Paper Girl (A Paper Towns Continuation) by SunlightTurtle5

One: How It Began

I knew my third year of college, I wanted to go abroad. My school had this amazing program for business majors in China and I just knew I had to do it. I remember spending two all nighters working on my application, and finally submitting it at 3:30 in the morning. It took them a week to get back to me and tell me I was in.

I was with about 15 other kids, some studying business like me, other studying intensive language. My roommate Oliver some how miraculously found a way into the program, which was nice since he was the only one I knew.

We ended sitting two rows away from each other on the plane. It hadn't been fully booked, so I was sitting alone with one of the most gorgeous girls I had ever seen. She had wavy long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. We left the middle seat open so I could sit at the window and she could sit in the aisle seat. But that didn't stop me from having a conversation with her.

"So, I haven't seen you around before. I'm Q. "

" I'm Piper.."

There was a short pause before she said anything else.

"I bet your girlfriend is pissed off about you leaving." She looked at me in the eye when she said that.

"I don't have a girlfriend... and I'm sure your boyfriend is mad you're going all the way to China."

"I don't have a boyfriend."

Maybe about 3 hours later, she started talking again.

"I'm studying to be an intensive language major. How about you?"

"I'm going to be a business major."

"I hear there are some really good grad schools for that." Piper pushed her hair behind her ears.

"If there are I haven't found them yet" I responded.

Piper looked at me, I wasn't sure if she was sizing me up or checking me out. There was something familiar about her, something in her demeanor that made her mysterious. But like you could talk her. She seemed like the kind of person who would jump out the plane door out of the blue, but would give you a kiss on the cheek before she left. But why did she seem so familiar? I felt as if the answer was hidden deep down in my heart, hidden under layers and layers of memories that I just wanted to forget.

"Well I sure am excited about these next 8 weeks. The whole concept is so...intriguing."

I found out after we landed that Piper was staying at the same hostel as Olly and I. I had lost the Rock Paper Scissors game that determined who got to go out and who had to unpack all the clothes and necessities, so I had to stay at our room. Piper and I never really stopped talking, so she came with me to my room.

"Hey Q" she said when we were at the door.

"Yah Pi-" she interrupted me with a kiss. And it was a damn good one. She was wearing this lip gloss that smelled like pomegranates. After what seemed like an eternity she pulled away.

"Are you sure you don't have a girlfriend? You kiss like you're still waiting for someone"

"Maybe I'm just waiting for the right girl. But I don't have a girlfriend, I swear on my dog."

"Wow, a dog. I kind of assumed you were a cat person. Anyways, if you're sure I'm not being the hoe that stole some girls boyfriend while he was in China, then we should go out sometime. Call me"

"But I don't have your number!" I yelled after her as she walked down the hallway.

"Back left pocket." She yelled at me.

Sure enough, her number was in my back left pocket. I still don't really know how she did it.

Piper and I ended up dating all of junior and senior year of college. She was arguably the most beautiful being in the whole world. She was nice, loving, funny, understanding, mysterious, and pretty much any other good adjective there is. It was like someone had asked my brain what my perfect girlfriend would be and then created her out of thin air.

She was like a dream, which is why I wanted to make sure I never woke up from it. And that I never lost her. Oliver was still my roommate for senior year, and it was his idea to propose to Piper. The idea was that over the summer between grad school and college, I would propose. Then we would get married after grad school. (And we were going to the same one).

So now I'm here, a graduated 26 year old man with a fiancée and a bachelors degree. In a car, driving to a cute little inn in New York. Piper was sitting in shotgun while I was driving. I had a plan. All those years ago, my life was changed by a paper town, and now I want Piper to experience it too before we get married. I have a feeling she is in need of an adventure.

I believe everyone gets a miracle, and I thought mine was Margo Roth Speilgelman, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe it's the girl sitting right next to me now.