Page 59 of The Chemistry Test
Epilogue
Two Years Later
Penny
I look over at CJ. He was always the one. Of course he was.
‘And so were you,’ he likes to remind me.
And now look at us – graduates! Scientists!
Heck yeah! We did it – alongside Amy, my partner in crime, who has the honour of going back to university with me in a few months to get our Master’s degrees together.
And more excitingly, to cheer me on when I present the first half of this year’s winter TEDx conference.
And the best thing is, this is just the start for us.
Who knows what’ll happen next, or who we’ll be.
All that really matters is that we made it. All of us.
I want to capture the moment – and I would ordinarily, except it’s way too dark in here.
‘Is it really comfortable enough to wear it 24/7?’ I ask, as CJ absent-mindedly twiddles his new paparazzi-proof necklace, designed by Ro at his internship last year.
He darts a glance at my phone trying to see if my camera’s on.
‘Yeah, but I can take a hint,’ he teases, rolling his eyes and pulling it off in one fell swoop.
It’s a thin chain interwoven with fine, reflective material that somehow seems to match every outfit.
Rendering the wearer as invisible as a silhouette when photographed with the flash on.
The fine monochrome fabric has subtle tan hues and comes in a gold, silver or platinum base, so all the big names in the celeb world (and even some of the smaller ones) have it pre-ordered already.
And thanks to Amy’s input, it’s magnetic, so I, or anyone with similar hand dexterity issues, can wear it too.
Such a design may not have boosted sales ordinarily, but as Amy ingeniously pointed out (in a life-changing move that earned her a little portion of future sales) – for an item like this, it pays for it to be snappy.
Because those who are unwillingly being snapped by paparazzi will have the opportunity to ‘snap back’ in a way that’s actually going to help.
Whether any of the other celebs wear it as much as CJ is yet to come to light, but what we do know is that Ro is pretty much set for life. He could give up on his degree and retire tomorrow if he wanted to – but, of course, this is just the start for him too.
‘Your turn,’ CJ says, gently taking off my graduation cap so I can snuggle up next to him, leaving enough room at the other end of the sofa for his parents.
He places it on the coffee table in front of us and in my head I silently count down from five, waiting for the inevitable. And then, right on cue, there she is.
‘Callie, no!’ he says, jumping up to untangle her paw from the tassels.
‘You never learn,’ Nanny laughs, ushering everyone into their seats as the opening credits flash on to the screen.
CJ settles Callie on my lap and gets back in position, scratching the arm of the chair beside him and calling for Tabby.
Even though they’ve lived with my nan for over two years now, they’ll always be his cats too.
But they finally found their way home. And as I look around at my family and CJ’s, all crammed in my nan’s bungalow, ready for the last-ever episode of The Age of Artemisia, I can’t help thinking that we have too.