The Road Trip

Epilogue

"Will you get your ass down here, Fletcher?! We need to leave, the sunsets in two hours" I yelled, causing the boys mom to laugh. I tapped my foot impatiently as Mae honked the horn, causing me to flip her off through the open door.

"I'm coming, I'm just making sure I grabbed everything" he yelled, bounding down the stairs with and assortment of items clutched in his hands.

"Here are some more things, Meghana" Mrs. O'Sullivan said, handing me a bag full of smore's supplies.

"See, you guys keep rushing me! If my mom hadn't remembered I would've forgotten the essential item for the bonfire" Fletcher explained, quickly tugging on his shoes and grabbing his jacket.

"Yeah, well it's also essential that I shove my foot up you're a-" I started before Mae honked the horn again.

"Ok, bye mom! I'll see you tomorrow since I'm staying at Noah's for the night" Fletcher said, kissing his mom on the cheek before running out of the house. I rolled my eyes and gave Mrs. O'Sullivan a hug before I followed Fletcher's brisk pace towards the Mini-Fletcher on the driveway.

"Michael and Noah are grabbing the stuff for the burgers, right? I don't need to stop for anything else?" Mae asked as James chewed Fletcher out for making us late.

"Yeah; Noah and Michael are grabbing burger supplies, Riley and Wren are getting the drinks, Fletcher's in charge of the smore's and James and I already grabbed the beach stuff" I said, checking off the supplies on my fingers.

My heart still fluttered at the mention of my boyfriend and Mae grinned at me through the rearview mirror before pulling out of the driveway. James and Wren were going steady after he finally grew a pair and asked Wren out, the day after we got back from Disney.

Riley and Michael were also dating but they were still in the early stages of their relationship, considering he asked her to be his girlfriend just two days prior to our before-college-starts bonfire. Noah lost twenty bucks to Wren that day but everyone was finally happy that the shy guy got the girl.

Mae and Fletcher were still looking out for their special someone but were glad all the same that they were single and ready to mingle. It took some getting used to for Fletcher, seeing James and his sister hanging out so much, but he was happy for them all the same.

As Mae started to play music, I looked out of the window and smiled at the places that I had come to love over the past few years. Along with the newfound relationships, we realized that all of us would be going to different colleges. We all applied for the same colleges and all of us got into different ones; some of us even getting the same as a friend in the group. Deciding that we needed at least one old friend when we take on the next chapter of life, we "paired up" and decided on the colleges we would be attending.

Fletcher and I had both gotten into UCLA, Noah and Wren got into NYU, Michael and James into UW, and Riley and Mae got into the University of Florida. I was heartbroken that I had to live on the other side of the country when it came to Noah but we had a long talk and decided that we could make the long-distance work. We all decided to spend our remaining days together before we all went off to our separate colleges. The girls and I were already planning to have a reunion sometime during the winter; hopefully we would be able to go someplace warm.

It took us about twenty minutes to get to the beach and we all stretched as we clambered out of the car. James and Fletcher grabbed the beach chairs and blankets while Mae grabbed the smore's and I grabbed the soccer ball. We saw that Riley and Wren had already found the perfect spot for the bonfire and we walked over, me quickly kicking the ball to Wren so that I could pay attention to where I was stepping. Once we got to where the girls were Fletcher and Riley set up the blankets and chairs as I helped Mae build the fire. James and Wren played with the soccer ball near the surf and I smiled as I heard Wren burst out laughing. Once we got a fire going, I dusted my hands off and looked at the water, happy to notice that there weren't many people around, considering the sun was going to set soon. Suddenly, someone wrapped their arms around my waist and I smiled as I turned around, looking into the green eyes I had come to love.

"Hmm, you look cute in my jumper" Noah said, pecking me on the nose as he held the fabric of his sweater between his fingers. I smiled at him and placed a kiss on his cheek before pulling away to join Wren, James, and Michael in a match of soccer.

^^^

"God, these are the best damn burgers I have ever had" I groaned, taking a bite of my meal. Noah grinned and scooted closer to me as he munched on a fry. We were all seated around the fire, exhausted from our hour-long soccer game. It was girls versus boys and we had won fair and square, meaning the boys had to come shopping with us the next day. It was all thanks to Wren and her expertise in the area that helped us win the game. Since we kept the food near the fire it managed to stay warm so we all dug into our fries and burgers, happily sipping on the sodas that Riley and Wren had gotten.

"I'm really gonna miss you guys" Noah suddenly said, causing my friends and I to look up from our food. I exchanged a glance with Michael before turning to my boyfriend.

"Noah, we're all gonna miss you as well. But I promise we'll meet up at some point in the year, we have to" Mae said as Fletcher nodded. We had the road trip to thank for helping our bonds grow stronger. I would always cherish those three days we had, where we all acted like children at the happiest place on earth. A small, nostalgic smile graced my lips and I placed my head on Noah's shoulder, causing him to kiss my forehead.

"Hey now, let's not be sad about this. Come on, raise your drinks" James said, holding up his Diet Coke. I giggled and followed suite, holding up my root beer next to Noah's Pepsi and Michael's Dr. Pepper.

"We've all been friends since we were in freshman, meaning that we're doing something right. Take this as a sign; make new friends, new memories. But let's never forget the promise we made on the last day of the trip: we will always be here for each other no matter what" James said, causing Riley to softly sniffle.

"To new beginnings" I chanted, grinning at all of my best friends.

"To new beginnings!"