Thank you to jueka1, amiva0402, and brightyeolie for all their comments.

For the last time...

Enjoy...

___

Callie went up on stage ahead of me given that her name came just before mine. And nothing, absolutely nothing, could wipe that proud smile off her face as she took her steps up those stairs and walked her way across the wooden platform.

Shaking the hand of our principal, she posed for the photo before giving a smile to mum and dad. After, she glanced back at me and Flynn, still in the queue, then looked ahead as Sara, already at the front of the stage, lining up with other graduates.

Another deep breath later, she joined the growing mass, a proud graduate of high school.

And then my name was called.

We wouldn't receive our ATAR results still for another couple of weeks. Though we knew we passed all classes with flying colours by now (Flynn just scraping in at the end).

And not knowing our ATAR, we still didn't know if we'd get into the courses of our choosing at university yet—Sara and I were going into Film and TV. Flynn was hopefully going into Counselling. And Callie into medicine... still following the dream mum always wanted but never could achieve because of us.

Though, it was thanks to mum and dad giving up their own dreams to raise us that we could be where we were today.

We both knew the sacrifices they had made for our successes.

As the rest of the suckers still stuck in school for another one to five years applauded us after the final name had been called, we posed for our final photo before exiting the hall.

Forwarding out onto the courtyard area, we were greeted by all of our teachers—some glancing at their watches, ready to take off to their next class after bidding us goodbye.

Some seeming almost teary eyed.

The teachers formed a corridor down the footpath that led out of the school gate, forcing us graduates to walk past them.

Callie quickly came up beside me, linking her arm through mine.

Side by side, us Peterson-Williams sisters began our descent towards the school gates.

The last time we'd look at Miss Brooks's face.

Probably not the last time we'd see Miss Fischer given that she was our Aunt's friend... though calling her Zara from hereon would be bizarre.

Giving a final smile and wave to our English, IT, HPE, Film teachers... as well as the ones who I never met, but Callie had in previous years. And then of course, all the teachers  who covered supervision lessons for us but weren't our permanent teachers.

And before we knew it, we were out of the gate.

An intense concoction of relief and despair flooded me at once.

"It's over," Callie breathed, echoing my thoughts.

Ever so slowly, she turned to face me.

"No more high school," she whispered.

I shook my head in response. "We're free."

"And now we have a whole lot more responsibility too," she muttered.

"Yeah... let's not think about the doom and gloom of adulthood just yet and enjoy still being teens for a little longer."

"I agree," she said, pulling me in for a hug.

"Hey," a deep voice said from behind us. "Will we get our hugs too?"

Pulling apart, Callie and I glanced at our friends joining the circle—Ashton, Jackson, Zac, Luke... Alongside Flynn and Sara who were waiting for us to be done crying over each other.

It took one shared look between Callie and I to know we were thinking the same thing.

Hands reaching out, we clutched at any nearby figure, pulling everyone in for one giant group hug.

Who knew where we'd all be a week, month, year, or decade from now...

But we were both glad about the friends we had made along the way.

Callie and I were alone for the first time in days. 

We had spent all Friday evening at the graduation afterparty, our last actual hurrah with everyone we went to school with. Callie even drank a little which was quite the sight to see... until Flynn dragged her out of the party after she vomitted.

Then, over the weekend, we spent time with our smaller group of friends and partners.

Late Monday night, it was finally just us.

Two sisters.

Born on the same day.

Reflections of our parents.

But also starkly different.

Enjoying staring at the same cracks in the ceiling.

"This has been a hell of a year," Callie breathed.

"Indeed," I agreed. "Quite a year."

Fumbling between us, Callie's hand found mine on the bed, never breaking her eye contact with the roof.

"To think," she started, "You and I weren't even speaking a year ago."

"Jess was still alive a year ago," I breathed.

Callie gave my hand a gentle squeeze, head lolling to the side to look at me. "She'd be so proud."

I shrugged. "She wouldn't be keen about the fact dad went and knocked mum up straight away." I rolled onto my side to look at my sister. "They tried to have kids, you know? She couldn't get pregnant. No amount of IVF... Then they found the tumours."

"She had you, though," I said. "And she had dad."

"I'm sorry we weren't here for you, Callie. It was stupid we ran—"

She shook her head, silencing me. "It's in the past. Let's not dwell on it anymore. You're here now, and that's what counts."

I gave her a nod, though still that nervousness stirred in my stomach... that my past actions would one day come back to haunt us.

"I'm sorry you had to see it, Lex."

"No... You can't have controlled that. I shouldn't have teased you about stupid Noah of all people."

"And I should have tied my shoelaces."

"And the crossing guard shouldn't have been distracted..."

"I don't think it's quite her fault either... Anyone can be having a rough day. And I don't know about you, but if I was having a shit day and some kids took my stop sign... And then a kid got her leg run over because of it..." Callie shook her head. "Besides... You can be mad at the dead."

