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EPILOGUE
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Sauntering through the crowded green lines of Heathrow International Airport, London, I look around for that one guy that made me travel across continents.
He is supposed to be waiting by the Archie's bookstore just outside the airport, that's what he had told over the phone when I was leaving Australia. Turns out I am actually not missing Adelaide as I thought I would be. Of course, if there's one person I am missing, its Connor. I prayed to Jesus that he would thrive through high school on his own, without his elder sister being there to protect him.
I collect my luggage, two trolleys and a duffle bag --- all packed for a new life.
Meanwhile, I had come to know that Ian has taken up a finance major, as I had expected. And I was changing Fashion Design with Psychology.
I was so glad we would be in the same metropolis, would be seeing each other often, if not everyday.
The weather app on my phone said it was raining in London. And needless to say, it was freezing cold. Exactly the opposite of the weather in Adelaide. What was I expecting, I had travelled to another hemisphere!
During these past three weeks, I had come to realize a lot about myself. In fact, I had finally discovered who I am. Apparently, I was this high profile, rude and bossy girl from a filthy rich family. But that's not who I wanted to be and I hated myself. I was lonely and the story of my life was like a boring, monotonous, sad day until I came across this plot twist called Ian Eastwood.
I had conquered my philophobia. Wasn't that progress? I was no longer afraid to be who I really am. I don't need to put on this 'it' girl facąde to be liked by people anymore. I no longer gave a fuck about what 'people' thought about me. Most importantly, I loved myself.
Finally, I set foot on the wet concrete streets of London.
He was right there with a goofy, lopsided grin on his face. When I reach the other end of the street, he pulls me into his arms, as if soaking me in.
"You're here." He whispers with his face buried in my hair.
"Yes I am." I whisper back.
His eyes were twinkling and he looked at me as if a child was seeing the Northern lights. I breathed the faint smell of aftershave.
Ian Eastwood belonged here. But so do I. Because I belong to him.
And then he kisses like I'm oxygen.
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I'm sitting on an armchair by the balcony of Ian's room. He is out to get us some dinner. I had never felt so serene before. It was like my soul had finally found peace. I sip on my steaming cup of herbal tea, the aroma calming down every storm that had been raging in my mind throughout the past year.
Ian's father had apologized to him. For being so careless, and not being there when he needed him the most. But I don't think mistakes like this can ever be absoultely forgiven. Take my case for example.
He was giving him a chance to make up to him only because I had convinced him to. I believed everyone deserves a second chance.
Audrey had called me a while ago to say she had been accepted to Harvard Law School while Jae-Hwa was going to South Korea to pursue her career in music. I know one day, Rey will be a successful hot-shot lawyer and Jae would be the idol everyone will crowd to get their autographs from.
Stefan was staying back in Adelaide to study Computer Science. He had to be there, for Iris. For the baby.
I had also heard from Hannah Jenkins, quite unexpectedly. She was going to Japan as a Foreign Language major. She was changing, for the good this time.
At this point, I realize how much I was going to miss all of it. Even though it was mostly a high school disaster.
And I was going to miss Ezekiel too. I prayed that he rested in peace. And that his soul blessed his yet to be born child with all the positivity he had.
The atmosphere was flowing smooth like the melting sky. There was a blue silence, the icy breeze, the red double-decker buses on the streets below and the aroma of English muffins from the bakery outside, all telling me that only I was here. My breaths and my heartbeats. The depths and the solitude. And only me.
I had come to believe in my existence.
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A/N : Credits of the last paragraph goes to my favorite movie : Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (You Don't Get To Live Life Twice), a Hindi language movie. Ah yes, the book is completed. :')
