Epilogue
“Movie!”
“Four words!”
I wordlessly nod as the guesses begin rolling in for my turn at charades. I’ve got something I’m pretty sure is going to stump everyone.
“ Honey, I Shrunk the Kids ,” Jordan guesses.
“That’s five words, not four,” Angie says.
“ Lady and the Tramp ,” Simone tries, and I shake my head.
“ Deliver Us from Eva ! Planet of the Apes ! The Mask of Zorro !” Jordan calls out in quick succession.
I smile, shake my head, and throw my arms out, palms up.
Angie did call me to set up the book club, and after hearing about it, not only did Simone join, but so did Roman and Jordan. Today’s book features another one of Angie’s favorite tropes: touch her and die.
As has become habit, we decided to do a few rounds of charades after. Jordan is determined to get the most right, but his guesses are always so off-the-wall.
Case in point: “ The Muppet Christmas Carol ,” he calls out. Just loud and wrong.
“ Across the Spider-Verse ,” Roman says, his tone indicating it should have been obvious to everyone else.
I point at him. “You got it!”
I love how he gets me.
“Aww, man, does that mean it’s his turn again?” Jordan complains.
Roman rises from his spot on my couch. Angie and Simone prefer to meet at my house since I have the biggest home library.
“Not this time. We don’t have time for any more rounds,” Roman says as he approaches me. He smiles down at me as he takes my hand. “Ready?”
“I’ve been waiting for this my whole life,” I say. I turn to our friends. “Y’all are coming too, right?”
“Of course,” Angie says. “We wouldn’t dream of missing it.”
We all leave my house, with Roman and me riding in my car and everyone else following along in their respective cars. Not that they need to follow. They know exactly where Juanita Craft Middle School is.
I pull into the familiar parking lot, and we get out and meet at my trunk. Roman reaches for the biggest box of books while I get the smaller one. We head inside, going straight for the library.
“Do you think we need a visitor’s pass?” I ask him as we come upon the front doors.
“Not for after-school events.”
I didn’t know it at the time, but before I put in my resignation, Roman beat me to it. In fact, he’d been planning to leave the school even before the simulation began. The catalyst had been his dad canceling the library in favor of the football field. He knew his dad wouldn’t stop trying to get his way and have Roman fill the vice principal role unless he did something drastic. So he transferred to Angelou School of Arts. The school teaches all subjects, but they put an emphasis on arts and culture. He loves it.
As we walk down the hallway, my arms begin to ache from carrying the books, but I don’t let it slow me down. It’s finally time to see the new library.
Many familiar faces of teachers I used to work with fill the hall leading to the library. They greet Roman and me, making room for us to get through. I’m surprised they aren’t inside already, but as we approach the entrance I see why. Whoever planned the library’s reopening ceremony really went all out. There is a large black curtain hanging from the floor to the ceiling, blocking the entrance.
“Look at all this,” I say to Roman. “I wonder how they talked your dad into doing such a big celebration.”
He sets his box of books against a wall, then takes mine from me and does the same with it. “He couldn’t get away with anything less.” He leans down and whispers in my ear. “I hear he may have even ordered pizza.”
I smile up at him as Angie, Jordan, and Simone make their way through the crowd.
Angie’s nose is scrunched up as she joins us. “I swear, some of these teachers are just as bad as the kids. I’m about to start giving deodorant away like it’s Halloween candy.”
“Are you sure it’s not your upper lip?” Jordan asks, and I don’t hold in my laugh.
Angie cuts him with her eyes, and Jordan backs away, though he’s still smiling.
After a few minutes of waiting around, I’m ready to agree with Angie: it does smell a little rank. I press my nose into Roman’s side so all I smell is him.
“There they are,” Roman says, and I look up to find Superintendent Watts, Principal Major, and the school’s new vice principal coming through the crowd. They stand in front of the curtain as the superintendent gives a small speech about the library remodel and the impact it will have on the kids for years to come.
I’m so happy to finally see this come to fruition that my eyes begin to mist. I take in a deep breath and try to hold back the tears.
