just everyone confessing crushes and reliving memories together as a class. I was pretty excited to go tonight.

“Obviously. I’ll see you there?”

I nod, and he walks away. Dylan has always been a funny and outgoing guy. Even though we’d only recently been hanging out, I felt like he’d be someone I could really have as a great friend. Also, it doesn’t hurt that he’s super cute. But for now, I just need to make it out of my grad party alive so I can head to the bonfire.

When the last distant relative I’d never met before today finally hugs me goodbye, I make my exit, heading toward the lake. As I pull up, I instantly see which pier was the right one, because the fire is roaring and the cars are overflowing out into the street. I make myself a parking spot in the ditch and walk over to the fire. In the darkness, it’s hard to tell who’s who, so I take a seat on one of the logs and look around for people I know. I feel someone sit beside me, so I look over, and it’s Lizzie.

“Hey girl!” I say. She says hey back right as Dylan and Matt sit down on my other side and Chris sits down by her.

“’Sup, ladies?” Matt says, and we all laugh. He is probably the least smooth person we know.

“Okay, everyone!” Chey says, standing up. Cheyenne is probably the most well liked girl in our class. She’s so silly and hilariously gullible, and she’s always so nice to everyone. She’s also a good leader. “Let’s do this! Graduating class of 2012, this is OUR night!”

Everyone cheers loudly, and she continues, first covering official business like class t-shirts and contact information for reunions, and then she moves on to the fun part. “Let’s talk about past crushes, yeah?” she suggests, and everyone agrees.

I wasn’t surprised that nobody mentioned me as a past crush. I wasn’t the most outgoing person for most of high school and by the time I was, opinions had already been formed. College would be different. College would be magical.

 

The first week of summer I mostly spent hanging out with Lizzie. She was moving to California early for college so we got in as much best friend time as possible before she left. When she left, though, I started spending more and more time with the guys. Matt, Chris, and Dylan were always inviting me to play disc golf or basketball, and we had a great time together. Matt was a goofball and Chris was a little too wrapped up in his girlfriend, but Dylan and I were normal enough to balance it out, and together the four of us had some great times.

I was growing closer to Dylan especially, and even though the four of us had had the relationship talk and I had made it clear I wasn’t looking for a relationship until college, our texting conversations had gotten rather flirty. Truthfully, I was kind of starting to like him. He was so sweet and funny and fun to be around. And now he wants to hang out just the two of us, but I don’t know if I should enjoy the flirtation or worry about leading him on. He knew my stance on relationships, though, and had agreed with me when I’d talked about it, so obviously he just wanted the flirty friendship. Which was fine by me.

“Hey you,” he says, smiling, as I get in his car.

“Hayyyy!” I say obnoxiously, and we both laugh. He drives us to the movie, and when he offers to pay, I let him. I sit down in the seat next to him and we chat until the movie starts. Once the lights go down, though, it’s on.

I first notice it about halfway through the first preview. His arm is softly pushing against mine, and getting harder. A few seconds later, he’s completely taken over the armrest. I look at him, and he grins back. I elbow his arm off and reclaim the armrest, smiling to myself. I win.

I didn’t win. We elbowed back and forth the entire showing, and I can’t remember a single line from the movie but I do remember the old couple shushing my giggles as I fought for that armrest.

That was the beginning of something. Dylan and I were text-flirting constantly, and when we weren’t it was because we were flirting in person. I told my parents I was out with all the guys when really it was just Dylan and me, walking along the lake or hanging out at the playground in the park until the early morning hours. We talked, we laughed, and I realized that I was honestly starting to like him. Like, really like him. I’d never noticed his sweet smile, his bright eyes, or his quick humor before. I’d never known him to be so enticing, so exciting and fun to be with. I knew he was fun in our group, but I’d never paid much attention to any of the guys specifically. Now, though, I was noticing every little thing about him. And he was being so...perfect. One day I posted on my profile that “sweet dreams” and “good morning, Sunshine!” were the best texts ever, and from then on every morning and every night I received some variation of those messages. And I really liked it.

 

“Passing a slowpoke on the left!” I yell as I swerve around Dylan.

“Hey!” he yells back, but I’m already way past him. It’s obvious he’s got the slow go-kart, but I don’t care. I’m beating him and there is a group of guys waiting in line that are watching every second of it, so life is pretty great right now. I zoom around the track, laughing as the wind blows in my face and I think about Dylan’s expression when I’d passed him. Surprised, amused, and…something else. Right as I’m about to pass him again, the light turns red and we go back to the pit.

“I beat you so bad!” I scream, jumping up and down.

“Whatever Sophie! I demand a rematch! And this time, YOU get the slow kart!”

“No way, man. I’m not taking any chances with my championship.”

“So you admit I’d beat you in a rematch?” he says, raising his eyebrows, and I realize my mistake.

“I did not say that!”

“Oh, but you implied it! It’s okay, we both know who the true champion is.”

I roll my eyes and bump into him as we walk toward his car. He bumps back. I smile.

“You want a re-race?” I say. “Then race ya to the car!”

I know this is a race I’m going to lose�"Dylan is a track star and I’m a couch potato, but it’s fun to pretend I have a chance as I sprint toward his car as fast as I can, grabbing his shirt and pulling him back to launch myself ahead.

Even though the days are counting down and in a week I’ll be leaving for college, I’m still not slowing down this flirtation with Dylan. We’re just having fun, and once we go to college it’ll be nothing because we aren’t in a relationship and haven’t done anything but hang out…a lot. And I’ll admit. There have been a few times when I’d thought about kissing him, but that would just complicate things and the last thing I need before the hectic college move is a complication.

