If throughout the course of a book, a character is in love with another, does she have to end up with him at the end? Does she have to end up with someone? I’ve read plenty of books where the MC starts out pining after one guy, but at the end realizes her best guy friend is her perfect match and ends up with him. What if she ends up with no one, despite all that she does throughout the story? Can the ending still be considered happily ever after?
I can only think of one example that works in this way right now. I won’t say the name of the book because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t read yet and I’ll remain vague in my details. The MC starts out with a huge crush on this guy who becomes her friend. She likes him all through the years that the book spans, even though she keeps silent about it because he ends up marrying her best friend. At the end, he’s the one who wishes he had ended up with her instead. Though she’s sad and still does love him, things worked out for the best for her. She doesn’t get the things that she wanted, but she still ended up in the best possible position to go on for her happily ever after because she found everything that she really needed to push her ahead in life.
This book, however, is not teen chick lit. Can teen chick lit have an ending without a kiss?
(My three month absence? Well, after my last entry my cat got sick. Like, throwing up everywhere and not eating at all sick. He died on August 15, the same day that I received a rejection in the mail. My cat died and I got rejected all in the same day. I feel like I’m one of my characters. Anyway, after that I had to go into hiding, stop taking baths, and eat Spaghetti-O’s from the trash can until I felt strong enough to come back out of my hole.)
(Not really. My cat did die and I did receive a rejection the same day, but it did not force me to become a smelly recluse. The less dramatic but true excuse is that I felt like I needed a break for a bit.)
(I don’t hold sending me a rejection the same day my cat died against the agent in question, by the way. We’re good.)