[✓] 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑, 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚗

eighty-one ☆ alana

NOVEMBER
of twenty-twenty

narrator's pov.

zach sat alone at a new café called the coffee bean near his college with a blueberry muffin on his left and a coffee on his right. he was opening a folder, and inside were copies of the photos he had taken for his latest college assignment.

a week after elena's funeral, zach had contacted the university of utah to inform them of his request to switch majors. he decided to divert from business to photography since he figured that elena would have wanted him to follow his dreams. his parents were not thrilled when they found out zach's choice, but he did it for elena.

not a day goes by that zach doesn't think of her. it's hard for him to attend college while the thought of elena continuously is popping up in his head, and even after a few months, zach still had not recovered from everything.

every day, he beats himself up that he could have prevented so much. many people assure him that it wasn't his fault and he couldn't do anything about it, but he refused to listen. he was still fully convinced that it was his fault.

as zach continued to examine the photos he had taken, a waitress came by to refill his coffee. the waitress gasped, "oh my goodness!"

she had poured a bit too much, and some of the liquid had spilled on the table. zach immediately took his photos off the table, and helped her clean up the mess.

"i-i'm so sorry," the waitress apologized, "i'm a new employee."

"no need to worry, miss..." zach started, reading the waitress' name tag, "alena?"

the waitress lightly laughed, and said, "actually, my name is alana. it's funny you said that because a lot of people seem to mix it up with alena."

alana smiled at zach before walking back to the cash register, and after a few minutes, zach had packed up his belongings to head into his car. the engine started, and before he pulled out of his parking spot, he looked at his rear view mirror.

zach spotted the heart shaped air freshener he had customized of elena. elena's air freshener was right next to alayna's, and zach took a sniff. he smelled pears and raspberries which were elena's signature scent.

"even after a few months... the air freshener's scent still lives on," zach laughed to himself, "just like you, elena."

elena quinn carmen will forever live on in zachary dean herron's heart.

...

a / n :

and that's the end! make sure to read
the author's note following this chapter
because i have a big surprise that i think
you all will love (: