This has been edited and a new announcement has been added to the author's note at the bottom !

Epilogue

There's something about packing for summer vacation that always feels bittersweet—like you couldn't wait for the day to come, but when it does, you kind of wish you could go back to a few months earlier. I'm not a huge fan of school, but it's different when you go to a boarding school, especially one like the Gallagher Academy. And don't get me wrong, I love my grandparents, but living with them in the middle of nowhere just doesn't excite me as much as living with my best friends and getting to spend every day with them.

And packing up my belongings this year was no different than the rest.

I was the last of my roommates to finish packing; mainly because I thought if I could resist it long enough, it wouldn't be true.

Macey had already left because she had to be in D.C. a few days ago to meet up with Senator Winters, so she was the first to be packed. And let me tell you, she was the least excited to be going. Being trapped with her parents all summer was the worst kind of torture.

Next, was Liz, but that was because she was always one step ahead of everyone else. And even she was hesitant to begin packing.

Bex finished up hers the night before after getting a call from her mom claiming that she was going to be the one to pick her up from school. She may have gotten a little overexcited and wanted everything packed and ready so that way when her mom arrived—"if she arrived," Bex was always quick to add—she wasted no time in leaving.

So, that left me to pack alone that morning, continuing to refuse to believe that my sophomore year was over.

Next year, we were going to be juniors. The thought terrified me. Junior year is when you really have to start buckling down and thinking about college, because by the time you get to senior year, you have to already be making decisions and growing up. I really wasn't ready to grow up. The real world was not something I was looking forward to being a part of.

I was standing in the middle of our empty room, thinking about all the good times my roommates and I had since we were in seventh grade—when growing up was far from our minds and we were living wild and carefree—when I heard Bex come in behind me.

"It's kind of depressing, isn't it?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe. "The walls and shelves are so…bare. It's actually kind of hard to look at."

I nodded. "Yeah, it is."

Suddenly she was standing next to me as we both stared out into our favorite place at school, stripped of all the reasons why we loved it.

After a beat of silence, I turned to her and asked, "Is your mom here yet?"

A broad smile broke out across her face. "Yeah. She actually came this time," she said with a hint of surprise in her voice.

I couldn't help but think back to all those times Bex's mom promised she would be here and never showed. Which then got me thinking about the last time that had occurred; when she promised she would chaperone the school field trip. Which then got me thinking about said trip and how we went camping with some surprise visitors. Which, of course, got me thinking about one specific visitor who I had fallen in love with.

Which got me smiling a grin bigger than the Grand Canyon.

"I know that face," Bex said, looking at me with an all-knowing smirk. "You're thinking about Zach again, aren't you?"

"No, never," I told her sarcastically.

"So, that means he finally responded to your calls?" she asked.

Then the smile faded. I had been trying to get a hold of Zach since the night before, but he hadn't answered any of my calls and wasn't responding to any of my messages. At first it had me worried that he was avoiding me, but now I was starting to think that something might've been wrong. "No, actually, he hasn't," I answered, the churning in my stomach telling me I was more distraught about it than I cared to admit.

"Don't worry about it, Cammie. I'm sure he has a perfectly good reason for it. Maybe his phone died?" She offered up a suggestion, but it didn't make me feel any better. When a phone dies, it doesn't take 24 hours for it to charge enough to use it and return your girlfriend's calls. But I didn't say so.

I just gave her an appreciative smile and said, "Yeah. Thanks, Bex."

"I have to get going," she told me, her voice growing quiet. "The flight back to England is a long one, so Mother wants to be leaving as soon as possible."

I gave her long goodbye hug, knowing that I wouldn't be hearing from her for the next three months considering she was spending her first summer with her parents since she was in diapers. I walked her out of the mansion and gave her one more goodbye before she hopped in her mother's car and they drove off.

I don't know how long I had been standing there, watching all my Gallagher sisters say their farewells to their friends and professors, but it must've been long enough for me to space out, because I completely missed the cherry red Porsche Macan pull up in front of me.

The horn honked, causing me to snap out of my haze, and the driver's side door opened up.

A smile broke out across my face as my eyes landed on the brown-haired, green-eyed, tall, dark, and handsome boy I hadn't heard from in 24 hours. And he looked good. Like, incredibly good.

Zach was wearing a pair of dark jeans with a white Oxford shirt that had the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to expose his tanned forearm. His hair was just messy enough to look natural, and his eyes sparkled as he smirked at the sight of me staring.

"Hey, Gallagher Girl, are you going to stand there and drool over me all day or are you going to say hi?" He asked, sporting his annoying—but sexy, definitely sexy—smirk. He crossed his arms over his chest, making the tight fitted dress shirt bulge against his muscles, and leaned against the hood of his car.

I laughed, trying to hide the blush that was creeping up my cheeks, and casually made my way down the front steps of the school. When I was finally within reach of him, he grabbed me and pulled me into his chest. As I swung my arms around his neck, he lifted me up effortlessly and spun me, while I giggled like a little five year old.

"I've missed you," he said into my hair as he buried his face within my blonde waves, pulling me in as tightly as he could.

"I missed you, too, Zach," I said back, burying mine into his chest. "Where have you been? I've been trying to call you since last night."

"Driving," he told me. "I drove all night to get here this morning." His hands were rubbing up and down my arms, leaving a scorching trail of tingles and goosebumps, as he kissed the top of my head adoringly.

