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Where have you been? Why are you here?
“Ten! Nine…” The cheers don’t make either of us look away from each other.“Eight! Seven…”
Brett tilts my head up with his fingertips.
As the countdown hits one, he kisses my lips, and for the first time since we’ve been together, I have no desire to kiss him back.
I laugh instead as I pull away, pointing up at the fireworks that are dazzling the sky, hating that this new year has already brought me an old pain.
4
GENEVIEVE
Glitter confetti and glass shards cover the floor. The party is long over, and my promise to help Lauren cleanup couldn’t have come at a worse time.
I hold back tears as I stuff a trash bag with cups.
Lauren is dating Liam…Liam is her “first serious boyfriend.”
“Hi.” Liam steps in front of me.
I don’t say anything.
I can’t.
The wind whistles past us, carrying a handful of confetti with it.
“It’s nice seeing you again, Genevieve,” he says.
“Too bad I can’t say the same.”
“So you’re still as immature as I remember?” He tries to tell a joke.
I don’t reward him with laughter.
“Okay.” He lets out a sigh. “Goodbye.”
Goodbye?“So, that wordisin your vocabulary?”
“Excuse me?” He turns around.
“I didn’t fucking stutter,” I say. “I haven’t heard from you in years, and I convinced myself that something tragic happened toyou and that you were too chicken shit or cowardly to let me go, but it sounds like I was wrong and you’re capable of saying the word goodbye.”
“I also said it was nice to see you again. What more do you want?”
“An explanation for why you abandoned me without warning is a decent place to start.”
“If anyone owes someone an explanation, Miss Edwards,” he says, the look in his eyes is cold and detached. “It’syou.”
“So you’ve lost your mind these past four years as well?”
He shakes his head and steps back. “Goodbye.”
5
LIAM
Boston’s misty morning air slips through my car’s open windows.
