hearts beat an ancient rhythm that’s been written in the stars. We immortalize ourselves at this moment forever.
There will never be another.
I know it now as sure as I know the sun will rise tomorrow.
Epilogue
Three months later
“Where’s Landon?” Jared asks as he flips through the channels on TV.
Carson smirks in response, and I shoot him a glare.
I cross my arms and lean back into the sofa. “I don’t know. He’s doing something super secretive, apparently.”
I sound like a toddler, but I don’t care. He’s been gone all day, and I’m embarrassed to admit just how much I miss him. Nothing is the same without him around, and as the school year crawls toward an end, everything feels so unpredictable.
We haven’t really talked about the future. Landon knows what I want because that’s never changed. I didn’t apply for any colleges because I’m slowly working my way back to dancing again. I want to open a studio, but I’m not sure where. Landon once said he wanted to travel, but I’ve been too nervous to bring it up. I’m not afraid of losing him. We are magnets, after all. We’re always going to end up together, no matter how far apart we are. But I just can’t imagine our paths deviating even for a year. He’s spoiled me by being around all the time. In some ways, it feels like we’re just getting started. Things have only just calmed down.
Wyatt and Audrey were laid to rest, but when the truth came out about the things they did, nobody besides their own parents showed up at their funerals. My mom waited two weeks out of respect before she marched into the spa where Lily Rothschild gets her facial injections. As the rumor goes, Alana Hale-Grant caught her on her way out the door and belted her across the face so hard it displaced her fillers. It’s been called the slap heard around Black Mountain, and oddly enough, Lily stopped showing her face after that. Their house went on the market, and they quietly left town in the middle of the night, never to return.
After additional victims came forward, Gavin accepted a plea deal. It was a win for all of us since it means we won’t have to go to court, and his future will involve a prison cell for his part in Audrey’s schemes.
Alexa wrote me a letter from her treatment facility to thank me, and she asked if we could be friends when she’s ready to come back to Black Mountain. I replied with an unequivocal yes.
All seems like it’s finally going right with the world. When my mom learned Jared was still couch surfing, she invited him to move in here, and he did. Of course, he talked it out with Landon first, and they seemed to make their peace when they finally came to a mutual understanding. They both want me to be happy. It doesn’t mean they don’t still give each other shit all the time, but at least it’s in good fun now.
By default, Carson is here all the time, too, since he and Jared got together. It only took two months of awkward tension before Carson finally worked up the courage to ask Jared out. They’d both had their hearts broken before, but looking at them now, I know they’re going to make it. They both got into San Diego State, and this summer, they’ll be leaving Black Mountain behind for the sunny state of California.
Meanwhile, Courtney has been over at my house every day for the last week, claiming she needs bestie time. I suspect it has more to do with the fact that Theo’s son, Miles, is finally home. After his honorable discharge from the military, he moved back in too. Now, Court is over here on a near-constant basis, staring at him as though he’s the main course at dinner.
“Would you quit drooling over him?” Jared steals the licorice dangling from her mouth and takes a bite for himself. “You’ve got saucers for eyes.”
“Oh, god,” she whines. “I can’t help it. Have you seen those abs?”
Miles glances over at her with a smirk. He’s wearing earbuds while he powers through his daily push-ups, but clearly, he can still hear through them. Court nearly faints. I’ve never seen her so tangled up in knots. Honestly, I think Miles will totally go for her, but I have a feeling he’s waiting until she graduates. Until then, I suspect we can all look forward to