Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between

Aidan gives her a questioning look.

“That our lives are only just beginning,” Clare explains. “What if one day we look back on this, and it’s just a hazy memory? What if you and me—all this—what if it’s not a big part of our story? What if it’s just the prologue?”

“Oh, come on,” Aidan says. “The prologue is the best part. Everyone knows that.”

“I guess.”

“And you and me? We must be at least up to chapter four by now. Tonight alone has to be a whole chapter.”

“You think?”

“It is for me.”

“Me too,” she says, and without thinking about it, she reaches out and takes his hand. He gives hers a little squeeze in return, and they remain there like that, sitting motionless on the edges of their chairs, their knotted hands dangling between them.

“You know why I picked Stanford?” she asks softly, and Aidan lifts his chin. “Because I knew I’d never get in.”

He furrows his brow, confused.

“If I’d tried for somewhere easier on the West Coast, I was afraid that I might choose that, too.”

Aidan’s smile is slow to emerge. “You know the most ridiculous part of this whole thing? Stanford isn’t actually anywhere near UCLA. And Harvard isn’t all that close to Dartmouth, either.”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t major in geography?”

He laughs. “I’m saying we still would’ve had to drive hours to see each other. It still would’ve been a huge change. And it still would’ve been really hard.”

“I’m glad we’re both going where we want to go,” she says, letting his hand drop. “I think it’s the way it’s supposed to be, you know?”

“I know,” he says around a yawn, and Clare realizes her own eyelids are heavy, too.

“Coffee,” she says, glancing behind her at the house. “Whatever happened to the coffee?”

“Yeah, the service at this place is terrible,” Aidan jokes, rising stiffly to his feet. But when he looks over at the kitchen window, he freezes. “No way,” he says, his jaw hanging open for a second before he bursts out laughing.

“What?” Clare asks, a little sleepily. But even before she catches sight of them through the window—Scotty and Stella locked in a kiss—she realizes what it must be.

“Are you seeing this?” Aidan asks, shaking his head in disbelief. When he turns and sees her lack of surprise, he stares at her. “You already knew?”

“I just found out.”

“Dude,” he says with a smile, cuffing her playfully on the shoulder. “You’re supposed to tell me these things. How did this happen? How long has it been?”

“Weeks,” Clare says. “It’s totally nuts. I have no idea how it started. I’ll have to get more details at some point.”

Aidan shakes his head in wonder. “Scotty and Stella. I did not see that coming.”

They both turn back to the window, where the two are no longer kissing, but their heads are still close together, and they look happy, happier than Clare can remember seeing either of them in a long time.

“In a weird way,” she says, “I think it makes complete sense.”

“Yeah?” Aidan asks, clearly still trying to catch up. “Is it just a fling? Or something more?”

“I don’t think they know yet.”

“Maybe they don’t have to,” he says, his eyes still trained on the window.

“Yeah, but Stella leaves tomorrow. They’re gonna be a thousand miles away from each other. How could that ever possibly work?”

“I don’t know,” Aidan says quietly. “Maybe they’ll just see how it goes.”

“But that’s crazy.”

“No crazier than an owl wearing glasses.”

“This is much crazier,” she says, but in spite of herself, she’s smiling.

When they turn back to the window, Scotty and Stella are no longer there. Clare stares at the empty space where they stood only moments ago, and she takes a long breath before looking back over at Aidan.