The Thing About Three

scratch that-this is the real epilogue

SO, PLOT TWIST.

I laugh as I type this, because never did I ever think I would be writing what I'm about to write.

The previous attempt at an epilogue was ended prematurely because of a knock on my door.

It was a sober Sierra, a drunk Jeremiah, and an especially drunk Hallie, the latter's arms slung around the other two's shoulders. The three of them had gone out to a karaoke bar together that night and had lots of fun by the look of it.

It took the three of us to get Hallie into bed, Sierra staying back to wipe off Hallie's makeup and help her into pajamas while I poured a drunk Jeremiah a glass of water and chatted with him in the kitchen.

"I think I'm in love with Sierra," he told me shyly, like we were sharing secrets on an elementary school playground.

"Really?" I asked, enthralled. "Are you going to tell her?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm too scared to. What if she doesn't feel the same? Or what if I scare her off?"

"She feels the same, Jere. Trust me. She talks about you nonstop. It's actually pretty annoying if you ask me." I rolled my eyes playfully.

"You really think she does?" he asked, hopeful.

I nodded. "Yep. I'm almost certain. You should definitely tell her. It'll make her really happy."

He grinned like a little kid. "Okay, yeah. I'll tell her tonight." He started to walk away, but I grabbed him.

"No! Not tonight!" I hissed. "You're drunk. She won't think you're being serious. And you want to make it romantic. Give her flowers and stuff, and take her out to a nice dinner."

"Okay, okay," he agreed. He started to eye me strangely.

"What?" I asked him.

"Why don't you tell Dallas that you love him?"

I scowled. "Let's not talk about this right now."

"Come on, Claire. You love him. Why don't you just tell him? He deserves to know—and to know that he has options."

I shook my head, folding my arms. "I'll only make him feel like he has to choose between me and Stephanie, though. And he'll pick Stephanie." Because he doesn't love me back, I thought bitterly.

"You don't know that. Are you even sure that he's still with her?"

"As of a couple of weeks ago he was," I informed. "And I do know that he'll choose her. She's gorgeous and sweet and lives like ten minutes away from him. Not ten hours. It's a no-brainer. So, just drop it. Please."

He didn't say anything more about it to me, but that didn't stop his drunken mind from plotting against me and shooting Dallas a barely legible text that night when he and Sierra were on their way back to Jeremiah's place.

The next day, I remembered waking up to see a text from Dad. He had invited me over to his house for dinner that night. I accepted because I didn't have anything else better to do, and showed up just after sunset.

I should've known something was going to happen, because Dad and Jeremiah were standing right at the front door when I entered the house, staring at me with big grins on their faces.

"Why are you two being weird?" I asked them.

"Go look in the backyard," Jeremiah told me.

I looked at Dad. "Why? Is this a prank? Is there going to be something scary out there?"

Dad smiled softly and shook his head. "Nothing scary, Claire. Now, go look."

I sent them both a wary glance before my curiosity got the better of me and I was slowly heading into the house and towards the back door. My heart was pounding as I turned the knob, opening it.