Finding out you're even more different than you actually thought you were... sucks. I'd found out the year before that I was different from everyone else; that I wasn't normal. And then one year later, I was told I was even more different. I was even more different than the other people that were supposed to be different with me. 

At first, I hated the thought of this. I didn't want to be different. I didn't want to be special. It took me so long to get used to being different the first time, and I felt like I was never going to get used to it the second. Mostly because I had no one to relate to this time.

The DAU was lonely without my teammates. Lena would come over and visit me often, but I still missed the company of my other friends that I had gotten so used to. They'd gone from always being by my side to not being near me at all.

This was good for us. I knew it was. I needed more training and they needed to do their own things. One day, it would always be like this. We'd retire from the DAU and rarely ever see each other. Maybe even never see each other again. But I didn't like thinking about that.

It was strange to think that I'd only known about this life I was living for a little over a year. I used to just be a sad foster kid that had absolutely no one to really depend on, but now I had friends that cared about me. I never ever wanted to go back to the way I used to be.So much had changed in the three months we'd been separated. Hank and Nay trained me nearly every single day, and I had much better control over my powers than I ever had before. I learned how to drive, Nay took my shopping for better clothes, and I'd even started to learn Spanish to help me through some of the boring days.

I didn't spend all my time with Hank and Nay. I could tell when they wanted alone time, and whenever they did, it'd always annoy me. Not because they didn't want me around, but because everyone knew how they felt about each other and yet they were still ignoring it because they both believed people in the DAU shouldn't have relationships with each other. 

They sure weren't going to be happy whenever they found out about Dex and me, whatever was happening between us. But knowing my mentors, they probably already knew but just hadn't said anything about it yet. But other than them completely ignoring their feelings for each other, I liked spending time with my mentors. 

But I still missed my friends. I hadn't spoken to any of them in months, and I couldn't help but wonder how they were doing. I wanted them back here with me.

I had a calendar pinned to the wall in my room, crossing off each day until the day they'd return. And that day was finally, finally, today. 

I'd missed my friends, but I would finally get to see them. Our three months apart would finally be over.

Even though we didn't always get along, I did miss them all. I'd missed Anthony's smart comments, Kristie's optimism toward everything... Aiden was someone I had mixed feelings toward, and I wouldn't have really minded if he decided to stay away for a little bit longer, but the team wouldn't have been the same without him. I just wished he was a little less rude sometimes. 

And then there was Dex... I couldn't wait to see Dex. 

It was weird. The way I felt about Dex was just... weird. I had had a crush on Tom, but my feelings for Dex were... different than that. And I couldn't really understand it. It wasn't something I disliked; I actually really liked feeling this way about him. But it was just weird because I barely understood it.

But then there was Tom. I hated thinking that I had once had a crush on him, but it was true. He had deceived and lied to me, and I'd fallen for him. He was still free, most likely back at Redrum laughing at how he had tricked all of us. But he didn't matter to me anymore.

Redrum... I tried not to think about them much over the three months I was alone. After Hank and Nay told me that they wanted all Enders on their side, I couldn't help but feel a little nervous. I would never ever join them, but what lengths would they go to if they wanted me to?I needed to stop thinking about that. They hadn't come after me yet, and they knew I was an Ender. I just hoped they wouldn't try anything anytime soon.

Though it was nice having my own room again, it sure got lonely quick. It was strange, but I even missed hearing Kristie snore in the middle of the night sometimes. It reminded me that I wasn't alone.

 I had no idea what time my friends would come back, or if they'd come back together or separately. I was excited that I'd finally get to see them again. I just wanted them to get here already.

I tried training with Hank in the exercise room to calm my nerves a little, but this did pretty much nothing to calm me. It didn't even distract me like I hoped it would. 

By the end of our training session, I was sweaty and breathing heavily, but I was still so excited. I couldn't stop thinking about my friends that could arrive at any minute. 

"You're getting stronger and stronger everyday," Hank informed me, clapping his hand down on my shoulder. "I'm proud of how far you've come, Violet."

I smiled back at him. It made me happy, knowing that I was getting stronger. And it made me happy that he was proud of me. I had started off so weak, not able to control my powers at all. But now, I actually knew what I was doing. After all the extra training, I finally felt like I knew what I was doing.

