Chapter 21

I never thought about how I'd plan to end my year here at Pacific Blue Academy. In fact, when I first arrived here to me it seemed like I wouldn't be able to reach the end. When I stepped off the airplane and met Ace, I wasn't sure what to expect. Everything that had happened to me over my stay here hadn't crossed my mind as a possibility at that time. If someone were to tell me everything that were to happen to me, I'd honestly think they were crazy and need a bit of help from a professional. The things I've experienced, the friends I've made, and just well... everything. From first saying my name was Carmon Marie Grace (I still don't know how I managed to do that), to finding out my dad was the headmaster of this school, and even being kissed by Josh. I mean, to think that so much has happened to me during what seemed like such a short span of time, it's really crazy.

"You of all people would of course be spending your last moments at the library."

I looked away from the window to Kevin who was leaning on the bookcase with a small grin on his face. He was dressed in khaki cargo shorts and a teal shirt with some sort of graphic design on the front. He titled his head to look at me in a more curious way. I rose an eyebrow at him.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

He chuckled lightly and nodded his head. "Actually there is."

I blinked and touched my cheeks along with my forehead. My eyes crossed and then I looked back at him. He seemed pretty amused. "What is it?"

His fingers brushed against my cheek and his eyes connected with mine. "It is something called beauty."

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks and I broke the connection between our eyes by awkwardly casting them back to the window. "Are you handing out compliments just because I'm leaving?" I asked in a mumble.

"Actually, I was hoping that if I gave you enough compliments you'd decide to stay here for the summer."

I gently took his hand away from my face and glanced back up at him. "C'mon Kevin, it's not like we aren't going to see each other anymore. We'll see each other in September! Maybe even in August if I come here early. Besides, if you want to see me so badly then come visit Minnesota some time."

"Too much work."

I lightly punched his arm. "Then stop trying to make me stay, you idiot!"

He chuckled again and pushed himself off the wall. His gaze went away from me and out the window; it was as if he was thinking about something. I hoped that it wasn't about me, us, or anything that revolved around such matters. His hands went to his pocket and I saw his shoulder slouch a bit.

"Do you regret it?"

"Regret what?"

"Coming here. Do you regret coming to Pacific Blue?"

It took me a moment to answer his question and in that moment my mind went through everything that I had thought about earlier. It was like a movie quickly moving from the very beginning. It rushed through all the emotions, all the drama, and all the faces of the people I knew or had encountered. As soon as that moment had finished I looked over at Kevin with a small smile.

"I regret making some decisions I made in the past," I saw his composure slump a bit before I went on, "but I don't regret making the decision to come here."

"Well... I'm glad you don't regret it."

"What about you, Kevin? Do you regret coming here?"

He took a moment to answer as well, but then looked at me softly. "I used to regret it... but then you came along and I completely forgot about that regret."

I laughed and rolled my eyes at him. "I swear you must've stolen that from some old movie or something."

He shrugged and then took hold of my hand. "Maybe I did... but c'mon the guys and I have a surprise for you."

"Oh no," I said as he pulled me out of the library, "is it live and does it bite?"

It was his turn to laugh.

-x.x.x-

You know that feeling of complete and utter fear, but it's not the kind of fear you have when you're watching a really scary movie and the girl's hiding in the closet and she thinks the psycho killer won't find her, but it's obvious that he does and she dies a horrible and bloody death. It's not that kind of fear (I'm pretty sure if it was I wouldn't have let Kevin lead me all the way to the soccer field). It's that fear that's not really fear, it's more of anticipation. The excitement just keeps on building and building inside of you that your mind quickly goes through what could happen depending on the event that occurs.

The soccer field was pretty much empty and the guys were lined up with their hands behind their backs. I eyed them all suspiciously because I had this feeling that they had water guns behind them and they were preparing to get me drenched before I left. They shifted from foot to foot and I started to get even more suspicious of them. I took a slight step back and gave them all a look.

"You aren't all going to attack me with water guns are you?" I looked down at the pale yellow sun dress I had on. It was one of the few things that I actually liked and I would be really angry if it were to get ruined.

They shook their heads and small smiles broke out on their faces. Despite their answer I wasn't convinced they were telling me the truth so I readied myself to dodge water if need be. They all looked at one another for a single moment before throwing their hands up into the air, tossing confetti into the sky.

"Surprise!"

After I looked up at the falling confetti my gaze went to them and I had realized that Tony and David, who were in the middle, were holding up a blue jersey with white lettering. It took me a couple of seconds to realized that it was my last name on the back of it. I stared at it and slowly stepped forward holding my arms out to it.

"Wow guys... I mean I only played one game and I don't think I did that much... you guys really didn't have to do this for me."

"We know that," Jason said with a smile, "but most of the guys, after some careful consideration agreed on one thing."

"That I should have stayed off the field?"

