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Her first night in college she cries. The tears came so unexpected, she had been dying to be on her own for so long that the loneliness of that first night caught her unaware. Sure, there was no baby down the hall crying all the time, there was no mom nagging her constantly and thankfully no more forced Friday night games. It’s what she had always wanted, being on her own, away from her parent’s constant gaze, had been her motivation to get the hell out of Dillon. But as she said good-bye to her mom, as she watched her dad drive away with little Gracie smiling, reality suddenly crashed. There were no more of Gracie’s beautiful smiles to brighten her days, no mom to make sure she got up for classes, no dad to share a midnight snack with. Suddenly being away from Dillon was…scary.
So that first night, in the darkness, alone, because her new roommate was gone, Julie Taylor cried for the comfort of the home she had forgotten to love, for all the moments that she had forgotten to treasure. Something makes her grab her cell phone and call him.
“Hey” he answers in a groggy voice and suddenly Julie realizes that in her need for comfort she had forgotten to check the time. For a moment she was tempted to just hang up, but she had already called, he had already answered, and to be honest she missed his voice.
“Hey. Sorry to wake you…”
“No worries. I wasn’t sleeping,” he stops for a second, aware that she’s not buying his crap, she knows him too well, and adds “I always have time for you”
It warmed her heart to know he still cared.
Her first night in college she spends the whole night talking to Matt Saracen and all the loneliness disappears, and just like that she feels happier than she has in a long time.
A few weeks later college is better. She loves her classes, she’s making friends, and her roommate is not the weirdo she seemed to be. Sometimes she gets pangs of nostalgia for Dillon, for all those things that once seemed so idiotic about her life, but now seem so comforting. Every time, she reaches for her phone to call him, but stops herself. She hasn’t talked to him since that first night. She’s not sure why, but she kind of wants him to be the one to call her. He doesn’t call.
She starts going to football games. It started one day when her roommate Parker had admitted to never having gone to one, and Julie had admitted that her childhood had been spent from game to game. After that Parker was insistent on going to a game together, and Julie had to give in. And then, Julie just couldn’t stop going. Every time she felt homesick or just nervous, she would go to a game. When she told her dad, he had been so excited, asking her about players and plays, and Julie began paying attention so she had stories to tell to her dad.
Right before Christmas Julie had given up on hearing from Matt again. That night when she called him, so many months ago, she had felt that they could be real friends again. But he had never called. Julie arrives from lecture and sits down on her bed, Parker sits down next to her with a smile on her face.
“Julie Taylor, what have you been keeping from me?”
Julie just looks confused
“Don’t give me that look. Here I was sitting by myself wondering who I could set up my roommate Julie with, when I hear a nock on the door and who could it be? Mr. slightly awkward, but very delicious, aka Matt Sarecen. Matt who? I asked, and I got him to tell me how the coach’s daughter stole the heart of the shy QB 1 and how the two of you became the cutest couple in Dillon…”
Julie stops listening as soon as Parker says Matt’s name. All she thinks is Matt was here? She looks at her phone, still waiting for his call.
“…and then he told me how his school was playing our school, and how, he had decided to come and see you, and he asked me to tell you that if you wanted to see him, he would be at the stadium at about 4…”
Julie didn’t need to think this one twice. Promising to tell Parker everything, she grabs her jacket and heads for the door. Parker shouts something about promising to party late tonight just in case Julie and Matt want to get “reacquainted”, but Julie is in too much of a hurry to answer.
She doesn’t run to the football stadium, she figures that would make her seem too desperate. She’s not sure what to expect, but a small part of her hopes that maybe, just maybe the time is finally right. That maybe this time they’re not too immature…too scared…too young to make it work, that now they can be perfect.
She sees him and her heart stops. Suddenly, she’s 16 again, and has no idea what to do. Good thing, Matt’s not the same fumbling sixteen year old from so many years ago. Taking to heart all those life lessons he got from Coach Taylor, Matt walks towards Julie and without saying a word, because really he doesn’t have too, he kisses her.
After the game, Julie remembers Parker’s promise to leave to room, and for once she’s glad that she’s all by herself with her family very, very far away. After that, Julie doesn’t have to wait anxiously for Matt to call her, after all, he is her boyfriend so she can call him whenever she wants, and every time he answers Julie can’t stop her heart from doing flip-flops. Maybe they’re not perfect like she thought they would be, but who needs perfect when she can have Matt?