“I love you so much,” she says in return, leaping onto me and hugging me koala-bear style, all arms and legs wrapped around me tightly.
My arms shift to hold her weight and I spin slowly, not wanting to leave this moment. I end up carrying her to the bench where the rest of her team is waiting, all of them clapping in unison. Lily looks each of them in the eyes once I set her down, her smile growing and cheeks reddening, the good kind of blush. This is pride.
“You guys,” she finally says. “I did it!”
She starts to run in place, pounding her feet on the wet concrete, fists punching the air. Her team joins her, and I peel off to let her have this moment, standing to the side as she celebrates. An hour from now, she’s going to have to live this all again, accepting a medal that she’s earned more than most. And after that, she’s going to tell me about the story she wrote. She’s going to use all the reasons to convince me why I deserve my name on it, but in the end, I won’t let her do it. I can’t. Because I don’t, and it would be wrong.
This is Lily’s story. Hers and Anika’s. I’m merely grateful to be in it.
Epilogue
Lily
Theodore Rothschild is bossy.
I’ve said it to his face a dozen times today, and probably a million times this year.
“I know. Now just read that file and get ready for the next interview,” he says, sliding a packet across the conference table to me before winking.
I scowl at him, but I can’t stay mad for long. Especially when it’s just play mad.
“Fine,” I huff, pulling the next scholarship candidate’s profile into view.
“You love me,” he says.
“Yeah, yeah,” I dismiss.
I do, though. I love him so fucking much.
Theo asked me to do these interviews with him. I insisted he invite his mother instead, but he denied that request as soon as I made it. Just like he madeThe Affiliatetake his name off the story I wrote. I tried to compromise with a shared byline, but when I wasn’t paying attention, he pulled Abby to the side and had her make the change in edits.
He did get to rejoinThe Affiliate, though. And not in sales. We’re both finishing our second semester in editorial, staring down the final days of our final form before we head off to college.
Theo was hell bent on going west, far away from his mother. I wanted to go farther east, for similar reasons. Somehow, though, we both ended up in Louisiana. I got in at Tech and Theo will be at State. He’s thinking about walking on for football, but only if that’s where James decides to commit. I think he should play no matter what, but that’s because I like watching him. And kissing him after a game is pretty nice too.
Things between Theo and his mom are still strained. I applaud him for his patience, though. Neil isn’t well, and it feels wrong to root for someone’s demise, but when the person is so toxic, it’s more than tempting to justify it. I think Theo is waiting for Neil to die. He won’t say it, though he has maybe uttered it a time or two after drinking some Jack in his lair. Maybe then he’ll get his mom back, and he can begin mending their relationship.
I’ve given up on mine. My mom didn’t even read the story inThe Affiliate. My stepdad did, and he even had me sign it when I went home for Thanksgiving. He said my mom was proud, but the way she turned her nose up at the mention of it says otherwise.
I sent a copy to my dad, too. Two, in fact. He never received the first one. He sent me a photo of the second, but that was it. Visual proof that my mail made it to him was all I was going to get. Maybe I’ll send him his credit card back next time, especially since I found out he never activated it. A gift he sent and immediately forgot, like me.
But I don’t need love where I am unwanted. I have so much here. Triple B is back and unbreakable, even if college is going to pull us to different corners of the country. My year with Brooklyn and Morgan meant more than any award or recognition I may graduate with from Welles. I’m leaving this place with lifelong friends. They’re family, and I know any of us would drop everything and rush to help the others.
We are what Anika wished for us to be. Maybe she was clairvoyant. She always insisted she could see it all, our future. Me, her, and the girls. Me and Theo. Her gut never led her astray. The cruel universe simply took her too soon.
“Are you reading?” Theo taps his pen on the table next to me.
“Yeah, yes! Geesh, okay,” I whine. I wasn’t reading, though. I was reminiscing.
I go to work on the file, and the first thing I notice is the photo. Nose ring, ear cuffs, and purple hair. The girl is from Long Island. In her self-reflection essay, she wrote that she never felt as though she fit in.
The Anika Rothschild and Savana Fuentes private school scholarship is made for girls like this, the outcasts and misfits. It’s for people needing a place to grow and an opportunity to be more. Welles has its flaws, but I am so grateful for its gifts. Being here has opened doors my public school in Ohio never could have. It’s also given me love that I would never have known.
“Maive Whitford. I like her name,” I say.
“I have a feeling about this one,” Theo says.
Just then, the door opens. Blue eyes with hints of gray, clear like crystal, and a smile that stretches from freckled cheek to freckled cheek.
“Sorry I’m late.” Her voice is raspy and her bright-colored jacket matches the pink on her lips. “I got a little lost on campus. No, wait.”
She looks down and smiles before glancing up through extra-long lashes.
“Your marching band was jamming in the commons, and I couldn’t help but dance. Sometimes when life gives you music, you have to listen.”
I glance to Theo and I can tell instantly from his dimple and crooked grin.
We’ve found Anika.
THE END