Chapter 43
Claire
THREE MONTHS LATER
“Give me an S!” Christopher calls over the crowd of STEM professors.
“S.” Our voices are, as usual, pretty mellow, but one stands out. Ryan’s enthusiasm gets him a few chuckles and backward glances.
“Give me a T!”
“T!” The voices get a little louder this time.
“Give me an E!”
“E!” The enthusiasm is building.
“Give me an M!”
“M!”
“What does that spell?”
“School of STEM!” The room cheers and applauds, and Christopher looks over at Ryan with appreciation.
“I’ve never heard the cheer that loud before,” I whisper to Ryan.
“Life’s a little more fun when you embrace the cheesy things,” he says.
I grin at him and look down at my agenda. Our college is implementing a new software program for scheduling classes and registration, which is causing all kinds of technological issues, and that’s the main focus of today’s meeting.
For some reason, Janet is letting Christopher present a slideshow of his summer travels set to “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” and my phone buzzes in my pocket. I take it out and see a text from my sister. Happy first day back!
I reply, Thanks! Let me know how that meeting goes!
This summer has been incredible for our family.
It took about a week or two for Mom to come to grips with our new reality and realize that her friendship with Julie wasn’t going to suffer.
But things were especially improved when I brought Ryan to meet them.
She remembered him as the guy who rescued me when I was sick, but she loves him for another reason.
Because the only thing that could make her feel better about me not marrying her best friend’s son is marrying a math professor.
Not that we’re married.
Or engaged.
I told Ryan I need to take things slow, because I don’t want to rush into marriage.
He’s been patient, even though he’s anxious to make things official.
To be honest, I’m not really waiting for anything in particular.
He’s been my best friend for years. Isn’t that everything you could hope for?
To get married to your best friend? At least, that’s what Shawna told me.
Speaking of Shawna, she’s here today, and was so excited when she saw that Ryan and I were together. She gave us big hugs and said it was the best gift we could give her on her return from maternity leave, especially now that she won’t make the mistake of assuming we’re together when we’re not.
After my mom calmed down, I also got her to sit down with Annie.
They both had a lot to say, with Annie apologizing for leaving without giving my parents a chance to see her side and Mom apologizing for pushing her so hard.
Then my mom invited Annie to stay with them for a few more weeks, and the relationship between the four of us (Mom, Dad, Annie, and me) has never been better.
In fact, I told them all about my book, and their support gave me the final push I needed to send query letters to agents.
So far, I’ve had one request for sample pages, but the rest have been rejections.
I’m not letting it get me down, though. I hear self-publishing can actually be better in some ways.
As far as Zach goes, Mike and Julie decided it was time to kick him out and let him face the consequences. And, get this: he’s thriving. Who’d have known Zach just needed some tough love? He found an apartment and is actually making good money on the course he and Tyson created.
The amazing thing is that I’m genuinely happy for him. This is what he needed all along—to know that he had to depend on himself and work hard to truly feel the joy he deserved.
Oh, and he found a new girlfriend. She’s a musician, and their laid-back personalities are perfect together. We’ve even had dinners with our families, and it’s almost like our engagement was in a parallel universe.
Christopher claps at the front. “Before Janet gets started on the software updates, let’s give a big round of applause for Ryan and Claire getting together!”
I turn to Ryan in alarm. He shakes his head at me but grins.
“Come on, stand up, you guys!” Christopher calls.
“Oh, no,” I say, shaking my head, but Ryan stands and pulls me up with him. Everyone in the room claps, although I hear a few whispers of, “Wait, weren’t they already dating?”
“And an applause for me, too!” Christopher calls over the claps. “Because I’m the reason they got together!”
Everyone looks confused but keeps clapping. Ryan rolls his eyes, and I just laugh, because as weird as this all is, it’s just perfect.
Ryan leans over and gives me a quick but sweet kiss on the lips, and I can’t help but think that his love for me has always been constant.
Even though our friendship was a variable we couldn’t solve for, once I let go of unnecessary expectations, the equation balanced perfectly.
And the solution was simple—Ryan has always been where I belong.