Like a viiiirgin
The graduation hall had been hectic after the ceremony, people hustling and bustling every which way, trying to hug their graduates or say their last goodbyes to the friends they may not see again (at least not until the next day at the pool to start off summer vacation). Alfred had managed to find his father and brothers, briefly, there were handshakes and pats on the back all around, and then he'd disappeared into the crowd again to find his girlfriend. He was glad to see she'd similarly ditched her family, and the two of them slipped out of the crowd and toward the parking lot.
Alfred had never had a problem with crowds, but he'd nonetheless never been happier to get out of one, to escape to the relative peace and seclusion of his car and not be hassled anymore. He didn't even put the top down until they'd made their way out of the neighborhood and were heading for the Holland Tunnel.
Melanie leaned against him, one hand lightly draped around his arm, head resting against his shoulder. "Congratulations," she said, giving him a smile and patting his arm.
"Yeah, you too," he grinned, reaching over to give her knee a squeeze. "We're adults now, huh?"
She laughed. "Some of us are. Some of us still have to wait a month."
Alfred made a face. "Three weeks and six days, thank you very much." Then he sighed. "Sucks you're gonna miss it."
"Mmm…" she leaned her head back against him, turning to gaze absently out the window. "I'm sorry, Al. You know I really am. But I've been looking forward to this trip for like… forever."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I mean, you should totally go! Don't worry about it, or anything, it's gonna be awesome for you. Traveling the world and stuff."
"I know," she agreed, giving his arm a squeeze. "It's going to be amazing and I can't wait. I'm going to send you all sorts of postcards." She sighed. "I am gonna miss you though."
"Yeah, I'm gonna miss you too." Alfred leaned over and gave the top of her head a quick kiss. "I'll be lookin' forward to those postcards though."
She smiled back and kissed his cheek. "I'll send you one from every country."
Soon enough they reached their destination; a little patch of greenery called Liberty State Park. Melanie'd picked the place. If they were going to look at the statue, Alfred would have much rather been at the Battery, but she'd insisted. This place was more open and a little less touristy. "And more romantic," she'd said. He didn't really consider New Jersey 'romantic,' but he wasn't going to argue. He drove to the end of the park and turned the car off, and they sat for a moment in silence, gazing out at Lady Liberty, illuminated brilliantly by the slowly setting sun.
"She's beautiful," Melanie murmured. Alfred smiled and nuzzled his nose into her hair.
"Not as beautiful as you."
Melanie laughed and pushed him playfully away. "You're such a sap. Seriously, you sound like a Hallmark card."
"What, it's true!" Alfred wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close again, pressing her face into his chest. She shrieked with laughter and slapped at him, vainly trying to pry his arms off her.
"Get off, stop it, you're terrible!" Eventually he relented and she sat up, her hair mussed, her face flushed and giddy. "I'm gonna miss you."
"I'm gonna miss you too."
She leaned in to kiss him, her hand grazing the side of his face, letting her lips linger against his for a long moment. When she pulled away, she murmured, "I think we should break up."
"Wh-" Alfred blinked at her, mouth hanging open slightly as his brain tried to process what she'd just said. "What like right now? Seriously?"
"Seriously." She frowned. "I mean, I really like you, Al, but I just… I don't think it's going to work out."
"What do you mean, it's not gonna work out? We've been doing great. Suddenly it's just 'not gonna work out' out of nowhere?"
"I mean, the long distance thing."
"You're coming back from Europe. -Right?"
"Yeah, and then I'm going away to school. Clemson and Ithaca are practically on opposite sides of the country."
"Come on. They are not! It's all the East Coast. I could drive down for a-"
"It's like eight hundred miles, Al, I looked. You're not gonna drive down for weekend, unless you're insane." She smiled at him a little wistfully, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. "You're supposed to be studying anyway, Ivy League."
"Psh," Alfred snorted, rolling his eyes. "But I mean- we can still make it work… right? There's phones, and the internet, and-"
She shook her head. "I just… I think it'd just be best to start over. Y'know? There's gonna be all these other hot college girls, and you're not gonna wanna be tied down to someone you never even get to see, right?"
"I wouldn't mind."
Melanie looked away guiltily. "Well, I'd mind."
"You-" Alfred sounded heartbroken. Melanie turned to look up at him again, her eyes desperately searching his face, pleading with him for understanding.
"It's hard, Al! It's really hard. Trying to make something work from hundreds of miles away. And I wanna end it now before either of us gets our hopes up, or does something dumb, or… I don't know. I'm sorry."
Alfred managed a wry smile. "You wanna hook up with hot European guys, don't you?"
"Alfred!" Melanie huffed and crossed her arms indignantly. "I'm not some slut, okay? I'm not breaking up with you so I can sleep my way across Europe, if that's what you're thinking." She sighed, letting her arms droop. "I can't do it, okay? I just wanna be with you all the time, and I can't. And I'm just gonna go crazy down there, dreaming about sticking my tongue down your throat and you're eight hundred miles away and I can't." She looked up again, and there were tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. "And now I'm crying. But at least this way I can get it all out now." She sniffed and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "You probably think I'm a huge idiot."
Alfred's face softened, and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her close against his chest. "You're not an idiot," he mumbled. "I'm the idiot."
She laughed a little hiccupy laugh and sat up, letting her hands rest lightly against his chest. "You kinda are," she agreed. "A genius idiot."
"I'll miss you," he said again.
"I'll miss you too," she agreed. "But… while we're still here, for now, I wanted to…" Her face flushed pink, and she turned her eyes away, fiddling with the hem of her blouse. "I wanna lose it with you."
"Lose-- oh." For the second time that evening Alfred found himself staring at her, mouth slightly agape. "You mean-"
"Don't be stupid, Al. You know what I mean."
"Yeah! I mean, yeah. I mean… yeah."
That made her laugh again, and she leaned across the gearbox to kiss him, cupping his face in both her hands. "I want to have sex with you," she whispered against his mouth. Alfred nodded dumbly.
"Yeah, okay."
...To be continued