"Dead?"

Callie pressed her lips together. "I found out who she was through Zac."

"Zac Hart? How does he know?"

"Zac's Aunt was the crossing guard's sister."

"What?" I gasped in disbelief at how small this world really was. Then it clicked. "Was?"

"She... took her life after what happened to me."

I pulled back to look at my sister. "Cal—"

"It wasn't just me, though. So I'm not... taking that to heart or anything. I was like, the icing on the cake, you know. She basically had a series of fuck-ups in her life... so many ups and downs. Many downs she blamed on herself... and after I got hurt, well... I guess she couldn't find her way out of that darkness."

I shook my head in disbelief. "It's amazing the impact small decisions make on the world around us."

"But we can't dissect each decision. We just have to live with the choices we make and the consequences that fall from it... and try to learn for the future."

"Indeed," I sighed.

We rolled back onto our backs, staring at the ceiling, a bitter taste now to the air.

Long enough passed that mum and dad popped their heads in to say goodnight.

Long enough passed that even Sara and Flynn sent their goodnight texts.

But we just stayed with each other, sharing our moment of peace... of heartbreak for the lost people in this world.

"But, to think..." Callie disturbed the silence after an insurmountable time had ticked on. "Some good things also come from small actions."

"Such as?"

"Well... If you weren't so hell-bent on teasing me every time I had a crush... you never would have forced me to make the kiss list."

I chuckled at her summation. "Indeed. No kiss list in the first place, then no list to dig up later."

"And no list to dig up later, then I never would have wound up kissing Flynn in a cubby."

"And I probably wouldn't have bonded with Sara about building your confidence."

"And we'd probably still hate each other."

I lolled my head to the side, taking in my sister once more. "No. We wouldn't have."

She turned to look at me. "How can you be sure?"

"Because you and I will always find our way back to each other. No matter how big or small our fights become."

A beautiful smile took hold of my sister's face as she gave me a brief nod. "Yeah... I'd like to think that."

Callie and I fell asleep like that, bedside light still on, hands still clasped in each others'.

We didn't know what the future would bring. We didn't know what our lives would be like once we welcomed our new sibling into the world... how mum and dad's relationship would actually hold up once there was another member in this family... and even if Flynn and Callie or me and Sara were a forever thing.

But what we did know was that it was going to take a whole lot more than a missing leg and hidden relationship to tear us apart again.

The End.

I hate it. Terrible ending. My best book endings so far are Vulnerable: Book 1 of the Magic Mutations Series (I gave myself a pat on the back when I wrote the last words of that one because I was so proud of how I phrased it) and then Fighting for April (because I had planned that ending when I planned the title... amiva0402 knows what I mean about that ending).

Anyhoo, knows the part where I be cheesy.

Final meme:

Thank you for sticking around this long and reading this behemoth of a book.

On my Google doc, it ended up being 753 pages long (168,736 words). Though this doesn't count for chapters I've added to in drafting stages once I added it to Wattpad. When I had my stockpile, I'd do much more thorough edits.

If you've been reading since Positive 1 and journeyed this far, also a big thank you for sticking around for this epic of a story through two generations.

And, of course, a big thanks to amiva0402, brightyeolie, and jueka1 for commenting on every chapter of this book. It's been helpful to get me through.

If the Lily/Cory and Callie/Lexi storyline is all you're into, then it's been lovely having you around, but I cannot see me ever touching this story again. I wrote these books mostly as a fanservice to those who liked the first book that a friend and I wrote when we were in high school. Writing cheesy happy endings like this where things are worked out in one book are really not for me and my writing style as an adult.

From here, I will be focussing back on my other works. So if you do support me as an author, I urge you to go check out Fighting for April after this. It's confusing at first, but if you stick with it, trust me everything is explained. According to comments, I've actually made grown up men cry from that ending. It's a much more realistic depiciton of teenage romance too, and I really appreciate the messaging about sisterhood. Mostly because the relationship between April and May has a lot of parallels of my relationship with one of my brothers (I explain this in my final note at the end of the book). 

But I digress.

My writing schedule from here on goes:

1) Finish writing Recover (Book 2 of the Magic Mutations Series)

2) Thoroughly edit and prep Fighting for April so that it's ready for the Wattys 2022 (I will be submitting it)

3) Start writing Fighting for Evie.

Miss Fischer (Zara), as some of you know, has her own story: 31 Days of Christmas. But she also appears again in the chronology of her relationship with Jasper in Fighting for Evie next. Then finally the conclusion of their relationship is suggested in another upcoming book of mine: Her Midas Touch. So definitely check them out if you want to know how she ended up (but you have to read FFA to understand FFE).

And finally, if you want to read the story that Callie was obsessed with (Magic Mutations Series), then you can also check that out on my page.

Otherwise, thank you again for reading. 

Best wishes,

Amy.