Tomorrow, she was going back home, to San Francisco. She could almost feel Jeremy’s arms around her already. Natalia felt so happy. Everything, it seemed, was perfect. Brooklyn was okay, she was happy. Kat and Romeo always had been, and so had she. She let sleep take her, enjoying that rare feeling of contentment.
* * * * *
Kat and Romeo sat next to the crackling fire in their home, on the two sofa chairs, drinking hot tea. Kat looked contentedly at her husband. She thought of how lucky she was. Compared to her friends, she thought, she really hadn’t faced any hardship. She had been rich throughout her life, unlike Natalia. She’d gotten her soul mate at the perfect time, unlike Brooklyn. And she’d never been seriously injured, like Brooklyn and that girl, Emma.
Romeo turned to her. “Brooklyn called.”
“She woke up?” Kat asked, surprised.
Romeo nodded. “Yes. And she’s alright. She’s with Seth. I have reason to believe she’ll be with him for a while.”
Kat smiled. “Looks like she got her happy ending. It’s wonderful how everything works out in the end, isn’t it?”
Romeo laughed. “You sound like someone from Simon’s books.”
“Maybe he’s rubbing off on me.” Kat said with a shrug.
* * * * *
Ty and Valerie stood on the small balcony in the tiny apartment, oblivious to everything but each other. “You’re kind of perfect, you know?” Ty whispered.
She let out a soft pealing laugh. “Has anyone told you, you’re like a dark prince?”
He smiled. “No, actually. What’s so prince-like about me? I’m more of a peasant, really.”
She reached up and kissed him. She giggled. “You’re a prince. Trust me.”
He smiled down at her in the darkness. “We’re both going to get sick, you know?” he said, gesturing to the softly falling snow around them. It was really beautiful outside. He loved the way the snow got caught in Valerie’s long eyelashes and sparkled in her hair.
She pouted. “I don’t want to go in. It’s so romantic out here.”
“In that case —” he said, and he finished the sentence by kissing her.
* * * * *
Averil sat down at Simon’s desk, curling her feet under her. Sitting on top of his folded lap top was Haven’s story, inked with corrections in blue pen. Suddenly, she felt Simon’s familiar hand on her shoulder. “Hey,” she smiled.
She turned her head back to look at him. “Hey, teacher. You did a great job with Haven the other day. I never got to tell you.”
“I was thinking about that. I really enjoyed it. And so, I’m thinking about applying for a job. Not as a teacher. But as a professor. Maybe at NYU? I kind of like teaching.”
Averil looked up at him. Looks like they shared the same passion. “I think you’d be amazing. And I realized that I kind of love teaching too. Someday, maybe I’ll be a real prima ballerina. But right now, I’m happy.”
“Of course you’ll be a ballerina, Averil. I think you were made for it. But I’ve seen you teach, and you’re good at that too. But don’t give up on your dream, okay?”
“I know. You give the best advice, you know that.”
He grinned. “Of course I knew that.”
She elbowed him, but couldn’t suppress a smile. “You’re so full of yourself,” she said laughingly, standing up and folding herself into his arms. “It sucks that you really are amazing, perfect, and wonderful.”
He kissed her cheek and slid his arms around her. “It’s kind of hard to make a joke about that one. But I’m hardly perfect. Amazing and wonderful, maybe, but perfect?”
She laughed. “Just take the compliment.”
“You’re amazing and wonderful too, you know,” he told her.
She raised an eyebrow. “But not perfect? You forgot perfect.”
He kissed her. “Okay, maybe you’re perfect too.”
She smiled. “That’s what I like to hear.” She wouldn’t want to be anywhere else now. She was in her most favorite place in the entire world—Simon’s arms.
* * * * *
Brooklyn slid her arms into Seth’s hair as he kissed hair. “I love you,” he whispered.
She laughed softly. “Say it again.” she whispered.
He leaned to her ear. “I love you,” he whispered in it, and then in the other one. He wrapped her arms tighter around him.
Her only regret was not having told him earlier. When they had talked, after the Plaza, he told her he’d love her since eighth grade. Ever since she had loved him. She thought back at all those years of sadness and shivered. She never wanted to go back.
They lay down, tangled together in his bed. Brooklyn leaned in and rested her head on his chest. He wrapped an arm around her, stroking her hair with the other. And they lay there, like that, tucked together until he fell asleep. She lay there, listening to his easy breathing and shut her own eyes. For the first time, she felt completely safe and happy. That little hole in her heart had been filled. She laced her hand in his and let sleep take her away. She realized, just before she fell asleep, that for the first time, she felt like everything was going to be alright.
#####
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank my parents, first, for encouraging me to finish this book. If not for them, it would still be a half finished document languishing on my computer. I want to thank them for their encouragement and support. And specifically, I want to thank my mother for tirelessly proofreading this book, when I’m sure it wasn’t the most exciting read for her.
I want to thank my English teacher, Ms. Brallier, who may have inspired one of my characters, for being the first teacher to really appreciate my writing, and for never failing to make a million corrections on all my essays, no matter how good they were. Without her, my writing would be only half as good as it is now.
I’d also like to thank my good friend, Era, for being my first reader. Without her enthusiasm, I would have dismissed this book completely. And I want to thank Anjali, for saying she’d buy this book no matter how bad it was.
Last but not least, I want to thank Praveen V. P for designing the cover for me. I’m not a very easy person to please, but he kept retrying until I loved it. My cover wouldn’t be half as good without him.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarisha Kurup is a teenage girl from California who has always dreamed of living in New York. When it comes to writing, she has fingers of fire. She has always had a fascination with people and the way they think, leading her to write this book from so many different perspectives. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys debating, oil painting, singing, and drama, all of which she does often. This is her first novel, and hopefully one of many more.
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