Page 74 of Lessons in Falling
The clapping grew louder when the rest of the group appeared in the yard, one by one leaving the house.Alfie was last, locking it behind them.What are we clapping for?Anni asked, despite all three of them having joined in by now.
Valentina isnotsorry!
Two more gasps, identical to Iris’.A second later, they all burst out laughing.Three seconds later, they were in each other’s arms.Like they’d planned it, Valentina and Iris broke into a sprint at the exact same time, running the few yards until Alfie and Anni met them in the middle.
Their group hug was a mess.Limbs entangled, screeching andOuch, my hair!audible every now and then.Cries ofI’ll miss you so much!, when they’d see each other in exactly five hours back on campus, because we were taking different cars.
Alfie and Iris.
Valentina and me.
Anni and Mike.
The latter leaned against the car next to me now.If you don’t say goodbye to me like that when you leave for Boston, I’ll be pissed, dude.
I’ll kiss you goodbye, and I’ll make it sweeter than the farewell party the team threw you a few months ago.Mike was done studying, which meant everyone had known he’d leave the team.He had his master’s, and he was moving to New York at the end of fall.Still a few weeks left, but he wouldn’t be on campus all that much—to pick up Anni, if at all.So the party had happened right after graduation.
We’ll throw you one even sweeter.He laughed, nudging my side.
And I’ll actually be able to drink at this one,I sighed wistfully.No captain making me feel bad forletting down an entire teambecause I wanted to haveonebeer.
Mike only shrugged, the same nostalgic expression on his face that must’ve been on mine.Despite the stress and the headache and the fact that I didn’t like soccer all that much anymore, the past four years on the team had been great.The past four years with the boys even greater.Winning and losing alongside them, learning and growing into the men we were today—it had been an honor, and I’d miss them.
Until now, I hadn’t really thought about that at all.I’d been so focused on how little I liked the sport and how much I wanted to get away from HBU, I’d stopped appreciating it.Even if something wasn’t for me anymore, that didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate the time I’d spent with it.And one thing ending only meant something else was just beginning.
Valentina fell around my neck, buried her head in my chest, and let her hand run through the hair at my nape that had gotten way too long in comparison to its usual neat trim.She sighed against me, let herself go limp, and wasn’t at all surprised when I picked her up.Her legs simply wrapped around me, and she clung to my neck a little harder.
All done?I asked lowly, right into her ear.She nodded before emerging from the depths of my neck.
All done.Shall we?
In response, I carried her all the way to the passenger side, opened the door with one hand, and let her gently slip into the seat.Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?
Very.
And are you sure you knowhowto drive?She’s… special.That being the car.
Less sure,I admitted.But I’ll figure it out.
And I only stalled the car once before we drove home.
Home.Not the place you grew up in or an overpriced apartment you rented, but where your heart felt full and your smiles were wide and you knew, no matter what, the people around you would never leave.
I let my eyes drift off the road just once, very quickly, to look atmyHome, in the passenger seat, smiling back at me.
EPILOGUE
VALENTINA
Four months later
Last year, I’d spent New Year’s Eve at the Pressley mansion in the Hamptons.I’d made the mistake of posting an Instagram story about it, and my sister had been hounding me to take her there ever since.I didn’t hear from her often, but about that, she’d remind me once a month:It looks so pretty!I need to go!When was the last time you did anything for me?Come on!
Not like I’d been doing everything for her since before she could remember.Cooking, cleaning, keeping us alive when Mom couldn’t.
And we pulled up to the faintly familiar house exactly a year later regardless.Because I wasn’t great at saying no anyway, and it got damn-near impossible when it came to my sister.Besides, Caden wouldn’t have let me.The second I’d mentioned her desperate need to go to a Pressley party, he’d been on board.Like Lisa had briefed him before, he’d turned into her biggest advocate in a matter of seconds.Now, I understood why.
After I’d been moved into the backseat, and they’d been talking about the latest trends in hair, makeup and clothes for the past… I honestly don’t know how long it’d been.After I’d seen the way he looked at her, and I’d remembered Alison would be about Lisa’s age now.