A complication is what I got.

The last night in town, Matt, Chris, Dylan, and I were all hanging out at the basketball court. We were laughing and teasing and it was just like old times. Then, Dylan overshot the basketball and it rolled down a hill. I ran to get it and he came with. When we got to the bottom of the hill, I grabbed the ball and started to run back up, but he stopped me.

“Sophie, I know you’re leaving tomorrow, and I’m leaving the week after that. But our colleges are only an hour away, and I really like you. I really like you. I just…”

Oh no. Don’t do it Dylan. Don’t ask me that. Not tonight. Not right now. Not like this. Not ever.

“I just wondered if you’d go out with me. You know… be my girlfriend.”

I froze. What do I say? I should say no. Long distance never works. But do I want to say no? I really like him.

“I…I don’t know, Dylan. Long distance doesn’t usually work out, and we’re going to college. Do you really think it’d work out?”

“I hope it works out. An hour isn’t that far, we could see each other all the time. We could make it work.”

His eyes were pleading, his cologne was intoxicating, and as much as I wanted to say yes and kiss him right then, I knew I should think about this more and not rush into a doomed relationship.

“Dylan…” I start, but Matt and Chris come running down the hill.

“Dudes, what happened? We thought you got eaten by a bear or something!”

“Yes, Chris, because there are totally bears in the middle of Kansas,” Dylan replies, rolling his eyes. He glances at me, and starts walking back up the hill.

I take out my phone, flip it open, and hold it to my ear.

“Hello?” I ask to the empty air. “Hey, guys, it’s my dad. Go ahead, I’ll be back in a sec.”

Matt and Chris run to catch up with Dylan and I turn around and call Lizzie.

“Hey best friend!” she says cheerily.

I waste no time with hellos.

“So I know I asked for this by being so careless but these past few weeks I’ve been staying out late every night with Dylan at the lake and park and we talk and he’s so nice and perfect and we’ve been going on dates that I thought didn’t mean anything and we’ve been flirting so much, texting all the time and stuff, and he’s so sweet and I really like him but I’m going to college and so is he and long distance never works out and he asked me to be his girlfriend and I don’t know what to say!” I take a deep breath and try to calm down.

“Oh girl. Where are you?”

“I’m at the basketball courts.”

“And he just asked you? Where is he?”

“With Matt and Chris.”

“He asked you in front of them?!”

“No! But I don’t know what to say and tomorrow is my last day in town so no matter what I say it won’t matter because I won’t see him again for at least a week but I don’t know what to say!” I’m shaking and breathing hard. A guy would finally like me right before I leave. This is just my luck.

“Okay. Calm down. Think about this. Would going into college with a boyfriend, knowing you’re going to meet tons of other guys and he will be meeting tons of other girls, make you happy? Because if he’s just another guy, you won’t want him holding you back and you won’t want the worry of him meeting girls. But if you really like him enough that you’re willing to make those sacrifices, then he’s worth it. Either way, do what’s going to make you happy right now. If it stops making you happy, you can always just end it. It’s a relationship, not a marriage.”

“Right. Okay, that helps a lot. Thank you so much! I gotta go though.”

“Wait, what are you going to say?” she asks excitedly.

“When I know, you’ll be the first I tell,” I promise.

I hang up, feeling clearer. As I walk back up the hill, I know what I want to say to him. Leave it to Best Friend to make the world make sense.

“Hey, Sophie! Didn’t you have to be home at midnight?” Matt calls when I reach the top of the hill. I look down at my phone. 12:03. Crap.

“Oh my gosh! I have to go!” I hurriedly hug each of them in turn, and promise to see them next weekend when I come back from college as I run toward my car. I guess Dylan will just have to wait.

My parents were already asleep when I made it home �" they trust me entirely too much �" so I wasn’t in trouble for being late. I thought about texting Dylan, but I figured finding time tomorrow to say what I needed to say in person was best. The plan was to leave in early afternoon, so maybe I could stop by his house when he woke up…

“Wake your butt up, Sophie!” Dylan yells from outside my window, knocking on the glass and scaring the heck out of me.

I hurry over to the window and open it, and he crawls inside.

“I have to know. I just need an answer,” he says.

“What if it doesn’t work out?” I ask quietly.

“You’ll still be my loser and I’ll still be your champion. We will still be best friends.”

“Exes can never be friends.”

“Then let’s not be exes. Let’s be, um…’y’s. Like ‘Y’ haven’t you said yes yet?”

I laugh and he smiles back, and I know that what Lizzie said was right. I shouldn’t think too hard about the future when I’m living right now. Dylan is the first guy that has actually put forth an effort and he really cares about me. I really like him and he’s such a nice guy. I’m lucky he likes me. So I decided. And that night, I got my very first kiss.

Reviews

[b.platte]

This was a very well written story. It was believable and had great dialogue.

It was also easy to envision. The way you described their actions made it easier to see. Like when she grabbed his shirt to launch ahead of him. That was great.

Nice short story, I hope they made things work. :) Although, I don't think it takes a relationship to be happy. First kisses are pretty great though ;)

[Sophy.]

You're right, the title might be a bit of an exaggeration. Haha, thank you so much for reading it and reviewing! (:

[Michael Bujtas]

If you don't mind me saying, it seems like there's a little author insertion in this story. Not that it's a bad thing, it's very believably written with the uncertainty of long distance looming the background making the ending almost bitter sweet.

I'd really like to see the challenges the couple has together if it were ever to be a full story. Excellent work.