He Promised Me Photos, She Got Them Instead Novel – Chapter 1 I was always one step behind everyone else, while my childhood friend Dylan Carter and my best friend Madison Cole were both constantly in a hurry. Whenever we ate together, I would barely be halfway through my meal before the two of them finished and started clamoring to play video games at the gaming lounge next door, leaving me alone at the restaurant. Once, while we were swimming, my leg cramped halfway across the pool. I called for help, only to realize they had already climbed out and disappeared. When the three of us sat down to make our college decisions, I had not even logged into my admissions portals before Dylan and Madison accepted their offers from Columbia and confirmed their enrollment. They immediately stood up to leave. “Hannah, you take forever to do anything. I need to help Madison get concert tickets, so we’re not waiting for you.” “Madison and I both committed to Columbia.
Make sure you accept Columbia’s offer too.” The second Dylan finished speaking, Madison grabbed him and pulled him toward the door. They rushed out so fast that he never heard me say, “I’m not going to Columbia.” “You’ll never have to wait for me again.” *** It was true that I did everything a little slower than everyone else. By the time I accepted UT Austin’s offer and checked the clock, there was less than a minute left before the enrollment deadline. Once it passed, my Columbia offer would expire, and there would be no changing my decision.
The thought of spending the next four years more than seventeen hundred miles away from Dylan made my chest ache. As I sat there fighting back the sadness, my phone suddenly rang. “Hannah, do you have any idea what time it is? Are you still not ready?” “The class president scheduled the get-together for six. We’re the only ones missing. Can you please hurry up?” Dylan’s impatient voice sent me scrambling to my feet. I moved so quickly that the edge of a chair scraped my leg, but I did not even glance down before running outside.
Even so, when I reached the school entrance, all I saw was the taillights of their rideshare disappearing down the street. I stood there in a daze until my phone rang again. Dylan’s number appeared on the screen, but when I answered, Madison’s voice came through. “Sorry, Hannah. Our ride got here, and the app had already started charging us a wait-time fee, so we went on ahead. Just get another ride and meet us there.” My heart slowly sank. It was always like this. They always promised to wait, but somehow they left a minute or two before I arrived every single time. They had done it when we went to the amusement park, and they had done it when we went hiking. But was one or two minutes really such a big deal? I did not know. My throat tightened, and a bitter taste filled my mouth. “Miss, you’re friends with that couple who was just here, right?” I looked blankly at the security guard walking toward me. He held out a photo-booth collage. The pictures were dated today, and every shot featured Dylan and Madison.
They stood close together in each one, looking far more intimate than ordinary friends. As I stared at them, Dylan’s words from the day before echoed in my mind. “Hannah, haven’t you always wanted to take photo-booth pictures? Tomorrow, after we finalize our college decisions, I’ll go with you.”