Kissing Is the Easy Part

Chapter 66 The Finale

Sean

I went to Raymond's house with Jake after he came to my rescue and drove me home. We arrived at the party, found Dylan hovering near the keg, and joined him.

"What took you so long?" He lifted his chin at us. His face was flushed with alcohol already.

"Sean was saying bye to Flora," Jake said. I didn't tell him that and I thought I was very calm on the way over, but sometimes he could just detect these things with me. "He cried all the way home and I had to stop and pat his back."

"Yeah right," Dylan said sarcastically. He handed us a plastic cup each, and we started drinking and toasting to anything we could think of. To Jake getting voted as Most Gorgeous for the fourth time in a row, to me graduating with the second highest GPA in our class, and to Dylan breaking up with Sydney for one final round--or so he claimed.

"I'm pretty sure I heard you screaming you loved her when we went through the door," I said.

"I love us," Dylan said. He could be deep when he wanted to, and as he started getting sentimental, I knew he was very drunk. "I miss the old us when everything was so good and we were each other's firsts in everything. Now we're just holding on to that memory and refusing to let go."

He took another long swig and crumpled up the cup he was holding. "I regret a lot of things that happened between us. We turned each other into horrible people."

"You're not horrible people," Jake said. "You're just horrible at being in a relationship. I'm glad I didn't try. I must say I don't regret a single thing in high school."

"I don't, either," I said. "I did everything I wanted to do."

"I did everything I wanted to do, too," Dylan said, "along with lots of things I didn't plan on doing."

Jake smirked as he filled up his cup. "You mean Sydney, along with Diane, Annie and Emma?"

"Why are you keeping tabs on Dill's sex life?"

He smiled at me. "Because you don't have one?"

Dylan laughed. He shook his head. "Nah, there's only Sydney for me."

He sounded sad already, and I was willing to bet that the Sydney Dylan show would come back with a sequel. They were together for almost three years, and since he chose to go to a community college nearby--not sure if he did it for her or for his mom--they would still be close to each other. He was such a romantic fool.

Our conversation went on as we continued with our ritual of binge-drinking. Dylan's mom would pick us up afterwards and let us stay at his house, as we had done many times before. I wondered how often we'd be able to do that from now on. I felt nostalgic already.

For some reason, however, I had the feeling that these guys were going to stay in my life for quite a while. It was a comforting thought.

"I fucking love you guys," Dylan said suddenly. "I'm really going to miss your ugly faces." He was generally a very emotional person and was especially affectionate when drunk. I could sense a hug coming up.

"Love you too, bro," Jake said easily as he took a step back. "But please don't hug me in front of the girls."

We laughed and drank some more. By the time when I saw our party host Raymond, I was feeling dizzy and out-of-character, so I decided to go over and talk to him. I was grateful towards him for the party. It was one last chance to bring everyone together, and I felt like I'd miss our whole class.

Looking back, I wouldn't change a thing about high school. I was so incredibly lucky. I gave my sister an unforgettable birthday, made my parents proud, spent time with people I truly liked, went to prom with my best friend...