CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

A New Beginning

"I GOT IN!"

Angel's voice echoed through the apartment before anyone had even managed to open the front door.

The envelope lay forgotten on the coffee table.

Angel, however, was nearly in tears.

"I actually got in..."

"You definitely got in," Ivy laughed. "You've said it six times already."

"Seven," Aster corrected from the kitchen.

Angel gasped dramatically.

"You were counting?"

"I stop listening after the fifth."

"Liar."

"Correct."

Alice smiled as she wrapped an arm around Angel.

"I'm proud of you."

Angel finally let herself cry.

"They accepted me..."

"They'd be stupid not to," Alice whispered.

For a few minutes, the apartment filled with nothing but laughter, happy tears, and Ivy pretending she wasn't emotional.

"I have allergies," Ivy announced, wiping suspiciously watery eyes.

"To emotions?" Aster asked.

"Exactly."

Alice chuckled.

The room settled into a comfortable silence.

Then Angel looked up.

"...Will you guys come with me?"

The question hung in the air.

"I know it's a huge thing to ask," she hurried on. "You all have your own plans, and London is really far, and—"

"I'll go," Alice interrupted gently.

Angel blinked.

"Really?"

"I promised we'd stay together."

Angel turned toward Ivy.

"What about you?"

Ivy looked offended.

"Excuse me? You're asking like I'd let you move to another country without me."

Angel laughed through her tears.

"So that's a yes?"

"Obviously."

Three pairs of eyes slowly turned toward the last person in the room.

Aster was quietly stirring coffee.

"You all planned this, didn't you?"

"No," Ivy grinned.

"...Maybe."

Angel walked over and gently tugged on Aster's sleeve.

"Please?"

Aster looked at the hopeful faces surrounding her.

For the briefest moment...

something unreadable crossed her expression.

London.

A city she had promised herself never to return to.

A city filled with memories no one else remembered.

A city where the past had never truly stayed buried.

"...Fine," she sighed.

Angel squealed.

"We're all going!"

Within seconds, Ivy had tackled Aster into a hug.

"Personal space," Aster complained.

"You love me."

"I tolerate you."

"Same thing."

Alice smiled quietly.

For the first time in years, it felt as though the future belonged entirely to them.

None of them noticed how tightly Aster was gripping her coffee mug.

Or how her eyes drifted toward the acceptance letter lying on the table.

London.

The word alone was enough to awaken memories she had spent years forcing into silence.

She lowered her gaze before anyone noticed.

Whatever waited there...

the others could never know.

Not yet.

Outside, the evening breeze slipped through the open window.

It carried the scent of rain.

And somewhere, hundreds of miles away, a city waited patiently—

as if it had been expecting them all along.

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Next Chapter...

A new city.

A new university.

Four girls chasing new dreams beneath London's unfamiliar sky.

But while Alice finds comfort in new beginnings...

Ivy finds trouble before the first day even starts.

Angel falls in love with the city at first sight.

And Aster...

stops smiling the moment she recognizes a place she prayed she would never see again.

Sometimes, the past doesn't wait for you to find it.

Sometimes...

it welcomes you home.

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