"The bus gets her in ten minutes." I take out her suitcase, setting it on the floor. She takes her bag and ties it between the suitcase handle.

"I don't want to say goodbye." She takes a tissue out of her pocket and dabs her eyes. "You know how much I hate goodbyes."

I take her hands in mine, taking a deep breath. "Oh Genevieve, I prepared this speech in my head but now that I actually have to say it, my mind is blank." I look up at the sky in hopes of not letting tears stream down. "You have been my best friend since we were innocent middle schoolers. We've practically become family through these years!"

She slightly laughs, wiping tears away from her face.

"And now we're going to be across the country from each other for the next four years, maybe even more after that." I sniffle, "But I know we'll continue being best friends. And when I'm missing you the most I'll be thinking about all the fun days we spent together. Like the many vacations we took together and our beach trip in Malibu this summer."

"And how we got drunk at a hotel together the night before we went to Disneyland with our families. We were fucking fifteen! I forgot this we even snuck in the booze!" She laughs.

"That was just you, Gen. You nearly puked in my lap." I laugh, wiping a tear from my cheek. "But you get the point. I can't imagine not just driving over to your house and talking for hours anymore. From now it'll just be through phone calls. Send me some postcards from New York, yeah?"

"Be safe out there, Genny. You're going to be a girl in a big ass city and it may seem pretty in the movies, I bet it ten times scarier. Unless I'm in class or have an emergency, I'll always make sure to pick up your calls. If not my messages and voicemails are always open." I warmly smile. "And do not replace me with some New York girl over there!"

She flutters her lashes, "God, you haven't called me Genny since middle school! And I promise not to replace you and I'll send you postcards whenever I get the chance."

"How much time do I have for my speech?"

I glance down at my phone and say, "Five minutes."

She breathes out shakily, "I suck at using my words, but I'll try. Selena Rojas, Sel, my best friend in the whole world, Sel. You're the sister I never had. And for a short period of time, the girl I wanted to be. You have listened to all the gossip I had and comforted me when I got my heart broken or missed my parents."

She pushes a strand of hair out of her face and continues, "Trust me, not having you by my side while I discover New York will be painful. It's not like I can call you over and we go to our spot as I tell you about the experience I had with a stranger or I go over to your place and lay in your comfy bed as I tell you about the cool dress I designed. We're two completely different girls with different dreams, and in order to find ourselves, we have to do that apart from each other, across the country."

"I know you will do great out there in Colorado. I also know you'll be one badass vet in the future. What I'm trying to say is good luck out there. I'm just one call away from listening about what Grayson did this time. Now you have to promise not to replace me with some Colorado girl!"

I laugh, swiping the tissue under my eyes. "Promise."

The bus stops right at the bus stop a few feet away from us. The part we've dreaded the most.

"This isn't goodbye forever, just a 'see you soon'," I tell her.

We embrace each other in a big hug, crying into each other's shoulders. We shift from side to side, not wanting to let go. "My bus's going to leave me!" She says into my ear.

I suck in a deep breath, pulling away from the hug. "Be safe out there, please." I smile.

"I'll see you later, Selena." She smiles, showing off her dimple. She shoves her tissue in her pocket and starts walking to the bus.

"See you later, Genevieve."

☆

"Thought I'd find you here." Grayson sits down next to me. I ignore his stares as I keep looking at the water. I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying even more.

This sucks.

"How many places did you check before finding me?" I ask.

"Three." He sighs, "Your room, Genevieve's window, and that dock by your house."

"I don't want to talk about my feelings right now, Gray." I try to shoo him off.

"Then why are you here? You're here for one thing and you know it." He leans back on the bench, breathing out a clear deep breath. "Tell me, why are you here, Selena?"

I shake my head no, still looking out at the sun setting, making the sky look like an orange color. I curl my toes in between the warm sand and let the small breeze hit me.

"This beach is where I came with anybody and everybody." I finally say. "My parents would bring me and Cora here and it always resulted in water fights or sandcastle competition. Genevieve and I would come here at least once during summer vacation to tan and maybe get a couple of stairs from guys walking past. And you- - we had a few dates here."

I bury my face into my hands. My braid falls over the left side of my hair, making me want to yank it out in anger. "God look at me." I scoff, "Your typical California girl that loves the beach! She's one of a kind, no other Cali girl is obsessed with the beach!"

"Selena-"

"Well, this beach has many memories behind it for me! So what I haven't left this place in my eighteen years of living in it? So what I'm completely petrified of moving to a new state and living with a complete stranger I haven't even met before? And so what that I'm scared of even growing up? I didn't think growing up would consist of my best friend living across the country from me and having to do adult stuff! I'm not ready-"

"Selena!" Grayson shakes my shoulder. "Relax! You let it all go to your head!"

I slouch on the bench, pouting my lip out.

"Come on, let's take a walk." He grabs my hand and starts dragging me to the water. We start walking along the shore, leaving imprints along the sand.

I cross my arms together as we walk slowly.

"You have let all the negative things get to your head, Sel. You should be focusing on all the positive things that'll happen in your future."

"Like what?"

He sticks out his hand, making me glance at him. I sigh in defeat as my hand intertwines with his.

"You're going to college to become a veterinarian. It's been your dream job for ages. Then you'll graduate and get the feeling of 'I did it!'. Then one day we'll get married and it'll be the wedding you dreamed of as a little girl. We'll have an amazing honeymoon and one day maybe even have a few kids. But that'll happen when we're done with school and happy with where we are in our lives." He brings our hands up, kissing my hand.

"You've thought about our wedding?" I smile.

"Yes and so far I don't have any groomsmen." He chuckles.

He stops and pulls me to him so we're standing in front of each other. He places a strand of my hair behind my ear then grabs my other hand. "If you're ever struggling, you have so many people to go to. You have Genevieve, your friends, your family, and you have me."

The butterflies in my stomach start building up in my stomach again. I can feel my cheeks starts to almost burn.

"And in Colorado, it'll be just me and you. Me and you against the big scary world out there."

"You and me against the world?" I hum, "I like the sound of that."

He leans in, his lips meeting mine. I place my hand on his cheek, embracing our kiss in front of the sunset. His lips feel cool against mine with hints of mint in his breath.

We pull apart, resting our foreheads against each other. He brings our hands close to our chests and he rubs his thumb around the back of my hand.

"I love you, Selena Rojas. You're what I say to be the best thing to happen in my life."

"I love you too, Grayson Taylor. You have changed my life for the better and I'm forever grateful for that."

"And now it's you and I against you against the world." We both say at the same time.

I can't believe it. This moment is almost out of a movie. I fell in love with someone I never expected to, and now? It's him and I against the big world that our parents and movies tried so hard to make it seem like such an easy and happy place.

One day I'll marry the guy in front of me. We'll have the wedding of my dreams. As he said, we may even have a few kids, have a family of our own someday. But for now, he's my shy boy from math class.