The drama surrounding Wren disappeared within time and soon enough, the end of my freshman year loomed around the corner.

Shortly after our meeting with the newspaper committee, Angelese had turned herself in, finally facing the consequences of her actions. Given her in-school suspension, there were times when I would spot her lingering in the halls, fidgeting nervously with her glasses before ducking into the same classroom every day. She slid on a mask of self-pity whenever she noticed me, but I paid her no mind.

I snapped my attention ahead as a copy of the Daily Sparrow shot into my peripheral vision, landing on the table with a resounding smack. Georgia seemed to have appeared out of thin air, flashing a sly grin.

"Nearly forgot to drop this off," she declared, adjusting the strap of her brown leather bag over her shoulder. A few more copies of the newspaper peeked out from the front pouch, which Georgia tried to push back in, to no avail.

"No Jason today?" I asked her, taking another bite from my apple. A wave of natural auburn had begun bleeding through the bleach blonde of her ponytail, which simply wagged from side-to-side in response.

"Lunch date with Travis," she declared dismissively. Without hesitation, she pushed the newspaper towards me, beckoning me to take it. "Have a look."

With a satisfied glint in her eyes, she watched as I scanned the front cover, before proceeding to flip through the pages. As the stream of chalky papers came to a halt I couldn't help but feel a shy smile creep over my lips as well.

"No drama?"

"I made a few changes," she replied, confidently folding her arms across her chest. "And there's still something in there that you haven't noticed yet."

Again, I flipped to the front page, scanning the table of contents. 

A food drive, school activities, sports teams. The headlines seemed pretty ordinary as I went down the list, leading up to a pleasant surprise waiting at the bottom. Wedged between the Horoscope and Crossword, was a poetry anthology on page 11, titled "Beneath the Umbrellas."

I looked up at Georgia, finding her grin only growing wider across her face.

"Since when was Wren on the newspaper committee?" I asked her. She merely shrugged, brushing my question aside with the wave of her hand.

"I've gotta go hand these out now," she announced, "Tyler's being a bitch about distribution." She bid me a brief farewell before making her way out of the cafeteria. Making sure to express a quick "thanks", I flipped open the newspaper once more to page 11. A collection of poems, written by multiple students was printed across the page, each varying in different lengths and sizes. The order of the poems followed alphabetically, and it didn't take long for me to find the author I was looking for. 

Trouvaille 

by Wren Eden Burnette

Umbrellas were drawn,

As an army of clouds shot 

Bullets of rain,

Down below.

Amid the sea of black,

There was a single speck of 

Yellow.

A sunflower.

"Shelter!" they would cry,

As they ran and ran,

But day after day,

She stayed.

The bullets fell, 

Melting like chocolate as 

They met the ground.

With leaves twirling through the shower, and 

Roots stretching further into the soil,

Petals,

Soaked in euphoria, began to

Bloom.

"Why hide from something so beautiful?" she wondered, 

A thought spoken too soon.

Ripping through the empty field,

Came a howl of wind.

She tried to scream, 

To call for help, but

The shriek of the storm drowned her words.

The flourishing petals that she waited for so long to grow were 

Ripped from her core, leaving behind

Nothing but

Roots.

So deep into the ground that 

She couldn't move.

She had fallen into her own trap,

Left alone in muted despair.

But ahead in the distance,

She saw him.

A speck of yellow caught

In the aftermath of the storm.

A flower.

With a few fallen petals of his own.

He smiled,

And she knew that 

The rain would be coming again,

Soon.

"You like it?"

I felt my heart skip a beat as I jolted to the side. Wren had somehow teleported to my side, her lips curled into a smirk of amusement. 

"Not that!" I retaliated, regaining my composure. She let out a lively puff of laughter, earning a reluctant smile from my end. "But the poem's pretty good."

For a moment, her expression softened as she caught my eyes.

"Well," she muttered, "I'll give you some credit for being my inspiration."

I felt my smile grow in response.

"Actually?"

"Yeah."

Brilliant hazel eyes.

Golden brown hair tied into a loose bun.

And the dimples. Peeking out from the sides of a genuine smile.

Without thinking I leaned towards her, leaving a light kiss over her forehead. As I withdrew, she gently rested her fingers over the edge of my cheek. Although just for a moment, a buzz of adrenaline burst through me as her lips met mine. She leaned back with a smile, the tender gaze of her eyes never leaving mine.

"One less thing on my wish list now," she joked, brushing back a stray wisp of hair. I laughed as a comforting warmth began to bubble in my chest.

"Same here."

***

A/N

And they all lived hApPily EVeR AftEr....well, except for Anglese....but we don't talk about her 😂

Anyways, um holy shiitake, we've finally gotten to the final chapter.....what the heck lol

Oh, and also 🎉🎉🎉 woooooo!!

To anyone who has made it this far, I literally cannot thank you enough for reading and your patience!! (Also, I applaud you, because this is the first novel I've ever written and it must've been a bumpy ride lmao). 

I've been planning out a rewritten version of this story with more of a look into Vince and his character, along with more insight into others. Its plot and conflicts are a little more different from this one (so it wouldn't exactly be like a re-read of the same thing), but it will obviously hold some similarities. If you like, you guys can comment to let me know if you're interested ;) 

I'm also working on another story, so stay tuned for that!!

Anyways, again thank you so so so much for reading and I'll see you soon with the epilogue!!!!!

Love you guys!!! ❤