Dabbling In Sweetness

Chapter 50

"I fell in love with Amelia because she cares about people. She sees the best in everyone and gives second chances. So, if that's what she thinks is best," he shrugs, "then I agree." Then his face gets cocky as he adds, "Besides, next time they get close I'll beat them up or my girl." he nods my way and smugly says, "she knows how to fight."

"Lame," Link and Gina say as they roll their eyes.

"Let's just enjoy our trip, school is ending soon," Matt tells us. And that's exactly what we did.

On our last night, we all sat huddled together with a giant campfire in the middle. I sat next to Grayson who gave me his jacket and snuggled closer to me. I could see everyone from where I sat. Abacus sat next to Sienna as they still seemed to be discussing things further, both with drinks in their hands. They saw me and smiled before continuing their discussion. Then there was Alex and Matt holding hands as they ate their smores and talked about their college plans. Gina and Link kept arguing over the playlist.

"Hey," Grayson whispers.

"Yeah?"

"I got into my college," he tells me.

I stand up, yelling, as I embrace him in a tight hug. "When did you find out?"

"This morning," he told me. "I woke up and checked the online status. My mom already sent me a celebratory gift."

"A gift?" I ask, laughing as he mumbles a yes. He brings out his phone and shows me the message which is a simple dog with sunglasses popping out of a gift box that says congrats. He puts his phone away and starts roasting a marshmallow. "So you guys had a chance to talk?"

His grin widens and his gray eyes shine brighter. "She started talking to a lawyer and said my uncle can't get out of this one."

"That's great Grayson," I intertwine our hands, "I'm happy your uncle will get punished for you know-" I try not to say the words but Grayson smiles at me and nods his head.

"You can say, 'had my dad killed.'"

I nod my head, "I could." Then I remembered something, "Hey, you never told me your dad's name."

"You never told me yours."

"Okay, we'll both say it on the count of 2."

"Count of 2, Strawberry?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

I bump my shoulder with his and say, "come on."

"Okay, 2"

I roll my eyes but we both take the time and say their names. "Gustavo."

"Armenio."

We both looked at each other and realized that each of our father's names started with our initials. "Weird," we say and smile.

He hands me the roasted marshmallow and starts another one for himself. He then bumps my shoulder and asks the question I've been dreading. "Have you checked your application statuses?"

I take a bite of my marshmallow and pretend I'm too busy eating. He gives me an unimpressed look. I swallow my food and sigh. "I just haven't wanted to check. I got the notice before the trip and I've just been enjoying these moments, especially after all that went down."

"You're scared and that's understandable, but Colombia has been your dream."

"What if they don't want me? I haven't exactly been the most proper person this year."

"Strawberry," he gives me a lopsided smile, "we're not going over this again. You are an amazing person and any college will be happy to have you. If not, we'll get you into another one."