Found her

Chapter 42 | Envelope

S A D I E

Life is going great.

I have a loving boyfriend, the best best friends, a mother who couldn't have been any better, a father who is... trying. I'm doing great in school, I got accepted by two colleges so far. Life is good.

'I'm home!' I call out, dropping my bag with a thud and walking towards the kitchen, only to see...

'Luca!' I run up to him and envelop him in a hug. 'You said you were busy today!'

He gave Mom a look before turning his attention to me. 'I could spare an hour or two.' He shrugs.

I look between the two of them, both sporting huge grins. 'What's going on?' I ask, nervous.

At that moment, the door barges open and Jax rushes in, holding an envelope. He looks windswept, panting hard, Aleena right behind him, also breathing heavily. He waves the envelope in the air, disbelief shown all over his face.

My eyes widen. 'They're here?'

He nods frantically. 'They're here.' He pants.

I look around, trying to look for the identical envelope somewhere on the table. Luca chuckles, handing it to me, and grabbing my hand.

'Come on, princess, open it.'

Jax and I share a look, shaking from both excitement and fear. We applied to the same colleges, Berkeley was the main one, but it was too far from home, and our replies hadn't come yet, so we applied to UCLA as our second choice. If we get in, our childhood dream would come true.

We both open the letter at the same time, hands shaking, fingers fumbling.

Congratulations Miss Sadie Parker,

You have been accepted-

I don't read the rest. I let out a scream just as Jax yells out. I jump into his arms and he twirls me around, mumbling a chorus of 'Thank god, thank god, thank god.'

'We got in.' I shriek, jumping up and down.

'We got in!' He yells back, grabbing my arms and jumping with me.

People didn't get me anywhere, my grades did.

I made it.

The night was bizzare, it was filled with lots of laughter, lots of tears. Eventually, The Williams and The Edwards come celebrate with us, as well as Aleena's aunt. Jax and I re-read our letters so many times, we have it memorised by the end of the night. I try whiskey for the first time, and spit it back out. Lucas found that funny.

Mom, Charlotte, Amy -Allie's aunt- and Camilla immediately hit off, gossiping in the far corner of the room. The only thing missing is Ezra, and at sometime during the night, I expect him to walk through, drinks and pizza in hand, hugging me and kissing me on my forehead. He doesn't.

Dad is trying. He's living with us again, and he's giving Mom and I everything he can. Sometimes, I can still see the flash of anger on his face, the twitch in his fingers, the clench of his jaw, the sadness in his eyes. But he tries, and that's all the I want.

I don't think I forgot everything he's done, but I'm trying to forgive. I think he likes that.

'Ready?' I look at Lucas, only to see him nervously watching my dad. I giggle.

'You sure he won't...'

'Eat you? No, Luca.' I smile, and he just scowls.

'I want to leave a good impression, but I also don't think I can forgive him.' He mumbles.