The One You Can't Forget (The One, #1)

four

Hainsey

The place Val is renting for the summer is a cottage on the edge of Lost Lake and in the midst of the thick forest. It's small – a living room, kitchenette, bedroom, and bathroom. Near the back, there's a ladder that leads up to a tiny loft under the roof. A small double bed has been squeezed in. On the back deck are two wooden chairs and a small barbeque. I know this because I'm the one who helped her set the place up. 

Well, that, and I'm stepping through the front door with her usual morning coffee from Timmie's before I go to work. I take a long sip of my own coffee as I head to the back deck where I know she's sitting and gazing at the view.

When I get outside, I see that she's still wearing her pyjamas; skimpy shorts that barely cover the cheeks of her ass and a top that's almost sheer. But I'm, like everyone else in this town, used to Val showing off her body – she's always been one to flaunt what she's got. Still, it gnaws on my nerves at some points. Don't get me wrong – Valerie Santiago is beautiful; skin the colour of a latte, black hair that reaches mid-back, long legs, and big brown eyes.

But she's no Emyln Walker, that's for sure.

"You're here early," Val says looking up from her phone.

I sit down in the empty wooden chair beside her, and then hand her the coffee. "Have to be at work an hour earlier than usual," I shrug. "Apparently we have someone new starting today and they need some training."

"Let me guess," Val muses, "you volunteered."

I shrug again. "If it means a little more money, then I don't mind."

We both lapse into silence. I know she wants to bring up the shit with my mom, what I'm actually contributing my money to when I should be adding it to my college funds or saving up to move somewhere far away. But the thing is, no matter how badly I want to leave and attend school in Ontario, I can't leave my mom behind. Yeah, I act as an enabler by doing what I do, but I'd rather have my mom stay home instead of going out and using other tactics to cater to her addiction.

"So, have you seen Em yet?" she asks.

I've known Val just as long as I've known Ems, meaning I know exactly what this light and innocent tone of voice means. I look at her. "I'm not getting back together with Ems."

"I knew it!" she exclaims, putting her coffee down. She swivels in her chair and turns to look directly at me. "What happened? How did it go?"

I sigh. Last night was shit. Seeing the girl I've been hung up on since I was nine was emotional and rough. Mainly because it was so unexpected – I never thought I'd see her again. But I can't say I didn't enjoy seeing her or that I didn't enjoy the fact that my appearance also caught her off guard.

"It was weird," I finally say, rubbing my face. "She didn't say a word to me. All she did was stare...and drop a plate of spaghetti."

Val smirks. "Yep, the girl's definitely still got a thing for you."

I shake my head. She wasn't there – there's no way Ems still has a thing for me. The girl did leave, after all. If she loved me, she would have stayed. "Whatever. Even if she does, she's not getting me back. I'm over her." I glance at my watch. "Shit – I gotta get going. I'm supposed to be at the shop in ten minutes. I'll tell you how the training thing goes."

Val gives me the two-finger salute, and then says, "Next time I'm buying the coffee."

I smile at her, grab my coffee, and then get up to head for the door. I'm just reaching for the handle when she calls out, "Hey, Hainsey."

I turn around. Of course, she's smirking again.

"If you don't have a thing for Em anymore, then why do you still wear the bracelet she gave you?"

I look down at my left wrist, adjacent to the waterproof watch I always wear, is a thin, braided bracelet of green, yellow, and brown strings. Emyln gave it to me when I was about ten-years-old. I can still picture the day. We had been at the beach with our parents, when things were still good and happy in our households. The whole time we were there, she was extremely secretive about what she was doing behind the sand barrier she'd created between our towels, and I was so curious to know what she was doing that I would "accidentally" knock it over with my elbow. That resulted in her scolding me and jokingly telling me to go drown myself. But at the end of the day, when the sun umbrellas were packed and our bathing suits were dry, she presented me with the bracelet, saying we'd be friends forever.

That's one of the moments that contributed to me falling for her. Maybe I was crazy – falling for my best friend. It is a dangerous thing to do, after all. When you take that step over the line between friends and lovers, there's always the risk that things could go down in flames, snatching both the friends component and lovers component away.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if her parents had never divorced and Ems had stayed. Where would I be right now? Would we be together? Would we have slept together by now? Would we be somewhere else in Canada and attending university?

So many questions that will never be answered.

In the end, I don't reply to Val until the door is firmly closed behind me.

To no one, I whisper, "I wear it because I still care about her."