EPILOGUE: Girl Meets the Future

It's mid-August. She's walking down the streets of Los Angeles, fresh from an early-morning yoga session on the beach. She's taking classes of all sorts: dance classes, university classes, masterclasses, you name it. It's finally starting to feel like home.

She's been having the time of her life.

She hasn't spoken to her friends in days; they're all busy working or preparing for the next big stage in their lives. She's all alone, and yet she's not. She's never felt more in tune with her life. She's well on her way to making the world her own.

She's awaiting the arrival of her roommate, Aspen Bellemare. They've texted since they've found out they were going to be roommates. She would be flying in from Colorado in a few days. She was a dance major as well.

She has no intentions of returning to Greenwich Village. Her family might live there, yes, but it no longer felt like home. She's in the performance city of the world. Everywhere she goes, there are skateboarders, surfers, performers, and street art.

Maya would love it here, she thinks wistfully. While no one would ever replace Maya in her life, however, she was hoping to find a good friend in her roommate. A month and a half had given her a long time to get to know the city. She walks into her favourite discovery, a French patisserie that had the same feel as Topanga's back in New York. It was simply called 'The Cookie Connection'

She stands in line to order when she hears a voice. As soon as she hears it, she feels complete. As if a part of her had been missing the entire time. "Riley?" She turns to see who the voice belonged to. A smile spreads across her face. "Charlie."

They hug. As soon as she do, she is brought back to, although it hadn't seemed like it at the time, a much simpler time in her life. Seventh grade, when all she had to do was choose between him and Lucas. "When did you get in?" she asks.

"A couple of days ago," he replies. "This is my first day outside of campus though."

"How'd you find this place?" she asks. "It's literally my favourite place in all of California."

"I was just hungry," Charlie admits. "What are you getting?"

"Probably their earl grey shortbread, it's heaven in a cookie," she says, giggling.

"Well, maybe I'll get some too," he replies. "Are you going anywhere, or do you have time to lunch with me?"

She smiles. "I might be able to carve out some time."

He stares at his phone as the hurt builds up inside of him. He knows there has to be a logical explanation for his girlfriend having lunch with the one person he hates seeing her with. His thumb hovers over her phone number. Should he call her?

"What are you doing?" Zay asks him.

"Riley's with Charlie Gardner," he says, the name heavy and hard on his chest.

Zay raises an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," he sighs. "I knew it was too good to be true."

"This is Riley we're talking about," Zay reminds him. "Call her."

He knows Zay is right. So he presses the phone number, and she picks up. "Hello?"

"Riley," he says, in almost a whisper. "Hey."

"Hey," is her response.

"I saw your Instagram photo," he says as a way of opening the conversation.

"Yeah?" Riley asks. "The one of me and Charlie?"

"Yeah, that one," he says through gritted teeth. "The one where he has his arm around you."

"We were just taking a picture, Lucas," Riley says calmly. "Nothing's going on between us."

"I know, I just had to make sure. You're so far away now," he admits. "I'm just a little...worried."

"Don't be," she says. "I'm still yours."

That's all that's needed to reaffirm their relationship. "Okay," he says. "How's LA?"

"Good," she says, but that's all. She asks how Columbia is.

"Good," he parrots. He winces. That's all he could come up with?

"Good."

"Good." Across from him, Zay makes a face.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" she says. "Charlie and I are going to the beach so he can take photos, and I'm his tour guide for the next couple of weeks until he gets acclimatized to the area."

"Yeah," Lucas sighs. "Bye."

He knows his relationship is falling apart. The worst part is, he can't do anything to save it. She's three thousand miles away with a guy that loves her almost as much as he does. Zay knows this too, giving him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder in a way of acknowledgement.

He sinks down to his knees and puts his head in his hands.

For the first time, she's not living in New York anymore. She's in the art studio, sketching. It's been three months since she moved to Rhode Island. The door opens. A man walks in. She doesn't look up as the man sits down beside her and studies her drawing.

"What is it?" he asks.

She stops and looks at what she's drawn. She sighs. "My family."

He raises an eyebrow. "Your family is weird."

"That's not offensive at all," she says, rolling her eyes and wondering why he's talking to her. Did she know who he was?

"Well, you have an interesting way of drawing them," he corrects.

"This is my best friend," she says, pointing to the page. "She's the dreamer."

"That doesn't explain why she has no face and is just a planet," he reminds her.

"Pluto is her favourite planet. For as long as I can remember, it's always been. She wanted to keep believing in things, no matter how old she got," she explains. "Pluto is her way of doing that." Why is she telling him all of this?

"Who's this?" he asks, pointing at a spring.

She smiles broadly. "My boyfriend. The planet's uncle. I used to call him Uncle Boing."

"This?" he questions, pointing to a half-coloured orange turtleneck lying next to Pluto.

"A super genius," she says. "It's his trademark."

"And this?" he asks, pointing to a fruit drawn next to the turtleneck. "It looks like a blueberry."

"It's a Huckleberry," she sighs. "You wouldn't understand."

"You're right, I don't," he admits. "But I can tell they all mean something to you."

She studies her drawing again. "Yeah," she says. "They do."

"And these two?" he asks, pointing to a gavel and a pair of underpants.

She laughs. "Pluto's parents."

"And these two?" he asks again, pointing to a camera and an apron.

She pauses for a minute, trying to figure out how to describe them. She finally decides on, "My parents."

"I think it's brilliant."

"Thanks," she whispers. She holds out her hand. "I'm Maya."

He smiles back at her. "Hi Maya, I'm James."

All right...so things are NOT all right in Rucas-ville, and Maya just might have met someone new (a friend, or even more) in James. I'm going to leave it here because I want you guys to read the sequel having no idea what's happened over the last ten years. Will Rucas survive? Or will Riarlie take its place? What about Joshaya?

And most importantly, what about Riley and Maya's friendship?

Everything will be answered in the sequel, although it might not be right away. Thanks for joining me on this wild crazy ride.

I'll be posting the first chapter to The Story of Another Us soon!

Lauren.