Alianna was in her history class, it was the last day of school. Everything has changed. Nothing was the way it used to be.

    The Connors and The Conklins had separated from the Fishers.

    Alianna had lost a part of herself, Susannah was dead, and Alianna and Conrad were no longer together.

    Nothing was ever going to be the same.

    Alianna was in class, it was the last day of school. All she could think about was Jeremiah and Conrad.

    The thought of being with Conrad just kept replaying in her head — the same one over and over again. She just wanted to go home, Cousins was her home and that was all she wanted.

♾️ ⋆｡˚

    Alianna laid on the sun chairs, the sun shining on her making her tan glow. Her sunglasses were a sandy colour while her bikini was white with blue flowers scattered across it.

    As Ali soaks up the sun, she feels water droplets fall onto her. She moves her sunglasses down to reveal a happy Conrad who shaking his freshly ocean soaked hair onto her.

    Conrad leaned down to kiss her on the lips, "We get it, you guys are into each other." Jeremiah interrupts with soft laugh.

    "Don't listen to him, you two are perfect together."

    Susannah beams a smile at the two, Alianna smiles back, she was so happy that she had the best life with the best people.

    "Look what I made!" Belly grinned and emerged with a platter of some kind of watermelon mixed drinks.

    Alianna chuckled as she looked around, She was home and there was no way she could ever be happier than she was here.

    "Yooo! Earth to Ali?" A boy calls startlinglying her awake, "Dude, you have to stop falling asleep in class."

    Ali doesn't reply, just nods at the boys poor attempt to start a conversation or something. The school bell rang making Alianna come back to reality.

    Everyone began to get up and left. Leaving Ali the only person left in the classroom, she groans, throwing her on the desk.

♾️ ⋆｡˚

    The girl exhaustedly walks down the halls, kids running down the halls acting like animals eager to finish school.

    She spots Belly and Taylor by their lockers — who excitedly wave at her.

    As Ali arrives, Taylor is gushing to Belly about either her boyfriend or a party she got invited to, or at least that's what Alianna guessed.

    Alianna stares at the marbled floor, her head leaning against a locker. "Hello? Ali, did you hear anything we just said?" Taylor snapped her fingers at her.

    "Oh, sorry."

    "It's fine," Belly responded, "We were talking about volleyball camp. And how Taylor finally convinced me to sign up."

    "Oh that's really good. They'll be lucky to have you, Bells."

    Belly and Taylor give each other a look. And before they could say something Steven comes running up the hallways cheering.

    "Whoop! High school is over bitches!" Steven celebrates in an orange Princeton shirt.

    Taylor snaps. "You're such a clown, Steven."

    "Hey, if I were going to Princeton, I'd be screaming about it, too." One of Belly and Taylor's friends say.

    Steven fist pumps the girl. "Thank you, Evelyn."

    "Wait," Taylor said, "Are you going to Princeton? That's so cool, I couldn't tell." She smiled sarcastically.

    "Oh, you could tell?" Steven jokes, teasing the girl.

    Alianna stands beside the locker, unfazed. She taps Belly on the shoulder, "I'm gonna head home now."

    Belly's voice is soft. "Are you sure? Do you wanna wait and Steven can drop you home?"

    "No, no. I wouldn't wanna ruin his big day." Ali plastered a smile. "Ali, it's your big day too, you know. You're also graduating." Belly sighs.

    Alianna doesn't do anything, she just looks at her.

    She didn't have to, and Belly knew everything she was saying.

♾️ ⋆｡˚

    A knock is heard on Jeremiah's door, "Come in!" He pings, lifting his head from his phone. As the door crept open, a curious Alianna appeared.

    "Hey."

    "Hey you, come here." He smiled at the girl's face. A gesture his face always made, even if he was mad.

    Alianna smiled as she tiptoed over to his bed. His room was filled with pictures of surfing and skateboarding with small photographs of the families.

    "So, I stayed up all night doing research on the trial my mom agreed to. And Als, I'm feeling really hopeful."

    Jeremiah's face lit up.

    And Alianna couldn't help but also smile. His smile was always contagious. That was something she loved about him.

    "That's really great, Jere, wow." Alianna beams, "I'm so glad Beck agreed to do it."

    "Yeah, if I'm being honest." Jeremiah looks at the ground, "I'm still kind of pissed Conrad never told me what was going on with her.."

    "But at least it worked out, right?" Jeremiah looked back up at the girl who softly nodded.

    "That's kind of why I think we should tell Conrad about us as soon as possible." Jeremiah rests a hand on her leg. "I don't want any more secrets— plus Steven and Josh already know."

