Page 1 of It Must Be Fate

Chapter One

Bellamy

“Alright girls,” Thayer exclaims, getting up and immediately stumbling. “Oops.”

She tries righting herself and is unsuccessful before ultimately deciding that staying seated might be the safest option for everyone involved. Dropping back onto the floor, she raises her glass to get our attention.

“I think we’re at the point in the night where we’re sufficiently drunk that I can suggest we playTruth or Dareand you’ll actually say yes. Who’s with me?”

I hear an excited squeal leave my mouth and join the sound of Sixtine and Nera’s. They immediately jump to their feet and dance around the room to the beat of the loud party music blasting on the speakers.

There are four of us in the room but the volume of noise we’re unleashing on the floors can closest be compared to a stampeding herd of rhinos running desperately from a lion.

Our poor downstairs neighbors.

Ah, well, I think to myself, the flash of guilt extremely brief,it’s our last night together.

Even though we graduated from RCA in June, we ended up extending our lease at The Pen through the end of summer so we could spend more time together. Sixtine’s parents had helped us keep our apartment far beyond the usual deadline, until the school had no choice but to kick us out because new students were moving in.

Until the very last moment.

And that moment is tomorrow.

After tonight, we’ll likely never live together again.

We’re sitting cross-legged around our coffee table, our couch wrapped and set on its side against the wall, ready to be picked up by the movers. Boxes containing all our possessions are strewn across the space.

When I look around me, it’s hard not to get choked up by the memories of the best year of my life, and the fact that after tomorrow, everything will change.

We’re good with change, as individuals and as a group.

I know that.

Since we came into each other’s lives, all we’ve had is change. Thayer and I moved to Switzerland. We met Sixtine and Nera and became instant best friends.

I went from hating Rogue to dating him.

Thayer went from dating Carter to falling in love with Rhys.

Phoenix didn’t speak to Sixtine for two years then dated her and married her within the next one.

And Nera… Well, she said ‘fuck it’ to teenagers and started dating her professor. Then she won a gold medal at the Olympics and became a global Nike ambassador overnight, for God’s sake.

We’regreatwith change.

And it’s all good change, because we each found the love of our lives.

Rogue and I are moving back to the U.S. so he can step into his role as CEO of Crowned King Industries.

Thayer is moving to London where Rhys just signed a contract with Arsenal, his dream team. Sixtine and Phoenix bought their second home, this one in Kensington, where they’ll live while they both go to college to study pre-law.

Tristan and Nera are going traveling for a while with no end date or destination in mind, just seeing where the journey takes them.

After tonight we’re all moving on to even more exciting chapters in our lives, but there’s something about no longer living with my friends that makes me emotional. We’re never going to have this moment in time again together and I really cherished it.

It changed me, it shaped me, it meant the world to me.

Neither Thayer nor I ever imagined how much our lives would be capsized when we moved here. It was thebestdecision we ever made and that’s in large part because of the friendships we found here.

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