✓ | 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 ( 𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘀. )

EIGHTEEN.

a/n: and here we are ─ the final chapter. thank you all for sticking with me through this journey. i started this book a year and a half ago, and to those who have been here since day one, i'm so sorry i had to make you wait this long for me to finish it.

obviously a lot has happened in that year and a half, and my writing has changed (improved?) a lot since then. which is why a part of me hates fool proof because of the terrible writing and the problematic essence of the book in general lmao.

nonetheless, i have enjoyed the experience that writing this book has given me. i will forever be appreciative of each and every one of you who have taken the time out of your day to read this.

i'm sorry it's a bit rushed, to be completely honest i lost all inspiration in writing gmw books but i didn't want to leave it unfinished, so this final chapter is a product of my laziness and desire to get things done. again, i apologise for that.

anyway, thus concludes my gmw book era. it's been an amazing past few years with you guys ─ i've found so much comfort and familiarity with this show and the fandom it has brought about. i cannot thank gmw enough for the beautiful friends i have made because of this. we will always be a family.

. . .

lucas friar

The days following prom were nothing short of mediocre. And believe me, a while ago, I wouldn't have minded mediocracy. I would've enjoyed it, even. But these past few months had changed me in a way that seemed to have irreversible effects.

In a strange way, life had sort of gone full circle. Riley wasn't speaking to me, and it was fairly obvious that Maya had been avoiding me. So everything had gone back to normal. Back to the way it was before.

I sat now on the empty couch at Topanga's, surrounded by a multitude of NYU students studying together. In a few months, I would be one of them. That is, if I even got into NYU. It was a couple of weeks until graduation and I hadn't even begun to think about where I would be going.

I had gotten so used to the notion of getting lost in the moment and living in the now that I had completely neglected every aspect of my future.

"Coffee?"

I halted my thoughts. Looking up, I was startled to see Maya holding two cups of hot coffee in her hands, gesturing one towards me. I wasn't much of a coffee drinker, but I didn't have the heart to decline the offer so I took the mug from her hand.

She hesitated for a moment, looking at the empty spot on the sofa couch. No more than a few seconds later, she situated herself next to me, the uncomfortable squeal of the couch painfully silencing the both of us. She fiddled with the rim of her coffee cup. It looked as though she wanted to say something, but no words came out. I decided to help her first.

"I thought you were avoiding me?" I asked, but perhaps I meant it more as a statement. I knew she had been avoiding me.

She glanced up at me in reluctancy. "What? N-No, I ..." she stammered, shaking her head. She put her cup down onto the table, taking a deep breath. "Look, I never had the chance to apologize for cheating on you with Missy. I never wanted to be that sort of person, you have to understand that," she assured.