This is it. This is the day my dreams come true. The day I survive the hardships.
The day I can finally be free.
"Oi!" Tara came towards me, her accent especially noticeable from her recent trip home. "You ready to go?" Of course I'm ready to go. "I mean, you sure you wanna do this?"
I walked over to my best friend. "Ready as ever. I've been waiting for this for years, remember? We've been planning this since we were ten."
She smiled a little. "Ah, fetus Tara and K.C., little dreamers with," she made made air quotations with her hands, "'big imaginations and small chances.'" She chuckled. "If only they could see us now."
I spread my arms. "We're on top of the world!"
"You know it!"
She hugged me then, and I almost cried. Tara hadn't hugged me in three years, ever since the... incident with her father. She hadn't hugged anyone since then, avoided any touch at all. The confirmation that she trusted me so much - even if I already knew she did - made me the happiest girl alive.
When we finally let go, she was crying. I hadn't even known. Over the years, she had gotten good at crying silently, but I never knew she was this good.
"Hey," I whispered and wiped the tears from her eyes. "You are strong. Between you and the world..."
She grinned. "I'd choose you."
She pulled me into her arms again. We stayed like that for a while, not really wanting to let go - afraid of letting go. We'd lost each other once. No way in hell would we lose each other again.
"Ready to go?" I asked into her shoulder.
She laughed and pulled back, no more tears in her eyes. "Ready as ever."

The ride to the ferry was a long one. From Ligonier to New York in the car is, like, five-and-a-half hours. Not really ideal for two teenagers looking to get away, but definitely worth it when the trip is complete.
We barely made it to the ferry before it left. If we had been much later, we would have to leave our car behind. Only three spots were left in the Holding Area. A week on a ferry, and no car to take off when we're done? That just won't work for us.
"Okay. So, we're going to London," I said.
"Yep."
"And we're going to get jobs."
"Yep."
"And we're going to have a decent income."
"You got it."
"And we're going to live together until at least the end of college."
"Probably more."
"And we're going to..."
"Listen," Tara cut me off. "We are going to be fine, okay? This world can't get the best of us anymore. We're stronger than ever. We're, like... superheroes or something." She sat on the edge of her bed and grabbed my hands. "We can do this. Nothing can stop us now. We're eighteen. We are free. We don't have to live like that anymore. We can live how we want. We can be who we are. My dad can't continuously do what he did to me, and your parents have no way of pushing guys on you, trying to get you married, or pregnant, or whatever else. You can be your crazy asexual self and let them go. I know they're still your family and all that, but they did not treat you right. They don't deserve you. You are a beautiful girl that can choose for herself what she wants to do with her life. You are awesome, K.C. That's all you need... Well, and me, of course. But that's a given."
She was right. I can be myself now. I can't live without her. If it weren't for her, I'd probably be in a hole somewhere, some unmarked grave.
"I love you," I said. "I always will. You're my best friend, and I will always love you."
Tara squeezed my hands. "Between you and the world, I'd choose you."
"We're on top of the world, you know that?"
"No, we're not," she exclaimed. "K.C., we are the world!"
And that was all I needed to know that this girl, this amazing human being in front of me, was never going to let me fall without her. That was all I ever wanted, and now, I have it.
I have her.
That's all I'll ever need.