    Alianna's heartbeat was beating rapidly. She had to choose then and there if she should tell Jeremiah about her and Conrad or keep Jere's feelings safe.

    "That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Alianna speaks and watches as his smiles begin to fade.

    As if he already knew the words that were about to leave her mouth.

    "I think we should make it official." Alianna exhales, "But before we do, I should tell you something."

    Jeremiah had so many mixed emotions, "Yeah?" His voice is deep and curious.

    "Last night, I went to clear my head and went down to the beach and Conrad must have followed me down there and it all happened so fast and— we kissed." She blurts out in one breath.

    As Jeremiah takes in the news, he removes his hand from her leg, instantly. "Jere." She sighs, as she tries to reach back for it.

    "I think you should leave." He stands up and waits for her.

    Alianna frowned. "What?"

    "I really think you should go." Jeremiah's eyes don't meet hers. "Jere.." She sighs one last time, her hand on his cheek.

    He doesn't say anything, only blankly looking away. "Fine." She murmured, turning around to exit.

    "And just so you know." Jeremiah's voice stops her mid way, "He's gonna break your heart."

♾️ ⋆｡˚

    "Hurry up, Anna!" Josh yells out from downstairs.

    "I'm coming!" She shouts back, puts on her high heels, rushing down the stairs.

    As she hurried down the stairs — thankfully not falling on her face. She entered the living room, Natalie came back into the house with a white box.

    She propped it on the small wooden table and lifted the lid open. The first thing she noticed was a card with beautiful handwriting saying Alianna.

    "Ali. It's for you." Natalie says, handing her the envelope.

    "Who's it from?" Joshua asks, stuffing his face with the goods that were given in the box.

    Alianna's face drops as she reads the letter, "It's from Beck."

    Silence filled the air, not one of them knowing how to react. Alianna stared at the card for a few seconds. A million thoughts running through her head.

    "Ali." Natalie says, her voice alert.

    In a flashback, Alianna walks in the beach house. As she passes a room, Susannah's called out to her.

    "Ali!" She sang, stopping the young girl in her tracks. "Hey, come here." She waved over.

    And there sat Susannah, in a room that usually no one comes into, not even Susannah herself.

    "What are you doing here?" Alianna asks Susannah, entering the room.

    Alianna fidgets with the infinity necklace Conrad gave her, she wasn't used to something being worn around her neck.

    "I love that necklace on you." Susannah smiles noticing it. Susannah always had a way of noticing the small things, no matter what.

    "Connie told me everything that happened with the three of you." Susannah mentions grinning. "Beck, what do I do?" Alianna looks up at the woman with a soft gaze.

    Her voice began to shake. "God, it feels like I'm losing everyone."

    "You're not." Susannah reassured her, tucking her golden locks behind her ear. "It just takes time." She says softly.

    "You'll find your way back to each other eventually."

    Susannah's voice was always comfting, you were able to feel at ease just by hearing her talk or laugh.

    Whenever Susannah was around, Alianna Connors knew she was at home.

    "And this place is always here for you." Susannah tilts her head, gracefully holding Alianna's hand.

    "I love you so much, Beck." Alianna whimpers, teary eyed.

    "I love you so much more." Susannah says, wrapping her arms around the girl.

    "Oh Beck. What am I going to do without you."

    "Just like you always do." Susannah softly runs her hand through Ali's hair and her head rests in Susannah's arms.

    Alianna snaps out the memory she was stuck in and looks up from the white envelope. "Sorry." She hums.

    Natalie rubs her daughter's back in an act of comfort. Susannah was always a sensitive topic for their family.

    Susannah's death was never really mentioned in their house nor talked about outside.

    It wasn't something they brushed off or forgot about. It was just hard to say. To get over. When Susannah passed, it hurt Alianna the most.

    She had become depressed for weeks upon months.

    Never really getting over the fact that she wasn't here anymore.

    And it didn't help how things ended with the boys either.

    "We should probably leave so we'll make it in time." Josh interrupted, just in time. "Yeah." Alianna simply sighed.

♾️ ⋆｡˚

    "I feel so terrible, Con." Alianna dreadfully sighs, "I mean, he was so angry at us." Conrad tries to bring his hand up to her face but she pulls away.

    "And he has every right to be, honestly." She sympathised, looking away from Conrad. "It's going to be all okay, Als, I promise." Conrad reassures, gripping onto the girl's hand, finally able to feel her touch.

   Alianna looks at him with pain in her eyes, "How?"

    She wanted everything to just be okay for once, after everything that had been going on in everyone's lives — but now after she had caused such a disruption.

