Short and sweet.
Epilogue
It's been two years since I last saw Derrick. His stay in Paris turned into a long- term job offer that he couldn't refuse. We broke it off about two months afterward, saying we needed time to find ourselves. In reality I was in love with a British foreign exchange student that wanted nothing but my money. When he left, I realized how foolish I had been by letting Derrick slip away. He was the true love I should have had but didn't.
And what of Kendra? She's remarried, but I don't see much of her or my new stepdad, William. Danny still lives there, although Linda says she probably sees more of him than Kendra does. My mom and I have reached a silent agreement not to fight anymore, but whenever I come home, the tension is still there. I don't think I will ever accept her as the kind of mother she is. Although William is a good guy, he rarely contacts me more than absolutely necessary.
The University of Chicago is where I ended up going. It was a place far away from where anyone knew me and my infamous yet unfortunate story, and that was fine by me. By now I know that everyone has something to hide, and I was happy to blend right in.
Where am I now? In the summer two years after I met Derrick, I'm underneath the Eiffel Tower, wringing my hands nervously and pacing back and forth. Let's back up.
During my freshmen year in college I was approached by my professor who needed a representative in a meeting held in Paris. I'll be honest- when he said Paris, my heart sped up, and I said yes almost immediately.
So I called Derrick up, in hopes that we could see eachother, and maybe, just maybe, we could start again.
"Allô!"
"Derrick? It's me… Massie Block."
"Massie? How are you?" His voice is strained, unlike when he first answered and my identity was a mystery as opposed to being the girl who broke his heart. "I haven't heard from you in… in a long time."
I try to laugh, to keep the conversation light, but it turns into a dry cough halfway up my throat. "Yeah. I just called because, well, I have a conference in Paris and I was wondering if you were free the week of the fifteenth through the twenty- second. Maybe we could meet for coffee or something?"
He responds eagerly to this, and I almost want to blurt out how much I miss him, but I can't so I don't. As we bid goodbye I hang up the phone, my head falls to my hands. I never realized just how much I missed him until I heard his voice.
"Massie?" I turn around and find myself face to face with Derrick, and for a moment I can't anything but stare.
He's changed, oh yes, but he's still the boy I knew two years ago. For a moment there is a silence that passes between us, and then I'm in his arms. Suddenly tears are flowing and I press my head into his neck.
"I missed you so much," he whispers, and I can do nothing but nod in agreement. "I never stopped thinking of you."
"I was wrong," I croak. "Please, please give me another chance. Please."
"You never lost the first one, " he smiles, reaching to stroke my hair.
Everything ends as it should. I end up moving to Paris to live Derrick, bringing Danny with me. We still make annual visits to the U.S. to visit good friends, like Claire, Kristen. And after college I got a job doing something I never thought I'd love- therapy. Now, it's my job to help people just like me, and I finally appreciate Mrs. Myner and everything she did. I can't help but wonder if she ever lost anyone, too.
I have to admit, I'm not really happy with this story. I would have liked to develop the other characters, like Claire and Cam, for examply, a bit better. But for the time being, I'll it as is. I hope you liked it!
