Happier

Chapter 28

After only a few days, Cole was allowed to go home again. All strapped in and packed with an overload of painkillers and other medicine, he leaves his hospital bed and trades it for his own. He's allowed to walk more now, seeing the spraining has almost completely faded. He can't wait until he can take Lacey on dates again and dance around the living room with her. Not like that's a normal thing for them to do, but he really wants to right now. Sadly enough, it's a Wednesday, which means Lacey is at school and she won't be able to come over until four. 

So, until then, he decides to play some video games and catch up on some school work. Finals are coming up and with the accident and everything with Lacey, he hasn't really been focusing on school. He has to graduate. If he doesn't, there's no way the future he had planned out for him and Lacey. They'd both get into Brown, he'd study creative writing whilst she goes for photography. When they graduate college, they'd get an apartment together, get married, buy a bigger house and get children. Three, to be exact. Just the way Lacey wanted. Just the way she had told him on a delirious night. Lili, Zoe and Mason Steward. It does have quite a ring to it. Only if dreams did come true.

Lacey enters her home after a day at school. She wanted to take a shower and take a few clothes with her so she could stay the night at Cole's. At least, that was the plan before she notices the letter on the breakfast island. It looks formal, almost too formal. A logo in blue, red and yellow shines proudly in the top corner of the envelope. Yale University of Art. One of the many universities she applied to. Now, the question is whether she got in or not. Very carefully, as if she's afraid the letter may bite, she walks closer to it and takes it. The logo keeps staring at her, so does her name.

LACEY MARGARET GOLDBERG
215 MAPLE AVENUE
CHERRY HILL, NJ
08002

Her heart beats in her throat, causing her to be unable to breathe properly. She doesn't need her breath for now, she just needs to know if she got in or not. But when she goes to open the envelope, her phone rings in her pocket. She takes it out, finally releasing her breath. Maybe it's Cole. Only it's not. It's a group chat between Violet, Melanie, Archie, Cole and her. Violet is the first one to send the message.

From V 👸🌸: Anyone got their UNI letters?

Lacey watches the little speech bubble pop up. She can't answer yet. Her fingers are frozen, as if it was a cold winter's day on which you can't move your fingers or type a message because they're so cold. Only this time, they weren't cold. They were hot.

From Mel 🤸‍ 🦄: Yes

Then the speech bubble pops up again, but still Lacey isn't typing. Everyone got their letters today. Is that a sign? What does that mean?

From Arch 🏈: I did too

From V 👸🌸: Can we meet up and open our letters together?

The speech bubble shows once again for three straight-forward messages:

From Mel 🤸‍ 🦄: YES

From Arch 🏈: Yes, let's do it!

From Coley Smoley 😘❤️: Hell yea!

And with that answer, Lacey's fingers start moving too. After all. If everyone's up for it, she might as well do so.

To Group: Meet at Lucy's?

