25
Epilogue

“I can’t believe I have to leave you guys,” I said, carefully wiping a tear from my eye so that I wouldn’t mess up my makeup.

“Well, we all have to go to college eventually,” Liz said, shrugging as if it was nothing. “I’m staying in state though, so we can still meet up from time to time.”

“I’m just, so sad that I have to leave you all,” I said. “You all were the very best friends I could’ve ever asked for.”

“Aww, thanks,” Sam said, giving me a reassuring smile. “Sorry that I’m going so far, I wanted to be with Grace.”

Grace and Sam ended up finally getting together a few months ago, making the Gram ship real. It wasn’t really a surprise to any of us that Sam was a lesbian since her crush on Grace had been becoming increasingly obvious over the years. They had been chatting online every day and were excited to be near each other in New York.

“It’s okay, I ended up going to the same college as Matthew too, after all,” I said, trying to muster up a smile. “I just can’t believe high school is over and we’re all moving on.”

“Yeah, I just ended up going to the best college that sent me an offer,” Lauren said. “I can’t believe I’m going all the way to Boston for art.”

“Hey, Boston’s a good place, you’ll do well there,” I said.

“Thanks, I hope so,” Lauren said. After a few seconds she started to break down, tears running down her face, makeup be damned. “God, I’ll miss you all so much.”

“Same,” I said somberly. “We better still talk a lot, I don’t want us to distance from one another just because we’re in college.”

“Of course, the group chat will be just as active as ever,” Liz said, putting an arm around Lauren to reassure her. “It’ll be okay, everything will be okay.”

We ended up chatting for a few hours, laughing and crying a lot from inside the McDonald’s booth. It was bittersweet, as I looked forward to college but it was so sad leaving everyone behind. Eventually, though, we all had to go.

“I have to catch my flight now,” Lauren said, checking her phone. “I need to get to the airport soon, so I think I have to go.”

“Same,” Sam said, taking one last sip of her soda. “My mom’s driving me there, and I think she just arrived.”

I looked out of the window to see a white car entering the parking lot.

“I love you guys, I’ll miss you,” I said, giving each of the girls a tight hug as we stood up.

“We’ll meet up, don’t worry Katie,” Liz said nonchalantly. “I’ll be in San Diego.”

“Yeah, we all better meet up every summer,” I said, waving goodbye. “See you girls.”

***

“Hi, Matthew,” I said, climbing into his car. I let out a shaky breath, slumping into my seat. “That was emotional.”

“I can imagine, I also cried a lot saying bye to my friends,” he said, starting up the car. “At least we’ll still be together.”

“Yeah, it’s a relief we both got into Berkeley,” I said. I’d wisened up and started to put a lot more focus into my studies in Rosewood. I ended up applying for economics and got in, much to my relief. Matthew got in for computer science since he was always tinkering around with coding and computers.

“So, we have two pitstops to make,” he said, as we pulled out of the McDonald’s parking lot. “We have to say bye to your mom, and then your dad, and then it’ll be a straight trip from then on.”

“Yeah, let’s go to my house first,” I said. “I’m going to miss my mom a lot.”

***

“Hi, Mom,” I said, taking off my shoes at the door. I stared sadly at my shoes, it would be a while until I returned home. “I finished saying bye to my friends.”

“Now, I suppose it’s time to say bye to me, huh?” she asked, eyes welling up with tears. She swooped in to hug me tightly, tears coming out all the while. “I’m going to miss you so much, sweetie.”

“Me too, Mom,” I said. If it wasn’t for my makeup, I would be crying up an entire ocean. But I didn’t want to show up at school for the first time with runny eyeliner.

“You grew up so quickly,” she said, pulling back for a second and staring deep into my eyes. “I remember when you were just a baby, now you’re so grown up.”

“Mom, you’re going to make me cry,” I said, sniffling.

“I just can’t believe my little baby girl is growing up and going to college now,” she said, giving me a kiss on the forehead.

After I finally pried myself from Mom’s hug, we made our way to the kitchen table and sat. Mom showed me some baby photos, and we all laughed. She cried a lot, and I had to wipe my tears with a tissue constantly. Eventually, though, we had to go.

“Bye, Mom,” I said, hugging her. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” she said, looking up into the air to try and hide her tears. “Have fun at college, okay?”

“I will,” I said, weakly smiling. “I will.”

***

“Dad,” I said, taking a knee near his grave. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it.”

I sighed, putting the flowers I prepared in front of his grave. I dusted off the tombstone, which had gotten quite dirty since I last visited.

“I’ve changed a lot since you died. For a while, I was so miserable. I didn’t know what to do with myself after you left. I fell in with the wrong crowd, did bad things, and was just a terrible person. But now I’m not. I’m a girl, and I’m so, so happy. I might not be perfect, but I try to improve myself every day. I’m just so happy with the life I have now, I can’t believe how lucky I am to be where I am.”

I sighed, getting up and watching the flowers I left flicker in the wind.

“I love you forever and always Dad. I miss you, thanks for the life you gave me.”

I turned and got into Matthew’s car. He turned to me, looking to see if I was okay. “Are you ready to go?” Matthew asked me.

“Yeah, I’m done,” I said, sniffling. “I’ll miss this city a lot. My friends, my mom, my dad, even Rosewood’s terrible food.”

“Same, it’s a shame we have to leave,” Matthew said, as he started up his car. “But hey, we’re about to start a new adventure.”

“We are,” I said. “Let’s go.”

Matthew pressed on the gas pedal, and the car started to move forward. We were on our way to UC Berkeley, ready to start a brand new phase of our lives. I reached over, holding Matthew’s right hand as he drove. Today had been a whirlwind of emotions, and I missed everything I would lose, but I knew I would have a great time in college. I smiled, knowing I had a great life ahead of me.

amaty

One more bonus chapter and the series is over! The bonus chapter doesn't have anything to do with the story (it's a dream sequence) so the story ends here. Thank you all for reading!