Before I even realized it, it was the season of spring. The season of flowers, birds, and all the horrifying monstrosities of nature crawling out of their winter hidey-holes (insects). More importantly, it was the season of graduation.

Alexander Lin's GPA squeaked past mine by a mere 0.04 points, which meant he was designated our class's valedictorian. The strange thing is, I wasn't even mad to hear I'd finished second to him, as always. I was finally getting out of this hellhole known as high school, and moving on to better, brighter things.

Besides, I was terrified of public speaking. Crowds and eyes and words and--blech. I had no problem with Alexander being subjected to that torture.

Graduation was a long and painful procedure that involved a lot of sunlight, sitting, and sweating. By the time I finally received my diploma and shook hands with the principal, the piece of paper had very small sweat stains on it, courtesy of Mr. Owens. I knew he was the culprit because the hand I shook was covered in sweat, too.

"Sorry, Natalie," he whispered.

"It's Nancy." I frowned and discreetly wiped my hands on my graduation gown. You'd think after all the academic and extracurricular achievements I'd had, the least he could've done was remember my name.

After the last graduate--Eugene Zyberg--had walked across the stage (and practically waded through a puddle of sweat to get to his wet diploma), we were finally free to meet up with our friends and family. I elbowed my way through the crowd to find Amelia and Louisa waiting for me near the large brass gates of the school entrance.

Alexander was nowhere to be seen. I was a little disappointed, since he'd been so busy being valedictorian that we hadn't spoken to each other all day, but it couldn't be helped. He'd probably gotten caught up in something important.

"Nancy, you're wearing makeup!" Amelia squealed, her expression reflecting what I thought was an excessive amount of surprise.

"It's just eyeliner," I mumbled. I'd felt self-conscious putting it on in the morning, and now found myself wishing I'd just rolled straight out of bed and come here. Who cared if my eyes looked a little brighter than usual? It definitely hadn't been forth the thirty-minute commitment. "No need to phone Cosmo."

"My, you really have graduated," Amelia practically sing-songed.

"How many times did you poke yourself in the eyeball before getting it right?" Louisa snorted.

"Thirteen," I responded before I could stop myself.

Amelia and Louisa exchanged a look that had become all too familiar over the past months. I called it the 'Oh, Nancy' look, because it was usually followed up with--

"Oh, Nancy," they sighed together, and then both cracked up.

"You two are a riot," I grumbled. "You should have your own show."

"How can we have a show when I'm about to head off to Michigan for college?" Amelia said, wiping at her face. I thought she was actually tearing up, and was rather touched before she removed her hand to reveal a face-splitting grin. "Go Blue!" she cheered.

"And I'm taking a gap year that's definitely not going to be in Michigan," Louisa added. She paused and said thoughtfully, "Maybe I'll go backpacking in Europe."

Amelia wrinkled her nose. "Europe is expensive. Your dad would never pay for that."

"By that logic, I'll be taking a gap year to my backyard."

"You guys are both going so far away," I said, feeling a small lump rise in the back of my throat. What was this--this emotion? This feeling? I was not an emotional, feel-y type person. Graduation couldn't end quickly enough, as far as I was concerned.

Amelia's smile melted off her face. "Aw, Nancy. Don't tell me you're actually going to miss us?"

"Not a chance," I lied, thinking that I was going to miss my friends like hell.

Wordlessly, Amelia wrapped Louisa and me into a tight hug. So tight that we all bumped heads and I became very aware that I was not the only person sweating under her graduation cap and gown.

"Amelia, what--what is this? A football huddle?" Louisa demanded.

"It's called a hug. You know. It's when people who like each other get real close and--"

"Shut up, you dweeb."

"No matter where we all end up, we're just a phone call away," Amelia said, gripping me around the shoulder. "So no getting sappy, okay?"

I didn't trust myself to speak.

"Besides--we still have all of summer together," Amelia pointed out.

"Says who?" Louisa said, smirking. "I've got a gap year to attend to in my backyard."

*****

After my parents hauled me off to take an unnecessary number of pictures of my disgusting, sweaty self, I was finally able to go home and kick off my cap, gown, and heels. This girl was born to wear sweats, that much was for sure. My plans for the rest of the day were: couch, Netflix, chocolate. Not necessarily in that order, but definitely all at once.

"Nancy Pang," Kevin said in a fake-shocked voice when he stumbled across my display of ultimate summertime laziness, probably on his way to the fridge. "Are you watching those mindless movies without having finished your homework? Don't you have something important to attend to--like rewriting the dictionary?"

I threw an M&M at him. "Shut the hell up, you imbecile. When have I ever rewritten a dictionary?"

"And cussing?" Kevin gasped mockingly. "It's like I don't even know you anymore."

"I'm learning to chill, okay? Geez. This is me. Nancy Pang. Trying to not be so high-strung for once."