When the others have agreed upon Lacey's decision, everyone started getting ready on their own terms. Lacey takes a quick shower and gets ready by doing her makeup quickly. Her hair, she leaves wet. For once, she doesn't care about her hair as much. Whereas Violet and Melanie just leave Violet's house straight away. Archie just has to put on some pants before he can leave his home. Cole however, has to wait for his girlfriend to come pick him up. All of them have to double-check to see if they got their letter with them, but once they're at Lucy's, the anxiety bursts through the roof. Lacey has no idea to which universities and colleges all of them applied, except for Cole. She knows exactly about his future.
"Everyone ready?" Melanie asks, holding up her envelope whilst they sit down in a booth.
"Hold up!" Someone shouts, causing all of them to stop in their tracks and look up. "Are those college letters?" Lucy questions, her arms in the air and her eyes wide like a crazy person.
"Yeah," Lacey replies with a smile. Cole gives her a glance, the smile undeniable.
"Wait! This needs champagne!" the owner yells and quickly runs to the back of the diner's kitchen to get a bottle of champagne and some of the paper cups that were left from the last party held here. She gives everyone a cup, but waits with opening the champagne. Instead, she stares at the group in front of her, waiting for them to open their letters.
"Go on!" Lucy ushers. The five smile, a chuckle leaving some mouths. All of them start opening their letter, slowly and carefully. Slightly building up the tension. Everyone gives each other a glare when they take out the papers and unfold them. Their eyes scan the paper in front of them. One by one gasps. And then they look at each other again, waiting for someone to start speaking up.
"I got into Yale!" Lacey starts, a tear running down her cheek in excitement. A chorus of 'congrats' and 'you go, girl' sounds through the diner and Cole gives his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. Then, all eyes are on him, awaiting his news. He waits a while, building up some tension. His eyes go from Violet, to Melanie and Archie, and then to his girlfriend next to him.
"I got into NYU!" he then says and without hesitating, Lacey grabs his face and kisses him on the lips whilst the others congratulate him.
"I'm going to law school at UCLA!" Melanie breaks her great news. This time, she gets a kiss from Violet. Everyone else congratulating her.
"I'm so proud of you, baby," Violet tells her and then gives the rest a glare, "I'm going to the University of Florida," says the raven-haired girl.
"Archie, mate, you're the last one. Don't ruin this perfect moment," Cole tells him, jokingly. Archie, however, doesn't really smile. His face is blank, and his eyes nearly shoot Cole to death as if he's angry for his little joke, "I mean-It's okay if you didn't get in though, bro. We're here for you," he tries again, but then Archie cracks a smile.
"I got accepted to Stanford!" and with a loud POP Lucy opens the bottle of champagne and fills the cups on the table. "I'm going to be a podiatrist!" Archie then yells loudly and proudly, causing everyone to giggle.
"Let's party!" Lucy then screams, everyone laughs loudly this time. You don't see a forty-something woman say that very often. She turns up the volume of the radio playing in the background, some of her costumers giving them dirty looks. All they wanted to do was eat.
The five get up from the booth and start hugging one another in excitement.
"I'm so proud of you!" Lacey tells Melanie as they hug.
"I'm proud of you too, babe," she says back and Violet pulls Melanie away from the hug.
"Come here, lawyer-to-be," she tips her girlfriend back a little and kisses her. Lacey's heart nearly melts. This is such a perfect moment. Not only for those two, but for everyone. Everything is so much better all of a sudden. Futures are secure, the love is back again. Just when the thought slips her mind, she feels a tap on her shoulder and before she can properly see who it is, he kisses her. Just his smell and the taste and feeling of his lips give him away. She kisses back straight away, without a doubt. Literally without a doubt. All of the doubts that clouded her mind, are all gone now. Maybe it's because of the certainty of their futures, or his lips on hers. Either way, it feels great.
"Party!" Archie shouts as he pops open another bottle of champagne he'd shaken beforehand. The liquid sprays out, onto Lacey and Cole who immediately break away from their kiss. Lacey screams, but then starts laughing as Archie continues to spray the champagne on her. Her hair looks darker and is dripping wet, so is her dress. But she doesn't mind. Violet and Melanie team up to grab the bottle from Archie and spray him this time. His ginger hair goes flat and dark, his white shirt see-through. Everyone laughs, Violet nearly cackles.
"Alright, enough, girls," Archie begs them to stop. They do and both plant a kiss on each cheek. After they're all settled down from the celebration and are just enjoying a milkshake in their booth, they start chatting about their plans and graduation.
"I'm so excited for graduation," Melanie says as she bounces in her seat excitedly.
"Yeah, Principal Figgins has asked the Roses to perform with a band at the ceremony. We're beyond thrilled!" Violet elaborates with a smile. Lacey swallows a lump in her throat. She could've been one of those. She could be performing at her own ceremony. But she can't rejoin the Roses, not again.
"That sounds amazing!" Lacey plays it off, faking a smile.
"Yeah, we've been rehearsing non-stop, it's going to be epic!" says Melanie. Cole looks at his girlfriend, noticing how uncomfortable she's getting about the whole topic of the Roses.
"Remember when we couldn't even sit at the same table together, guys?" Cole tries to change the subject into something sentimental. "You were the popular kids," he continues looking at the others, "You were a cheerleader," he looks at Lacey now. "We've all changed so much. I think it's crazy. Not that I'm complaining though," the others smile at his touching speech, silently agreeing.
"Remember when you had long hair?" Violet asks Lacey, "that seems ages ago." Lacey rolls her eyes, laughing. So do the others.
"It's been a week or so," she tells her dark-haired best friend.
"I love it," Cole comments, causing Lacey to blush a little. "I really do. You look like your mom like this. You know, from the videos and the pictures your dad showed us," Lacey nods, a smile forming on her face. That's exactly where it all started. With her mom. Had she not died, those five kids wouldn't be here right now at the same booth at Lucy's. Cole would be somewhere in the corner, writing up his novel. Violet and Melanie wouldn't be sitting hand in hand, kissing. And Archie wouldn't be sitting so far away from Lacey. If it wasn't for her mother's death, she hadn't met Cole and nothing would've happened. Violet wouldn't have come out so soon. She wouldn't be with Cole and she'd still be with Archie. She'd still be a cheerleader and she'd still have long hair.
But then again, isn't everything better the way it is now? With Cole in her life, and Archie as one of her best friends, and Violet and Melanie openly together. Nothing seems fake anymore. Everything is just about right. Everyone is happier.