#estrellas save

For the first time in a while, Ada thinks about what she wants. Inspired by Usha, she starts sketching and painting, something she hasn’t done since she was a kid.

Ada keeps running into Easton. At the café, at the grocery story, at the laundromat even on her morning runs. Slowly, she starts looking for him without meaning to.

Easton grew up in Moonwood Mill, raised by his single-father. A mechanic who taught him everything. After his dad passed away, he kept the family business running on his own. And it’s right across The Timber Bean café, where Ada works.

After weeks of feeling off, Sage takes a test. Turns out she’s pregnant. She loves her two girls, she’s back at work, and their life finally feels balanced. She knows she doesn’t want another child. Jude supports her, and they face it together.

Beth is still a light sleeper, so she usually wakes up in the middle of the night and doesn’t go back to sleep until someone reads her a book.

The Magnolia Club becomes three when a new boy from school named Niko decides to join them.

At the hospital, time fades away, the hours pass and the world narrows. Jude (somewhere around hour ten): “You’re doing great. You’re- goddess-tier. You’re-” Sage: “Jude, shut up.” And then….. a cry.

They are soakenly wet from the rain when they arrive home, so they decide to take a shower first and then take a test. It’s positive. Jude sits on the edge of the tub, stunned. There’s going to be a new addition to the family!

They’re walking home one evening when Sage stops short in the middle of the sidewalk and turns to Jude. “I think… I might be.” They sit on a bench for an hour, neither speaking much, but both holding each other hands.

They skip class - all of them. The rain is biblical. Gus says the trains are flooded, and Leo won’t walk anywhere in suede. So they stay in. Jude and Sage lie tangled on the floor, half-watching a black-and-white film. Felix and Leo argue over the right way to do laundry. Gus is finally “fixing” the microwave that’s been broken since they arrived.

It’s past midnight. Jude and Sage are walking home. The streets are empty. Sage slows near the corner: “What are we?” Jude (after a pause): “I don’t know yet.” Sage: “That’s okay.”

Jude and Sage end up at the same spot in the library again. She says, “I’m starving”, and he blurts. “Want to get noodles?”. They sit across from each other in a tiny restaurant with steamed windows and fairy lights tangled around the ceiling. Sage: “You talk more now” Jude (blushing): “I guess I do” Sage (smiling): “I like it.”