Just Good Friends

Epilogue

Author's POV

~Three Months Later~

Jake is majoring in business management at BMCC. Ever since he started college, he's been focused on school. He's acing all of his gen ed required classes with ease and promptly completes all of his assignments. He's among the top students in his class. His teachers enjoy his active participation, and his classmates rely on him if they need help understanding anything. In the evenings, he rushes off to work at his part-time jobs. He's made a few new friends on his community college's basketball team, and he hangs out with them frequently. At least once a week, he checks in with Sam, Diggy, Becca, and Khalil, keeping up with their activities and sending positive words of encouragement through text.

Julie has her baby in a New York City hospital, where she's surrounded by her parents and Antonio. Diggy supports her via video call, sending her well wishes and good health. Her hospital room was filled with lots of flowers and cards from Becca, Antonio & Martha, and the Simmons family. 24 hours after her childbirth, the adoptive parents - a young South Asian couple who've been having trouble conceiving - meet Julie and her family and officially take the baby into their custody. They share kind words and prayers, promising to keep in touch as the child grows. The moment is bittersweet.

Becca attends CUNY where she's a member of the dance team and majors in contemporary dance. Her dance teacher was impressed with her skills and offered her a position on the elite team. She travels with the team throughout the state and attends various sports games and special events. She keeps daily contact with Sam and the squad, and has girl hangouts with Julie when she's free.

Khalil is fitting right in at UCLA. Basketball is going great along with classes. He is majoring in game design and is working on a sports-based video game simulator for his school project. He sees Diggy every day since they're roommates and teammates; their friendship has grown stronger since moving. His long-distance relationship with Becca is tight, too. They talk every night and share any updates.

Diggy has chosen to study sports journalism at UCLA. He plays on the men's basketball team alongside Khalil and Chris, and is a crowd favorite due to this three-pointer skills. With his brawns and brains, it's no surprise that the college girls want a piece of him... but he only has eyes for one person: Sam Goode. Once they moved to L.A., they agreed to stay friends throughout their first year of college. Diggy agreed to taking things slow and staying platonic, but he doesn't hesitate to send Sam flirty arrows every now and then. His goal is to ask her out on a date before next summer. Fingers crossed.

As for Sam, she's just taking life one day at a time. She invites Diggy's affection towards her and keeps it like that. She's not ready for a serious relationship, but she won't completely turn down the idea. After all, dating or not, she's just happy to be on good terms with her best friend. They've been through a lot of drama, but they made it through the fire!

Her other friendships are golden as well. She and Becca talk on the regular, and include Julie in their group chat; she also has meals with Khalil and Diggy each week; she and Jake have been slightly distant since school started but she's hoping they can have a proper chat before classwork gets heavier and basketball season starts.

She talks with her family every weekend, keeping them updated about classes and basketball stuff. She hasn't decided on a major, but she's enjoying learning new subjects related to sports and athletics. Her mom and Antonio are in talks with Diggy and Julie's family to take a flight out to L.A. one weekend to visit the campus and meet up. Past Sam would roll her eyes at the idea of socializing in big groups, but renewed Sam feels excited about the idea. She's thankful to have a huge family of support even if they're not all blood-related.

Yep. It feels like great things are in store for Sam and her loved ones.