Epilogue

Three years later…

Julia

I lifted my head from the sheaf of papers that I’d been poring over with a red pen. “The rest was history?”

Matt gave me a sheepish grin as he stretched out beside me on my dorm room bed. “Too cliché?”

I tilted my head to the side as I considered it. “Well, it just sort of sounds like we’re dead or something.”

He nodded. “Good point. Any other criticisms?”

I shook my head, a smile spreading across my face. I’d been reading Matt’s story of us—not just us-us, but the story of all of us—me, Matt, Suzie, Luke, Margo, and Jason—ever since he’d started working on it last year.

He’d discovered early on freshman year that while working on a newspaper had been a great use for his talents in high school, there was a whole world of non-fiction writing out there, including genres where he could express more creativity. Memoir-writing classes had led to his first attempt at documenting his high school experience, and that initial endeavor had turned into this epic tome. He’d interviewed all of our friends and me over our last few breaks, cleaning up our words and crafting them into a narrative to better tell our individual stories.

He’d saved our story for last, and reading it now made me more than a little nostalgic. “We were so young and naïve back then.”

“It was only three years ago,” he reminded me. “Now you’re the one making it sound like we’re on our deathbed.”

I laughed. “True. In terms of years, it hasn’t been that long. But it’s amazing how all of our world views have changed so much since leaving Grover High.”

He nodded. “I guess that’s the beauty of leaving the fishbowl behind.”

I clutched the handful of pages to my chest and sighed. “Do you think we’ll change just as much in the next three years once we graduate from college and start our careers?”

He shifted so he was lying on his side, and he toyed with my hair in a gesture that was heartwarmingly familiar. “Most likely.”

I turned my head to face him. “Do you think we’ll keep growing together?” That had been one of the most amazing feats we’d pulled off. Despite all of our changing, we’d managed to mature together, forming a bond that was stronger with each passing day.

His smile was filled with warmth. “I hope so.”

I shifted so I was on my side too, and we were lying face to face. “Me too.”

We shared a quiet moment as we both got lost in thought. Matt broke it first with feigned indignation. “Hey, what do you mean when we start our careers? I’d say both of our careers are well underway.”

I laughed. “For you, maybe. You’re killing it with the memoir writing. Your professor is going to love this next installment.” I leaned over and kissed him hard. “Have I told you lately how proud I am of you?”

“You have, but I always love to hear it.” He gave me another quick kiss before pulling back to meet my gaze. “But I was referring to you when I was talking about thriving careers.”

I rolled my eyes. “Please. A regular comics strip in the university newspaper is hardly a career.”

“Maybe not,” he agreed. “But your internship in New York City will definitely have you on the right track.”

I linked my hand with his. I was beyond excited to be interning for a comics publisher this summer—it could mean amazing things for my career—but the thought of being away from Matt for three whole months made my heart hurt. “Too bad it’s so far away. I’m going to miss you.”

Last summer Matt had stuck around Stanford to maintain his part-time job in town and take some summer credit courses. I’d done the same so we’d managed to still stay together even though we hadn’t gone home. This summer would be the first time in three years we’d be away from each other for any serious length of time.

“New York isn’t so far away,” he said reassuringly.

I frowned at him. “It’s on the opposite side of the country.”

That was when I noticed the smirk he was trying to hide. “But it’s not all that far from Grover.”

I widened my eyes in surprise as his words registered. “Wait, but…I thought…didn’t you—”

He cut off my stammering with another kiss, this one filled with excitement. “Surprise!”

I smacked his arm. “I thought you were staying in California all summer.”

He grinned as he lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I’d planned to, but the thought of being away from you for so long wasn’t an easy one to swallow.”

My eyes were stinging as tears threatened. “Are you sure you want to go home for the summer?”

His smile was brilliant. “Are you kidding? I can’t wait. Margo and Suzie will both be home, and this will be the first summer since college started that I won’t be swimming in class notes and assigned reading.”

“So I won’t have to say goodbye to you for three months?” I said, my voice breathy with excitement.

“Nope. I’ll be driving to New York every weekend to see my girl.”

I threw my arms around him and hugged him tight. I knew he’d had plans for this summer and the fact that he put his plans on hold for me warmed me more than he could ever know. Maybe this was why we’d grown together so well. We made one another a priority, always. But as touched as I was, I never wanted to stand in the way of his dreams.

“What will you do in Grover?” I asked, pulling back as selfless concern put a damper on my excitement. “I don’t want you to put your writing on hold or—”

“Relax,” he said as he tightened his arms around me. “I’ve already talked to my old editor at The Morning Roundup. He wants me to write for him this summer.”

“Covering the youth beat again?” I guessed.

He shook his head. “The geek beat. Turns out my columns from senior year are still being read online and the whole geek culture angle is surprisingly popular. He wants me to revive it for the summer, and maybe even keep it going as a remote part-time position next year.”

My jaw dropped as I stared at him. “Matt, that’s amazing.”

He grinned. “I know, right? I’m actually going to get paid to write.”

I laughed. “And I’m actually going to get college credit for working on comics.”

We shared a goofy grin as we reveled in our good fortune.

“I have one more surprise,” Matt said, a mischievous glint in his eyes making my belly dance with excitement before I could even guess what it was.

“Tell me,” I said.

“My first assignment for the new and improved column is to cover the comics convention in San Francisco next month.”

I gasped as I pushed back so I could see him better—I had to be well and truly sure that he wasn’t putting me on. “Those passes were so expensive,” I said. “And they sold out ages ago.”

He grinned. “Then I guess it’s a good thing I got an extra pass.”

I squealed with excitement as I tackled him with another hug. “You are the best.”

“I know,” he teased.

“I have to tell Thea.”

“I know,” he said again, laughter in his voice.

I sat upright. “We have so little time to prepare.” I fixed him with a serious look. “Have you given any thought to your costume yet?”

He propped his hands beneath his head and settled back to watch me, clearly amused by my excitement. “Not yet, but I had heard that some girls are partial to Clark Kent, so…”

I laughed as I fell back down beside him. “Oh, you’re definitely going as Clark Kent. But what about me? I went as Black Canary last time so I can’t do that again. I suppose I could pull out my Supergirl costume again but—”

He sat up and cut me off with a kiss. I sighed as I snuggled up against him, enjoying the last precious moments of our weekend together before he drove back to Stanford. We’d have weeks to plan our costumes, and hopefully we’d have the rest of our lives to focus on us.