At last, we're at the final chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who's read this story; it really means a lot to me!

And so without further ado...

Chapter 25 – Recovery

Jayden's POV – July 17

You know, I thought I had enough of trees for a lifetime, but this is actually pretty cool.

Gabriel and I are sitting on the branches of an oak tree overlooking the beach, our legs dangling and kicking the air. I grip the thick trunk of my tree with both hands like my life depends on it (which it kind of does), while Gabriel's sitting further from the trunk on his branch and is only holding onto the branch with one hand. I am no climber, so my journey up here was nothing short of humiliating as Gabriel looked on from above, having gotten up there in a few seconds. I'm glad he didn't say anything about it.

"You really get a good view from up here, don't you?" I say. I've never been this high up before. It's kind of exhilarating, in a way. I take a deep breath. The air smells like freedom.

"Have you never climbed a tree before?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. I shake my head, shifting a bit on my branch and scraping my blue sneaker against the tree trunk.

"It's nice," I say, looking up at the canopy of bright green leaves above me.

"I like being up here," he says. "It makes me feel like I'm on top of the world."

"Hmm," I say, lacking any other words to respond with.

Gabriel always has to do something every day. Whether it be the island, Oceana City, Club LOL, hide and seek, or hanging out with someone like Erik or Punchy, one of the new neighbours in town that we get along quite well with, it's always something. He always brings me along with him, too, which I appreciate. It's certainly a more hectic life than I'm used to, but I've still managed to finish Koala Storm Caller (and bought a new book, too!) and despite me having always been an introvert, I've never really enjoyed the overwhelming loneliness I've been stuck with for years. I'm finding I'm enjoying a life with a friend who wants to do things with me, even if it's just to sit outside and make idle chitchat like today. We've gotten to know each other quite a bit.

It's been a busy week for other reasons, too. Newspaper and television crews have been coming here for the past week to interview people and get the story on the Society for the Extermination of Humans and their defeat, the near collapse of Serenity and the deaths of Kelsea and Jacob, and the scandals orchestrated to frame innocent people. One of the news crews who came included the Channel Six news guy, Poncho Welson, who's apparently supposed to be a big deal, but I didn't really know about him until two days ago. They've all interviewed me, Gabriel, and Isabelle, and Leif and a few other Serenity villagers have also had an interview. I'm pretty sure they came here for Carli, too, but I think she's refused to talk to any of them. I haven't seen an interview of her on the Channel Six news or any quotes from her in the Oceana Bulletin, and anyone who came for me would have wanted to speak with her for sure. I'm kind of proud of how I handled myself during them. As in, I wasn't a total stumbling mess when I talked about the poisoned tree and how we escaped and how the horrific experience has affected us all.

The crews have gone to talk to the other humans from other towns, too. Marco, Emmy, and the white-haired girl (whose name I found out is Sophie) have all been featured in the news, and most excitingly, I saw Viridian on television yesterday! He lives in Summerhill now. It feels weird to see him gone from Serenity after all we went through. It's kind of sad.

"So, what kind of cool events do you have here in Serenity?" asks Gabriel, who wants to know everything there is about Serenity. I like that he relies on me to tell him things.

"Same as anywhere else, I'm guessing," I say, shrugging. "We celebrate Toy Day, Halloween, the Harvest Festival, stuff like that. We have Bug-Offs in the summer. We were supposed to have one on Saturday, but what with all the stuff that's happened, I guess we never did it. And then in August we have the Fireworks Shows." There's more, of course, but I'm probably already boring him. I wish I could phrase all that in a way that sounds exciting.

"Oh, nice!" says Gabriel. If he's bored, he's gracious enough not to show it. "I love fireworks."

"Me too," I say. I don't mention that I haven't gone to a fireworks show in years. Maybe I'll go this year.

"Jayden!"

My head jerks to my right, where Isabelle is hustling towards me.

"Oh, hey, Isabelle!" Gabriel says as he climbs down a couple branches and jumps onto the ground. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi" is all I end up saying, concentrating more on finding a way down. It's easier than going up, at least.

