Jake’s phone buzzed, lighting up with a text from Raelene.

“Check your email RIGHT NOW.”

He raised an eyebrow, heart pounding. His hands moved quickly, opening the admissions portal, barely breathing. And then—it was there, clear as day:

Congratulations! You’ve been accepted to San Diego State University.

Jake stared at the screen, stunned. Then he read it again. And again.

Before he could even process it fully, another text from Raelene came in:

“YOU GOT IN TOO DIDN’T YOU?? I CAN FEEL IT 😭❤️”

He laughed out loud, heart racing, and immediately FaceTimed her. She picked up on the first ring, already jumping up and down in her room.

“You got in?! TELL ME YOU GOT IN,” she yelled.

“I did!” Jake shouted. “I actually did! We both did!”

Raelene let out the loudest happy scream, spinning around like a maniac. “Jake, this is everything. We’re gonna go to college together! I was so scared I’d be doing this without you, but now—now it’s real. We’re doing this together.”

Jake sat back, letting the moment sink in. “We’re leaving L.A., starting fresh. New city, new people… but I still get to have you.”

She smiled, soft now. “And I get to have you. Our own little piece of home.”

Later that evening, they met at their favorite overlook spot in the hills, the city lights of L.A. glowing below like a sea of stars. They sat on the hood of Jake’s car, her hand in his, talking about all the what-ifs and what-nows—roommates, dorm life, classes, beach weekends, late-night study sessions, and all the new memories they’d get to make.

Jake looked over at her. “You know what this means, right?”

Raelene raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“No more long distance. No tearful goodbyes. No ‘I miss you’ texts from two hours away.”

She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. “Just ‘I’ll meet you at the dining hall in ten minutes’ kind of love.”

Jake grinned. “Best kind of love.”