Dear Jade Hansen

by Arrow-of-Ravenclaw

Lonely high school student Jade is tasked to write a nice letter to herself. When Aaron Mitchell, the brother of the girl she likes, steals the letter, she feels embarrassed. The next day, his parents visit. Aaron had died, the note still in his pocket. They believe Jade was his only friend. What starts as a simple way to comfort a grieving family changes Jade's life forever.

12. Epilogue

Dear Jade Hansen

Today is going to be great, and here's why...

It had been a year since the homecoming debacle. Jade was still living at home. She was taking online classes and working at Pottery Barn to pay for them. Her mom didn't care that she still lived at home. Though, Jade was looking for her own place.

Katie hadn't talked to Jade since homecoming. The lunch table group disconnected on Monday. Katie and Hanna rejoined their old group. Abbey also went with her own group. Dirk was the only one who stood by her side. They sat together during lunch for the rest of the year. Dirk left for Columbia University a few weeks ago.

Jade was scrolling through Facebook. She saw that Katie was back in town for the weekend. Katie ended up going to film school in LA. She was in an animation program. Jade had seen some of her projects and was impressed.

Jade sent Katie a message:

'You wanna meet up?'

---

Jade was standing outside of the apple orchard. It had been renamed to 'The Aaron Mitchell Orchard.' Jade passed back in forth in front of the entrance. "Hey," a familiar voice said. Jade turned around, spotting Katie.

"Hi," Katie said.

"I'm glad you agreed to meet me," Jade said. "But why here?"

"I wanted to make sure you saw it," Katie said. "All of your hard work paid off."

"All of everyone's hard work," Jade said. "Abbey and you both work so hard on the Aaron Project. They dedicated homecoming to him this year. I heard they might be doing a fundraiser at the school to awareness of teenage mental health."

"No one has forgotten him," Katie said, her voice cracking.

"Yeah," Jade said. "Listen, I meant what I said on homecoming night. While I did lie about Aaron, I didn't fake my feelings for you. I've liked you since middle school. But the lie also wasn't to get with you. I thought I could help."

"I get it," Katie sighed. "You did help us a bit. We became a lot more closer. I let them drive me to college."

"At least something good came out of that lie," Jade said.

"A bunch of good things came from that," Katie corrected.

"Do you wanna get coffee?" Jade asked.

"Sure," Katie said. They walked away from the apple orchard.