Barely by Madison Faye

In the end, good triumphed, and the bad guys paid. I mean, how’s that for working out? My dad did go to jail, and even though he’s blood, and even though part of me is saddened that he’ll be in there for a very long time, I know he deserves to be there. I mean, it’s white collar bullshit jail, but it’s still jail. And it means his horrible business operations are shut down for good. And if that means a little less evil in the world, and a little more justice, so be it.

Geraldine was right, she really wasn’t a great mom figure, but as it turns out, she was looking out for me a lot more than I ever knew. So maybe she was more of a big sister or friend figure. I guess sometimes you just don’t see people for who they are.

A lot of my father’s money was confiscated by the government, but Geraldine had some slick lawyers, and managed to snag a big chunk of it. First, she made sure I had a cushion to fall back on. It wasn’t ever going to be the kind of money I’d had waiting for me before, but then, that was blood money, and neither of us wanted anything to do with that. Actually, we did one better. Geri and I set up a trust using a lot of the money she wrestled away from my dad in court. We used it to set up hospitals and care centers in places he’d poisoned. We used it to help victims, and replant forests, and save villages. It’s not everything, and it doesn’t change the awful thing that he did for money, but it’s a start.

As for Lycée Montange D’or? Well, needless to say, hell yes, I moved to southern France to be with the love of my life. Because obviously, Colton took the job. And as for my new setting? Honestly, I’m loving it. Yes, I miss my friends terribly, but we stay in touch. And besides, Waverly and Sasha have their own things going on—Waverly with that whole very scandalous thing with Coach Kirby which she finally told me about, and of course her swimming getting even more intense since she’s probably going to go for the Olympics soon. And then Sasha had the whole debacle with Charlie, who she finally ditched. Of course, it was what came after Charlie that’d really turn your head, but that’s a story for another day.

In any case, they do end up visiting quite a lot, which is great.

Okay, Lycée Montange D’or isn’t quite as laissez-faire as Geri might have said it was, especially concerning, shall we say, “unusual relationships.” I mean, it’s not like they were cool with me being involved with the new headmaster, but at the same time, it wasn’t expressly forbidden either. We did tone things down on campus, of course, including a self-made rule about not hooking up in Colton’s office anymore.

…Okay that’s totally a lie. We absolutely still hooked up in his office, we just didn’t do as much as we could have.

Dating and living with Colton has been interesting socially. It’s like there’s a split mindset when it comes to it. It’s made me a pariah to half the girls at the school, and a rock star to the other half, so, whatever. Either way, I didn’t care. All that matters is that we have each other. And honestly, the girls who clutch their pearls about it are most likely just jealous. I mean, let’s be real… my hunky older boyfriend is crazy hot.

The tricky part is coming in a month, after graduation, when I head off to college. Well, for the summer at least, I’m obviously staying with Colton. We’re going to travel around the French Riviera and just live for a few months. But after that, I’ve got college, and he’s got another semester at Lycée Montange D’or. Not exactly ideal, but we’re going to make it work. Geri says I’ll have full use of Terry’s private jet whenever I feel like visiting for a weekend, so, there’s that. I’m also thinking about giving it a semester and then transferring to the Sorbonne, in Paris. I mean, a scenic train ride away from the love of my life?

I’ll take that.

Lorenzo, obviously, went to jail, along with most of his operation. It turns out, the guy Colton put in the hospital with a broken back flipped real fast when the prosecution offered him cutting edge surgery and rehab in exchange for names. The entire Tonelli family folded like a house of cards when that guy chose walking and freedom over paralyzation and jail time.

Through the whole trial, Lorenzo screamed about Colton having a relationship with a student, which annoyingly caused more pause than we would have liked. In the end though, Geri pulled some more strings and found a friend of a friend of a friend—a married woman, too—who’d been in the general area of Winchester that night. A hefty donation later, and this lady was happy to sit in court and talk about the wild night of extramarital passion she’d had with Colton before a bunch of mob guys had broken in. I know, lying in a court is shitty, but screw Lorenzo. None of us were about to let a creep and a criminal like that tear Colton and I apart.

And nothing will. I know it’s not the postcard relationship, and yes, we turn plenty of heads, even in France, with being the ages we are. But really, it doesn’t matter what other people think. Other people don’t dictate your own happiness, you get out there and you find your happiness. You find it, you grab it, and you don’t let go for anything.

I wasn’t looking for Colton, and he wasn’t looking for me. But the world threw us together in this mad, wild, explosive way. And now? Well, and now there’s nothing that could take that away from us.

Oh, and I do still give Colton the occasional lap dance. I’d like to think I’ve gotten much better. Plus, not having that pesky “no hands” rule makes things much more fun.

Trust me on that.

The End.