Can We Ever Go Back?

I still have the polaroid of us from that summer.

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch via Pexels

The July heat always reminded me of us. I could close my eyes and go back to the flare of that welcome warmth as it poured over us in waves. That day in your dad’s pickup truck, it would have been so easy just to reach out for you and trail my fingertips down your cheek. But I held back because we were just friends. You were my best friend — the…