My eyes scan over the figure sitting on the hood of my sister's car. It was finally new years eve and I would be bringing in the new year with my girlfriend. I approach the brunette, startling her. She lets out a breath before I notice her shivering. "Why are you out here if you're cold?" I question, getting onto the car.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I was just thinking about if things will be different when we get back to Texas," she admitted. I chew on my bottom lip as I watch her face turns somber. In other words, she was worried if she would lose her job and career if we went back home. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her into me.

"I think the only thing that will change is the fact you would only have 7 more months with me until I leave for college."

Kathryn frowns as she moves her head to glance at me. "Have you decided where you want to go? Or have you applied to any?" I nod my head and glance away from her.

"I applied to a lot of colleges last year and got an acceptance letter from four colleges. None of them are in Texas. The closest one would probably be Langston."

Suddenly the talk about college made my heartache. I didn't want to go somewhere far away from Kathryn, where I couldn't see her for certain periods of time. A slender finger brings my attention back to the brunette. She smiles softly, "Casey, don't take this opportunity for granted. I'll be fine. There are still the holidays, you'll have to come home for Thanksgiving, winter, and summer break. Or I'll go visit you."

My lips spread into a smile. She had a point. "And plus, everyone goes to Langston. Pick something different, explore a little. Maybe go up north so you can see a white Christmas."

I press my lips against her forehead. "I'll miss you. I miss you just thinking about it."

Kathryn smiles, "Me too baby." I scan her face before speaking. "I don't think you'll lose your job. You're a really great teacher and the staff loves you. I think if you just talk to the principal he'll let you finish the year and then make you leave without putting it on your record."

I smile, "We should go fishing during spring break." Kathryn eyes me, "You know how to fish?"

"Not even." Her laughter graces my ears, "Then why go fishing? Neither of us knows how to fish."

I shrug my shoulders, "I think it will be fun. Just me and you on a lake, fishing without any knowledge of how to actually catch a fish. Imagine one of us actually gets one, it's going to be fun trying to reel it in."

The brunette smiles. "Sounds like a nice date." She rests her head on my shoulder as silence takes over us. This was always the kind of relationship I wanted. Where we weren't always just crazy to have sex. Where we could talk comfortably and when it got quiet there was no awkward tension. I grab Kathryn's hand, my smile widening at the sight of the ring I'd given her on her birthday.

"Do you think I gave you the ring too early?" I find myself questioning. I was a bit self-conscious about it. What if I was moving too fast? What if I fell in love too quickly? Would she feel the same way? Or was this just rushed?

Her hands intertwine with my own. "I can't answer that for you Casey. If your question is, do you think our relationship is rushed, my answer to you would be no. Everyone falls in love some faster than others some takes 5 years. Even though we've only been together for a short period, I feel like I've known you my whole life. This feels right to me, I love being with you."

I kiss the top of her head, "You're good with your words Kathryn Howard."

The woman cringes visibly causing me to chuckle. "You don't like when I call you Kathryn Howard?" I question, playing with her ring. "I don't know. It feels weird. You usually either call me Kathryn or Ms. Howard, you've never just said my full name in one go."

"Kathryn Elizabeth Howard" I smile at the name, "I could imagine you getting into trouble and your mother just yelling 'Kathryn Elizabeth, get down here right now'." I laugh at the thought.

Kathryn laughs, "She did actually. I hated how she said it. And as I got older I tried to get in trouble less just so she wouldn't call my name like that."

I hum, "A goody-two-shoes?" I question. "Far from it."

I raise a brow. "What's the baddest thing you've done then? I kind of can't imagine teenager Kathryn Howard doing anything bad though, I just see an innocent face."

Kathryn thinks for a few seconds before her head tilts up to meet my gaze. "Well at the moment I happen to be in a relationship with an 18-year-old student who attends the school I work at. I don't know what your idea of bad is, but that's the baddest I've done."

The comment causes me to capture my bottom lip in between my teeth. She wasn't absolutely wrong. "I meant as a teenager" I rephrase. Kathryn hums in thought. "I think as a teenager the baddest I've done was sneak out to go to a frat party with Emily. Pretty epic night."

I raise my brow, "Meet any cute guys that night?"

"Several actually. But they were total douches so the chance of me getting laid was slim."

I nod my head, glad that she hadn't lost her virginity at a frat party. "When did you lose your virginity anyway?" I question, slightly curious. Kathryn rolls her pretty brown eyes with a smirk. "College."

"With who?"

"Thomas."

I frown in response. I mean, I know they've had sex, they were dating for 5 years but hearing it come from her lips only made me a little jealous. However, I had no right to be. I didn't know Kathryn until years later.

