It’s moving really fast with Jamal. He’s saying things that are kind of freaking me out—that he’s never met anyone like me or felt this way before. After being closed off to adventure romance for so long and thinking of it just as a survival tool, it’s amazing to have someone be so into me—let alone someone who is such a catch! It’s almost scary, I can’t even believe this is happening. I may just avoid my romantic apocalypse after all! When people would tell me stories about how they found their young adult fantasy romance, I would secretly balk at them. Now I know it exists, even for a Pearl. Hopefully, this will be the end of my dating and mating journey and the beginning of life with my perfect mate. Perhaps the young adult fantasy really does exist…