~Mac's POV~

I can't believe it has been three years ever since I pulled that stint.

Now, I've reverted almost-fully to my past self. I still follow all of Sophia's fashion advice, of course. I mean, what would I be without them?

Things haven't exactly gone smooth as a baby's skin since then. For a few months after I got arrested, I have to deal with Hailey and her friends' mockery on Instagram. But, I learn a little trick called blocking the user. Of course, they don't stop there and continue to mock me at school too.

But, I couldn't care less.

I choose not to listen to anything they say because I know for a fact that they're just haters, and they're going to hate me no matter what I do or don't do.

Well, I also flip a finger once or twice at them, but I'm proud to say that I haven't had any trouble with the authorities for thirty-six months and counting.

Besides, as people say, karma really is a b.

While Sophia and I have already graduated last summer, Hayley and her friends are still sixty credits away from graduation—and frankly, I'm not positive they will graduate at all considering how they spend more time partying than studying.

Plus, most of them are in unhealthy relationships, whereas I am proud to say I've been going steady with a certain baby-faced boy. He might not be a billionaire nor have the looks of a Greek god, but he's perfect for me.

All in all, now that I'm behaving like me again, I can say with absolute confidence that I have never been happier.

Before I know it, it's almost Christmas again. The song Holly Jolly Christmas is playing through the speakers as I stroll along Sunset Mall—and so far, it has indeed been a holly, jolly season for me.

"Oh my God, are you Mackenzie Goode?" a teenage girl asks, awe fills her voice.

On my peripheral vision, two teenage girls are staring at me with mouth wide open, admiration twinkling in their eyes. Turning around, I flash a smile and greet them politely. The girls squeal in delight and approach me.

"C-can we take a picture together?" the girl in braces asks.

"Sure," I say with a smile.

Over these past two years, I've been somewhat of a local celebrity—the good kind, of course. I created a self-help blog that detailed my experience as a bad girl called confessionofamatchstickgirl.com. Through my website and social media, I encourage girls who are going through similar situations like I did to stay true to themselves and avoid making the same mistakes that I did. With Sophia and Dylan's help, the blog went viral, and right now, I have 1.2 million followers on Instagram.

Not so bad for the former matchstick girl, huh?

"Thank you so much!" The girls wave goodbye after taking a group photo with me.

My eyes are then drawn to the bright-red boutique on my right. Standing flower bouquets congratulating the soft opening of the store are placed on either side of the door. A logo—one that I designed—made from neon that spells Wilde's are beaming on the wall.

While I've become a somewhat self-help guru and freelance graphic designer, Sophia has made a career for herself by being a fashion-stylist. Being an ambitious girl that she is, she doesn't stop there. Lacey Patterson, a make-up artist friend of hers, helped introduce her to the right people; and with her perseverance, a week ago she made her debut as a fashion designer.

Oh, and she has 3,156,283 followers on Instagram now—I know for sure because she can't stop talking about it when we were on the phone a few hours ago.

As I walk towards the posh boutique, I can see Sophia and Dylan are having another fight.

"You don't put that cat anywhere in my store, Little! Just no!" Sophia yells, gesturing at the life-size lucky cat statue by the door.

"This brings good luck, Wilde! It's been said that your business will gain twice the income with this"—he gives a pat on the white cat statue's head—"in it!"

"I don't care! It doesn't go with the whole interior!" Sophia insists. "What are people going to think, huh? A posh, western boutique with that in it?"

After their trip to China last summer, Dylan has been somewhat obsessed with feng shui, and it's safe to say it brings more fights to them than ever. But, I'm sure they'll work it out somehow.

"Hey, guys," I say as I enter the boutique. "So..." I shift my gaze between the lucky cat statue and the two bickering couple.

"Tell him, Mac!" Sophia yells.

"Yeah, Mac. Tell her!" Dylan shouts.

I let out a small sigh. "Okay, first of all, I'm not going to pick sides here. And second of all"—I shift my gaze to the redheaded boy—"D, she's right. It doesn't go with the whole interior." While Dylan's lips curve into a small frown, Sophia's tug up into a smirk. "But... maybe you can, I don't know, buy a smaller version of it instead?"

With a grunt, Dylan drops himself on the red sofa near the wall and pulls out his phone. "Fine."

"So." I turn to Sophia. Excitement spreads through my voice when I ask, "You said you've got some news for me?"

"Yes!" Sophia replies excitedly. "My cousin just called earlier, and—"

"Which cousin?" Dylan interrupts, his gaze not leaving his phone.