"Am I the first girl you've kissed?" I question, hopeful that maybe just maybe I would be her first for something.

The brunette shakes her head and my spirit slumps. She laughs, "But in all fairness, Emily was drunk. You might not be the first girl I've kissed but you will surely be the last. Or I'm hoping you are."

I smile at the cheesy comment but my mind retraces back to her first sentence. "You and Emily kissed? Wow, she stole my first kiss, I can't be friends with her anymore" I joke. The two of us laugh at my slight jealousy. The wind blew causing Kathryn to push herself further into my side. "Are you cold? Should we go back in?" I question wrapping my arms around her frame.

She shakes her head, "I want to stay out here. It's kind of chaotic in there and I like hearing your voice."

"Then I'll go get a blanket. I'll be quick" I kiss her cheek. I hop off the car and head into the cabin. I'm immediately greeted with yelling from Cane and Edwin. I roll my eyes as I glance at the TV screen. The two were playing Mario kart and Cane was in first place. "I place my money on Cane" Emily laughs.

Duke laughs with her. "You might want to change your mind about that. Edwin's just letting her think she's won."

I move past them and into my bedroom grabbing a thick blanket. I head back outside, my eyes widening slightly when I don't find my girlfriend on the car. I frown and approach our previous spots. My eyes move around, searching for the brunette.

"Boo!" Kathryn laughs as she jumps on my back. I jump slightly and frown in response to her little prank. "That wasn't funny Kathryn. You know how many murderers move around in the winter?"

The woman laughs at my terrified reaction as she gets back onto the car. She pats the side beside her with a wide grin. My anger subsides as I get back in my spot. Kathryn scoots closer to me and rests her head on my shoulder. I throw the blanket over her figure and wrap my arms around her.

Silence engulfs us for a few minutes before I break it. "Have you and Emily been friends since you guys were in diapers?" I question. Kathryn nods her head. "Yeah, our parents went to college together. And we were just brought up like sisters. What about you and Edwin?"

"Same goes for us. Our mothers have known each other since high school so naturally, we were like family too. That's probably why I find it weird that he and Cass are a couple."

"They're actually a cute couple though." I nod my head. No matter how angry I was with them I couldn't deny the fact that they looked good together. And I hoped they would stay together, otherwise, it would be weird for me.

I rub small patterns on Kathryn's leg when I speak again. "What inspired you to be a history teacher? I know Josh inspired you to be a teacher, but why History?"

The woman chuckles, "History is one of the easiest subjects. But I guess I would have to say my high school teacher Mr. Wilbur inspired me. He was easily one of my favorite teachers. He always gave me snacks but he also made history a fun subject to learn and it stuck."

I hum, "I should've changed my schedule so I could've been your student. I bet our relationship would've started a whole lot sooner."

"Probably. I denied it a lot but when I first saw you in Emily's class I developed a small crush. I guess it never went away."

I raise my brows in surprise. "When was that?" I question.

"I believe it was your sophomore year. You were sitting in the back with a girl who had red hair. I don't know why you stood out but you did. I never would've thought I would move into the apartment next to you."

I can't help but to smile, knowing I had an effect on the woman way before we officially met. "If we're being honest, when you were the new teacher, I did find you really attractive."

"I guess we were destined to be together" the woman snorts. I nod my head in agreement.

It only made sense that we were. Usually, when a person sees someone they had a crush on years ago, that doesn't evolve into love. It eventually goes away. But for us, it grew into something more. "I'm lucky to call you my girlfriend" I admit.

Kathryn shakes her head, "I'm not all that great."

I scoff in annoyance. "Yeah, and pigs fly. I don't want to bring this up but you had a 5-year-boyfriend who became a dick to me because he didn't want to break up with you. Then you have Rai who's currently obsessing over you. Kathryn, you're literally a catch. Anyone would be lucky to have you look at them the way you look at me."

The brunette blushes. I pull my phone from my back pocket, checking the time. "An hour and 30 minutes until new years. Do you have any new year resolutions?"

The woman scoff, "What do I need any of those for? I usually either forget about them by the time February rolls around or I just lose interest in them."

I chuckle, "That I can agree with. But is there something you want to do differently next year that you didn't do this year?"

Kathryn sits in silence for a few seconds. "I guess to keep our relationship under the radar. Even though I don't regret being with you, there is a high possibility that Rai did text the principal. And even if he didn't we should still resist our urges. I love when you skip class to come see me, and I know you're a smart girl but that's unacceptable and irresponsible on both of our behalfs."

I blush in embarrassment. She wasn't exactly scolding me but I felt like she was. "Well, it's not my fault I have this insanely beautiful girlfriend whose voice is smooth like honey."