Kevin smiled. "I'm joking. You deserve to relax. Congrats on graduating, kid." He ruffled my hair before I could duck away.

"Yeah, thanks," I mumbled.

Kevin paused and squinted at me. "Is that...eyeliner?" He started laughing.

"I'm sorry I'm so bad at makeup!" I wailed.

Kevin left the room, still chuckling to himself. I pulled up The Office and finally let myself relax while rewatching Season 1. This relaxation lasted for all of three minutes before the doorbell rang.

"Nancy, I'm making a phone call. Go get the door," Dad roared from upstairs.

I groaned and used all of my remaining energy to pry myself out of the couch. Found myself staring at a sheepish but cute-as-always Alexander.

"Fancy of you to drop by, Mr. Valedictorian," I said a little coldly, raising my eyebrows. "You should've given an advance notice. I would have dressed much more nicely."

"Please, Nancy, none of this Valedictorian nonsense." Alexander rolled his eyes and made himself at home by sinking into the living room couch. He waved merrily at Mom, who was dusting a cabinet in the corner. "Hello, future-mother-in-law."

Mom beamed at him. It took all my self-restraint to not deck him right then and there. My cheeks were on fire. Future mother in law? We'd barely just begun dating.

"Sorry I couldn't take pictures with you," Alexander said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking so truly sorry that I couldn't stay even a little annoyed with him. He motioned for me to sit down on the couch next to him. As soon as I did, he wrapped an arm around me and pressed my arm against his. "Principal Owens wouldn't let me get away. I think he almost cried. He probably would hold me back if he could."

I snorted. "That would be very unfortunate for next year's graduating class."

"Ouch." Alexander paused, his expression suddenly turning serious. "Listen, I...I haven't told anyone which college I officially committed to yet, but I thought I should tell you first."

My breath hitched. "What? Not your parents? Alexander Lin," I scolded.

"It's because...they're not going to like what they hear," he explained, his eyes glued to the ground. His hand closed around mine, entwined our fingers.

"And me?"

"Here. Maybe it's best if I just show you what I'm talking about." Taking a deep breath, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a folded sheet of white paper. Unfolded it. Handed it over to me.

My eyes scanned it quickly, and as the words sunk in, I became thoroughly shocked.

"Oh. My. God."

"Mm-hmm."

My fingers practically shook. I looked up from the white paper and stared into Alexander's eyes, which were full of uncertainty. "Alexander Lin. You're going to Harvard?"

"Not so loud," he hissed, though Mom had begun vacuuming and Kevin had headed back upstairs, so nobody was around to hear. "And no. I'm not."

"But--" i shook the paper at him. "But this is a Harvard acceptance letter!" I flipped the paper over and then squinted at it, checking for a watermark or--I didn't know--something. I swallowed back a lump in my throat. Had no clue how to feel about this.

Alexander rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. Before I could react, he snatched the paper out of my hands, took a deep breath, and slowly ripped it to shreds.

I just about jumped out of my skin. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm not going."

"You--what?"

"I already declined the admissions offer."

"Are you--are you insane?" My heart was pounding. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Seeing. Feeling. "Did you come all the way to my house just to mock me?"

The look on his face was thunderstruck. "Nancy, no."

"Then why would you show me that Harvard acceptance letter just to rip it up and--and--"

"I'm not going there because I want to go to Berkeley with you," Alexander said all in one breath. He grabbed my hand, and I let him, feeling the sudden anger slowly trickle out of my body. "Well, not just to be with you, but that's a bonus. They have a better engineering program."

I stared at the shreds of paper on the ground. The remains of Alexander's Harvard acceptance letter. The letter that would have made all my dreams come true, months ago. And suddenly, seeing the sincerity written on Alexander's expression, it occurred to me that I wasn't angry. Not frustrated, envious, or vengeful.

After all, it was just a college acceptance letter. From Harvard, sure, but it didn't really mean anything in the long run. It didn't denote anything about my--Alexander's--self value. How could it, if Alexander had so easily torn it up?

I rested my forehead next to his and listened to his breathing slow. "Are you sure?" I asked after a while.

"More sure than I've been of anything in my entire life."

A huge grin broke out on my face. I kissed him on the cheek. "I hope you're prepared for me to keep making your life miserable for the next four years," I said.

"Hope you're prepared to keep just barely losing to me in everything."

And with our fingers intertwined, the sunlight shining through the window, I had to admit that the idea of losing forever had never seemed so sweet.

*****

A/N - Sooo lucky for you guys, I decided to procrastinate on my current novel in progress by writing the epilogue to this one. XD Hope you enjoyed! That's a wrap on Nancy's chronicles of being a geek :) I hope the heart of this story struck home, and if you remember even a little snippet of this novel down the road, that'll make me happy.

In the meantime, keep reading/writing/being awesome and thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment or vote, and to check out any of my other works if you so desire. Hopefully we'll meet again!

-L.B. Jade