Loving Me ✔️

Epilogue

The projector was showing all our pictures and videos, recorded by each one of were over the summer. Violet was sitting on the carpeted floor in between Ryan's legs, with her back leaning on him. Hayden was sprawled next to them while Hayden was sitting on the bean bag with his laptop to man the projector. Tristan occupied another one of those bean bags. Austen was on three seater couch, Hope next to him and next to her was me.

My summer vacation had been to the worst start ever! Being betrayed by people you called best friends wasn't the best feeling ever. But I was glad it happened, a bad move on their part, butterfly effected some really positive changes in my life.

The spontaneous decision to go on a trip with strangers was the first of many new things that I did this summer. My mind goes back to the 'Never Have I Ever' game we played at the start of the trip on the train. So much had changed since then,

ü I had sung as I had no care in the world.

ü I had danced till my feet hurt.

ü I had sneaked out albeit an empty house but still done it!

ü I had got stone faced Austen Marks to smile and laugh (even if it was at my expense)

ü I had rode on a bike and loved it nonetheless.

ü I had brought a dress and now was totally in love with them.

ü I had broken a bazillion rules for Ryan's surprise party.

ü I had a legit food fight in Violet's kitchen with Violet and Hope.

ü I had driven a car like after a money heist (in my defense we did have goons chasing us!).

ü I had saved a friend but also potentially made a new enemy.

I had never cared before what others thought of me and yet somewhere their opinions did affect me. I learned that I could be many things at the same time. I didn't need to fit into the mold the society had prepared for us. Being your own worst critic had its perks like you would always out do your own self but it also had it disadvantages. You would always over think everything and sometimes even worry over nothing. But things were changing now.

Lastly I had made new friends. My new found friendship with Super Seven is budding and blooming. Before the vacation started I could never fathom even having a general conversation with them as our lives ran too parallel to each other to ever intersect, yet here I was hanging out with them in Austen's basement.

Austen Marks was Austen Marks, from being the undetermined he had slowly walked towards being somewhat bearable. His cold exterior had put me off in the beginning but slowly I had started to understand him. There were still parts of his that were still unsolved for me but he wasn't a total mystery any longer. We both had been hurt and had become distrustful because of what happened to us. It was weird how I had always thought we were so different and yet we couldn't be any more similar. I was slowing growing on him as he was gradually breaking the walls I had built around myself.

I thought my crush on him would disappear as crushes do but surprising it stayed and slowly it grew into something more with the time I spent with them. The more I unearthed about his past, the more I was pulled towards him. I just hope I catch myself before I completely fall for him.

"Damn I can't believe school starts tomorrow" Tristan quips, breaking me from my thoughts and pulling me into the present.

"Seriously they should give a longer vacation to recover from the long school year" Hayden adds in which is met with a spat on head by Violet

"If given a choice you would take 6 month vacation twice a year" she adds with a chuckle.

I can see a dreamy look come in eyes of Hayden, Hunter and Tristan at the mention of 6 month vacation.

"At least it's your last year and you will be done with school. I'll still have one more year after this" Hope says with a sad pout.

"Enjoy it till it lasts Hope. College isn't fun as it deemed to be" Austen adds in as stoic as ever.

"True, there will be more responsibilities and life changing decisions to make" Ryan says in agreement with Austen.

"That's a long way to go. Let's focus on present and school that is to start tomorrow" Violet says trying to get the environment as light as before without foreboding about the future.

School was indeed to start tomorrow, our senior year. At the very thought of school lots of questions started swirling in mind. During the summer it had been like we had been in sort of a bubble, just us but with school started tomorrow, other things too would add into the equation too like classes, assignments, their respective club or sport activities.

Would we still hang out like we did in the summer? Would it hurt if we couldn't get along during the school year? How would the rest of the student body react to us mixing two different parallels together?

I didn't know how our friendship would survive under the social jungle of our school but one thing was for sure, this was the best summer vacation ever. It was definitely a summer to remember!

I had done things I didn't even predict I would ever do, made friends with people I would have never talked to before, dressed my myself without thinking about how I was expected to dress and above it all, I had started to love myself.

It wasn't like I hated myself before all this but I am definitely sure that I had now started loving me.