CALEB
The last threedays have been all about high adventure in Telluride. The biggest risks I could take, the fastest speeds I could reach, the highest point I could climb, but none of those activities did anything for my heart. It didn’t dull the pain, quiet the memories, or ease the ache. I’m just as miserable as I was three nights ago when Justin said he loves Summer.
He freakinglovesher.
And lucky for me, he realized it right in time.
Worst case scenario.
It takes Justin walking out his front door for me to realize that I’m just sitting in my Bronco in front of his condo like some kind of depressed lunatic. When he notices me in the front seat of my car, his steps pause, and he half-heartedly lifts his hands as part of an unspoken question ofWhat are you doing?I push out a heavy breath and turn the car off. I grab my bag and coat and climb out, meeting him in front of it.
“Where did you go today?” he asks.
“Fat biking in the snow.”
“Cool. I’ve always wanted to try that, but I don’t really like the cold.”
“Yeah, I know.” That dislike put me in a hut alone with Summer, waking up with her in my arms. I try to mute the thought. “Where are you off to?”
“Uh…” He looks around awkwardly as if he feels dumb telling me. I want to say, ‘Dude, I already know where you’re going. I have a calendar with all the events that I can’t seem to crumple up and throw away.’ His eyes land on me again. “Dinner. It’s Summer’s dad’s birthday.”
“Oh, right.” I try to smile because even though I’m hurting, I don’t want to make things worse for Justin. The last few nights, he and Summer have been hanging out at her place instead of the condo, probably because they feel weird around me.
I don’t know how long it will take for the weirdness to pass.
Maybe it never will.
Or maybe after Christmas, I can go somewhere across the world, away from Summer Stanworth and all my tormenting thoughts of her.
“Tell Marty happy birthday.” I lift my coat kind of like a wave and head toward the house.
“What are you doing tonight?” he calls after me.
I shake my head, not even bothering to turn around. “Same old.”
Because now that I don’t have Summer to hang out with, I don’t have anyone.
SUMMER
* * *
“Happy birthday,dear Dad! Happy birthday to you!” We all clap as my dad blows out his candles.
“We should’ve gotten him trick candles,” Justin says beside me. I smile at him, grateful he’s trying with my family. He even turned his phone off tonight so he wouldn’t be distracted. But as much as he’s here, he’s not Caleb, and I worry my family will notice.
“We don’t do trick candles anymore,” my mom says. Her eyes flick to Justin, but not in the warm way they used to look at Caleb. That warmth has faded as the night has gone on.
“Why not?” he asks, putting his arm around my shoulder and squeezing me into his side.
My mom eyes the gesture before answering. “One year, the trick candles flicked back on and lit the pinata on fire.”
Justin laughs. “How?”
“It was sitting on the counter next to the cake,” Anna explains. “I think it was Erin’s fourteenth birthday.”
“From that moment on, we’ve never had trick candles or pinatas,” Juliet adds.
“That’s wild.” Justin smiles at me, and I smile back again.
