Colors of Us

Epilogue| Arianne

Mrs. Delko gave her a side hug. "You won't. Being aware is the biggest step." She patted her arm. "Let's get these on the grill." By the time they were done, Mr. Delko and Garrett came home. The weather was gorgeous, so they ate outside, talking and laughing about their day.

After dinner, Garrett and Arianne cleared the table and washed the dishes. Then they went outside and sat on the outdoor sofa facing the gardens. They hadn't labeled their relationship yet—nothing like slapping on boyfriend and girlfriend to put on the pressure—but it was understood they were together.

"I heard from Jordan today," Garrett said, pulling her legs over his lap. He stroked her knees, letting his fingers run up and down her skin.

This was her favorite time of the day. They cuddled and talked for hours under the starry sky. Sometimes talking about insecurities to spilling childhood secrets to giggling over stupid internet memes.

"Oh yeah? What'd he say?" she asked.

"Wanted me to know his shoulder is better and he's raring to go. Said he didn't want to get my hopes up too high that I'd be starting next season."

Arianne laughed at Garrett's pout. "You knew he was coming back."

"Yeah, but he also told me to plan on coming to campus early so we can get a head start on pitching. He really wants that NCAA World Cup title."

Garrett's team had made it to regionals but lost in the final inning. It wasn't Garrett's fault. He'd played a brilliant game. The other team was just better. It was that simple, and that heartbreaking.

She knew he took the loss hard but so far it hadn't woken any new nightmares. She overheard Garrett's parents talking one night, and they thought he was finally coming to grips with Spencer's death and the guilt he carried around. She hoped so. She liked to think they both were moving forward.

"Did he say anything about Gus?" she asked.

A few days after the baseball game, Gus showed college administration the snaps of Harmony cheating. He'd tried to leverage those photographs to get out of his disciplinary hearing, but the administration refused. His punishment had been a hundred community service hours, along with not being to walk with his graduating class to receive his diploma. The sentence had been too light in Arianne's opinion, but since Gus hadn't technically done anything wrong, he couldn't receive a harsher punishment.

In comparison, Harmony wasn't allowed to graduate this year. She was on academic probation and had to retake the class she cheated in along with a note in her transcript about her transgression.

Garrett shook his head. "I don't think they've been in contact since Jordan moved out." It'd gotten ugly for a while. Gus' dad confronted Garrett and Jordan, accusing them of setting Gus up. When it became a yelling match, the campus police came and escorted Gus' dad away.

They still didn't know who the hacker was or why they wanted Garrett to throw the game. They'd asked Greg, but he'd stayed tight-lipped on the whole topic. She was glad Garrett was living with Marcus and Stephan next year. Arianne, on the other hand, was going to room with Morgan again which she was grateful for. Why rock the boat when it worked?

"I was thinking about something this morning," he said.

"Oh?" She slid her legs off and put her arms around him, cuddling closer. He made a hum of contentment that had her smiling. She hoped she never took his openness and appreciation for granted.

"You never told me your color."

"My color?"

"Yeah. Everyone has one except you."