Dork Diaries: Next Generation

Epilogue

6 Months Later

I think I am exactly where I belong. I have embraced the fact that people know me, but that doesn't make me special. People not knowing me doesn't make me special either, nor does it make them more important to me than other people. Whether people have expectations for me or not is irrelevant, because all that really matters is when they get to know me and if they decide to stay.

Being constantly surrounded by students at this boarding school, there is no room to not make acquaintances. I will admit that my name made it easier to make friends. Of course many wondered what the hell I was doing at a boarding school in the first place. I never answer their questions because they never directly ask me.

The only people I talk to from back home are Mom, Bri, and whoever was on her side of the divorce. I don't talk to Terra. She stopped trying to reach out to me three months after I left. It sucks on my part, and it's not my decision to make, but I thought it would have been best if I cut all ties with the her and the rest of the people I knew. That way it wouldn't hold my old friends and I back from being better. 

I keep to myself most of the time here, which opens me up to a lot of rumors I hear about myself. It's funny to listen to what different stories people come up with, but some nights I crave going to In N' Out to rant to someone, anyone, about how enraged I am that they won't just talk to me themselves. Sure it's rude to ask "What are you doing here?", and some are brave enough to ask. But I'm so scared they'll twist the story somehow, and it's difficult to know who to trust.

Today is Saturday, which means we're allowed to leave campus for the weekend. Although it'd be nice to spend it with Mom, I'm sure her and her new boyfriend would appreciate the time alone.

Amy, my next-dorm neighbor, knocks on my door. I open it to find a duffel bag slung over one shoulder.

"Hey, Brandy. Sorry if I interrupted or anything, but I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come with me and my sister to New York. I know you didn't plan on going home this weekend," she asks.

I shake my head. "I have a ton of work to catch up on. Thank you, though." 

She nods. "I watch you, you know. I mean, I know that sounds creepy, but for such a well-known person, you're quite the busy loner."

I laugh at her perceptiveness. I still model every now and then, and I try my best not to wonder what everyone else thinks of me. But it's still nice to know I'm noticed.

"Yeah, I know. It's a trust thing I'm trying to work on, but it seems there's not very many people to trust when everyone thinks they already know you."

She nods again, seeming satisfied that I wasn't vague with her. Part of me regrets that I wasn't more vague. Who knows how she might change it up when she tells her friends? Amy walks off with a "have a good weekend," and I sigh sadly as I close the door behind her.

I pull out my anatomy textbook, which is futile because I don't understand a thing, and all of the teachers are off campus. Still, I'd rather stare at a piece of paper wondering what to do than be alone in my head. So reread the chapter about five times before I finally put it away and check my phone.

None of the notifications surprise me like I continuously hope they do. 

Ms. Roberts, your next photoshoot is on... 

Oml! I'm such a huge fan. When do you think you'll ever come visit... 

Hey, Hon. Hope you don't mind but Evan and I are... 

Long time no see, Sweetheart... 

Sweetheart? No one else called me that, except...

I open the email and make sure my eyes don't deceive me. They don't. The ridiculous email address says it all, and it wasn't sent to me too long ago. Apparently I received it two hours ago.

I never said goodbye to Erin, and I haven't spoken to him for six months.

Who emails intentionally these days? I reply. Two minutes later, my phone rings.

"If emails were obsolete, Sweetheart, then no one would send emails by any means of communication," he retorts. Out of all the things he could have said, from the six months we haven't talked to each other, he says that.

Despite my disappointment, I laugh anyway. "You've got to be the worst friend in the world."

"You're the one who left." His tone is playful, but I can detect the spite. I know I hurt him leaving without saying a word, but I felt it was the right thing to do. "So I have a surprise for you."

"Do you, now?"

"Yeah,and 'm glad you opened my email first, otherwise this probably would have taken a turn for the worst."

"So when am I going to get this surprise?" I giggle.

There's a weird, airy silence. Then he answers, "I'm gonna say another fifteen minutes."

"That's oddly specific."

"I try my best." And with that, he hangs up on me. It bums me out a bit that our conversation seemed very short and almost useless, but I missed him.

I still miss him.

And all I told him was that his emails were weird and that his timing for surprises were oddly precise. Fifteen minutes pass, and I sit in my room, anticipating what's supposed to be coming. Then sixteen. Then seventeen. By the time, twenty-five minutes have gone by, I give up on looking for something to happen. Then I hear another knock on my door.

I sigh in annoyance at whoever is there. Couldn't they have come when I wasn't sulking?

But it's Erin waiting for me on the other side of the door. My mouth drops open, and his mischievous smirk spreads into a knee-buckling grin. "I imagine you have quite a few questions."

I can't believe he came.

I can't believe he stayed.

THE END.

A/N: So, I think this is where my Dork Diaries Journey ends. It's not that I don't enjoy the book series anymore. But I've grown out of it. My writing has matured right along with me, and I can only hope that it gets better. I'm sixteen-years-old now, and thinking back to where I started excites me and makes me cringe. But I am... I don't know how to explain how euphoric I am that I've come this far with you guys.

 I believe this to be the end of a great era and the start of a new one. I have decided that I will not be revising any of my Dork Diaries Fanfictions from here on out. Not because I don't have the time, but as a reminder that I'm no longer the writer I used to be. Although, I am still very proud of the past me, it's time to move on, and I truly hope that all of you move on with me. Thank you,fellow dorks, for this amazing adventure.