I looked up at him, meeting his gorgeous green eyes and smiled like an idiot. He just makes me so happy.

He kissed my forehead and then my lips before breaking out into a real smile of his own. "You look beautiful," he whispered, continuing to capture me in his bone-crushing hug.

"You look pretty amazing, too," I told him, loving the feeling of his arms around me. It had been a few months since the last time I had seen him, and I was beginning to forget the way I fit perfectly with him.

"What do you say we get out of here?" he asked, gesturing to the car he was leaning on again.

"Zach, I'd love to, but I can't. I'm heading to my grandparents' house. You know that," I told him.

"Actually, kiddo, you're not," my mom said as she sauntered up behind us. "Zach asked if you could accompany him and his family to their vacation home in Rome, and I decided that maybe you need a little fun this summer."

"Seriously?" I asked, unable to hide my smile.

When she nodded, I escaped from Zach's grip and gave her the biggest hug, thanking her over and over. We said our goodbyes, and then she headed back up the front steps to an awaiting Joe who remained in the doorframe during the whole exchange. I waved goodbye to him, as well, before they both headed back inside.

"So, they're like official now?" Zach asked from behind me, returning his arms around my waist.

"Yeah, they're dating," I answered. "How weird is that?"

He chuckled into my neck, giving it a slight peck before turning me around and doing the same to my lips. "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded excitedly. "Yeah, I just need to—"

"Cam!" I heard Liz's southern accent scream from the open double-French doors.

"Say goodbye to Liz," I finished, entertained by her perfect timing.

I turned and ran up the steps to meet her frail body, and immediately pulled her into a hug.

"Have fun in Rome," she said, surprisingly and yet not surprisingly at the same. She was, after all, one of my best friends. Of course, my mother would've told her and the others. Probably warning them that I might not be much of a pen pal that summer.

"Have fun in Alabama," I told her, finally releasing her from my grasp.

Tears started to spring to her eyes. "What am I going to do without you guys? Bex is going to be busy with her parents, you're going to be busy with Zach, and Macey is touring the country for her dad's campaign!"

"Liz, if you ever need us, we are one call away," I reminded her. "We'll keep in touch, I promise."

A smile spread across her face, and she nodded her head gently.

"Besides, I heard a certain someone is going to be visiting you for a week," I told her with a mischievous grin, happy that Jonas would be there to keep her busy. "You won't be needing me."

With a small thankful smile, she laughed. "Bye, Cammie," she said, giving me one last hug. As I strolled down the stairs for the final time that school year, I heard her call out, "Bye, Zach! Take care of her for me!"

"Bye, Liz," he said, an amused smile playing out on his lips. "Don't worry, she's safe with me." He wrapped an arm around me as I snuggled into him, giving one last wave to my roommate. She lifted her hand to wave goodbye back, but the sandals she was carrying made it look ungraceful—something I couldn't help but love because it was so Liz.

Zach opened the passenger side door for me, but before I could climb in, something caught my eye and I paused. Tina was getting into her family's limo just a few cars ahead of me, and she had stopped when I caught her eye as well. We made eye contact, and for a split second, I thought we were going to exchange a mutual glare.

But then the smallest of smiles graced her pretty face, and she nodded her head as a way of saying goodbye. We had a heated discussion that went awry only a few weeks back that ended up giving us both detention, where we hashed it out even more. Apparently, she disliked me before the camping trip and then she despised me even more afterwards. Who knew stealing someone's boyfriend would upset them?

After hours of arguing and fighting, despite every professor taking their turn in trying to stop us, we finally said everything we had been holding back for years, and I guess you could say we came to an agreement. We were never going to be friends, nowhere close, in fact. But we understood each other better, and that allowed us to actually be civil with one another. She even told me once that she didn't care that I was dating Zach, and that we made more sense together than they ever did.

So, I nodded back, and watched her get in the black limo without a second glance, feeling as though maybe the next two years with her won't be so bad.

Zach was still holding open the door, so I climbed in, excited and in disbelief that I was going to be spending the entire summer with my dreamy boyfriend. From the look on his face as he entered the car himself, I could tell he was feeling the same way.

He leaned over and planted a kiss on my cheek. "What do you say, Gallagher Girl?" he asked, starting the car and taking my hand in his. "Are you ready to get out of here?"

I could feel the weight of his hand on top of mine as they both rested on the stick shift between us—the slight hum from the engine filling the silence and shaking the car the way my nerves were resonating through me. His eyes were locked on mine, waiting for my response. He smiled, knowing exactly how I was feeling and gave my hand a small squeeze, and I couldn't help but feel completely giddy knowing he knew me so well with just one look. I didn't even have to answer, for he already knew what I was going to say, but I told him anyways.

"I am."

Soooo many people asked me for a sequel story, but I think I'm just going to leave it as is because I liked the way it turned out. But I decided to compromise and write an epilogue so that way you all can have your closure, and I thought it ended up pretty cute (: So, there ! I officially declare Secrets of the Woods complete ! :D

I really hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it (:

And don't worry, this won't be the last of me. I have some ideas for other stories, so I'm definitely going to continue writing !

Again, the biggest thanks to everyone ! Keep being awesome !

Xoxo—gymnast1150

UPDATE: I have given user zammiandjackunzel4evaderp permission to write a sequel to Secrets of the Woods and it is finally here! It's titled Secrets of the Past, and from what I've heard about it, it's going to be fantastic and definitely worth a read... so please go check it out ! Thanks everyone, I love you all !