Epilogue
Lily
“Nicely done, Ms. Spaulding,” Montrose said as he handed me my graded paper. I’d scored a ninety-three on it. He’d written “Overly sentimental, but great flow” in the margin.
Yes, that kind of summed up my first semester as a Bribury freshman: overly sentimental, but definitely a great flow. And I was just fine with that.
It was the Friday before our three-week holiday/semester break. I would spend the first week with Lucas in Schoolport, then go home to DC for the rest. My parents weren’t crazy about those plans, but they’d be at Betsy Stratton’s wedding next weekend anyway, so they didn’t fight it too much.
I could have gone to the wedding with my parents if I’d wanted to, but Jane had forbidden it. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to put on the fakiest fake fakery if you’re around. So please, just let me bear this day from hell alone.” I had quickly agreed, not really wanting to be there.
I never outright asked Jane if she’d offered up her bridesmaid acceptance to my father in exchange for him letting me out of our deal. I’d hinted at it once, and she’d just given me a blank look and said she didn’t know what I was talking about.
I’d let it go. But I was eternally grateful.
Lucas was going to take the train to DC a couple of days after Christmas and stay with us so we could be together on New Year’s Eve.
He was cutely nervous about meeting my parents.
I was sure my dad would put him through the wringer, but once he and my mom saw how much Lucas and I loved each other…
Well, okay, they may still not be very happy about the idea, but it didn’t really matter much.
“Well, boys and girls, it has indeed been a pleasure,” Montrose said from the front of the room, all the papers dispersed.
“You have made what I thought was going to be hell on earth a rather enjoyable experience.” There was laughter in the small classroom.
Montrose looked pointedly at Jane and added, “Well, most of you, anyway.” She smirked back at him.
I looked to see what she’d received on her paper, but she’d already folded it.
I did see a lot of red ink fading through the last page.
“Thank you, and have a happy holiday,” he said, and motioned that we were dismissed.
It was about twenty minutes early. Lucas was picking me up on this side of campus and we were going to go Christmas shopping for gifts for his family this afternoon.
I had no other classes today, and Jane was leaving campus later today when her mom picked her up, so Lucas and I would have the dorm room to ourselves all night and all day tomorrow before students had to be out of the dorm for break on Sunday.
His mom had been home from rehab for a couple of weeks, and I’d met her a few times. She seemed to be doing well, but I hadn’t known her before, so I didn’t have anything to compare it to.
Lucas said he was optimistic, though. He was staying at the apartment with her and Andy for the time being, which was probably good for all of them. Though for the week I was still in town, he and I would be staying in the apartment he had shared with Stick.
The money issues that had driven Lucas to the extreme of stealing a car had been resolved. Lucas hadn’t wanted to talk about it, but I had pressed, wanting to make sure he hadn’t done anything stupid.
He said that Andy’s father had ponied up the money for Lucas’s mother’s extended rehab stay and a few months of rent. He’d also signed away all rights to Andy and paid for the legal fees that made Lucas Andy’s guardian if his mom wasn’t able to take care of Andy.
I asked what had made Andy’s father show up out of the blue and offer at least money—if no other kind of support or interest in getting to know his son.
Lucas had shrugged and said, “I guess his conscience had a wake-up call. Like…some alarm went off for him or something.” He’d smiled at that, some kind of private joke. I let it go.
I gathered up my bag, and as the three of us walked to the door, Montrose called after us, “Ms. Winters, Ms. O’Brien, may I see you both, please?”
All three of us exchanged glances and invisible shrugs. “Maybe he’s thinking three-way,” Jane whispered, and Sydney jabbed her with an elbow. By the clearing of his throat, I guessed that Montrose had heard her. Which was probably exactly the way Jane wanted it.
“I’ll see you guys at the room later?” I asked. We had planned on exchanging our gifts to each other this afternoon before Jane’s mom showed and Syd caught the train to New York.
“Sounds good,” Syd said, and she and Jane walked over to Montrose’s table/lectern area. I wanted to stick around, but I knew I’d get all the juicy details later from them both.
Besides, my man was waiting for me outside.
I nearly floated out of Bailey Hall and saw him across the parking lot.
His pose was similar to that night we’d looked at the graffiti wall as he leaned against the blue car Stick had lent him.
I went and stood next to him, my butt against the cold metal of the car.
Together, we faced the front of Bailey Hall.
“No boobs and penises on this wall,” he said, and I knew he was remembering that night as well. He slung an arm around me, and I nestled my head against his chest, happy to stay like this for a while, even though it was cold enough to be snowing, which it probably would later.
I thought about the stark differences of our “walls”—his covered in illegal graffiti, mine covered in tasteful brick and ivy. It could be said that it symbolized the differences in Lucas and me. But both walls were beautiful in their own way.
And both were strong and sturdy, and would stand the test of time.
Somehow, I knew that Lucas and I would too.
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