Molly writes rom-coms, but I have a terrible feeling this isn’t one. That it’s what she calls a “rom-traum”—the twist on the genre, where the love story is doomed.
Don’t do it,I mentally plead with her.Don’t make them suffer like we have.
But in my heart, I know what’s coming.
Nina says she doesn’t believe in soul mates.
She leaves Cole in Maine.
I frantically scroll down, praying what comes next is not the words THE END.
There are still fifteen pages left in the script.
I’m dying.
We see Nina mourn.I fucked up,she tells her best friend.But I don’t deserve another chance.
TELL HIM, I want to yell at her as I read this. JUST TELL HIM.
There are four pages left, and I can barely breathe.
We switch to Cole’s POV. He and his best friend are making plans to attend their twentieth high school reunion.Is Nina coming?the friend asks.No,Cole says.She hates this kind of thing. And she won’t want to see me.
And he’s right. When they arrive, she’s not there.
Despite knowing she wouldn’t be, Cole is flattened. But just as he’s walking out, someone taps the microphone on the stage.
It’s Nina, standing up there. And she’s looking right at him.
Five years ago,she tells the crowd,I did something really stupid. I told Cole that true love was a fairy tale. That soul mates were bullshit made up by the Hallmark Industrial Complex. We made a bet over it, in fact. If he wins, I have to admit that happily ever afters are real. And if I win, he has to admit that true love is a fantasy—a pit stop along the road to heartbreak.
Well, I’m here to say that maybe neither of us was right. Relationships carry joy and pain. Sometimes big loves fade. Sometimes rocky ones recover. Sometimes life brings unexpected twists. All we can count on is cherishing what we have, and trying like hell to be good to each other.
All we can do is be brave enough to believe in love, and to fight for it.
Cole, I know I messed up. I know I was cowardly, and I hurt you. But this is me, fighting for you. And if you’ll give me another chance, I’ll fight for our happily ever after for the rest of our lives.
He doesn’t even need to think. He runs across the room, dodging gawking classmates, and leaps onto the stage.
They kiss like their lives depend on it.
Sorry you didn’t win the bet, he whispers.
I don’t care about the bet,she says.I only care about you.
He swings her around as the classmates all cheer for them.
THE END
By now I am full-on weeping. The man next to me ignores this for a few minutes and then finally looks over at me.
“You okay, dude? Need a whiskey or something?”
I shake my head.
“Sorry,” I sniffle. “I’m fine. Just really happy.”
And I am.
