Forever...

It's April. Summer is almost here. This means the cute neighbor and I are down to less than 2 months of being neighbors. We're not moving in together. In fact, quite the opposite. At the end of May, he's moving. Leaving town. Forever. At the end of the summer, I am too. Only I'm not following him, I'm headed in the opposite direction.

Right now, I feel like this is the end of Senior Year. The cute neighbor and I still have the prom to go to and all, but at the end of the summer, we're headed to different schools. But we don't even have until the end of the summer for some Summer Lovin', because he's going off to work as a camp counselor and I'm staying home for the summer baby-sitting. (I just want to note that the cute neighbor is not going to be a camp counselor. But sadly, I will indeed be baby-sitting.)

Let me tell you right now: I have no idea what's going to happen between us. I've always known he would be moving right about now, but that seemed sooooo far into the future last year after I shoved Fenella into the bathroom to excitedly tell her that my totally cute neighbor had just confessed he had the hots for me and I dramatically ran across the street to knock on his door at one o'clock in the morning and we had our passionate end-of-the-Sandra Bullock/Hugh Grant movie kiss. I just told myself we would cross that bridge when we came to it. Well you know what? That bridge is here. In the immediate future.

I've done long-distance before and promptly swore it off as a can't-win situation. This situation, I told myself, would be different! We'll only be apart a year! (plus a few months) Then we can be together again! Now, however, reality is settling in. He's moving to the west coast. Of the United States. I'm moving to Europe. That's an 8 hour time difference. A ten hour flight. And a very expensive one at that. A flight that this grad student will not have the money to be taking.

I hate to say it, but I'm bracing for the worst. I figure the more I prepare myself now, the less it will hurt later. I know that makes it sound like losing someone to a long, drawn-out illness or in a sudden, tragic accident, but if it has to end, I would rather it end like that as opposed to walking into his house thinking I was in for a romantic evening and finding him in bed with another woman.

No matter what happens, June and July are going to be rough. I'm going to need many, many distractions. Getting ready to move to another country is indeed a distraction, but it won't be enough. I will begin taking suggestions now. I'm going to have a lot of weekends/nights to fill up.