THE LAST day of school. The last time Kalani Wang would have to smell the air of Sherman Oaks.

But it wouldn't be the last time Devi had told her friends that she was accepted into Princeton. She finally decided to write a new essay which banked her a spot in her dream school.

Everyone seemed to know something about their future expect for Kalani.

But at 2:30, everything changed.

Kalani felt her phone buzzed her her pocket and pulled it out as Anessa, Fabiola, and Devi were engrossed in conversation.

She tapped on the notification and she could feel the smile growing wider and wider on her face as she read the email from Brown.

She had finally gotten in.

"Holy shit!" She smiled. The trio turned and looked over at the girl, "I got into Brown!"

The three girls showered her in praise. She could've cried... like, right then and there. This was her dream and now she could brag about it like everyone else without feeling bad about it.

And just in time for Ben to round the corner and make eye contact with the girl.

"What's going on?" He asked, "Why do you look like that?"

"I got into Brown." She smiled, approaching him.

"What?" Ben smiled, meeting her halfway, "Holy shit, Lani. That's awesome."

Ben closed the gap between them, engulfing the girl into a quick hug before backing down.

"Although I really deserve the credit for helping you live out your dream a little longer."

"Please." Kalani scoffed, "I totally knew that Brown was going to accept me. But, I guess I can owe you a day of my summer as a thank you."

"Oh, I'd love that, but I'm actually going away for the summer." He explained, "I'm leaving right after graduation to take an internship at a law firm in New York."

"Oh, my God. You're "leaving" leaving." Kalani sighed, "Wow, we've been through a lot these past four years. Crazy to see how far we've come from that."

"I know. I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Ben."

Wow, was that really the end of Ben and Kalani?

They dated in secret. Kalani blurted bout her secret while being drunk. She broke up with Ben because she was insecure. She fell for Ben, he fell for her. They both dated new people... and now? They were both single and moving in different directions.

Jesus Christ. Was that shit really over in the matter of four years?

ANYWAY, GRADUATION day had finally come. Flipping the tassel from right to left, hats thrown in the air and taking thousands of pictures and videos to never look at ever again.

And right before her eyes, Ben was gone, she hung out with Devi, Fabiola, and Eleanor for the entire summer... and finally, it was the week before Kalani would have to pack up her shit to be able to go to Brown.

In this special occasion, Jacob had come down to help Kalani move.

"Are you excited for Brown?" He asked, folding one of her shirts.

"Yeah." She smiled, "I so would've gone to State if I didn't get into Brown."

"Hey, you're a little too smart for State." He chuckled, "I'm just here to send you off."

"Are the daily FaceTime calls not enough for you?" She asked, "You just desperately needed to see me."

"Yes, because seeing you is the highlight of my day." He laughed, "But I missed you, Wang."

Kalani smiled, throwing the majority of her clothes in the bag, "I missed you too."

Kalani glanced over at her phone as it buzzed from beside her and seeing a text from Devi on her phone.

"And you'll miss me some more." She said standing, "I'm going over to Devi's."

"Seriously?"

"Look, I love you, Jacob, but this is probably the last time I'll watch The Masked Singer with my friend group since I was 5." She sighed, "I'll be back and you'll be with me all week at Brown."

Jacob scoffed, throwing her shirt towards her, "Go have fun."

Later that night, Devi had invited the girls over to hang out... but only for an hour according to her mom.

"Guys, is this gonna be the last time we watch The Masked Singer together before everyone leaves?" Eleanor asked.

"El, you've cried for the entire summer about our lasts." Kalani said, "You really have to stop."

"It's gonna be fine." Devi reassured, "We're gonna see each other a ton, like when we come back for Thanksgiving."

"Oh, I'm actually not coming back for Thanksgiving." Fabiola sighed, "I have a robotics competition. But I— I'm back at Christmas."

"No." Eleanor cried, "Sharon planned a cruise to Alaska at Christmas. She got a good deal because it's gonna be dark the whole time."

"Okay... we should all have spring break off, right?" Kalani asked.

"Great." Fabiola smiled, "April it is."

"No, my spring break's in March."

"So, what does that leave? Next summer?" Eleanor questioned.

"No, that's a year away. That can't be right." Devi sighed.

"Okay, girls, time to wrap it up. It's late, and Devi has a lot to do tonight." Nalini said, turning the TV off.

"No. That was way too fast." Devi said, "I'm not ready to say goodbye yet."

"Then you don't have to." Nirmala, Devi's grandmother smiled, "Why don't you all come to my wedding? We could use some more attractive young people." She looked over at Devi, "Who's you're handsome friend? Uh, what's his name? Carfax?"

"Paxton?"