"Vanessa," Sophia answers flatly. "So—"

"Oh, the one with the beard?" Dylan interrupts again.

"No..." Sophia rolls her head to the side and continues, "That's Kelly. Vanessa's the one who lives in LA. You know, the one who knows Beyoncé. Now let me finish, will you?"

While I gasp at Sophia's words, Dylan nods to himself and mutters, "Oh..."

Before Sophia can say another word, I chime in, "Wait. Your cousin's friends with Beyoncé? You never told me that!"

"Uh-huh." Sophia nods with a proud smirk on her lips. "She met her at the Grammys once, and they've been BFFs ever since. Pretty cool, right?"

"What exactly does she do anyway?" Dylan asks.

"I don't know." Sophia shrugs. "You know I never really pay attention to any of those family meetings. All I know is she works in this big music studio in LA and she's friends with Beyoncé!"

Why do I smell something fishy here? My brows are drawn together and my lips tighten into an almost straight line. Knowing Sophia's tendency to over-exaggerate just about everything, it's highly possible Sophia's only making the story up.

"What? You don't believe me? Here. Check her Insta." She fiddles with her phone before handing it over to me.

The profile picture is a beautiful Asian-American girl wearing an open-mouthed smile that shows her huge teeth. Wow. I suppose beauty does run in the family.

"She hangs out with A-listers. Trust me," Sophia continues. "I mean, I still don't know why she hasn't deleted her photos with that bitch, but it's proof nonetheless."

As I scroll down Vanessa's profile, my jaw drops instantly. Sophia isn't lying when she says her cousin is hanging out with A-listers.

Well, actually only one A-lister here, but I'm sure she hangs out with many more.

Including Queen Bey.

Maybe.

The only A-lister featured in her photos is Celia Adams, the super-hot British pop-star-turned-model-turned-movie-star Dylan used to be obsessed with when we were younger. Well, actually, I'm pretty sure Dylan is still obsessed with her; he just doesn't say that out loud now.

As I continue to scroll down her profile page, I can't help but envy her. Not only does she hang out with celebrities, but she also has a super gorgeous boyfriend. To say that he's handsome is an understatement. I mean, this guy must be a freaking model or a movie star! 

"She works with A-listers and has that as a boyfriend?" I say in awe. "Wow... Isn't she a lucky girl..."

"Oh, no, no. That's not her boyfriend," Sophia replies.

"Huh? But..." Judging by the level of coziness the two have around each other—or at least what's shown in the picture—I'd say they're a couple. Plus, they look cute together.

"V and him are just best friends, and honestly?" Sophia gives a short pause. "I don't know how she manages to be best friends with a guy as hot as that and not want to fuck him." Sophia shakes her head. "I mean if it were me, I'd—"

"Hey!" Dylan protests.

"If I'm not dating you, of course," Sophia adds, flashing an unapologetic grin at him.

I giggle at their short bickering. "So, what did she tell you? What does she think about my book?"

A few months ago, while we were talking nonsense, Sophia blurted out a brilliant idea that I should turn my blog into a book. She said that her cousin knows someone who knows someone who works at a publishing house. At her encouragement, I decided to give it a try and sent a manuscript to her cousin.

"Well..." She pauses for a few moments that feel like forever before she squeals, "They want to publish it!"

My mouth falls wide open and I blink repeatedly, still unable to believe what I just heard. "Are you serious?"

She nods repeatedly with a proud smile on her face. "The publishing house is asking you to meet with them in LA to discuss it further though."

"Sure! When?" I ask eagerly.

"Well, since the office is now closed due to the holiday season and all, they're asking if you can meet them when they reopen in January," Sophia replies.

"Yeah, sure! I can do that."

"Plus, I was thinking..." Her lips curve up into her usual mischievous smirk that has me wondering, what else is she going to drag me into? "Since we're having a winter break, maybe we can spend our holiday in LA?"

Oh. That actually doesn't sound so bad.

"I spoke to Vanessa and she'd agreed to let us stay in her apartment for the whole month," Sophia teases. "So, what do you say?"

With a huge, confident smile, I say, "I guess we're going to LA, then!" 

Author's Note:

There you go, folks! What do you think of this bonus chapter?

While this chapter is an official epilogue to this book, it also serves as a sneak-peek to the spin-off, Sister Zone! The book is available to check on my profile, and although Sophia and Mac will start making their appearances in the later chapters, the first chapter is now available for your reading pleasure, so check it out! :)

Thanks for reading!