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There isn’t a wedding.

There aren’t invitations with Juliet’s name beside Vinny’s.

There isn’t a boy that I fell in love with at fifteen and never stopped loving.

It’s just two best friends, exactly the way it’s always been.

A simple reminder why all the heartache is worth it.

EMMA

My students sit crisscross-applesauce on a colorful rug in front of me.

“Who’s ready for our money and coins song?”

“Me!” Twenty-two little voices answer together with raised hands.

I push play on an instrumental version of a popular hip-hop song and smile as their little bodies bounce up and down to the beat.

“Get ready!” I hold out a wand that I wave back and forth, conducting these second graders like a choir. “Count it out,” I say then point to them for their part.

“Hey!”

“Count it out.”

“Hey!”

“Count it out.”

“Hey!”

I point to the screen where I have the first line written. “I said do it how you do it. Okay, count it out.”

The kids repeat after me. “I said do it how you do it. Okay, count it out.”

My wand goes to the next line with a picture of a coin. “That’s a quarter.”

They don’t miss a beat. “Twenty-five!”

“And a nickel.”

“That’s five!”

“And a penny.”

“One cent!”

“And ten cents is a⁠—”

“Dime!”

I smile back at them, stopping the song on my iPad. “Good job! You guys did so amazing.”

That’s when I hear clapping.

My head turns, and my jaw instantly drops. My chin is probably bruised from smacking the floor so hard.

“That was the coolest song I’ve ever heard.” Vinny’s still clapping as he walks into my classroom. He’s dressed for work in dark slacks and a fitted collared shirt. I’ve always loved it when he’s dressed in his architect attire. I know I shouldn’t notice how good he looks, but I do.