"Yes. Bring him too. I'd love to see his face in my wedding album."

Devi thanked her grandmother before facing the others.

"And I will see you bitches tomorrow." She smiled.

"Devi, language."

"It's feminist to call a girl a bitch now."

THE NIGHT of the wedding soon came and everyone that Devi had invited showed and once she was able to sneak away; she, Kalani, Eleanor, and Fabiola and sat in Devi's room with a bottle of champagne.

"To the UN." Eleanor smiled and the group tapped their mugs together.

"Guess what, haters? We all banged." Devi smiled.

"Ugh. We can't wait till next June to see each other. Maybe I can fly out for Halloween." Eleanor suggested, "If you guys each make one friend we can go as the Avengers."

"I love that idea." Fabiola smiled.

The laughter soon died down and Kalani looked up from her mug.

"Are any of you scared to leave?" She asked.

Fabiola sighed, "Thank God, it's not just me. It's just... so scary moving so far away."

They talked about their fears, but how they also had to "pull a Devi" in order to be able to grow and never look back, to not fear anything and be able to go on without fear.

The door soon opened and Nalini opened the door. She instructed the girls to leave the rooms and their "teas"

They made their way back to the venue and soon the group began to play a small game of Never Have I Ever.

Kalani excused herself to grab a drink that wasn't alcoholic.

She felt a small tap on her shoulder and when she turned, Ben stood in front of her.

"Holy shit, what are you doing here?" She asked, sitting her glass down.

"Uh, yeah, it's weird." He stumbled, "Uh, well, I was in New York, and all of a sudden, I got this feeling that I needed to tell you that I... like you."

"You flew all the way from New York to tell me that?"

"Well, yeah. Uh... Actually..." Ben chuckled, "I think I love you, Kalani."

"You love me?"

Ben smiled, "I love you, Kalani. Wanna get out of here?" He asked.

Kalani looked over at her friends before looking back at Ben, taking his hand and the two of them heading towards her car.

They finally arrived to Ben's place. Kalani stepped into Ben's bedroom first and he followed behind.

With a soft smile playing on his lips, Ben closed the distance between them, his gaze locked on Kalani's eyes. The room seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of them in a world of their own.

As they stood face to face, a rush of anticipation surged through Kalani's veins. Without hesitation, she lifted her hand and gently cupped Ben's cheek, her touch conveying a mix of tenderness and longing. Ben's eyes fluttered closed, savoring the warmth of her palm against his skin.

Their bodies leaned into each other, seeking closer proximity.

Clothes became an obstacle, and with shared intention, they slowly shed the layers that kept them apart. Piece by piece, their garments fell to the floor.

Kalani's breath hitched as Ben's hands roamed over her exposed flesh, his touch igniting a trail of goosebumps in its wake. Her fingertips traced the contours of his muscular back, feeling the strength and vulnerability intertwined.

Fingers intertwined, lips sought each other's warmth, and their bodies moved in perfect harmony.

To make a long story short... this was definitely better than the first round.

THE SUN began to rise as Kalani and Ben looked at each other. The only thing covering them being Ben's gray sheets.

"Are you gonna call me an Uber?" Kalani asked, "At least make it an UberX."

"Damn, did I say that?" Ben asked, "Man, I was an asshole."

"It's okay." She smiled, "I feel like... everything else has made up for it."

Ben sat up, hovering over Kalani, "Lani... I think we should be together. Like, when we both get to school, let's give this a real try. New York and Rhode Island aren't that far away. I mean, culturally, they're in different galaxies, but geologically, I think we can make it work."

Kalani smiled, "Okay. As long you stop talking nerdy, for like, two minutes."

"I'll try... for you."

"Then I'm down."

And just like magic, Kalani and Ben were Kalani and Ben again, but for real this time.

The big "I love you" out of the way, they truly were going to try and make this shit work. They were going to better communicate and get their insecurities out of the way.

Beside, Brown wasn't too far from Columbia so they could visit each other whenever they pleased.

Kalani was golden. She had her best friends, she had her sister, and she had the guy.

She had a boyfriend.

God, that was good to say.

Boyfriend.

She might just keep him around this time.

— lucy has something to say !!

before i drop my thank you i just wanna say... that i think jacob might've had a crush on kalani and he so would've kissed her in this chapter if she wasn't in love with ben

also

she did this for me

anyway

thank you all so much for reading, ghost reading, voting, and commenting i appreciate it so much and thank you for loving kalani as much as i do i heavily appreciate it so so much and THANK YOU FOR 100k reads i appreciate more than you'll ever know

this (for now according to john mcenroe) is goodbye i thank you again :)

final ben gross meme

bye :)))) thank you all