Lilah Tov (NaNoWriMo)

epilogue

So, this is it. This is how Lilah and Will's story needs to end. I've really enjoyed writing this story, and nanowrimo was fun, though the next time I tackle it, I won't be writing nearly as fast. I'm writing a story about a girl I mentioned in one of the chapters named Emily Albert. Will may make a short appearance. It's called "The Truth About Books And Boys." Thank y'all so much for reading and supporting this story. It's been real.

epilogue

I sat on my dock, allowing my uncovered feet to dip into the water. After a long day of getting situated and making sure that the house wasn’t robbed or infested by raccoons during the winter, it was finally time to relax. Hillary and Robert were comfortably inside, settling down with a Sandra Bullock film. Charlie was currently somewhere in Europe, backpacking with his friends and some girls they met in a bar one night. And then there was me. I was here, about to enjoy the last summer before my life really took off. Over the past few months, I had been making it through my junior year of high school, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. But I knew that next year would be brutal, because along with senior year came the trials and tribulations of finding a college—the right college (that also happened to be an Ivy that wasn’t Brown). The second summer was done, I knew that everything was going to speed up and become real.

           So for now, I was just gazing on to the setting sun and making the moment last. Everything was silent, save for the occasional hum of a motorized boat or the yelp of a cricket. And then I heard the wood of the dock creak. I didn’t look over to see who or what had entered my personal bubble. Instead, I just continued to absorb the falling of night.

           The footsteps went on, until they came across the edge of the dock. The owner of the footsteps cast an opaque shadow over me, but I didn’t dare to glance up. Because right now, I was enjoying the tranquility of the sun’s disappearance for the day. It was one of the few simple joys I had in life, and just because someone walked onto my dock didn’t mean that I was going to drop everything and acknowledge him or her. I had spent the day doing an obligatory check of the house, like I did every year, and now it was time for me to take a break and get lost in the beauty of the center of our solar system.

           “Hi,” came a quiet voice from above me. I knew the voice.

           Every muscle in my body tensed as I said, “Hi,” right back. I didn’t look up to see who the person was. I already knew.

           “I’ve missed you, William Brooks,” said the voice, and my muscles released.

           At that, I finally glanced up to the girl who was intruding on my slightly-meditative-and-reflective-sun time. Just like the first time I had seen her, I was struck by how she was able to so effortlessly compete with something so great as the sun in regards to beauty. If it were up to me to judge a beauty pageant between she and the ball of light that sustained life on Earth, I would pick her every time. It wasn’t even a question. She was beyond beautiful, and a year had really done her well.

           Though she hadn’t changed that much, in another sense, she had. There was something about her that just seemed more mature and wiser. The gleam in her eyes of mischief and curiosity had vanished, and it was now replaced by a sense of perpetual exploration and knowledge. As far as I could tell, she wasn’t wearing a drop of makeup, but she didn’t need it. Her features highlighted themselves, and in a year, everything about her had grown even more striking, if possible. She wasn’t wearing provocative attire just for the sake of being provocative. Instead, she now wore a simple sundress in a dark shade. Black was a nice color on her. It kind of reflected her soul. Shit. Sometimes my lame attempt at humor kind of sucked. Whatever.

           The point was, as I stared at her, I couldn’t seem to summon any negative thoughts or memories or ill bodings of any kind. It was like I was meeting her for only the second time, sans the painful recollections of heartbreak I happened to possess. I wasn’t mad or upset with her. Not any more. In fact, all I felt were feelings of complete neutrality…that maybe happened to lean in her favor towards forgiveness and new beginnings. What could I say? I was a sucker for hot girls.

           “I’ve missed you, too,” I said, “Lilah Tov.”