Embracing Rain

Epilogue

E P I L O G U E - C H A N C E

"I can't believe this is actually happening," I exclaim as we pull into the parking lot. I can see Noah waiting at the entrance to the building, leaning against the wall in the shade.

"You've known you'd be in the same dorms for a while now," my mom says, laughing when she sees how I'm hopping up and down in my seat with excitement.

"Yeah, but it's so much more real now!"

"I'm glad things worked out," my dad says. "College is a big step."

I roll down the window of the backseat and stick the whole upper half of my body out the window so I can wave at Noah. He waves back just as enthusiastically, running out to meet our car as we park.

"Hey!" he says. I leap out of the car as soon as it stops and throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and burying my head in his shoulder. He stumbles backwards.

"Hi!" I laugh. "It's been too long. Two months, almost. I've missed you. And I still can't believe this is real. I'm so nervous, oh my god."

He smiles at me mischievously. "I've missed you too. You don't have to be nervous, you know. You got really lucky with your roommate. I've met him. He's really nice."

I sigh in relief. "That's good. I was really nervous about that."

Noah nods. "Same here. I've heard horror stories about people who get stuck with awful roommates. I was hoping that wouldn't happen to me."

"What about your roommate?" I ask. "Have you met him too?"

"Yep," he says, smirking. "He's amazing. I think we're going to have a great year."

"Can you help me unpack?" I ask as my parents get out of the car. "I think I might have brought too much stuff."

"Sure!" he agrees. "I'll unpack after you. I only got here a few minutes before you did. Enough to put my suitcase on my bed and come back. You should help me unpack, too!"

"Noah!" my dad exclaims, walking around to our side of the car. "I have a new joke for you!"

Noah grins. "What is it?"

"Why can't ducks make good doctors?"

"Why?"

"Because they're all quacks!" He breaks out laughing and Noah joins him, his eyes wrinkling with laughter.

I'm suddenly hit hard with the realization of how much I've missed the way he laughs at stupid jokes. But instead of saying that, I settle for shaking my head. "You guys are weird."

"That we are," my dad says, putting his hand on my shoulder. "What do you say we go take all your stuff to your room?"

"Sure, let's go!" A mixture of excitement and dread is coursing through my veins, putting me on edge. Sure, Noah told me my roommate was cool, but I won't know until I meet him for myself. And as much as I trust Noah and his judgement, it's not enough to overcome the worst-case scenarios playing out in my head.

We make our way inside and towards the elevator. Noah presses the button for the fifth floor. "You're in room 314," he tells me. "It looked pretty nice. For a college dorm, at least."

He's right. The room is small, but it doesn't look too bad. There's plenty of space on the walls for me to hang pictures, and the bed doesn't look that uncomfortable. There's also much more open space than I was expecting; there'd be plenty of room for me to buy a small couch or something and tuck it in the corner. Which I'll probably end up doing sometime soon.