Solitary

Epilogue

I sighed as the gate buzzed behind me, signaling that my stay in juvie was over, scanning the parking lot for Vic. As I had expected, she had moved to Cambridge after she got accepted into Harvard, but she came by to see me a lot on weekends. Coincidentally, today was a Saturday, so she had come late last night so she'd be here to pick me up.

"Amy!"

Spinning towards the voice, I saw Vic, Monty, and...Link? "Link?" I gasped.

"Hi, Amelia," he said tentatively.

I stared at Link in shock. He didn't look like he had changed a bit since the day we broke up. "What is going on?" I asked.

"Surprise!" Vic said, grinning. "Oh, and Mom said you can stay in what used to be my room until you get back on your feet. And she even managed to score you a meeting for a job at the company she works for."

"She did?" I asked, a bit surprised. Sure, she had apologized for what she said, and had accompanied Vic in visiting me every now and then, but this was...this was more than I'd ever expected Monty to do for me. "That's...that's really kind of you. Thank you so much."

"I'm happy to do what I can."

"We'll give you guys some privacy now. Link, just take Amy to my mom's place after. I'll text you the address," Vic said.

"After we broke up," Link said once Vic and Monty were gone, "I did my best to move on. I went on a lot of dates, but they were nothing like you. The only thing they were interested was the number of likes they had on Instagram. And I kept thinking about you, and how stupid I was to dump you so fast. So I texted Vic maybe a month ago asking how you were doing, and she convinced me to come today."

"Oh." I wasn't sure what to think. I had a lot of fantasies of us getting back together when I was juvie, but I never dared to think it might really happen.

"If you're up for it, I was hoping to give this," he said, motioning between us, "another chance."

"I'm up for it," I said instantly.

"Maybe we can go to this pizza place not far away and catch up then?"

"Sounds like a plan."

For once, things were starting to look up for me. To think not that long ago, I was worrying I'd need to stoop to using sex for money, and now I've got a place to stay, maybe a job, and another chance with an amazing guy. Maybe the universe doesn't hate me after all.