Infinite

Epilogue Part II - Esse Quam Videri

𝄃 𝄞♬♪ 𝄂
We hold ourselves to the greatest we can be
We use all of our creativity
To further our imagination
And make Mingus Jazz Cat proud
Hoorah!
𝄃 𝄞♬♪ 𝄂

"Julie, we have to get going if we want to make it to move in on time." Carrie poked Julie in the side, hoping to wake her up. It was seven in the morning, and yet they still had to drive another four hours to get to Boston. Plus, they had to get food, gas, and their move-in was from ten to one.

"Can I sleep for another half hour?" Julie groaned into the pillow. She drove for ten hours the day before. That was the day after going to Lollapalooza for several hours and barely making it back to their hotel room in Chicago before midnight.

"You can get another half hour in the car. Now, we've got to get out to the car before we're late. I've packed up your stuff." Julie groaned—slightly less loudly this time—but got out of the hotel bed they shared. (Hey, it was cheaper for them to share a bed. Don't judge.)

"Fine. I'm up." Julie blinked a few times and yawned to get the exhaustion out of her system.

Carrie smiled. She was grateful Julie finally got up. Then again, she knew how tired Julie was. Carrie was just as tired yesterday, but she got the chance to relax (and sleep) while Julie was forced to drive for hours and hours.

"Now, where are we stopping for food?" Julie asked. "I'm starving." A smile erupted on Carrie's face. That was usually how Julie acted and it was nice to have her best friend back.

"I looked up a place that's about a half hour away. It's nicer, so we'll eat and have a nice breakfast, then continue on the road until we reach Boston. I'll drop you off first at Berklee, then head to MassArt." With a U-Haul to bring all of their stuff—because it could not all fit in Carrie's car—they were more than ready to move in to their respective dorms and start freshman year.

"I can't believe we're moving in to college today." Julie realized as they got in the car. "I'm sad my dad isn't here, but it's not like we have the room."

"We're strong women. We don't need their help." Carrie joked. They could use all the help they could get. "We also need to get going before we're late."

"True. But, whenever we stop for gas, I'm getting snacks. I cannot last this entire car ride without some kind of sugar to fuel me." Carrie nodded. That was their agreement throughout their entire road trip to Boston. They could've flown on a commercial plane or asked her dad if they could borrow his private jet to move in, but that wouldn't have been as fun. Their road trip had some great memories. It was a long trip to Chicago, and their trip from Chicago to Boston did not feel much shorter. (It was by a couple days, but to Julie, who had driven the previous day, it did not feel much different.)

Their entire drive passed by with no issues whatsoever. In fact, they had even cut a half hour off because of that. And, when they showed up at eleven thirty, they were both surprised. Julie hardly wished to get out of the car just to get moved in.

"Jules, come on. You have to be excited. It's Berklee. I mean, you can feel the music seeping through every crack." Carrie knew that she would've gone there had she not decided on an art degree over music.

"You're right." Once it settled into her mind that she was finally at Berklee, she started to squeal internally. This was her dream school. And, once she graduated, it would be the start to the career she had already started to build. "Okay. Let's do this thing."

Julie got out of the car. She could see a handful of guys in shirts that proudly announced they were a part of the student leadership group at Berklee, named the TABT (Treble, Alto, Bass, Tenor) Leaders. They were the group everyone strived to be a part of, yet only eight members could be active at any time. It had been that way since its conception in 1943. They led any major activities on campus, or so everyone thought. No woman had ever made its way into the ranks during their tenure.

"Hello, what's your name?" They ran freshman move in, alongside some of the other major groups on campus.

"Julie Molina." The person checking her in, who she noticed wore a name tag with "Wyatt Hardaw" written in a rather neat print.

"Ah yes. One of the few who actually chooses a double major here. You're not going to have it easy these next four years." Wyatt said, noticing the two degrees she wished to do. Just like her application into UCLA, she chose to do musical composition and performance, one of which is an arts degree and the other a music degree.

She'd done the research and knew that it was not difficult to line the two degrees up to allow them to blend into the perfect degree for her.

"Well, if you don't try, you'll never know what you can achieve," Julie said as she opened up the U-Haul trailer, "The stuff on the right side is mine, the left side is for my friend who is going to MassArt." Hence the numerous signs that said "MassArt" and were decorated far more than the ones that said "Berklee".

"Alright. Let's get this stuff out of here and, at the very least, onto the sidewalk so your friend can go to their school." Julie agreed with Wyatt's assessment. "By the way, I'm Wyatt."

"It's nice to meet you." Julie smiled, shaking his hand.

"Move your butts before I drive to MassArt with your stuff in it!" Carrie yelled, eliciting a laugh from both of them.

"Okay, let's get this stuff out of the U-Haul before she drives away with us in it," Wyatt joked, climbing in and grabbing the first box and setting it on the sidewalk. She followed suit and, in a quick and easy fifteen minutes (with the help of two other guys) everything was in her dorm room. Room 3-102, to be specific. Which she shared with two other ladies.

If she remembered correctly, her roommates were named Jessica and Kim. But, that implied they didn't change at all in the last four weeks. They had before, so she couldn't dismiss the thought entirely. But, it seemed as though both ladies had moved in before she did, so her bed was closest to the wall, with very little room between her bed and whoever chose to sleep next to her.

"Thank you, all of you. I would have spent an hour, at least, getting these up here." She thanked the three boys before they departed to assist other freshmen attempting to move in. Julie had a lot to unpack, though clearly not as much as her roommates. She hoped it wasn't as much as her roommates. That seemed to hold true as she unpacked her things, packing them away into drawers and hanging up the few nice dresses she had in the closet at the front of the room. (Carrie promised to take her shopping if she ever had to perform for class or anything else.)

Now, she was determined to find the practice rooms that Wyatt told her were in the basement alongside the laundry. She'd explore the rest of 150 Massachusetts Avenue (a rather terrible name for a dorm building if she had to say so) later.

The pianos were calling.

In a matter of minutes, she'd found the practice rooms, several of which were occupied. However, the one with the beautiful white grand piano was still open. Either people hadn't seen it or didn't care about the gorgeous instrument. As soon as she closed the door to the room, she sat down on the stool, adjusting it to be the perfect distance away. There was one song she wanted to play in that moment: "Wake Up". Not her version. Her mother's version.

"Here's one thing, I want you to know: you've got someplace to go." Julie looked up from her fingers and saw a glimmer of silver in front of her.

As it took shape, she realized it wasn't a figment of her imagination.

"Mom?" Julie stood in front of the woman who had raised her for fifteen years. After three without in her life, she couldn't believe she still had hallucinations about her. It'd been so long, yet she looked the exact same as she did in all of the memories Julie chose to recall, despite feeling as though they were fading.

She couldn't believe that it was her mother. Her mom, Rose Celeste Molina, was standing in front of her as she played the very song that inspired her to remember her mother with love rather than in grief. It was a miracle.

And, at the same time, she had so many questions.

Author's Note: I can't believe it's the last part of Blush Wishes! Also, how surprised are you to see that Julie's mom made an appearance? I am. I have so many questions. Make sure to vote and let me know what you think in the comments. I'll be putting up the first chapter of Purple Sacrifices soon (date TBD)! All the best, MistyRider921.