2 Chapter 2

Xavier's P.O.V.

Nervous. That's all I felt on the drive over to Sierra's house. Nervous to tell her that I was going to have to bail on our summer plans. I had been accepted into a research program at St. Johns and was going to be working alongside professors on their own research products and assisting them. I just found out yesterday and wanted to tell her right away but I didn't wanted to ruin her mood on our graduation day.

Sierra was already sitting on her front porch waiting for me as I turned into her driveway, she looked like something was on her mind as she was fidgeting with her hands and looking down at her feet. Come to think of it she had been on edge since lunch at the dinner. I pulled my truck to a stop and climbed out moving my legs towards her I sat down on the steps next to her and she instantly put her head on my chest as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

"What's got you all nervous" Her green eyes meeting mine and looking around frantically for a moment.

"What are you talking about?" Her face softened up a bit but I just knew that she was trying to convince me that she was okay when I knew she wasn't. Sierra was actually a good liar, scarily good. But I could see right through it, I always could.

"Don't even try and lie to me. You know I'm immune to your powers so just save your energy and tell me the truth". She chuckled at my words but kept her head down, still playing with her fingers. Her silence was making me even more nervous about telling her. I was beyond grateful when she finally spoke ending the torturous silence.

" I..I kind of have some news for you" I stiffened as she stumbled over her words, moving her body so we were facing each other before I spoke.

" I also have some news for you" Her face was a mixture of surprise and concern. We held each others gaze for a few moments before I spoke again " Should we head to the field?" she instantly nodded her head and we got up and walked to my truck. Sierra immediately turned the radio to our favorite station. We rolled the windows down and enjoyed the night air as it flew past us.

This is something I know that I am going to miss, the small town country life. We had always lived in Tennessee in town that was truly a community. There wasn't any light pollution from city lights so we were able to clearly see the stars. Looking over at Sierra she had her hand out the window enjoying the wind rushing on her skin. She looked content and I knew that in just a few hours we were both going to be disappointed.

We pulled off on the road were the trail was and grabbed our flashlights. It was only about a ten minute hike and it was more than worth it. The trail to get to our clearing was a bit rigorous but both of us were fit so it wasn't an issue. Silence covered us as we began the trail to my favorite spot in the world.

Time seemed to be moving by slowly because it felt like hours before we finally reached our destination. As always we stopped at the edge where flowers encircled the area to admire its beauty. The clearing was small and intimate with a small waterfall leading into a pond that we often used as a swimming hole during the hot summer days. Taking our first steps into the clearing we laid out the blanket and distributed the snacks to one another before we lay on our backs.

Looking up at the stars was beyond mesmerizing. They were a complete world away yet they burned so bright the we could see them clearly with the naked eye. Sierra reminded me of a star with how much light emulated from her, she always went above and beyond in everything that she did she was my own star that kept me grounded from joining the rest of them.

Neither of us wanted to break the silence because this time it was familiar and comforting. They had come to this spot since they were nine to enjoy the view of the stars. However, I knew we had to talk so I pulled myself up on the blanket and Sierra followed suit. I stared at her face, memorizing every detail from the way her nose would twitch when she was restless to the way she subconsciously leaned her head to the side whenever someone was talking to her. The silence became unbearable again and I knew I had to speak before I lost the nerve to say anything to her.

" Okay I'm just going to come right out and say it" My bluntness caught her attention as she straightened out her head "Do you remember the research program I applied for?" she nodded her head wanting to hear more of what I had to say. "well yesterday I found out that I had been accepted!" Her face lit up and she threw her arms around my neck giving me a tight hug and letting a squeal escape from her lips.

" That's so amazing!! Congratulations I am so proud of you!" She was practicaly bouncing with joy "this days just keeps getting better" There was something that flashed in her eyes that I couldn't quite understand.

"Now wait before you get too excited there's some bad news with it. The labs have to be cleared by the time classes start so the students can use the labs, so I have to leave in a few weeks to help them speed up the process". It took me a minute before I could look up and meet her eyes. Surprisingly she didn't seem so upset. I was about to speak again but she cut me off.

"Before you say anything else I have to tell you my news." I leaned back a bit, curious to why she wasn't upset when I told her we had way less time than we thought. "With everything going on it completely slipped my mind but I also to leave soon, I have a National meet in Italy in a month so I have to leave to go be with the team in two weeks so we can train there." She stopped as I absorbed the information. She had told me about this meet so many months ago and I had forgotten as well so I couldn't be mad at her. I was about to say something when she cut me off...again.

" There's something else" She took a deep breath like she was gathering the courage for what she was about to say next. "Directly after the meet I have to head to UCLA for team practices before classes start" Her words hitting me like a truck. We were only going to have two weeks with each other before we were a few states away from each other. Knowing that our time was going to be cut short from my research opportunity was already killing but hearing that there was even less time than that shattered me inside.

Sierra is my best friend, she's my rock, she's the one who is there to help me no questions asked and now we were about to be ripped apart from each other for close to six months. When I looked up I saw that she had tears streaming down her face. Pulling her into my chest she let out a sob and hearing hers caused one of my own to come out. We just sat there holding each other until we saw the stars disappear and the sun start to rise over the cliff top.

The night was bittersweet. We were able to spend quality time doing one of her favorite activities, yet on the other end of that sword was the painful reality that we were going to have to adjust to life without each other in far less time than we had imagined.