As the superintendent nears the end of her speech, she thanks the crew and me for making it possible by joining the simulation. She didn’t have a lot to say when the simulation was over. I thought she’d be upset and feel like she’d invested pointless time in mentoring me, but she happily wished me well on the foundation.
“Mr. Wilkerson,” she says to Jordan, holding out a cord. “We’d like you to do the honors.”
Jordan steps up and grabs the cord from her. He pulls, and the curtains fall to the ground to unveil the newly updated library.
There are gasps, clapping, and delighted whoops. When the noise dies down, Superintendent Watts speaks again. “Ladies and gentlemen, behold the Brianna Rogers Library.”
The what? Her words don’t register at first, but when they do, all I can do is stand there. “They named a library after me?”
“Look up,” Roman tells me.
I do, and my jaw falls open. They did name the library after me. In large gold letters above the library’s entrance, there’s my name.
I turn to Roman. “Did you know about this?”
He smiles down at me and nods his head. “I did.”
“Know about it?” Simone says. “It was his idea!”
I look at him with wide eyes. “Roman, I…I don’t even know what to say. Except that I love you. This is unbelievable.”
He strokes my hair, then bends down to kiss me. “I love you too. And if you think this is unbelievable from the outside, you should take a look at what’s going on in there.” He grabs my hand and leads me inside.
“What about the books?” I point to the boxes we brought in. Boxes of books from my foundation that I’m donating to the school.
“They’ll be fine there for now.”
The new library looks phenomenal. There are new shelves full of books. There is a computer lab with desktops for the students to use while here and laptops and tablets they can check out. In place of the area that was used for detention, there are round tables the students can sit at to read or do homework and floor seats for those who don’t want to sit in a regular chair. I bet Principal Major just loves those.
Mrs. Yates comes up to me, clasping her hands and at a loss for words. She holds her arms out wide as if to say, look at all this! and I nod.
“It looks great,” I say.
She hugs me before walking away, letting her fingers glide along the shelves.
As she walks away, Principal Major walks up to us. He nods in acknowledgment to Roman. Their relationship has been evolving since Roman resigned. At first his dad was furious. But little by little, Principal Major has come to accept that Roman has his own plans for his life and career, and they’ll never include being a vice principal. He wants to repair their relationship, and Roman has decided to meet him halfway.
Roman realized his dad was never un interested in his life growing up, he just didn’t know how to express his happy emotions. He didn’t know how to feel. When Roman went into teaching, Principal Major saw it as an easy way to finally bond with his son. However, he went about it the completely wrong way by driving away many good vice principals and wasting thousands of dollars on unnecessary football fields, and he has a lot to atone for.
“What do you think?” Principal Major asks Roman.
“I think it’s wonderful,” I answer.
I never knew how spot-on I was when I told Principal Major to get used to seeing me. Of course, then I meant for him to get used to seeing me at school, but it’s a great form of poetic justice that he’s forced to see the one vice principal he could never get rid of whenever he wants to see Roman. And I love making my presence known.
“The library looks great,” Roman says.
“I’ll see you on Sunday for lunch?” Principal Major asks Roman.
“Yeah,” Roman says.
“See you then!” I say, waving him off.
He lets out a sigh, but I swear I see a little smile as he turns and walks away.
“I think your dad likes me,” I say to Roman.
“Are you just now picking up on that? You won him over a long time ago. At this point it’s about keeping up appearances.”
I squeeze Roman’s hand, and we keep walking around. “I want to make sure those boxes we brought don’t get forgotten,” I say. “You know I had some books in there about hygiene the kids need.”
As we walk toward the entrance of the library, I see two familiar figures. “Is that—?”
My unspoken question is answered by Jordan’s distant gasp.
“Did you know they were coming too?” I ask Roman, pointing to Vincent and Camille.
Roman nods. “I thought your family should be here for this special moment.”
We walk up to where Vincent and Camille are huddled together, and I pounce, wrapping my arms around both of them. “Are y’all talking about me?”
