QuintupleDate (#BestFriendsForever Short Story) Read online

She smiled. “Really?”

  I nodded, then gave her a hug. “I could never get rid of it.”

  Lena, Harper, and Rey joined us too. We closed our eyes and held each other tight for a while.

  Then I found Jesse and stood with him, our hands intertwined.

  All around us, the girls and their boyfriends did the same.

  Tori and Noah held each other for a while, their embrace saying a million things words couldn’t, and I blinked back tears.

  Those of us who were going to college elsewhere were leaving tomorrow morning. We were already packed. Except for Lena, of course.

  We’d all have at least our boyfriends nearby, except for Tori, and I could see how much it was killing her.

  Noah kissed her forehead, and I heard the slight sniffle from Tori.

  When she finally pulled away, she wiped at her nose, her eyes wet and aimed at the ground.

  It wasn’t long before all of us girls had tears in our eyes too.

  I searched for the right thing to say. “You guys, I’m never gonna forget tonight. It’s been the best, truly.”

  Tears rolled down Harper’s cheeks, and Emerson put his arm around her.

  Rey glanced at the stars then shut her eyes, almost as if she was praying to the universe that this night not come to an end. Meanwhile, Wes intertwined his fingers with hers.

  And even loud and energetic Lena didn’t have anything to add. She just stood there, quiet and contemplating and taking it all in while Ian hugged her from behind.

  I turned to Jesse. “Ready?” I asked, glancing toward our cars and taking his hand.

  He exhaled. “Ready.”

  A few minutes later, I waved to Tori and Lena, then Harper and Rey.

  On the way home, Jesse held my hand tight, and I hoped that he wouldn’t start a conversation because I knew that I would cry if I even tried to talk.

  It had hit me just then, seeing everyone drive away, that the #BFFs and I would no longer walk the school hallways together. No more impromptu sleepovers or working on a big paper together in a frenzy the night before.

  This was it. We were eighteen. We’d done a lot of growing up in the last two years, and I was sure we’d be unrecognizable in a couple more.

  Jesse glanced at me. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked.

  I nodded, the frog in my throat too big for me to talk.

  Instead, I squeezed his hand back.

  Maybe the #BFFs and I would no longer walk the same hallways, but I promised myself one thing.

  Over the next four years, we’d stay just as close.

  Best friends forever.

  Five

  I stared at my last suitcase. It sat on the bed along with several other bags and boxes.

  Even though I had just double-checked that I had everything, I couldn’t bring myself to zip it up.

  Tía Isabel walked into my room. “Is that it, then?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

  “Yeah,” I said. The room stood mostly empty now.

  She gave me a big hug. “You call me any time, okay? I mean it. Any time. And you have your emergency credit card, right? And that app that lets you call an on-campus officer to walk you to your car at night, right? Oh, and is your student ID loaded with money so you can get coffee and—”

  “Tía Isabel,” I interjected, laughing. She had this way of making me smile even when I felt like the opposite. “Yes, yes, and yes.”

  She paused, meeting my eyes and cupping my face with her hands. “It feels like just yesterday we moved in here, and now here I am, old and with an empty nest.” Now she was the one tearing up.

  But her statement only made me giggle. “I told you! You’re not an old empty-nester. You’re half the age of all the other empty-nesters we met at college orientation.”

  She grinned, but it quickly faltered. “You know, I always thought that I wouldn’t know how to do this whole guardian slash aunt thing right.” Her voice broke, and tears flooded my eyes.

  I hugged her again. “You’ve been the best guardian slash aunt. The absolute best.”

  She pulled away, wiping at her face with her sleeve. “Thanks, kiddo. I almost forgot. I got you something.”

  A minute later, she was back with a gift bag full of tissue paper.

  I took it and sat on my bed. “This is heavy. What is it?” I asked with a smile.

  “Open it,” she replied.

  I reached in and pulled out a picture frame. One of several. I looked up at her. “Is this why you were gone all morning?”

  She nodded and sat beside me. “As soon as I saw that picture Lena posted last night, I knew I had to frame it for you guys to take.”

  I finally got a good look at it. “Oh my gosh, it’s our quintuple date picture from last night.”

  There we were. All ten of us, bunched up together so we could fit everyone in for the picture. Lena had set up the phone on the table with the timer and then made a run for it.

  The lighting outside had been perfect.

  I reached in the bag for another frame.

  “One for each of your friends,” my aunt said, beaming. “The boys too.”

  I set down the bag at our feet and wrapped my arms around her. “Thank you. This is seriously the best gift.”

  We pulled away, and she said, “Well, you don’t want to know how long I stood at that ‘user-friendly’ kiosk at the drugstore. Let’s just say it’s not very user-friendly at all, and the soccer mom behind me waiting to use it was not fun to deal with either. You should’ve seen the way she walked away with a huff and sped off in her mini-van.”

  That had me clutching my stomach in laughter. “Oh my gosh, you’re too much,” I cried. Then I said, “My friends are gonna love these. Thank you.”

  She kissed my forehead. “You’re welcome.”

  I checked my phone. “I need to get going.”

  “Here, let me help you,” my aunt said, grabbing a box and heading to my car.

  I stared at the framed picture again. This would be the perfect thing to mail everyone within the next few days. It’d be the perfect addition to our dorms and bedrooms.

  I eyed the still open suitcase on the other end of my bed.

  Then I made my way over and carefully tucked in the picture frame underneath my favorite sweater. I zipped the suitcase all the way around, knowing this was it.

  I was ready to go.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you SO MUCH for coming with me on this journey with Ella, Tori, Harper, Lena, and Rey. It means the world to me.

  These books have changed my life, and it’s thanks to you and the rest of my amazing readers.

  I’m busy working on my next series so keep an eye on your email because you’ll be the first to know about it (hint: you’re gonna LOVE it).

  In the meantime, have you read Falling for the Rich Boy? It’s the same kind of feel as the #BFFs except on the beach!

  US: https://amzn.to/2NL0hcf

  UK: https://amzn.to/2G3pYP2

  AU: https://amzn.to/2YItHc8

  All other Amazon stores: https://books2read.com/richboy

  And don’t miss the companion novel to the #BestFriendsForever series! Find out why #MeantToBe is one of my favorite stories ever…

  Amazon US: https://amzn.to/32kudiz

  Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2GktTqH

  Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/30GmV79

  All other Amazon stores: https://books2read.com/mtb

  About the Author

  Yesenia Vargas is the author of several young adult romance books. Her love for writing stories was born from her love of reading and books. She has her third grade teacher to thank for that.

  In addition to writing and reading, she spends her time hanging out with her family, working out, and binge-watching Netflix. In 2013, she graduated from the University of Georgia, the first in her family to go to college.

  Yesenia lives in Georgia with her husband and two precious little girls. She also blogs at writermom.net.

>   Check out what she’s up to at yeseniavargas.com.

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  Also by Yesenia Vargas

  #BestFriendsForever Series

  #TheRealCinderella

  #LoveToHateThatBoy

  #GoodGirlBadBoy

  #TheBoyfriendDare

  #AllIWantForChristmas

  #BreakingTheRules

  #MeantToBe

  Boys of Summer

  Falling for the Rich Boy

  Find all the download links as well as a complete list of my most recent books at yeseniavargas.com/books/