EPILOGUE

One month later

"Mom, I don't need these sandwiches. It's a short roadtrip." Travis said to Rose who just narrowed her eyes in return.

"Don't tell me you are too cool for homemade sandwiches now that you are leaving for Harvard?" She said and Zoey burst out laughing at this.

"Sorry to say Rose, but our Travis can never be too cool." She teased him.

"I'll deal with you later." He warned and she just winked in return from the passenger seat of the car.

"Hurry up, we have to see off Maya as well." Zoey reminded him.

"Yeah," Travis said and hugged Rose. "Take care of yourself. Don't work too hard."

Rose hugged him back by hiding her face in his chest. She was a lot shorter than her son and had to stand on her tiptoes to reach him. "Take your meals regularly. Make nice friends. And don't forget your uneducated mother."

"Come on, you know it will never happen." Travis kissed the top of her head.

Zoey watched both of them with a huge smile on her face. Today was the day Travis and Maya were finally leaving for their colleges and she couldn't be more proud of her boyfriend. Yeah, that also means she won't be able to see him regularly but they both promised that they will spend every second weekend together, no matter what happens.

Travis' father had also came out of the house to see him off. Although he wasn't as enthusiastic as Rose, he at least appreciated that his son was leaving for college.

After saying both of them one last goodbye, Travis made his way to the passenger seat of the car. "Zachary is at Maya's house. He will drive me back after you leave." She told him.

"Come with me." Travis offered as he ran his fingers all over her thigh.

"I wish." Zoey smiled at him. "But I need to start working on my boutique. I can't let my grandparent's money go to waste."

"Where can you get grandparents who will leave you millions after their death?" Travis joked.

"You need to be the only child of their only child. Sam wasn't born then." She replied, keeping her eyes on the road. It took her a long time to start driving again after that accident. The thought of driving a car traumatized her but Travis helped her gain her confidence back.

"Don't worry. I'll be visiting you this weekend, to make sure all those drunk, horny sorority girls know you are mine." Zoey added.

Travis chuckled at this and said, "Are you jealous?"

"Yeah, right. I am so jealous." She said in an exaggerated voice, although it was true. She was already jealous of those possible girls trying to get his attention because let's be honest, her boyfriend was a full course meal.

The car came to a halt in front of Maya's house where a similar scene was going on. Zachary and her Dad were loading all her luggage into her car while she was having a meltdown in front of her mother.

"I don't want to go." Maya said to her mother. "Keep me here. I'll enroll myself in a community college."

"You have to go, Maya. Your Dad and I needs some alone time. It's about time we rekindle our passion." Her mother Jessica winked and Maya flushed red in embarassment.

"Ew. Can't you at least pretend to be a normal mother?" Maya huffed angrily.

"What can I say? I'm a cool mom." Her mother said with a smirk. "Besides, college is fun. All the boys and tequila---" Maya's father cleared his throat, stopping her midway in the sentence.

"I think I should go with her and let all the boys know she isn't available." Zachary reached behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"No way in hell. I don't want you to scare everyone away. Let me find my niche first." Maya said and then hugged her father.

"Hey, loser." Travis reached her and aimed a small punch on her back.

"You are late." She turned around and launched at him to envelop him into a bear hug. "I can't believe Harvard is letting a monkey like you inside."

"And I can't believe one day, you will be someone's doctor. I mean, I'm already scared for them." Travis teased her and suffocated her through his hug.

Travis can't believe they both were leaving for college on the same day. Travis and Maya started their journey from being the lowest on high school's food chain and now they were going to Ivy League universities. That's just how luck works sometimes.

This year had taught Travis a lot, especially never to judge someone on the basis of how much money they had or how popular they were. He started this year hating a certain group of priviliged students and ended the year falling for one of them.

Althea was dead, Ethan was depressed, Zachary had given up on his dreams and Zoey left her dream for the people around her. On the other end of the spectrum, there was Travis who was going to his dream business school, Maya who was enrolled into a medical school just like she always wanted and Mario who had gotten admission in a local college and became the first person in his family to go to college.

There was only one regret. He never gave Althea the benefit of doubt and hated her from all his heart. For him, she was just a materialistic bitch who considered everyone else peasants. If he knew she was going to die so soon, he would have tried to understand her better.

