This Is So Not Happening

Ever so slowly he smiled that sexy smile of his and slid his hand under my hair. I tilted my head back, my eyes fluttered closed, and he kissed me. It was a kiss that felt like something I’d been waiting for my entire life, not just the last few months. It felt like we were the only two people who had ever kissed and that no one else could ever understand how completely, mind-blowingly perfect it was.

And whatever fears were poking around in the back of my mind, whatever doubts about the future my heart was clinging on to, it really did feel like it was never, ever going to end.

jake

The call was from a 732 area code. My mouth went completely dry. I glanced across the kitchen at my mom and she stood right up from her stool at the island. The terror and hope must’ve been written across my face.

“Well? Answer it!” she cried.

At that moment the doorbell rang.

“Jonah!” my mom shouted. “Get the door!”

“But it’s not for me! It’s Jake’s girlfriend!” the twit shouted back.

“Just getthedoor!” my mother yelled through her teeth.

I picked up the phone. “Hello?

“Hello, is this Jake Graydon?” The voice was familiar. Male. It was a person I had only spoken to once before, but who I’d kind of pi

“Yes,” I said, turning toward my mother. We faced each other over the kitchen island. She pressed her fingers flat against her lips. Behind her, Ally walked in with Jonah, looking perfect in a green dress with her hair back in a ponytail. She shot me this look like What’s going on? But I couldn’t even respond.

“Jake, this is Coach Turbeck from Rutgers Lacrosse,” the man on the other end said, his voice booming. “How you doing today, son?”

“Good,” I said, then cleared my throat. “Fine. How’re you?”

Did I sound like as much of a tool as I thought I did? I turned away from my audience. I couldn’t take them staring on top of everything else.

“Well, I’m great, son,” he replied. “I’m always great on a day that I get to deliver good news.”

“Good news?” I repeated.

I put my free hand over my eyes. I did sound like a tool. But I couldn’t take this. My heart was in my throat. I was sweating so bad I was going to have to change my shirt before we left for Sha

“Yep. I’m calling to let you know you’ve been accepted at Rutgers University, and you’ve got a spot on my team next spring, if you want it.”

My knees buckled and I turned around. Every last ounce of uncertainty and anguish, disappointment and anger and fear … everything negative I’d felt over the past year … was obliterated with that one sentence.

“I’m in?” I said.

My mother squealed and hugged my brother. Ally’s eyes widened.

“You’re in. Not only was I impressed by your skills on the field, but everyone in admissions loved your essay. That was what really put you over the top.”

I glanced at Ally, loving her more than ever right then.

“Whaddaya say, son? Want to play Scarlet Knight lacrosse?” the coach asked, sounding like he was stifling a laugh.

“Of course! Yes! Definitely!” I replied. “Coach, thank you so much,” I said, gripping the phone to my ear. “I swear I won’t let you down.”

“I had no inkling that you would, Jake,” the coach replied. “You’ll be getting your official acceptance letter and forms in the mail next week, but I wanted to let you know as soon as I could.”

I swallowed a tremendous lump in my throat. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, son. And welcome to Rutgers.”

“Thank you. Thanks again, sir,” I babbled.

“Anytime. I’ll talk to you soon, Jake. Have a good night.”

“Bye!”

I hung up the phone, dropped it on the counter, and screamed. “I’m in!”

My mother let out a shriek and hugged me so hard I thought she was going to crack my ribs. Jonah slapped my hand.

“In where? Who was that? What’s going on?” Ally asked.

I walked around to her side of the island, gri

“No,” she said, her fingertips touching my arm. “Not— Really?”

“Yep,” I said. “I’m going to Rutgers too.”

ally

I gazed out across the ocean, the sun hanging low over the horizon. Jake put his arms around my waist from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder.

“Four hours,” he said.

I glanced back at him. “What?”

“Four hours ago, we were still in high school.”

I laughed, turning to look at him. “Wow. Who’s getting all weepy and nostalgic now?”

“Why? What’d he say?” Sha

“He said, ‘Four hours ago, we were still in high school,’” I mimicked, pitching my voice low.

“God. Who knew the ‘coolest guy in class’ was actually a dork?” A

Jake’s face reddened and he yanked me toward him, so hard we both staggered backward in the sand.

“I’m just saying, thank God it’s over,” he a

The Idiot Twins cheered and lifted two champagne bottles they’d already swiped from inside Faith’s house.

“Hey! Some of us still are in high school,” Qui

“And we feel sorry for you,” Hammond replied.

Qui

Two years ago, if anyone had told me that I would be standing here, on this beach, in front of these houses, with these people, I would have told them to have their prescriptions checked. Yet here we were.

“So. What do we do now?” Sha

I blinked, fully realizing for the first time that there was no school tomorrow. For real. School as I knew it was over. No papers to write, no tests to study for, no practices to attend. There were also no babies to worry about, no prom to plan, no wedding to stress over, no scouts to impress, no SAT to take, no applications to fill out. I had nothing I actually had to do, and the parents wouldn’t be arriving for another few hours.

Never in my life had I felt so free. So happy. And so exactly where I was supposed to be.

I turned around, my white graduation gown, open over my light blue dress, billowing behind me in the breeze. Jake squeezed my hand and I felt the endless possibilities of summer unfolding in front of us like a huge, warm beach blanket in the sun.

“We do,” I said with a grin, “anything we want to do.”

Acknowledgments

I can’t believe the trilogy is already over! It seems like I just pitched the idea of Ally and Jake and the world of Orchard Hill, and now here it is, drawing to a close. A lot of people helped this little trio become what it is, so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them.

First of all, for helping me make this particular book all it could be (which is something I rather like), I’d like to thank Zareen Jaffrey, Julia Maguire, and Jenica Nasworthy. To those who believed in She’s So Dead to Us and its sequels from the very begi

Big thanks to my family and friends—especially Matt, Mom, and Erin—for letting me bounce ideas off of you and listening to me go on about my fictional characters. And thanks to Jeff Palkevich for sharing my books with your friends.