Thanks to DarkspineSilver92 for reviewing. My feeling with this chapter is a little bittersweet in the fact that it is the last chapter of this story. I've really enjoyed the characters and their interractions during all of this and I hope that you guys enjoyed it as well. Don't forget all comments made in reviews will help me when I go back to do the editing on this story, which I'll be doing rather soon so please REVIEW. And, because my brain has already started ticking on this topic, I feel I should inform you that there will be a sequel, though I do not know when I'll get it posted. Thanks for sticking with me.

Super University

Chapter Thirty-Five: Joker

Laurelyn

It’s truly quite amazing how quickly time can fly by, especially while at school. In what seemed like no time at all I found that we were nearing the end of the school year and that we would all be moving off campus for the summer. I guess it had something to do with the fact that classes went by quickly and most of my spare time was spent either with Warren or with trying to help Tex.

He wouldn’t give up and for that I had to commend him, but in all the months we have tried we have gotten no closer to finding a way to get Josselyn back here. As much as I wanted to have my friend back I was beginning to feel that it was a lost cause. We needed to find a way to move on from this.

Warren had definitely shown me that he was capable of so much more than the womanizing ways of his past. As graduation neared he surprised me with buying a house for all of us, one that wasn’t too far from campus so I wouldn’t have to live in a dorm anymore. He was absolutely amazing and surprised me more and more every day.

We made arrangements for my family to get to spend time with Vincent as well as time for them to come over to our new place and spend time with the whole family. I hoped to make it a regular occurrence. I didn’t want to lose my family because I chose to be with the father of my son.

Even the fact that Warren had made amends with Tex and was now helping them amazed me. It seemed like all aspects of my life were coming together perfectly. I had never imagined that it could have worked out this way.

I went to my last class for the day, one with a substitute who simply gave us the assignment we would have been given from our original professor and then dismissed us early. That was probably what made the time go by so quickly; with all of the professors that were proven to have had some sort of conspiracy against the school and quite possibly more than that, we had hired a bunch of subs to finish up the year.

We were told that new professors would be hired for the start of next year and that the faculty of Super University would be more careful of who they selected. I knew that Warren was thinking of trying to take one of the open positions and, considering how obsessed Tex was with finding a way to get Joss back, he would probably apply for a professorship as well so he could continue searching.

No one could convince him to stop and I felt horrible that he was going through this. Sure they had stopped the professors involved from doing any damage but it was like Josselyn had sacrificed herself in order to do it.

Of course, it wasn’t like they couldn’t speak to one another. There were those out there who could set it up so that they could talk across the realms. But then I worried that it would do more harm to both of them if they could see and speak to each other but not do anything more.

The crushes they had had on each other had been quite obvious to everyone but them and now it didn’t seem like they were going to get anywhere now that they did know about their mutual feelings.

There was only one more day of classes before we came to our final exams. Then we would all move out. Granted, Warren and I had almost already finished moving our things to our new home. We didn’t see any reason to waste time. When we weren’t in classes or helping Tex, we were working on our home, getting it ready for Vincent to come join us.

I had to admit that I somewhat enjoyed working on figuring out the colors for each room as well as how to set up all of the furniture. It was strange to think that I was doing this only at the end of my sophomore year of college. Then again, I never would have expected to have been pregnant before marriage.

Sometimes things didn’t go as planned. All we could do was handle them the best that we could and see what happened after that.

As I headed back to my dorm I saw Tex walking around the quad. “Hey, Tex,” I called out. He didn’t answer at all and it didn’t seem like he even noticed that I had said his name. That’s when I realized he had his headphones in. I sighed and quickly moved over to him, tapping him on the shoulder.

He stopped and whipped around. After seeing who I was I saw him visibly relax and then he pulled out his headphones. “Hey Laurelyn,” he said. Even to those who knew nothing about what had happened with Josselyn could tell that Tex was bothered by something. He didn’t seem to have the same energy and excitement about what was going on around him. I knew that he tried, particularly because Joss would want him to but he still seemed too somber.

We all missed the old Tex.

“How are you holding up?” I asked.

He sighed. “As well as I can. We’re still no closer to finding a way to get her out of there. The only option we’ve found is to do to her what was done to That Godforsaken Man in Black.” He paused and shook his head. “The only problem with that is that it pretty much killed him. We’ve found no trace of his existence anywhere.”

I nodded, understanding. “So it’s not an option at all.” I placed a hand gently on his arm. “We’ll find a way to get her back. Have faith.”

“I don’t see why we can’t just find someone else to take her place.”

“Is that even an option Tex? How many reality warpers do you know? It’s not exactly a common gift.”

“There has to be someone! She can’t be the only one in the world. I’ll find someone else and then find a way to convince them to trade places with her.”

“I hope you do find someone else,” I said softly. “Now, how does it feel to be close to graduation? Certainly you’re ready for that?”

He shifted in place. “I don’t want to leave here. It’s the only connection I have to her.”

“Then let’s hope that you get one of the available positions for professor here.”

He nodded. “I hope so.”

“If it’s meant to be then it will happen and the same goes for finding a way to get Joss back.” I paused and looked up at him. “On a completely different matter, you’re still coming to the wedding, right?”

That got a small smile out of him which of course made me smile in return. “Yeah, I’ll be there. I told Warren I would.”

“Good.” I didn’t want to say it but it would be nice to see him out doing something other than classes and searching for her. “Well, I should probably go. Warren’s probably waiting on me so we can go finish working on our house.”

“All right. I’ll see you later then Laurelyn.”

I nodded. “Take care of yourself Tex.” Then I walked away, to my dorm, where my future husband waited.

School ended and life went on, just as busy as ever. After all the planning, the colors, the dress, the music, the invitations, the wedding party, the reception…finally I found myself getting that wedding I had dreamed of as most girls did at a young age.

Of course, after that came the honeymoon and then sending out all the thank-you notes for the gifts we received.

Life went on with the hope that things would get better. My family came over once a week for dinner and I soon found that they grew to like and accept Warren. Due to school though, they made him promise to take precautions when acting as married couples do so that I could make it through school without any added distractions.

Warren and Tex both received positions at Super University and over the summer it seemed that Tex slowed down on his search a little. Partly I think that was due to having to create lesson plans and partly because he had been searching for six months with no luck.

With a few weeks until the new school year began, Tex stopped looking. We all knew he was still miserable but at least he wasn’t overworking himself doing things that weren’t going anywhere.

I started getting my things together, trusting that while Warren and I went to Super University that our nanny would watch over Vincent.

So things settled down and life went on as it is meant to, with all of the ups and downs. Through it all though we found a way to work through anything, by trusting our instincts and each other.