Kathryn rolls her eyes. "Yeah well my girlfriend is way prettier" she teases. I shrug my shoulders, "You are not wrong about that" I tilt my head up proudly. She laughs and slaps my leg playfully.

"So, I have a question" I start. "You may proceed" the woman laughs beside me. I let out a breath and shake my head, "Do you prefer people of color over white Americans?"

Honey brown eyes land on me.

Kathryn tilts her head to the side, exposing her neck as she thinks her answer over. "I do." I smile, ignoring my thoughts towards her answer. "Why is that?"

The woman sighs, "I honestly don't know how to explain it. I find darker skin more attractive than I do with lighter skin. I'm not saying I've never dated a White man but it just wasn't my cup of tea. People of color have culture and so much more to them than anyone who's my skin color. I'm not saying I only like people of color because their cultures are 'cool' but..." she trails.

I watch her tongue dart out from between her lips, coating them in a thin layer of saliva. "I don't know. Color is more flavor. Plus if we're to go about it food-wise, we all know white Americans are not the best at seasoning."

I laugh at her statement. "What are you talking about? Raisins are the best in potato salad" I joke.

Kathryn scrunched her nose in disgust, "I almost broke up with you because of that." I laugh harder, feeling my muscles tighten in my abdomen. I use my free arm to guide her eyes to me. "You wouldn't know what to do without all of..." I point to myself, "this."

My smile grows 10 times at the sound of her contagious laugh. "You're cocky, it's cute. Maybe I should stop feeding that ego of yours." I bite my lip, "Maybe but then I'd be depressed. Do you want a depressed girlfriend?" I tease pinching her cheeks.

Kathryn laughs hard before slapping my hands away and shaking her head. I eye her for a few seconds before looking away. I was really blessed to have such a beautiful girlfriend. And to think just a few months ago I was against the idea of being tied down. Now I wanted nothing more than to be with Kathryn.

"I just realized you're a Capricorn and not a Sagittarius" I sigh. Kathryn pulls away from me with raised brows, wondering if there was something wrong with her zodiac sign. "What's wrong with that?" she questions with a smirk.

"Nothing, nothing. I just realized. What do you think our compatibility is?" I question, slightly interested in our signs. Kathryn shrugs her shoulders, "You're a..." she thinks about it longer.

Her brows knit together and she quickly glances away pursing her lips. "What's with that reaction!?" I laugh pushing her away from me with a pout. She sucks in a breath and hums, "Gemini" she says with a strained voice. My mouth falls ajar at the way she says it with such hostility.

"Hey, Gemini's are great" I defend.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure babe. They're greatly terrible. Can we go back in time? Maybe if I stop your parents from having you in June, you'll be a different sign" she jokes.

I pout. "You're so mean baby. I'm going to look up our compatibility." I pull my phone back out and search on google the compatibility between a Gemini and Capricorn. It doesn't take long to load. I click the first website and read out the first topic.

"Gemini and Capricorn sexual and intimacy compatibility" I scroll and read the paragraph. "1%" Kathryn sighs. I glance at the bottom of my screen seeing what she was talking about. I frown. Already off to a bad start.

We continue to scroll. "Wow the trust is 50%, Kathryn I'm keeping my eye on you now."

"Uh no. It clearly says that Gemini partners have a tendency to flirt a lot and consider 'light adultery' normal. I have to start watching you around Emily and Sophia now."

I roll my eyes playfully as we continue. "Overall our compatibility is 15%" Kathryn ends. I chuckle lightly. I search for the compatibility between a Gemini and Sagittarius. Immediately I suck my lips in to stop myself from laughing. The compatibility between a Gemini and a Sag is 92%.

Kathryn slaps my arm. "Sorry but you're stuck with me, I don't care what that website says. They haven't met us yet. I'm perfect for you!"

She wraps her arms around my neck and presses her lips to my cheek. I agree with her. The website was obviously created by idiots. Kathryn is perfect for me. I give a quick glance at the time. "I didn't know we were talking for so long. It's almost midnight" I admit. The woman glances at my phone before smiling.

Our eyes meet, brown on brown. Smiles take over our faces as we get giddier by the passing second. I lean into the woman as I hear our friends in the cabin begin the countdown.

"10...9....8....7!"

My eyes don't move away from Kathryn as the time gets shorter and shorter. "5... 4...3...!"

I pull the woman closer, loving how warm she felt against me despite the freezing weather. It was as if we were staring into each other's souls. "2...1...!"

"I am so in love with you Kathryn Howard" I mutter before ending our year with a promising kiss. "Happy New Year!!"