    Nothing was going to be as it was.

    She could offer nothing that would change what she had done. The only thing she could do was sit and sulk.

    Appearing at a loss, Conrad averts his eyes and lets out a sigh.

    "I think.." she didn't want to actually say the words out loud, "I think we should take a pause."

    "What?"

    He asks, caught off guard by her words. Never in a million years would he expect her to say that.

    Conrad believed that he would be the one to be the cause of the break in their relationship but he was wrong.

    "No."

    "I've already made things harder for you guys than it already is." Alianna says, teary eyed. "You're not." He painfully interjects, "I promise."

    "The most important thing right now," she pauses, reading his face. "Is that you and Jere are there for each other. Are there for Beck. And I.. Please, Con, don't make me say it." She whimpered.

    Alianna composes herself and looks at him, "I love you so much. But we can't be together."

    Conrad lowers his head into her shoulder, "I hate this." She nods.

    "I know." She sighed, "No matter what happens, we'll still be infinite."

♾️ ⋆｡˚

    The blonde girl sat in the front row of the hall. She sat in between her classmates, Josie Cingolani and Riley Cowan. Both people she had barely talked to throughout the years she had attended school.

    She watched as Steven stood on the stage as valedictorian, and prepared a speech.

    "So don't wait. Make what you want happen. Because tomorrow isn't promised, so you better make fucking sure that you are living today!" Steven cheered to everyone who was listening.

    As Alianna clapped and smiled at his speech, she turned back to the crowd. Looking for the only faces she hoped to see. But, they weren't there. And it was all her fault.

    In a blur, the ceremony was over and everyone had graduated. High school was finally over Alianna, at least she didn't fail at something.

    "Congratulations!" Laurel greeted the girl as she approached the small group of the families combined. "Thank you." She answered.

    "Congrats, baby." Her mother kissed her forehead, and then squeezed her tightly into a hug.

    Alianna stands back, beside the parents as they talk amongst themselves. Even though today was about her, she felt like a shadow.

    She stood there for a moment before joining Taylor and Belly who were both congratulating their friends from the grade above.

    "Congrats, Als!" Taylor says, giving Ali an arm hug and nudging her with a smile.

    "Thanks." she replied softly.

    "Hey, ladies!" Steven's voice rings in their ears as he wraps an arm around Taylor who was unpleasantly disgusted by his usual way of flirting.
       
    Belly immediately pushed herself away from him. "Steven, you should probably just stop trying. She isn't interested in you."
       
    "Awh." Steven grumbled as he stepped back, pouting his lips.
        
    "So, Ali. Did you hear back from UCLA?" Steven asks with a friendly smile.
       
    Alianna demeanour changes, "Oh, I'm actually planning on taking a gap year."
       
    Belly swings her head towards the girl, "But UCLA is your dream school? You've been wanting to go there since you were a freshman.."
       
    "Yeah, I know. But I just need to think about things a little more."
       
    Steven raises an eyebrow in confusion, "What do you need to think about?"
       
    "Just.. stuff." Ali murmurs.
       
    Steven looks skeptical but doesn't say anything as he looks at the confused Belly who still can't understand why the girl she had planned UCLA since she'd known her, changed her mind.
       
    "So, you're saying you're not going to college at all after this summer?" Belly asks with a concerned tone.
      
    "Yeah."

    Alianna answered, looking down trying to avoid eye contact with them. The girls stand in silence, both of them trying to understand her new decision.
       
    "Does your mom even know about this?" Taylor questioned. "Well, no." Alianna admits.
        
    Taylor scoffs and rolls her eyes at the girl, "You're going to need to tell her eventually."
       
    "I will, just not right now."
       
    Ali's voice is starting to get a little defensive. Taylor sighs in annoyance while Belly tries to hold in a sigh herself, not wanting to upset the girl.
       
    "Hey, hey. How about we talk about all this later, right now we should just be happy that we're graduated, right?" Steven interrupts the girls.
       
    The girls all mumble in agreement as they attempt to change the topic of conversation. "I bet you're looking forward to being free of all of us?" Taylor jokes to Steven.
       
    "Yeah I'll have two whole months with no crazy girls to deal with, sounds like heaven." Steven responds, earning a light nudge from Belly.
       
    The group chuckles as a collective silence falls over everyone once again.
       
    Alianna stands in the silence as a weird feeling in her gut starts to grow, trying but failing to shake the feeling.

lish speaks !

welcome to after glow ! the sequel to sparks fly — my all time favourite book i've ever worked on. i hoped you enjoy your journey with this story  and are even more excited to begin season two !! as always don't be a ghost reader 👻