“Same here,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. Even in the dark, I could see her smeared eyeliner and mascara.
“Hey, Mom?”
“Hmm?”
I fidgeted with the edge of my comforter. “It’s supposed to be a really good swell on Sunday, if you want to come watch me surf.”
“A good swell,” she repeated softly. “I’d like that. Can I just bring a first aid kit, though?”
“Mom!” I laughed. “No! Oh my God!”
“What about eighty SPF?” she continued, and that’s how I knew she was teasing. “Nosecoat? One of those sun hats that also hold beer cans?”
“You can bring a hat that doesn’t involve alcohol,” I said. “And you can bring Dad. But that’s it.”
“Fine,” she said, but she was smiling, and I smiled back.
And across the lawn, one lamplight flickered on, then back off.
Oliver and I were home.
EPILOGUE
“Emmy!”
“I’m coming!” I yelled back, but my voice was muffled over a pile of sheets and towels. “I need a box!”
“Here!” Oliver called, and came into the room with a box that was way too big. “It’s the last one,” he said. “I paid twenty dollars for it on the black market.”
I eyed him. “There’s a black market for cardboard boxes?”
“That’s what your dad said. I didn’t think it was a good idea to argue.”
“Wise choice.” I shoved the last of my extra-long twin sheets and blankets into the box, then taped it up with a tape gun. “Okay, I think that’s it.”
Oliver looked around my half-empty bedroom. The bed was stripped, the dresser cleared of lotion and perfume bottles, the desk empty. “It looks like someone looted in here.”
“It was me,” I said as he took the box from me. “Oh, thanks. How chivalrous.”
“Just tell me if I’m about to trip over a label maker or anything.”
“Ha,” I said as I started to follow him down the stairs. “Like my mom would ever set that thing down. Even the label maker is labeled ‘LABEL MAKER.’ She loves it.”
“Emmy!” my mom yelled again. “Caroline and Drew are here!”
“Double-time,” I said to Oliver, then skipped the last two steps and went into the foyer, where Caro and Drew were standing. Drew’s hair was wet, and I envied his morning of surfing while I packed up every last possession I had, ready to move it into my dorm room at UCSD.
“This is so weird,” Drew said as he hugged me. “I can’t believe you’re leaving.”
“You’re leaving in, like, three days,” I pointed out. “Berkeley is calling you.”
“They just want me for my hot soccer body,” he replied.
“Drew,” my mom groaned.
“We’re going to finish packing up the car,” my dad said, ushering my mom and Oliver outside. “You kids take your time, San Diego isn’t going anywhere.”
“For now,” Caro said ominously.
“Thanks, Caro, I feel much better,” I said as I hugged her.
“So are you nervous?” she asked.
“Kind of,” I admitted. “I’m more excited. I’m only going two hours away, though. It’s not like I’m moving to London or something.”
“My turn again,” Drew said, and this time he hugged both Caro and me.
“Our little triangle is breaking up,” Caro sighed, and I held on to both of their waists.
“Nothing breaks us,” I murmured. “We’re just traveling for a bit, that’s all. We’ll always come back together.”
“Emmy’s right,” Drew said. “Oh! Speaking of traveling!” He pulled our hug apart but still hung on to Caro’s and my arm. “Did you tell her?”
“Oh! Oh!” Caro was jumping up and down. “Guess what, guess what!”
“What, what?” Now I was jumping up and down, too.
“Heather got a job!”
“No!”
“Yes! In Fresno!”
“Aahhh!” We were all screaming and jumping now.
“I’m going to have a room all to myself!” Caro cried. “For the first time in my life!”
“That is such amazing news,” I told her. “You deserve it after all that you put up with from Heather.”
“The first thing I’m doing is steam cleaning the carpets,” Caro sighed dreamily. “And then I’m going to shut the door and take a nap.”
“Wow, sorry we’re going to miss that party,” Drew said.
“I need you and Kevin to help me load the steam cleaner into my car, though,” Caro teased him.
“Kevin and I are very busy that day.”
“Doing what?”
“None of your business.” Drew tapped her on the nose as she laughed. “He says bye, by the way,” he said to me. “He had to fill in for someone at the Bucky.”
“The Bucky?” Caro and I both said.
Drew just shook his head. “Don’t ask. That’s what they all call Starbucks, apparently. I know, it sounds ridiculous. The things you do for love.”
I glanced past them, where I saw Oliver shutting the trunk of the car. “Indeed,” I said, then instinctively gathered my friends back up in one last hug. “I love you guys.”