"Okay, enough hugging. I don't want to be late." Maya said, breaking his chain of thoughts and made her way to Zachary, who was leaning against her car. "Bye." She said and kissed him briefly on lips.

"Bye." He replied and opened the car door for her.

"Travis, you should leave too. It's a two hour drive." Zoey said, checking her wrist watch.

"Yeah, you are right." He nodded and went to Maya's parents to say goodbye to them, especially to Toby who had been a huge help all these years. He helped Travis a lot financially by giving him a job in his superstore when he needed it the most.

"Make us proud, boy." Toby patted his arm in a fatherly manner.

"I will." Travis smiled and then went back to Zoey. He didn't want to leave her behind but she was right. Opening up a new business demands time and consistency. He couldn't expect her to accompany him wherever he goes.

"I'll miss you." He hugged him and hid his face in the crook of her neck.

"I'll miss you too." She said, tightening her arms around him.

"Don't party too much. Don't drink too much. And no boys." He teased her in a fake strict voice.

"Okay, Daddy." She whispered in his ears, making him laugh out loud.

"You are impossible, Zoey Crawford." He pecked her lips and then hesitantly, went inside the car.

Zachary and Zoey stood side by side, waving as both cars drove past them one by one. Once the cars were out of sight, Zoey rested her head on Zachary's shoulder and released a sigh she was holding. Zachary in return wrapped his arms around her shoulder and led her to his car.

•••••••••••

"Is he coming?" Zoey asked Zachary as the waiter reached them for the fifth time.

"Not yet. We are waiting for someone." Zachary said to the waiter and then turned his head to Zoey. "I called him. I left him a voice mail. I texted him. I don't know how else to invite him."

"I guess, it's just us then." Zoey let out a sad heave and called the waiter.

"One Rib-eye steak." Zachary ordered.

"One Spaghetti Bolognese." Zoey ordered.

"What will you have in drinks?" The waiter asked.

"One mint mar---"

"Zoey, he is here." Zachary stopped her mid sentence and motioned towards the wooden door where a familiar face was entering through it.

It was Ethan, walking towards them with no expression on his face. His cheeks looked hollow, his eyes had lost all its color and he seemed like he had lost half its weight. An unkempt beard was covering half his face and his hair was a mess.

"Sorry I was late." He said as he reached them and seated himself on the emtpy seat.

Zoey and Zachary exchanged a look, not knowing what to say or do. They didn't expect him to come so they were not prepared to deal with him at all.

"How are you?" Zoey said, dreading if it was the right thing to ask.

"Okay." He said but all three of them knew it wasn't true.

To change the atmosphere, she added, "This restaurant sucks. The waiter kept looking at my cleavage. Like come on, they are just boobs." Zachary chuckled at this but Ethan kept looking at the table in blank stares.

"The school said they need an assistant coach. I was thinking of applying. Wanna beat me to it?" Zachary said to provoke him.

"Not really." Ethan replied. "Majesty High is the last place I want to go."

Exchanging a worried glance with Zachary, Zoey started, "Did you see Olive's instagram story? That girl is living her life in NYU."

"I know, right. Who knew it will be us three left behind one day?" Zachary let out a small chuckle.

"We are not the only one. Blaire is also here. I saw her in the mall yesterday." Zoey said.

"What a nightmare!" Zachary rolled his eyes.

Ethan silently listened to both of them talk. He knew what they were trying to do; they were trying to get him to speak. But how do you participate in a conversation about random people when the only person that mattered to you is no more?

It irked him that they all had moved on in their life. It irked him that they all had a shoulder to cry on. Seeing them laugh was a reminder that everyone had made peace with the fact that she was no more.

But no, he wasn't going to do that. Even though his therapist thinks otherwise, he will hold on to her memory, as long as he can, as long as he lives.

With that thought in mind, he stood up and spoke, "I am not hungry."

"Ethan," Zachary said. "Please stay."

"I don't think I can." He said and turned around to leave, while Zoey and Zachary kept staring at his retreating figure.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Poor Ethan.

So about sequel or spin off, I don't have any plan to do that for now but I have kept the end kinda open. It means if I plan on writing one next year, I can start from here.

Here are some questions for you.

1. Your favourite character?

2. Your least favourite character?

3. Your favourite part of story?

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Love you all. <3