THIRTY... collins and jj pt. 2

                                        

                                              
CHAPTER THIRTY
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The end of summer had finally dawned on them, and Collins mourns it's anticipated passing with each fleeting day that goes by until it's bittersweet conclusion. 
She knows she's going to miss the mornings where all it took was the sunlight spilling through her window to warm her up and tan her skin. There's no other season than the summer months when everyone is happy because business is finally booming again, and nothing uplifts her mood like the feeling of pure joy filling the air all around her. Carefree afternoons spent swinging on a hammock with a book for pleasure surpass any other activity in terms of relaxation. It's things like that which Collins knows only happens in the summer time, and so she dreads the day when it all comes to its end. 
But there's still at least one good thing about it. With every end, a new beginning follows, and a new beginning is exactly what Collins needed. 
It was also practically inevitable given all of the changes in her life that had happened. She'd gone from friendless and invisible, to friend and not-as invisible? There was a sort of enthralling sentiment at the thought of having a fresh start. The whole summer had been ridden with memories of John B and Sarah. Sometimes when she thought about how they'd lost them, she'd feel all her work towards healing that wound get ripped open again. Even the times they weren't apart of, all Collins could think of was how a good moment could've been better if they were there to be experience it with them. 
A new school year could be exactly what she needed. Collins could then busy herself with textbook readings and essay writing and fill her mind with knowledge instead of grief. 
She'd taken her ACT and SAT a couple of weeks ago to ensure that college was even still a potential option for her. And much to her relief, Collins had scored above what was ordinarily considered the average acceptance score for the Duke admissions committee. She and Charlie had screamed and jumped up and down the house together until the walls shook and the dishes rattled for a good hot minute once she had shared the news with him. Not to mention that scholarship Mr. Wilks had passed onto her had gone through, and so Collins was starting a school year with a schedule filled with college credits, college applications to start filling out, and even more scholarships to apply for. 
But it was exactly what she needed to take her mind off of everything else. 
Collins still had yet to tell everyone else about her scores and all that she had planned for herself since they'd all been more focused on savoring the last few moments they had of summer break. It also felt a bit awkward for her to bring it up when academics and scholarships had become a pretty touchy subject for Pope. The last time she'd tried suggesting that he apply for the same scholarship that she was, he'd just brushed it off and said he was probably too late, and maybe next year. After that, it just felt like whenever she brought it up to him, she was just dampening his mood and so she eventually stopped. Telling him about her scholarship and all that she was benefiting from it just felt like a lousy thing to do. 
She planned on telling them soon, but school wasn't exactly Kie or JJ's forte, so it definitely wasn't a place that they were looking forward to coming back to. Collins didn't want to bore them with all that stuff by bringing it up like it was something they'd really care about anyway. 
But JJ- the best part of her morning and her favorite person to wake up to each day— it was hard keeping such big news from him when he had become the one whom she shared everything with. She'd put it off for so long, Collins had just decided that the next chance she got she would tell him.