The Summer We Let Go

Epilogue

Carter

          Gramps gives me a hug goodbye as Leo walks in with the last of my bags. They drove separately, so Leo lingers after he sets it down, watching as Gramps heads out. My first time living alone. Well, not really alone. My roommate stepped out to say bye to her parents, who were a little concerned about me being white, but they seemed like nice people.

          College. The summer went by so fast, but a lot happened. I've been texting Emily a lot more and calling Great Grandpa every now and again. Leo found out his mom already knew about his dad coming, and that wasn't the first time he's shown up. She just kept it from him because she thought it'd be unhealthy to suddenly have his father back, after having walked out on his life and having been absent for so long. At least that's what Leo believes is why she kept those rare visits from him.

          My parents never sent another letter, but some people can't move on, and that's okay.

          Leo's mom finally talked him into looking into community colleges, at least for his associates. I think he only agreed to make her happy, to start a better relationship with her. I'm glad for him.

          Jackie and Cameron are still hitting it off, but they're keeping it slow since their schools are about an hour away from each other and they want to focus on their education. But I know Jackie, and she's going to cave and want to spend her weekends with him. Well, not in his room of course, but still.

          My roommate comes in, Aubrey, and Leo stands off to the side, hands in his back pockets. He opted to re-dye his hair, but he cut a little shorter than it was at the beginning of summer.

          Aubrey glances at him then gives me a nervous smile, "Well, we're officially roommates. Did you want to go over any rules? Wow, that sounds bitchy. But you know what I mean."

          I laugh, "Yeah, sure. I guess just common courtesy. Fair warning if guys are going to be spending the night, asking before using each other's things, being quiet while the other is sleeping, stuff like that."

          "Oh, and maybe keeping the room clean?" She asks hesitantly, her nose scrunching up and her finger gesturing around the small space. "I mean, at least keeping the mess to one side."

          "Yeah, no problem," I assure, giving her a nod.

          "Great! I'm sure we'll think of more things as it goes. I'm going to go walk my parents to their car really quick, just wanted to make sure we were on the same page before I'm stuck here."

          I laugh with her, knowing that she probably wants it to seem like she's kidding around, but also knowing that she's mostly serious. She leaves then, and Leo watches the door as it shuts behind her, then crosses over to me and wraps me in his arms, his nose burying into my neck. I squeeze back, knowing that it's going to be weird not being able to just walk over to his house anymore, and being dependent on his mom's van's availability and his work schedule to be able to see him again. I only live about an hour and a half from town, but with me choosing to keep my car at Gramps's, that doesn't really mean much.

          "I'm going to miss you," he whispers, breathing me in.

          "I'll miss y—" The door opens, and Aubrey pops in, wincing a little as she takes us in and Leo pulls away from me, looking down and putting his hands back in his pockets.

          "Sorry," she whispers, as if a quieter voice will lessen the damage of any interruption. "I forgot my room key. Didn't know if you were going to be here when I got back. We're going to keep the door locked while we're out, right?"

          "Yes," I laugh, having a feeling we're going to go over all of this again when she gets back, and Leo's gone.

          "Okay, thanks. Just checking."

          She disappears behind the door and it shuts. Leo doesn't immediately embrace me again, but he does give me a sheepish smile and stares into my eyes. "I'll try to come out again one of these weekends. You aren't going to run off and find someone better than me, are you?"

          His tone says he's joking, but I know him enough that I can tell it's something he's a little worried about. "Leo, if I wanted to find somebody in college, I wouldn't still be with you."

          He nods his head, accepting it. "Good. I should get going, though. My mom has to work tonight, and she'll be calling me any time now to see if I'm on my way yet."

          "Alright. Drive safe, Leo."

          Stepping closer to me, he moves a hand from his pocket to the side of my face, his fingers messing up the neatness of my ponytail. His lips are soft on mine, and they linger, but the kiss still ends too quickly as he backs away and then turns and heads out the door, head low.

          I sigh and turn to my bags, grabbing a random one and getting started on unpacking. I'm going to miss him, and Gramps, and Jackie. I'll especially miss Tony. Gramps is going to take over during the days, but Cassie had to find someone else to babysit on nights. And I hope Leo goes easy on Joey, since I won't be there to protect him. So yeah, I'm sad. But I'm also excited. It's going to be nice starting this new chapter, even if it means leaving some people behind. There will be more people, and the people from the past aren't gone forever. The visit up north proved that, didn't it? You can leave the places and people behind, but you can always go back to them later on, for the most part

          But dwelling on it isn't going to do anything.

          I set my stuff down, figuring I can just get to it later, and place my laptop on my desk, opening it up and turning it on. I have a Skype date with Jackie to get to, and it'd be better to start it now than later, when things need to be settled down. Besides, she's already moved in, anyway.

          She answers after only a few seconds, using her phone. "Carter! How are you? OMG, it's great here. My roommate kind of smells like cheese, but other than that it's awesome. How's your roommate?"

          The questions come at me and I answer all of them, but she doesn't give me much room to ask my own. That, at least, hasn't changed. Sure the summer is over, but I'm just getting started.