"No," Ace chuckled, "that out of all the kinds of girls that could've come here... we're really glad that it was you."

"Guuuuysss," I stretched the word as I smiled. I held the jersey in my hands and stared at my last name on it. I honestly hadn't expected this at all and now I really didn't feel like leaving the academy for three months. I was so happy that I swear I could've cried. It must've looked like I was about to because Jason asked me if I was alright.

I could only chuckle and go down the line and embrace every single guy. Tony, Tyler, Xander, Grey, David, Michael, Cody, Jason, Alec, and Max. I even included Kevin with a hug.

"You guys are so nice..." I gave them another sweet smile, "whatever girls date you, they're pretty lucky."

"Oh please," Kevin said with a laugh, "as if they could attract any girls."

This initiated a group tackle on Kevin and I couldn't help but laugh at their crazy antics. I was pretty sure I was going to miss all of them over summer and that I was going to miss the guys who were graduating even more. My laughter trailed off as I watched them roll around on the field, Kevin trying to get away only for him to trip and be tackled again, and just this whole mess of things.

Boys will be boys, right?

-x.x.x-

It was really hard for me not to look back at my friends who had come to see me off at the airport. Mom and my brothers were ahead of me, waiting for me to catch up with them. I kept on glancing over my shoulder at the guys and I was kind of purposely walking slow just so that I could delay getting onto the airplane. My feet finally stopped in their tracks and I fully turned around to all my friends, heck even my dad was there watching me leave with a small smile.

"Hey Karin," I heard Corey say to me, "if you're going to say goodbye, then you better do it now."

"Yeah," Andy agreed, "not to mention your boyfriend over there looks pretty depressed. He might even start crying for all we know."

I looked over at Kevin, who honestly didn't seem like he was going to cry. He didn't looked depressed either, instead there was a smile on his face. It wasn't a bright smile, but a soft smile. I kept thinking about how he had kept on doing things to make me stay even a little longer. He didn't want me to leave either and I could see it in his eyes. I bet he could see the same feelings reflecting in mine.

I know it sounds kind of cheesy for me to be thinking these things over as I'm about to board a plane back home while the guy who I've come to call as my boyfriend is watching me leave. But there was just something about us being separated that just didn't feel right. It wasn't that we couldn't stand a moment away from each other (maybe it was, but I don't think so), it was more of this... fear, I guess. We had grown this type of connection, a mutual understanding of one another that didn't need to be explained with words. I suppose it was a fear of that, if one of us went away that connection would sort of... break.

"Hurry up Karin," Matt said as the last call for boarding of our plane was announced, "if you're gonna go run and kiss him, then you better do it now."

Now this was an extremely cheesy moment, like something you'd see in a Nicholas Sparks book, or some sort of romance movie. I let my bag drop to the ground as I ran over to Kevin. Like I said, it was cheesy and if you were to see this in a movie, you'd see the female character running around things as the music in the background started to get louder. It's pretty cliché to say, but I didn't fully comprehend what my body was doing.

I just remember finally facing Kevin, pulling his collar, and bringing his lips onto mine. What seemed like an eternity of bliss between us was only a few minutes before we pulled away from each other. My ears suddenly became aware of the whistling from the guys and I only smiled at Kevin as I rested my forehead against his. We looked into each others eyes and he smiled back at me.

"I'll see you in September," I whispered to him.

His smile grew wider and he brushed a few strand of hair away from my eyes.

"Looking forward to it."

-x.x.x-

F I N A L . N O T E

And thus brings this story to a close. After a three month wait (exactly) I've finally found the time (and effort) to wrap up this story. At the very beginning, from the small sentences and ideas thought up by Lorel and I, to the very end I have no regrets whatsoever. I honestly had no idea how popular this story would be and I'm really glad that you all liked it so much. Now I know this story doesn't complete with some others out there, but nevertheless I really want to thank E V E R Y O N E who made this story possible and who kept it going.

This is for everyone who favourite-d, alerted, and reviewed "No Biggy".
This is for everyone who just clicked on my story out of curiosity.
And this is for everyone else.

This story honestly couldn't have gone so far without you.

Like I said in the previous note, there are some things that I'd change if I could, but I don't think I will. I think this story not only shows how much I need to improve, but it also shows how much I have improved. I enjoyed writing it so much and I'm sure I'll enjoy writing the sequel as well (hopefully that'll be a tad better planned). Despite how irritating it was to see months pass without an update from myself, I think I did pretty good for a first long-running story. Don't you think so? (:

I think it's time I bring this whole entire thing to a close and sign off without blubbering on as if I had won a Grammy or something. Heaven only knows that I'll probably start crying if I do. But... I don't think I'm quite ready to say "The End" just yet. So until that happens I'll just say...

Until Next Time!

Sincerely your author,

Nikki

-x.x.x-

For questions about the sequel or other things please email me at:

sharesomehappiness at gmail dot com