 "So, your teammates are returning today," Hank grinned at me, and I could tell he was just as happy as I was that they were coming back. "Excited to see them?" 

I nodded. "Definitely," I answered. "I've missed them a lot." 

He nodded as well. "And I'm sure they've missed you, too." 

I hoped they had. But since they all had their own things to be doing, I wouldn't have blamed them if they didn't. They all clearly would be distracted by what they left to do. Aiden and Anthony with their families, Kristie with trying to find out whatever she could about her past, and Dex trying to find his mom with his aunt. I wouldn't have been surprised if they rarely ever thought of me. 

"They're going to be impressed by how strong you've gotten," Hank told me now. "Even Aiden." 

I rolled my eyes and laugh. "I doubt that." 

I was sure I was going to be happy to see him when he got here, but after a while we were sure to return to how we were before. It was just a matter of time before we started to fight again. It just wasn't easy for Aiden and I to get along with each other.

Actually, it seemed like it wasn't easy for Aiden to get along with anybody except for Kristie. And that was only because he had a thing for her. I wondered how he felt about being away from her for three months...

I picked up my phone and my towel as I checked the time and wiped the sweat off my forehead. It was about the time Lena said she was going to come over, so I wouldn't have been surprised if she was already in my room waiting for me like she usually was.

I said goodbye to Hank and made my way out of the exercise room and into the hallway. I looked down the hallway at the front doors, wanting them to open and for my teammates to come in. But they still weren't here yet.

I opened the door to my room to see Lena standing there, just like I expected her to be. Her hands were on her hips as she looked me up and down. 

"I mean, you didn't need to get all dressed up for me or anything," she smirked, and I rolled my eyes at her. 

"Make yourself at home until I get out of the shower," I told her, walking by her and into the bathroom. 

She let out a content sigh and jumped onto my bed. "Planned on it!" she called after me. 

I showered as quickly as I could, not wanting to keep Lena waiting. I didn't care about keeping her waiting that much, but I knew she'd fall asleep if I took too long and then she'd be incredibly crabby when I tried to wake her up. Even more than usual. 

After getting out of the shower and changing into fresh clothes, I examined myself in the bathroom mirror. In the three months my teammates had been gone, I'd gotten much more fit, and I found myself much prettier than I ever had before. 

It was a really nice feeling, feeling pretty. I would still feel insecure every now and then—I most likely definitely would once Kristie came back because, duh, it's Kristie—but it was nowhere near as bad as it used to be. I was so much more confident than I ever had been before. 

I came out of the bathroom just as Lena began to doze off. I threw my wet towel at her and she jumped up, throwing it back at me and scowling. 

"That was unnecessary," she informed me. 

I shrugged. "Didn't feel that way to me."

I was glad that Lena was there with me. She made me feel a little less jumpy about the fact that my friends were returning. She wanted to see them as well; she'd never admit it, but she missed them just as much as I had. 

My leg bounced up and down as I sat on my bed, and Lena eyed me suspiciously. When she saw that I had caught her staring, she smirked at me."Are you excited to see Dex again?" she asked. 

I immediately became tongue-tied. "I'm... uh..." I stammered, trying my hardest to push out whatever I was trying to say. "I'm excited to see all of them!"

"Uh-huh," she laughed, taking a seat on my bed beside me. "Because you're totally not looking forward to kissing him and touching him and—"

"Stop," I interrupted, covering my ears with my hands so I wouldn't have to hear anything else she had to say. "I don't like talking about that!"

Lena only rolled her eyes at me. "What are you, nine?" she sighed. "It's a normal fact of life. Couples kiss. Couples do more than kiss. It's normal."

"We're not a couple."

"Not officially," she waved away, as if that didn't matter. "At least for now."

The thought of having a boyfriend was strange. It made my stomach tie up in a knot. Dex wasn't my boyfriend, but could he have been? Did he even want to be?

"I wouldn't be surprised if he finds another girl to like," I shrugged, trying to act like that didn't bother me, even though it really did. "There are plenty of other girls prettier than me out there."

Lena took a magazine from my desk, rolled it up, and started hitting me with it. "Stop thinking like that!"

I rolled off the bed and away from her, and she threw the magazine at me. I caught it and threw it back at her. She swatted it away and it fell to the floor, neither of us moving to pick it up.

