Here's To That Summer

Prologue

I shift nervously in my seat, unsure of what to say. She lights another cigarette and looks at her phone, then smiles.

“I gotta go soon.” She mutters softly.

“That’s it?” I try to ask, not quite wanting this night to end just yet.

She smiles and looks at me. Her beautiful smile matches the one in my memory, and I can’t help but feel soft again.

“Can we just... Try this again?” I slowly said.

“Look, Mike, this just isn’t going to work out.”

“Just tell me what’s wrong, please. I swear we’ll work it out. I’ll do whatever it takes I promise!” I said so quickly without realizing how pathetic I sounded.

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong. I’m just bored of this. I’m bored of you.”

“What? Bored? Is this because I don’t party or club or something? Is this because I don’t look cool without piercings or a tattoo? I’ll get one if that’ll make things better!”

She sits up with a mocking grin on her face.

“Can you suddenly make yourself rich? Can you be super buff for me? Can you get handsome, sexy and grow a nice ass for me? Can you become what I want you to become?”

It pierced through me. Almost as if the last two years we spent together meant nothing to her.

“But Jess... I love you...”

“I love you too. But it’s not enough. You’re just not my type.”

I slow down.

“They didn’t have share common interests, but the one thing they had in common was the fact that they were crazy about each other. That’s what we used to say Jess. Does that even mean anything to you at all?”

“Hey now, you’ll always have a special place in my heart. But I need a man. A real man.”

“My parents are going through a divorce right now and I’m stuck in the middle and you’re leaving me? A real man meaning someone that has a car and a full time job? Did it occur to you that we’re both still in college?”

“Goodbye Mike.” She says and kisses me on the cheek.

Dumbfounded, my jaw drops. She stands up, adjusts her dress and turns around. I want to ask her for a kiss, a last kiss. But I decided otherwise. I watched her walk away from me, dressed up with holes in her dress. Holes in all the right places.

She didn’t even turn around for one last look at me. She simply walked past the end of the street and disappeared around the corner. I closed my eyes. Feeling my stomach pit down, I found every breath after heavier, every breath I took more tiring. Tears began forming in my eyes.

I pulled a cigarette out and lit it up. Slowly, I dialed her number on my phone.

“Alex, save me.”

“What? What the fuck are you talking about?”

“She’s gone sis.”

“Fuck. Not this again. Where the hell are you?”

“I’m at the park.”

“Make your way to Fifth. Find Bazuka.”

I began to stand.

“Stay strong little brother.” She whispered.