LOVELORN

Epilogue|The end & the beginning

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AS ADYA had predicted, the summer following graduation was the best one of my life. I'd found a part-time job at an ice cream place during the summer because even though Mr. West continuously insisted he had the costs covered, I didn't want to take advantage of his support. My girlfriend, brother and cousin, and friends took any chance they could to visit me at work. I had joked on many occasions that they were there often enough to viably sustain the shop without any other customers being needed. They had all collectively consumed more ice cream that summer than I had during my whole life.

When I wasn't working, we filled the time by arranging as many hangouts as we possibly could fit into our schedules. We drove to the beach, hung out at the park, biked around town, planned and went on multiple day trips, and simply spent time together.

From mid-July, Zora and I—along with her dad—visited Italy, Spain, and France during a three-week span. It was supposed to be two weeks, but we ended up extending the trip after falling in love with a quaint sea-side town in Italy. We returned to the U.S with an incredible number of photos, art that Zora had made when she got bursts of inspiration, and memories we would forever treasure.

When we were in France, we met this lovely fellow American tourist at one of the hotels we stayed at. Mr. West insisted he just thought she was kind, but they had undeniable chemistry. As a bonus, she lived in a town only a few hours from ours. They'd exchanged numbers, but he still refused to admit he was interested. We both just hoped for the best for him. He deserved to find love again.

There were only a few weeks left until we were all leaving for college by the time we got back. While we were all excited, as we neared late August, the air around us tasted bittersweet whenever we met up. All that bittersweetness culminated into the day we were bidding our farewells. Zora, Mai, and I were all heading to our college towns first. Mai was going to a different college, but it was only a thirty-minute drive from ours, so we were all driving up there together. Well, sort of, Mai wanted her car there as well, so she was driving separately with her mom.

The following day, Avi would drive Adya to her college, before heading to his. That same day, Zahir and Caio were also heading to their college city, which was conveniently in the same city as Avi, seeing as Caio and Avi were going to the same university, while Zahir was at a nearby one.

Throughout the summer, Avi had grown closer to Caio. It started as them being awkward acquaintances, until eventually they forged a genuine friendship. I had no clue what they had in common beyond both being incredibly academic, but it seemed they got on well.

Silas and Mara were the only ones staying nearby. They were attending the same college as Tristan, so they had already moved in with him and Harper. 

Our friend group was splitting up in four, scattered across states, and all of us were grieving the summer we'd spent together.

The entire group had gathered at Zora's place for one last night together, and as night bled into  morning, we stayed up, not wanting to waste our last hours together. Times were changing. Hopefully for the better, but change was, nevertheless, never easy.

As dawn broke through, golden light washed over us all, sitting on the floor and fighting yawns. Mai was clinging onto Caio. While she always tried to hang onto her humorous attitude, I could tell that more than anyone, she was struggling with the impending separation. Between her and Caio, in particular.

They had the kind of bond I did with Zora, the kind that had got you through the lowest of the lows and the highest of the highs. Caio was her family, and for years, she'd had nobody but Caio to depend on, just as I had with Zora. She might have a close-knit group of friends now, but nobody could let go of the person that had gotten them through everything.