"Hi, Gabriel," Isabelle says, smiling warmly. She turns back to face me once I've gotten down from the tree. "So, Jayden, now that Serenity is lacking a mayor, it's my job to choose the best candidate to replace her."

"Okay," I say cautiously, not entirely sure why she's telling me but dreading what might come next.

"And after careful consideration," she says, "I've come to the conclusion that you are the best candidate for the next mayor. Would you be willing to take on the job?"

My jaw drops; I'm waiting for her to yell out, "April fool!" But she doesn't. Gabriel claps me on the back hard enough that I almost stumble forwards.

"Awesome, Jayden!" he exclaims, looking like Toy Day has just come early.

"Me?" I ask. "Why me? I could never be mayor. How about Carli? Or Frobert? Or hey—what about Gabriel?"

"I probably haven't lived here long enough," Gabriel says.

"Actually, there technically isn't a minimum length of time for living in the town," Isabelle says. "Someone could walk into town right off the train for the first time and we could declare them mayor if we wanted, but generally a mayor will have lived in the town for at least a year, and we try to stick to that. But Jayden, I feel like you can handle it. You broke out of that prison—"

"With Gabriel," I hastily add.

"—and you helped fight to end S.E.H.," Isabelle continues.

"Gabriel and Carli helped with that." I say.

"Carli couldn't do it." Isabelle says, shaking her head. "She'd be too overwhelmed if she was mayor, replacing Kelsea. Even now, she's been really quiet lately. Pate's concerned about her."

"Nothing's wrong with being quiet," I say, a little irked at the remark. I'm a very quiet person myself.

"It's unusual for Carli, though," Isabelle says. She has a point. "She hasn't been herself ever since Kelsea passed. She'll get better in due time, but I feel like taking the place of her best friend will just hinder the process. Really, though. What do you say? Will you do it?"

"I'm not sure," I say, looking to Gabriel for help. He'd be way better at this than me. "It's just that if I take it… well, how often would I need to come in?" I don't want to sound lazy, but I don't like the idea of not being able to do whatever I want all day.

"You barely ever need to come in," Isabelle says. "Kelsea came in for five days a week, two to three hours each at the most, but honestly, you only need to do a fraction of that. Maybe a few hours a week, or a little more if there's an event coming up, but you'll have loads of spare time. Even though I'm there all day, I spend most of my time reading a magazine, and when there wasn't much going on, Kelsea spent much of her time doodling pictures of her vision for Serenity and dreaming up ideas for public works projects. A bunch of her drawings are still in her desk if you want inspiration, actually. Sometimes she bounced ideas for special events off of me. There's really not much to do most of the time, and fixing the mess from this past week and a half is mostly figured out already. Gabriel and the other humans from S.E.H. have already been cleared of all applicable charges thanks to Copper, Leif's volunteered to replant and fertilize any damaged plants, and the government's given us a small reimbursement to fix the damages done to some of the buildings. It won't look the same, but it's a start."

"I don't know," I say, hating the pressure, but Isabelle's words comfort me. Part of me thinks I could do it, and thinks it would be a good experience for me, but the other half is much more reluctant. I don't have to think about Serenity 24/7. I can work for a few hours a week and work hard, spending the rest of my time with Gabriel or Erik or Punchy or even just by myself. It doesn't sound so bad. "I… I guess maybe, but—"

"Wonderful!" Isabelle says. "Because I kind of already made the preparations…" She giggles, and Gabriel laughs with her. "We're going to have a ceremony in the plaza at three. Make sure to be there!" She speeds off before I can say anything more.

"Hey, you can do it, Jayden," Gabriel says. "You just need to have confidence in yourself."

"I don't know if I can be mayor," I say miserably. Everything was going great for a few days. Why does this have to happen to me now? How can I manage an entire town?

"Think of all you've done," Gabriel says. "You took down two people in the fight. You escaped S.E.H. with me and Emmy. You saved my life. I wouldn't even be here today if it wasn't for you taking action."

