The Rules of Life

epilogue

“Dad, you don’t have to fly up here every weekend. Yes, I’m sure. Dad! I’m old enough to go to college so that means I’m old enough to take care of myself,” I said into my cell phone. It was wedged between my shoulder and my cheek since I needed both hands to unpack. The dorm room was full of boxes. Floor to ceiling cardboard and masking tape. I lost count of how many times people stopped by asking for scissors or other items they’d forgotten or that hadn’t been unpacked yet.

My roommate was currently a no-show so I’d gotten my pick of the beds. I just hoped that I’d be all moved in by the time she showed up. There wasn’t any room for other boxes, what with my boxes being fat asses and taking up all the space. They’d all showed up today since I could only take so much with me on a plane. Dad had to overnight them to me once I’d got situated. It had taken two trips to the post office to get all my shit here.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “I’ll come down for Thanksgiving. I’ll let you know if I need anything. You’re only a plane ride away, yeah, I got it.” I glanced up at the clock and jumped up off my bed, where’d I’d sat for a quick break. “I have to go! I’m meeting someone. A boy? Uh. Bye! I’ll call you later. Love you!” I hit the end button and put my phone in my back pocket. I didn’t have any time to change which meant that I’d just have to settle for being in my shorts and tank top. But since it was a million degrees outside, I figured that was my best bet anyway. I slid on my flip flops and was out the door.

After realizing that I only had two weeks to study for the SAT, I pretty much tossed out the whole sleeping thing. I spent every moment of my time studying giant SAT prep books. I had notecards taped up all over the house. At one point, after two days of no sleep, I’d tried taping some flashcards onto Soe. That didn’t go well and my arms ended up becoming Soe’s temporary scratching post. Needless to say, I stuck to inanimate objects after that.

All my studying turned out to be good. I aced the SAT with a 2300. Who’s a boss? That’s right. I’m a boss. I used all my prodigy skills for that test and with my score, along with my high school diploma (I got to graduate with my class at my high school, despite taking online classes. You could imagine everyone’s surprised when my name was called) helped me get into MIT. I was going to become an engineer. I wanted to build super computers that would someday take over the world! Not really but I did want to help make fun stuff like super phones and whatever.

Dad had been hesitant. MIT was in Massachusetts. That wasn’t in the same state at all. But I, along with my old counselor, Mr. Denning, talked him into letting me go. A week before I was scheduled to leave, my mom called and asked if I’d stop by before I left. I’d been to another therapist all summer, one who actually helped instead of asking me stupid questions, and he said that he thought I’d made good progress and that this could help me. So I went. And it wasn’t awful.

We avoided subjects like her leaving and my therapy and Dad and Matt (they’d broken up). She talked about her new job as an interior decorator and I talked about MIT. We only talked for a little over an hour and then I left. It wasn’t much but it was something. Both Dad and my therapist (Mr. Rykin) said I’d done a good thing which racketed my good thing list up to two.

Matt and I didn’t speak until a few days before I was supposed to leave. I saw him at the park where I’d started jogging. Normally Dad and I jogged together, like old times, but he was busy with a new girlfriend who I hadn’t met yet. Matt was there with a little girl who he quickly explained was his niece. His sister was in town visiting and her and her husband wanted a date night so he’d taken over babysitting.

We talked for a while. He told me that he was thinking about moving. He needed a change of scenery. As a joke, I’d mentioned that he should move to Massachusetts. He said he’d thought about moving to Boston, that was one of the ones on his list. I told him that I got into MIT and he said well maybe he’d have to give Boston some more consideration. It was flirting. Honest-to-god-legal flirting. For a second, I entertained the thought of how our relationship would have been if it had been normal. And god, I wanted it so badly. So I flirted back. We exchanged words for a few hours and when I left, he said he’d call me and winked in a way that sent tingles all the way to my toes.

My shoes made that annoying flip flop noise of hitting the pavement and then my feet. But I was in a good mood. I was in college. It was beautiful outside. I was going to see my boyfriend.

Oh, that sounded so yummy. Boyfriend. I hadn’t had a boyfriend since Travis.

Speaking of Travis, he’d exceeded everyone’s expectations and actually managed to graduate with a 3.46. That pretty GPA and his athletic talents got him a scholarship, full-ride, to some university in Texas. When he saw me at graduation, he’d come over and given me props for showing all these bitches and fuckers up. I told him that I still had a little more hell to raise. He’d smiled at me and I think that was the closest we’d come to closure. But I was fine with that. Travis was a good guy and I was glad that he was going places.

Sophia and Dash, however, weren’t. They broke up. Dash, it turns out, was fucking around more than even Travis was. Sophia dumped his ass and then got a scholarship for cheerleading at a school in California. Good riddance, I say. Dash didn’t get any scholarships since he tore something in his leg which resulted in a permanent injury. Door old Dash would be staying at home and attending community college. Oh yeah, his lights were bright.

The café came into view. The umbrellas were still since there wasn’t any breeze but I could imagine them swirling madly at the first hint of a storm. I could pick him out of a crowd. He was sitting, with his back to me, sipping a drink that I knew would be black coffee even though it was hot outside and nearing evening. A pink drink overflowing with whipped cream was sitting across from him. A strawberry smoothie, extra-extra whip. Just how I liked it.

Instead of taking my seat, I wrapped my arms around his neck from behind. “You remembered,” I said, kissing his cheek.

He reached up and rubbed my arms, turning his head to face me. His brown eyes sparkled. “How could I forget? You get the same thing every single time,” he said. I laughed and moved to my seat, wrapping my hands around the cool plastic cup. I lifted it to my lips and sucked on the straw.

“Yum!” I said.

“Met your roommate yet?” he asked. He reached across the table and I put my hand in his. He laced our fingers together and gave me a squeeze.

I shook my head. “Still nothing,” I said. “I hope she shows up soon or else I’ll take up all her space with my shit.”

He laughed. “You have way too much stuff for a freshman, Kin,” he said. “You’re supposed to leave everything behind and only take clothes. Get rid of all that pack-rat stuff.”

I rolled my eyes. “Everything I have is special,” I told him. “By the way, how’s Soe?” Since they didn’t allow cats in the campus dorm, I’d managed to convince my boyfriend to take him since he had an apartment in Boston. Soe had liked it okay but he was still pretty traumatized from the plane ride.

“Soe’s fine,” he said. “He’s a cat. How bad can he be?”

“Just make sure he’s happy. If he’s happy, I’m happy. And as my boyfriend, it’s your job to make sure I’m happy.” I smiled at him and he rolled his eyes. I closed my eyes, remembering the phone call I’d gotten the night before I was supposed to leave. The phone call that changed everything. “Kinley?” It was Matt. “Did you mean it?”

“Did I mean what?” I’d asked.

“Boston. Did you mean it?”

Did I? “I think so,” I said. “I mean, yes. Yes. I did mean it.” My heartbeat thundered in my ears. Could this really be happening? Could I really get college and the boy of my dreams? It was too good to be true.

“I have a buddy who said I could room with him until I found a place of my own,” he said. “Could we maybe start over there?”

I exhaled, a smile creeping over my face. “I’d like that.”

“Kinley, earth to Kinley!” Matt said. I opened my eyes and grinned. “Where were you?” He stroked his thumb across the back of my hand. I leaned across the table and kissed his lips. “I like that place. Go there often.” I laughed and sat back in my chair. “But seriously. Where’d you go?”

The smile that stretched my face was the kind that only Matt could bring about. “My happy place,” I said honestly.

“Oh yeah? And where’s that?”

“With you.”

The end.