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“Oh my gosh, what is it? Just say it.”

“Well, um. I was wondering how you’d feel about me, um, maybe applying to some of the same schools as you?”

She stares at me. Oh god, she’s going to freak out. It’s too much. College is a time when we should be free or whatever, andof course she’s not going to want to go to college shackled to a boyfriend, of course—

“Oh my god, yes!” she screams, and before I know it, her arms are around me and I barely react fast enough to catch her as she flings herself into my arms.

I close my eyes tight. “Really?” Please don’t let this be a dream.

“I mean, I don’t know if your grades are good enough to get into the schools I’m aiming for—”

“Whoa, okay, sorry I didn’t realize I was talking to the next Rhodes scholar.”

She laughs and leans in, and we’re kissing and laughing and our eyes are tearing up a little. I’m torn between relief and excitement and every other emotion that’s possible to feel, because thank the universe, the end of the summer doesn’t mean the end of Sharlot and me, and wow, I really was not expecting any of this to happen, and isn’t that just the best goddamn feeling in the world.