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“Are you trying to kill me? You’re so ridiculous, why wouldn’t I want that?”

I shrugged like I didn’t know, but I did. Because after a year of everything being uprooted again, and again, and again, I was constantly bracing myself for something else to fall apart so I could somehow preempt it.

But Will didn’t fall apart, or reject me. Instead, he grabbed both of my hands and grinned so wide he could’ve auditioned to be a suitcase model onDeal or No Deal.“So, we’re going to be, like, a thirty-minute drive from each other next year?”

I nodded, and he threw his arms around me and hugged me so tightly he nearly squeezed my lungs out of my mouth.

“Thank God,” he whispered.

Picking NC State hadn’t exactly been a no-brainer—I still missed California, and the people, and the culture. Not to mention the weather. But I couldn’t deny that the day I’d gotten my offer letter for NC, I’d felt like a set of fifty-ton weights I’d been lugging around since I got the USC offer had been lifted. Partly because of Will, for sure.But not just for Will. My parents had decided to stay here for at least another year to keep an eye on Roy and the kids, for a start. And even though I missed Ryan and Hayley, they weren’t really mygroupanymore. They didn’t know what I did with my days, and I knew barely anything about theirs. We’d kind of grown apart. And maybe that was okay.

Sayid, Emerson, and Izzy had been offered places at Duke, NC State, and UNC. Juliette and Lara were both going to NC State. And for all I’d sulked and cried when I found out I was moving here, North Carolina had grown on me.

My friends had grown on me.

Living near my cousins, uncle, and parents suddenly seemed more important than living near the beach. Aunt Linda might be gone, but I still had everyone else. And I’d come to realize I wasn’t guaranteed a lifetime with any of them.

Funny how much seven months could change.

As soon as we pulled into the parking spot next to Matt’s car, Will launched himself out and ran over to the others.“Ollie’s going to NC State!”he shouted, so loudly that a few families looked over at us from the hoods of their cars.

“Hey, that was supposed to be my news.” I grinned as the girls let out a chorus of squeals and screams. Even Matt and Darnell cheered, as Niamh threw her arms around Darnell in celebration, rocking him from side to side.

Will dug through the trunk of my car and started pulling out the collapsible chairs we’d shoved in there. “Nah. It’s my news, too.”

Niamh let go of Darnell as Will joined the guys, then she came over to dig around in the trunk of Matt’s car. She was dressed in her usual workout gear, and had herhair pulled away from her face by a fabric headband, presumably left over from an afternoon gym session. “So,” she said, passing me some blankets. “I have something to say as well.”

“You do?”

“Yup. I got cast in a mascara ad in New York. I’m going up to do a photoshoot for it over a weekend, soon.”

I gaped. “Oh, my God, Niamh, that’s amazing. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” She wrapped her blanket around her shoulders and pulled it tight. “I put it down to the photos I took a few weeks back. It’s amazing how much having someenergyagain improved my pictures.”

“Freaking awesome. What does Darnell think?”

She glanced over at him. He was sprawled in his own chair, chatting easily with Matt and Lara, who were set up on the ground on a beanbag chair Matt had insisted on bringing along. I’d argued it’d get covered in mud and grass, but apparently it’d been a lifelong dream of Matt’s to watch a drive-in movie from a beanbag chair, so who was I to crush it? “Darnell’s supportive. He still doesn’t want to move there, but he said he’s happy to try long distance while we figure it out. So, I guess we’ll see.” Niamh gave a happy giggle, then wandered back over to join Darnell.

Who knew if they’d manage to make it work? But that wasn’t the point, was it? We had no way of knowing what the future held. People changed their minds, people passed away, people moved unexpectedly. The only thing we could ever really do was play it by ear. And if this was what Darnell and Niamh wanted right now, then I was totally on their team.

Back by my car, Will focused on trying to push our chairs closer together while I stood by with our blankets.

“Wait, are you two together?” asked an unfamiliar voice.

I thought the question was being directed at me, and I instinctively took a step closer to Will while I looked up. But the speaker was a blond guy I didn’t recognize, standing in front of Lara and Matt, who were technically sitting in the beanbag chair together, but really enough of Lara’s legs were over Matt’s that you could say she was usinghimfor a chair.

“Yeah, we are,” Matt said. “Couple weeks.”

“I thought you were into girls now?” the guy asked Lara. He wasn’t giving her a hard time, exactly; he looked genuinely confused.

“I’m bi,” Lara said, before elegantly giving him both a sweet smile and the finger. “Not that it’s any of your business, is it, Xavier?”

Matt shrugged, beaming. “You heard the lady. Move along.”

The guy looked between Lara and Matt, and then his gaze trailed over the rest of the group, who were all watching him pointedly. He rolled his eyes. “I was just asking, chill. No need to be so sensitive.”

“Good-bye,Xavier,” Lara said firmly, and this time he walked off.