Dumb Luck

Epilogue

𑁯𝙴𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𑊁

The gift of the social butterfly is pretty weird. It can be used for both good and evil—mostly good. Unless you're a charismatic serial killer. If not, then great! You have the gift of making a friend pretty much everywhere you go.

That's not what makes it weird though. What makes it weird is the feeling you get when suddenly, you make it to a place where you can't do what you've always done. Make a friend. For me, it feels like a challenge. A challenge that I kind of get my feelings hurt over if it doesn't work out. I take it too personally, I've been told. Apparently, it's not supposed to be personal when one out of ten people doesn't want to be a friend.

I still don't get that. How I'm supposed to just not care. How to not take it personally.

"Hey—Did you tune me out?"

I'm already beginning to smile as I turn to look back at her. "A little bit." I admit with a nod as I start stepping over.

Mallory huffs at me. She gives me a softer look than the one she gave me in the library months ago. This look is more like a playful version of that one. Maybe a bit of annoyance too. "What'd you see? A squirrel?" She raises a brow.

I laugh. "It was more interesting than..." I trail off and gesture to the books set up on the picnic table.

She frowns. "Future exists too and it's just as important as the now."

"—Just as important as the now." I join in with a tired nod. It's like our new motto. Sometimes it's used the other way around.

The now exists too and it's just as important as the future. That's the one that I tell her when it's my turn to show her the other side of things.

I sigh as I come closer to slide into the bench seat to sit beside her. It's her turn, after all. "Okay." I nod. "So, how'd I do?" I ask, staring down at my practice test.

"Better than last time." Mallory smiles proudly at me. I chuckle. "A little better Tanner's." She adds curiously as she flips to a new page.

Tanner has been thrown into this too. Not so he can learn the other side of things though, but because I let it slip to his mom that my girlfriend is helping me learn to study the right way. She decided that since Tanner knows what his own purpose is, he's going to do something with it. Whether he likes it or not.

Poor guy. I feel guilty about it every time he scowls at me while finishing a practice test. He's pretty good at them though, at the very least.

"Okay!" I lean back a little and clap my hands together. "Does that mean we can go practice your skating skills now, right?" I smile even though I know what the answer is.

She hums. "After you finish this one." She reminds as she slides a new test over. I sigh at it. She laughs as she leans in to kiss my cheek. I smile pretty much immediately as I look up at her while she gets up from the table. "Take the test!" She reminds as she rounds the table to go towards my skateboard beside our bags.

I let myself watch her for a second longer with a smile. She's starting her own lesson. Doing whatever she wants. Apparently, what she wants to do is sit on the board on her knees and push herself around.

"You know you're supposed to stand, right—"

"Test!"

I laugh to myself as I look down at the paper, picking up the lucky pencil she has for me. Which is basically a number two pencil with a gold star eraser cap thing on it. "I'm going, I'm going." I murmur. Mallory hums at me. I can feel her watching me for a little longer before I start to hear the sounds of the board's wheels rolling across the concrete. It makes me smile, and I can't help but look up from the test.

Luckily, her back is now to me as she pushes herself along. She can't see that I'm watching her and not my test. I shake my head softly with a smile before I return with what I'm supposed to be doing.

We're learning how to live each others lives—sharing them together. And so far, it's been working. My grades are beginning to lift from the average they were at and she's going out and living her actual life more often than she had been. Old habits still die hard, but we're doing fine. It's more than I thought I would get a few months ago. Before that first Monday we shared, I wasn't sure if she really was going to look my way if I called out to her.

I'm glad I was wrong. I'm glad she was wrong. As it turns out, we do mesh pretty well.