Chapter Twenty: Epilogue

"How long will you be gone?"

"Well, forever, I think."

"But that means we’ll never see each other again!"

"Yeah, but we can e-mail each other. We can be e-pen-pals!"

"E-pen-pals! How lame. I’ll never forget you."

"I should hope not. I don’t want to be remembered as the person you forgot! I’ll never forget you either. You’re my best friend."

“Don’t forget your best boyfriend.”

“Only boyfriend.”

“Whatever.”

“Do you still have the necklace I gave you?”

“Of course. I never take it off. . .unless I’m in the shower of swimming or something with water. I don’t want it to get rusted.”

“That’s great to know.”

“I miss you.”

“I miss you, too. I don’t know how Cage and I are going to get through Sophomore year without you. What about our band?”

“Liam and I can still write songs for you whenever you’re stuck. Just e-mail us.”

“Will do. Oh, I’ve got to go. Jayson is graduating today.”

“But, he’s only a junior in college.”

“He got enough credit to graduate early.”

“All right. Call me later, alright?”

“Will do. I’ll try and get a three-way-call with Cage next time.”

“OK. I love you.”

“Love you, too. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Sighing heavily, I closed my cell phone and rolled onto my back, staring up at the ceiling of my new bedroom. I looked around the room and felt a pang of sadness. Reaching into my pillow case, I pulled out my diary and flipped to the first page.

So, I’ve had this diary for about a month now and I haven’t written in it until now. Cage got it for me as my going away gift Many things have changed over the past month and a half. Where to begin?

Shortly after returning home from the beach with Cage, Jayden, and Cayden, Officer Buckner took Liam and I out for dinner. To our dismay, it was then we found out that a foster family decided to take us in, but they lived in Florida.

Moving was the hardest thing for us to do. It just seemed as if our lives were going downhill. We stayed in Florida for two weeks and then we moved to Sydney, Australia So, that’s where we are now. It’s hard to talk to Cage and Jayden because of the time difference. But, if it’s late at night or early in the morning here or there, we’ll still give each other the time to talk to.

Liam and I enjoy our foster family. Our foster mom and our foster dad, Mike and Elle Sullivan, are so nice. They have four kids: Logan at age seven, like Liam, only he’s deaf. Then there’s Dayton and Ely, twins, at age ten, and Ethan at fourteen like me. His birthday is a month before mine so he’s the oldest out of everybody.

Logan and Liam are inseparable. Since they have opposite problems, they speak with each other in sign language the whole time. Logan taught it to Liam. He had a little trouble at first, but then he understood it.

Dayton and Ely are like your average ten year olds. They’re into soccer and are the stars of their team. They love to skateboard and do any other thing that’s extreme. They don’t seem to feel any pain at all. If they fall, they just get back up and try whatever they were doing again.

Ethan and I are thick as thieves. He reminds me so much of Jayden. . .that sounds kind of weird doesn’t it. When Liam and I were first introduced to their family, he understood how uncomfortable I was and backed off on the questions until I was ready to talk. So, Liam and Logan share a room, Dayton and Ely share a room, and Ethan an I share a room, but Ethan gives me privacy whenever I need it.

It’s been a month and a half since Liam and I left Florida and its been three months since we left California all together. We try to e-mail or call our friends everyday but that’s easier said then done, especially with the time difference. We don’t know when we’re going to see each other again, but we can’t wait. In the mean time, we give each other news about what’s been happening.

Liam and I still haven’t made any new friends. The Michaels kids made friends pretty easily. Turns out the house we moved into is their vacation home. So they met plenty of kids while they vacationed here.

Well, that’s all I have to say for now.

Peace out

Rhuben Jackson

I closed my diary and stuffed it back into my pillow case. I looked all of the boxes that were still unpacked around the room. I groaned when I counted them. There were at least twenty that need to be unpacked.

“I know, there are so many boxes” Ethan commented as he came into the room. “Who were you on the phone with?”

“My boyfriend” I replied, sitting up and looking at him.

“You know long distance relationships hardly ever work out” Ethan said with a shrug.

“This one will” I replied, sliding the ‘R’ pendant on my necklace back and forth on its chain. Ethan smiled and sat down on his bed, facing me.

“Want to go surfing?” he asked. “There are some awesome waves. My friend just called me and told me. A bunch of us are meeting each other down at the beach.”

“I don’t know” I said, biting my lower lip.

“Come on” Ethan pressed, his hazel eyes twinkling. “It’ll be a lot of fun. I’ll introduce you to some of my friends.”

“Well. . .” I stalled, thinking it over.

“We’ll take yours and my brothers with us” Ethan replied. “Logan, Dayton, and Ely love the beach and my friends really want to meet you.”

“You didn’t tell them bad things have you?” I asked with a teasing smile.

“No, only good stuff” Ethan replied. “Don’t worry, I haven’t told them a thing about your past.”

“Alright” I replied with a grin as I got to my feet. “Just leave so I can change.”

“Ok” Ethan laughed as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

I headed over to my laptop and opened an e-mail to Jayden and Cage. “Heading to the beach, be back later. Call me as soon as you’re free” I said to myself as I typed the e-mail. I clicked send and quickly changed into a black one piece bathing suit and board shorts over top.

“Ready to go?” Ethan asked as I headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. Liam, Logan, Dayton, Ely, and Ethan were all bare chested, wearing jeans over their swimming trunks.

“Yeah” I replied with a nod.

“Mom, dad, we’re leaving” Dayton and Ely called in unison.

“Bye, Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan” Liam and I added as we headed out into the garage to grab our surfboards and beach gear.

As we neared the beach, I saw how awesome the waves looked. A smile came onto my face as memories of Cage, Jayden, Cayden, Liam, and I at the beach came flooding back to me. I lightly touched the necklace around my neck. I never felt happier.