Chapter 9

"So how was your date?" Dusty asked as she entered the room. Ashley was sitting on her bed, already wearing her nightdress, the makeup she'd so carefully applied earlier now scrubbed off. Walking in and seeing her like that, with boys the topic of the evening, made Dusty think of their bedroom back in Princeton, and the biting realization that when they returned to America they wouldn't be able to meet like this anymore overwhelmed her. Dusty began to cry, soft, regretful tears.

"Oh no, what is it? I knew I shouldn't have left you alone all day. I'm so sorry." Ashley was instantly by her side, hugging her.

"No, no, it's not that." Dusty sniffed.

"Then what is it?"

"It's just... this is our final night together, for goodness knows how long. For four years, you've always been there for me, now I have to go and live in a strange city, on my own, and I don't know if I can do it without you there! I'm going to miss you so much!" Dusty was now weeping, and her words brought tears to Ashley's eyes too.

"I'm going to miss you too," Ashley declared, her tears quickly intensifying to sobs. The girls hugged one another, crying over their time together drawing to a close as life inevitably pulled them forward and apart. As much as they might want to, they couldn't stay in college forever. Dusty knew that the hardest part of growing up was the distance that formed between you and your loved ones.

She didn't want to let Ashley go, didn't want to end their late night chats about relationship. She had become more than a best friend to her; they were like sisters. "I wanted to wait to give you this," Ashley said tearfully, wiping at her cheeks as she pulled away from Dusty and retrieved something from under her bed. "I know you don't like me giving you gifts, but this is more of a present for me," Ashley insisted, handing Dusty a neatly wrapped box with a pink bow on top.

"What is it?" Dusty looked at the box in puzzlement.

"Open it and see," Ashley urged, getting a tissue to help her quash her stream of tears. Dusty carefully unwrapped the box and gasped when she saw that it contained an iPad. She looked up at her friend in disbelief.

"I can't accept this," she said, shoving the gift towards Ashley, who pushed it back into her friend's arms.

"Yes, you can, like I said, it's more of a gift for me. You see, this way, we can Skype together every night, even if we're in bed, so we don't have to stop having our end-of-day chats!"

Dusty looked first to the box and then to Ashley, her look of shock melting into a wide smile. "I don't know what to say," she admitted.

"Thank you will suffice." Ashley grinned.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Dusty reached out and embraced her friend tightly. She wanted to thank her for so much more than the iPad but didn't have the words. "I got you something too," Dusty admitted. "Though it isn't as impressive as your gift."

"I bet it is." Ashley smiled. Dusty opened her bedside cabinet and pulled out an ornate silver photo frame, within which was the image that the girls had taken previously when they were on the London eye. "Oh my God, when did you get this printed?" Ashley squealed with delight when Dusty handed it to her.

"I did it today," Dusty admitted.

"And the frame, it's so beautiful, so me!"

"It's from Paris," Dusty explained. "I thought, the picture is from London, the frame from Paris and they all came together in Rome, so it kind of represents our whole trip."

"It's amazing," Ashley gushed. "I'm going to treasure it always." She clutched the picture tightly to her chest and then put it down by her bed, smiling at the image, already knowing that wherever she went, she would take it with her and always feel that warm, fond feeling of true friendship whenever she looked at it.

"I guess we should really get to bed." Dusty sighed.

"Or we could stay up all night talking," Ashley suggested mischievously.

"I like the sound of that," Dusty agreed. "Besides, I need to hear all the dirt about your date with Ricardo."

"There's no dirt to dish," Ashley said coyly.

"Oh, come off it!" Dusty threw a cushion at her best friend. "Did you kiss him? Oh my God, you so kissed him!" The girls erupted into fits of giggles as Ashley tried in vain to deny that she'd kissed Ricardo.

****

As dawn broke over Rome, the girls, red-eyed from lack of sleep, wearily pulled their luggage into the airport for the final plane journey home. There was a bittersweet feeling between them, as both knew that on returning to America, nothing would be the same for them. They'd be living on opposite sides of the country.

"I need to hear all about New York," Ashley insisted as they both downed a much-needed espresso.

"And I want to hear all about your fancy-pants political job," Dusty said.

"Well then, that's the beauty of Skype. We must call each other every night, no exceptions."

"No exceptions," Dusty agreed solemnly.

"Thank you for an amazing vacation," Ashley said sincerely, toasting Dusty with her miniature cup and saucer.

"Thank you for an amazing four years," Dusty said, growing tearful.

"No tears!" Ashley declared, quickly passing Dusty a napkin. "I want our parting to be a happy one. Besides, I'm already planning on coming to the Big Apple for Thanksgiving!"

Dusty smiled, excited for what lay ahead even if it was frightening in magnitude. Soon she'd be living alone and working a new job within one of the busiest cities in the world. But beyond that there was Christmas, when Dusty planned to return to West, where she would inevitably see Valentine once more, and the thought of seeing her again scared her more than any of the other changes that were looming on the horizon of her future.