the photographer. [zdh]

twenty-four

fast forward a couple of months, and the invitation tour in america came to a close.

watching the boys clasp hands and take their last bows on the last stage at the last venue of this part of the tour with megawatt smiles on their faces was bittersweet.

it wasn't a very long journey, but it was certainly an eventful one. over the course of a few months, i'd went on dates with zach, found my true family, and got the ethan, his father, and connor arrested.

yes, mr forrester was in custody now. armed with the evidence from jay's thumbdrive, i had reported this to the police, thus landing the great and powerful clifford forrester of forrester constructions in jail.

however, thanks to me vouching for him, jay was out of juvenile detention and on probation. he was a changed person, and now spent his time juggling between studies, working at starbucks as a part-time barista, and track team practices. after getting out of juvie, he tried out for the track team and got in. now, he had true friends too. and being the typical jock he was, he was dating a cheerleader named alisha, who accepted him for who he was and liked him as much as he liked her.

emma and mrs forrester, in the dark about the misdeeds of the men in the family, had moved to new york to attempt to start afresh. from new york, mrs forrester controlled the construction business, while emma branched out from the typical paint-on-canvas art to fashion design. having a natural gift, she enrolled in parsons school of design, got in easily, and was doing well there. we knew that our friendship would never be the same as before, yet we did our best to maintain contact and tried to call each other at least once a month.

samantha moved to california to further her art studies after receiving a scholarship to study in fidm, the fashion institute of design and merchandising. since she was living close to the why don't we house, we met up at least once a week whenever i was in la, or sometimes a whole day out together if she wasn't too busy with school.

a week ago, i phoned my foster family and told them everything. they understood, and congratulated me on finding my real parents. loren in particular was especially happy for me, and insisted we keep in contact.

the boys and i, having wrapped up the invitation tour in america, we were getting ready to head to europe soon, then asia. now, however, we were at the airport, getting ready to board a flight to portland. the boys had decided to spend the one week of break with the seaveys, as own their families were either busy or away on trips.

zach, corbyn, jack, jonah, and eben were excited for the portland weather, which was cold in comparison to the la sun. daniel and tyler were excited to see their family again, and i, too, was excited to meet my real family in person for the first time.

anna and i had facetimed a lot, getting to know each other, and i discovered that we had a lot of things in common other than our birthdays and surnames. for example, we shared the same love for old-school music, and had similar fashion taste. chris, keri and jeff had popped up in our video calls multiple times, and they had made it clear that they were excited to meet me, and they gave me an extremely warm welcome into the seavey family.

all in all, i was happy. mr forrester and his little minions were locked safely away, and wouldn't be coming near me anymore. soon, i was going on tour again with some of my best friends in the whole world, and at the moment, i was about to board a plane to meet my real family.

life couldn't get any better than this.