Seasons Change

30.

Chapter 30.
The final chapter

As I packed up my dorm room from my freshman year of college, I had to admit, the past five months had been some of the best times of my life. My new roommate, April, had been incredibly nice. She was as different from Avery as you could possibly get, and we had ended up becoming close friends. Between actually having friends on campus, and spending time with my new boyfriend, I had made some amazing memories and started to realize why so many people said college is the best time of your life. When you spent it with the right people, it actually was.

After Dylan and I had officially become a couple, we received a lot of I told you so's. Apparently, a lot of people had suspected that Dylan and I liked each other. When we told my dad we were dating, he had just grinned and said, "Finally." Dylan's mom had been thrilled as well. I'd known her for years, since I had babysat for her occasionally, but it was still nice to know that she approved of the relationship.

Dylan's dad wasn't completely thrilled, mostly because he didn't want Dylan getting serious about any girl yet. He was still putting a lot of pressure on Dylan to make it to the NFL. Mr. Olson was strict, and he wouldn't be happy unless Dylan followed in his footsteps and played pro football. Needless to say, Dylan and I avoided his father as much as possible. Fortunately, since his parents were divorced, it was easy enough to limit our visits to him and spend most of our time with his mother, who made it very clear that she approved of the relationship and hoped we stayed together.

My personal life still wasn't perfect. I still wasn't completely sure what I wanted to do. I didn't think journalism was my thing, so for right now, I was still an undecided major. I had another year before I really had to decide what I wanted to do and start taking classes towards a major. My family life was a bit complicated too. Dad really liked Dylan and was our strongest supporter, but things were still strained between me and Mom, especially after what had happened with Avery.

Mom was pushing me to be the bigger person and forgive Avery for making my life miserable and trying to sabotage all of my relationships. I would be civil to Avery for our parents sake, but I would never be friends with her. Avery's mom was now in rehab for her drinking problem, which meant that Avery was living with my mom and step-dad. They had settled in Florida and constantly begged Dylan and I to come visit, but we politely declined. As long as Avery lived there, we didn't really want to stay with them. I didn't blame my mom for wanting Avery and I to make peace, but Avery needed to make an effort in order for that to happen.

I took a deep breath, packing the last of my belongings into the box sitting on my bed. It was surreal to think that I was already done with my first year of college. Where had the time gone?

"Lilly, Dylan wants to know if you're almost done packing?" April asked, popping her head into the room. "He sent me to come check on you. He wants to get on the road soon so you can avoid rush hour traffic."

I smiled up at her. "Yeah, I'm just about done here," I said, rising to my feet and pulling my friend into a hug. "I'm going to miss you."

April grinned. "Don't worry, you're not getting rid of me that easily. We'll still talk all the time, and I want to come visit you at some point his summer."

"Plus we're still rooming together next year, right?" I asked.

"Of course," April agreed. "Unless you decide you want to move in with Dylan."

I shook my head. "I don't think we're quite ready for that yet," I said. "We've only been dating a few months, and that's a pretty big step."

"Well, we can be roommates as long as you want to," April assured me.