“Of course,” Vincent says, returning the hug. “We were talking about how proud of you we are.”
“I don’t know how the library looked before,” Camille says, “but this is amazing.”
They turn to greet Roman, having met him when we all got together to set up the small—but not tiny—office I’m currently running my foundation out of. Jordan steps up to us, but I’m not delusional, thinking he’s here to talk to me.
I smile, encouraging Jordan to come closer. “Vincent, I want to introduce you to my friend Jordan.”
Jordan sticks out his hand, shaking Vincent’s vigorously. I think he may be my brother’s biggest fan. Or maybe second, after Amerie.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Astronaut Rogers,” Jordan says. “Or should I say Chief of the Astronaut Office?”
I gasp. “Vincent! You got a promotion? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Vincent shakes his head. “Tonight isn’t about me. We’re celebrating your accomplishments.”
There was a time when I would have felt so much envy that he’s moving up yet again. But tonight it’s all gone. “I’m proud of you, Vince. You are an inspiration, and I’m always happy to hear of your accomplishments.”
As Vincent turns to Jordan to answer any of his burning questions, Camille turns to me. She reaches up to fix a misplaced braid strand and smiles. “So how are you feeling? About everything. Your new life, walking away from teaching, this amazing library?”
I look around the library, make eye contact with Roman, and my heart swells. “I feel like I’m ready to face the future.” Finally.
“Are you humming ‘Angel of Mine’?” Roman asks me as I lie draped over his chest the next morning.
After leaving the school, we came back to my house and shut out the rest of the world. We’re supposed to meet with my family for lunch, but I’m tempted to send them a message saying we can’t make it. I just want to spend the day wrapped in Roman’s arms.
“I didn’t realize I was humming,” I say. “Do you ever miss the simulation?”
He thinks about it while wrapping one of my braids around his finger. “Do I miss finding dust in bad places and navigating from one crisis to the next? No. But do I miss being with you every hour and being able to glance around a small space and easily spot you? Yes.”
“You’re so sweet.” I stretch my neck to kiss him. “It’s what I miss the most too. I just want to spend every day with you. At least we have every night.” I rest my head back on Roman’s chest and sigh. After living with each other for six weeks in the Hab, it was an easy transition to spend every night together, alternating between his place and mine. “Well, I guess we’d better start getting ready to meet with my family.”
“If my woman misses spending every night with me, what kind of man would I be if I didn’t do something about it?” Roman asks, ignoring my comment about us getting ready. And really, I’m not mad. We can meet up with my family later and instead use this time for a little bonding.
“I said, what kind of man would I be if I didn’t do something about my woman missing me?” he asks, and he’s using that tone again.
“Not a very good man,” I answer.
“That’s what I thought. Now, move back to your spot on the bed.” This time his tone is gentle, but I still scramble off Roman’s chest and lie on my pillow.
“Close your eyes,” Roman says, and I do, giddy with anticipation of where he’ll touch first.
The bed shifts with Roman’s weight as he moves. It feels like he’s moving to the foot of the bed. If he’s going to kick this off by trailing kisses up my legs, count me in.
“Now,” he says. “Open them.”
I do, then immediately sit up. “Roman?” I breathe.
He is at the foot of the bed, and he’s holding an open ring box. Inside is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.
“Brianna,” he begins, then clears his throat and starts again. “Brianna Rogers, I love everything about you. Your smile. Your kindness. Your humor. The way you love and forgive. I’m ten times better than I was before, all because of you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I say. “Of course!”
I launch myself at him, nearly making us fall off the bed. Once he regains his balance, I grab his face and pepper his mouth with kisses.
Roman laughs. “I didn’t put the ring on you yet.”
“Fine.” I lean back and hold my left hand out impatiently, eager to get back to his lips. When he finally slides the ring on, I take a moment to stare. It’s the perfect fit, and we’re the perfect match.
“I’m so happy,” I whisper. “I feel like this isn’t even real.”
Roman tilts my chin up, and I fall over and over again when I see a tear rolling down his cheek. “It was always real,” he says, then claims my lips in a kiss.