"You really think Dex would go off with some other girl?" she questioned, and the look on her face told me that she thought it was the stupidest idea she'd ever heard of. "There is absolutely no way that would ever happen."

It wasn't like it was something I expected to happen, but it wouldn't have surprised me if it did. I knew that Dex had assured me that he was going to come back to me, but I couldn't help but have a nagging feeling in the back of my mind.

"Dex is attractive," I mumbled, embarrassed for thinking this way. "Girls like him everywhere he goes. It wouldn't be surprising if he found a girl out there he liked more than me."

Lena shook her head. "No way. He, like, totally loves you."

I felt my entire face heat up. "He... He does not! It's way too soon for that!"

"Do you love him?" she smirked at me now.


I then seemed to completely lose my ability to speak as I tried to think of what I was supposed to say. Love? That was just... I couldn't have been... There was no way!

"I... I... No!" I finally shouted, my face burning so red that it almost hurt. "It's way too soon!"

"You've never been in love before, have you?" she asked me with a roll of her eyes.

I placed my hands on my hips and pouted. "Have you?"

"No, I haven't." She stretched out on my bed, looking up at the ceiling and letting out a sigh. "But I've never had someone who feels about me the way Dex feels about you."

"Stop with this conversation," I pleaded, sitting back down beside her on my bed. I didn't want to talk about this. "He hasn't even kept in contact with me since he's been gone. We haven't even talked for three months."

She sat back up so she could look at me. "Have any of them kept in contact with you?" 

"Well, no, but..." 

"See?" She flopped back down onto her back, staring back up at the ceiling. "It's because you five are supposed to be away from each other. And he's off trying to find his mom; he's busy and probably under a lot of stress." 

She was right, and I couldn't help but feel like a complete idiot. I shouldn't have been upset that Dex didn't try to contact me at all. It wasn't like I had tried to contact him... I just missed talking to him. And now he was so close but he still felt so far. 

I just wanted him to get here already. I wanted to see him. I wanted to know for a fact that he still felt the same way about me, because I definitely still felt the same way about him. I wanted to know if he found his mother. I wanted to know if he enjoyed the time with his aunt. I just wanted to know about everything that happened with him while he was gone. 

I hated that he'd taken over my thoughts. It hadn't been like this the entire three months, but now that he was coming back, I just couldn't stop thinking about him. I couldn't stop thinking about whether he was thinking about me. Was he as excited to see me as I was to see him? 

I was acting too much like a lovestruck teenage girl. I really needed to stop. I had the power to destroy so much, but here was I stressing out over a guy. Of course, I was a teenage girl... But I was also an Ender. 

Lena could tell I was still a little anxious as she patted down on the bed beside her, wanting me to lay down next her. I did as she asked and stretched out beside her, her arm under my head. 

 "My biggest fear is that he found someone else while he was away," I admitted, the thought making me queasy. This didn't make my already anxious feeling any better. 

Lena shook her head. "There's no way he'd find someone else." 

I looked over at her and frowned. "How do you know?" 

"Because Dex has had a thing for you at least since I've known you guys, and now that's he's finally got you—kind of, at least—he's not going to screw that up by being with another girl," she explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I sure didn't feel like it was. 

I knew Dex would never do anything to hurt me. At least, he wouldn't ever do anything to intentionally hurt me. I knew he cared about me. But my own insecurities were what was making me so worried. 

"But hey," Lena began nonchalantly, and it was in a tone that made me wonder what exactly she was about to say, "if he does end up hurting you, I'll freeze his ass." 

I couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks, Lena." 

So much had changed from the year before. I had friends, I had a guy that liked me, I knew more about my parents... I never thought any of these things would ever happen, but here I was now. Pretty much a completely different person.But I didn't regret it. Not one bit.

When there was a knock on my door, we both sat up to see who it was. "Come in," I called out. 

The door open and Nay peeked her head in. She was smiling, which was something I loved to see. She was always so pretty when she smiled. The same with Lena. 

"Yeah, Nay?" I asked, a little concerned. Even though I loved seeing her smile, it was still a little strange to see. 

She just continued to smile at me as she said, "Guess who's here?"

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Finally, Enders is out. I think I've gotten the most messages asking about when it'd finally be out than I ever have for any other book lol.

This is it... It's finally here. The last book. Man, am I excited.

The cover was made by martymcflyxox!

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! <3