Member-only story
The Last Summer of You and Me
I still remember the way the beach looked that day…
Do you remember? I can still picture you sitting there on that rock, poised as if you were ready to jump into the sea and disappear beneath the waves. You could have slipped away just that easily, I knew, because you should have never been anyone’s to claim — least of all mine.
But you were Michael’s first, always, forever. He picked you out of the crowd. You chose to wear his ring. Even though the rumors went that he hand-picked others to share his bed, you still stood beside him at the end of the day. “Smiles can wipe away a million doubts,” you told me once, cloistered away in the back of our lttle getaway car, while we were away for the weekend at the familiar beach house. You looked at me as your confidante, and I took my duty seriously.
Your secrets are still with me, even now. I never gave anything up. I kept each word locked behind my lips and tried my best to remain true to you, no matter where you went. Even after Michael died, I kept my promises.
And he said I wasn’t a good sister. After all this time, I still remember the way his eyes accused me.
But you knew, didn’t you? You could see it every time my gaze caught yours across a room. And then you’d take a breath, as if you were steeling…
