FALL:- BEFORE

She sighs. "I told Mom and Dad I'd focus on classes."

"I thought you were going to major in music."

Jasmine glances at the door, holding a finger to her lips. I know not to ask further questions. Our parents wanted her to stay closer to home, so this must be one of the concessions. But the University of Michigan isn't too far away, so I'm sure we'll see each other all the time. As we look at another photo, my phone vibrates. I glance at the screen, hiding a smile.

Jasmine looks at me. "Who's texting you?"

"Just Daniel," I say casually.

"Don't tell me you're seeing him later," she says. "Is that why you're not coming with us?"

"There's no room in the car."

Jasmine narrows her eyes.

"No one's coming over!"

"Alright," she says with a shrug. Then she checks the time before rising to her feet again.

I send a quick response to Daniel and look for more photos. Peeking out beneath them is a white envelope with my name on it.

To Eric

"What's this for?"

Jasmine tries to grab it from me. "Nothing, put that back-"

I pull it away from her. "It says my name on it."

"I was writing you a letter." She sighs. "But I'm not done yet. So give it back to me."

"A letter for what?"

"I don't know. I just thought it would be nice, alright?" She moves her hair behind her ear, snatching the envelope from me. "I was gonna mail it to you when I'm in Ann Arbor. I figured I'll have more to say once I'm gone."

"You're not moving across the country."

"It's still a five-hour drive," she says. "It's not like I can just come home all the time."

I say nothing. For some reason, I always assumed she would. That things wouldn't be too different. I glance around the room again, imagining it completely empty for the first time. Our house will be a lot quieter when she leaves. She's like the soundtrack here, her piano music constantly filling every room of the house. Jasmine must sense something, because she sits down again and says, "I'll be back every now and then. And you can always visit me, too."

"I don't have a car," I remind her.

"You can go with Kevin," she suggests. "He's driving up next weekend.

The three of us can hang out together." Kevin Park is Jasmine's boyfriend of three years. They've known each other for much longer, so he's sort of family at this point. He's going to the University of Illinois here in Chicago.

"I'll ask him to pick you up on the way."

"How often are you guys going to see each other?" I've been curious about their long-distance situation.

Jasmine glances at the door and back at me. Then she whispers, "Don't tell anyone yet, but Kevin is trying to transfer in the spring. We've been looking for apartments."

"You're gonna live together?"

"We're still figuring it out," she says, keeping her voice low. "But you have to keep this a secret, okay? Especially from Mom and Dad."

"Jaz..."

"Promise me," she says, holding out her pinkie.

I give her another look and hold out my pinkie, too. "Alright, I promise."

We're always keeping secrets for each other. Jasmine was the first person I came out to a few years ago, even though I sensed she always knew I like guys. Hopefully we can still share things when she's gone. Eventually Dad appears at the doorway, reminding us to finish packing.

Jasmine and I glance at each other, maybe speaking telepathically.

I'll miss you, I think she says.

I'll miss you, too.

Then we push ourselves up and grab some boxes. I hope she has a good time in Michigan.

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