"Yeah, but it's my fault Kelsea's dead," I say guiltily. "If it wasn't for me, she'd still be here and we wouldn't need a new mayor."

"She thought you were worth laying down her life for," Gabriel says. "And if it wasn't for you, who knows if we'd have escaped? We'd have been cooked—literally—and we'd have never found the cure for Serenity. Everyone in this town and every human from S.E.H. owes you their life, Jayden."

"You really think I can do it?" I ask shakily.

"I know you can do it," he says encouragingly, looking me right in the eye. "When it comes down to it, you can do great things. I think you learned a lot about yourself that day, Jayden. Just be brave and confident in yourself—just like you were at S.E.H.—and do your best. That's what matters. And I'll be your biggest supporter."

"Really?" I ask.

"What are friends for?" he asks with a grin.

He thinks of me as his friend. We've known each other for less than two weeks but somehow we've already reached that point. Through those trips to Oceana City and the island and those long conversations we've had and even that time we spent in Riverview together, we've developed a bond.

I've never had a real friend before. And even though Gabriel strikes me as the kind of person who would call a random person he talked to once in his life because they sat next to each other in the Marquee one day his friend, his words make me think that maybe, just maybe, my era of isolation is over.

"Thank you so much," I say quietly. Maybe I can do this after all.

-x-

The town is gathered around the town tree, ready for Isabelle to make her announcement. The tree still looks as good as new.

"You ready?" Gabriel asks me.

"Yeah," I say, trying to be confident.

"Good," he says. "You got this."

"Welcome, everyone!" says Isabelle. "I know we've had many town meetings lately, but this one, I'm delighted to say, is good news. Today, we'll be celebrating our new mayor taking office. I have high hopes that he will make Serenity an even better place to live. Come on up here, Mayor Jayden!"

I give an uneasy smile as I move forward through the crowd to join Isabelle in front of everyone. Everyone from town is there, even the new move-ins and the shopkeepers. I am met with applause and cheers.

"Mayor Jayden, would you like to give a speech?" Isabelle asks.

This catches me off guard. She never mentioned I'd have to do a speech earlier! But I keep my cool, take a deep breath, and say, "Sure," sounding a lot more calm than I feel.

"Take it away, Mayor," Isabelle says, smiling as she drifts off to the side. All eyes are on me.

"Well, uh, hi everyone," I say awkwardly. "Um, first of all, Isabelle, you don't have to call me Mayor. Just Jayden is fine." Isabelle giggles. I hope she doesn't mind; I don't like being called by a title. "Well, um, I'm honoured to be the new mayor of Serenity. I know I can never replace Kelsea completely and I don't intend to, but I know her ultimate dream was to make Serenity the number one town in the district, and I want to help make that happen. I, uh, hope I can do a good job for you, and I'm going to do the best I can at being your mayor."

I was going to try to continue, but I was running out of things to say, and with my pause, the crowd took that as a cue to applaud and that I was done.

I don't know what awaits me in my job as mayor, or in my future in Serenity. But as I look in the crowd, from a loudly cheering Gabriel to a sunny Isabelle to everyone else, I realize that this is the first time ever that I've truly felt like I've belonged somewhere.

I have a new friend and a secretary to help me through this. And I have myself, too. Two weeks ago, if someone asked me to be mayor, I'd have run away screaming. But now, I think I can handle it.

I think I'm slowly getting better. I still may not quite be the happy, outgoing kid I've always wanted to be, but at least now I have a glimmer of hope. I know I can't change overnight; it has to be a gradual thing.

Perhaps the best is yet to come. I never believed that saying before, but maybe it's true after all.

Serenity is not like it used to be. People may never see it as that perfect, idyllic paradise again. Like Carli, who is clearly sulky and glum in the back. It will be a long road to recovery, to make Serenity rise from these ashes. No way are we ranked as high as number five in the district after this mess. But for me, oddly enough, I like it better. I'm happier now than I was before.

This is my paradise.