“Thanks, Mom.”
“Problem solved. My parents are on their way home and they’re stopping at the store to pick up the graham crackers.”
“Your parents seem really amazing.” Amelia smiled.
“They are. You’ll really like them. While we’re waiting, let’s go get that bonfire started.”
We walked back down to the beach where my dad had put in a fire pit years ago. Memories of Hailey and me sitting by the bonfire began to flood my mind. The only difference was, this time, I didn’t care and it didn’t bother me. Once I got the fire going, I ran into the house and got the skewers and the marshmallows. I handed Amelia one and we both put them over the fire.
“I haven’t done this in years.” She smiled as she looked at me.
“It’s fun and it’s nice to share it with someone.”
I decided that I was going to ask about the picture I saw of her and her boyfriend. I needed to know her story and I hoped that I wasn’t crossing the line.
“When I was at your house earlier, I saw a picture on the table of you and a guy. Was that your boyfriend?”
“I don’t talk about him,” she said as she looked away.
“Our situations are different with the ones we lost, but my girlfriend of six years left me to study fashion in Italy.”
“Totally different situations, Collin. You can’t even compare the two,” she said as she went to get up.
I took hold of her wrist. “Don’t leave. I just asked a question. A simple yes or no would have been fine.”
She sat back down and stared at me before speaking. “Yes, he was my boyfriend.”
“I’m sorry about the accident, Amelia.”
“Me too,” she said.
We sat there in silence for a few minutes until I heard my mom and dad walking towards us.
“Here you go, son. One box of graham crackers. Hello, Amelia. It’s good to see you again.” My dad smiled.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Black. It’s good to see you too.”
“Please, call us Connor and Ellery,” my mom spoke.
“Would you like to join us?” Amelia asked.
Oh my God, I couldn’t believe she just invited my parents to sit down. I looked at them and gave them the look.
“As much as we’d love to, Amelia, Ellery and I are heading back to the city now.”
“You’re leaving?” I asked.
“Yes. We thought it was best to head back tonight. Don’t forget to lock up when you leave in the morning. I can expect you in the office around eight?” he asked.
“No. I’ll be late. I’ve offered to drive Amelia back to NYU so she doesn’t have to take the bus. We’re leaving at seven.”
“Ah, okay then. I’ll see you when you get there. Come straight to my office because we have to go over the proposal for the new building for Tricho Enterprises.”
“I know, Dad, and I’ll be there.”
“So you attend NYU?” my mom asked with a smile as she sat down.
My dad lightly grabbed her arm and helped her up. “Come on, baby; leave them alone. You can talk to Amelia another time. I really want to get on the road.”
“Oh. Fine, Connor,” she said with irritation. “It was nice to see you again, Amelia. You’ll have to have dinner with us at the penthouse sometime.”
“Thank you, Ellery, and it was good to see you too.”
My dad winked at me as he and Mom turned around and headed back to the house. I could tell I upset Amelia by asking about her boyfriend. That wasn’t my intention. I just wished she’d open up to me. I decided to tell her about Hailey. I didn’t know if it was such a good idea, but I was willing to take the chance. I put two marshmallows on my skewer and held it over the fire.
“My ex-girlfriend, Hailey, and I had known each other since we were babies. My mom and her mom are best friends. We started dating each other when we were around sixteen and things became pretty serious. We both graduated from Columbia and she was offered an internship in Italy to study fashion. I was cool with that because I believed that our love was strong enough to withstand the long-distance relationship. She didn’t. She came to me one day before she left and told me that we weren’t meant to be and that long distance relationships don’t work. She said she was sorry, but it was time for her to move on and focus on her studies. She left two days earlier than planned and without as much as a goodbye.”
“That’s really shitty of her to do that to you,” she said.
“Yeah, it was really shitty. Wasn’t it?” I asked.
“You must’ve been devastated.”
“I was. I resorted to partying almost every night. I drank way too much alcohol and I—”
I stopped what I was about to say because I didn’t want Amelia thinking poorly of me.
“You slept with a lot of women, right?” she asked.
I looked down in shame and I lightly nodded my head. She put her hand on mine. I was shocked, but I welcomed it.
“Everybody handles their broken heart in their own way. It sounds like you tried to forget it, and I just shut everyone out of my life because I didn’t want to talk about it.”
“Sometimes we have to talk about the things that hurt us most in order to find some sense of peace.”
She tilted her head and smiled at me. “I don’t like that you said that, but I know you’re right.”
I smiled as I handed her two graham crackers and some chocolate. “Your marshmallows are done.”
She made her s’more and she bit down into it. Some chocolate got on her cheek. I leaned over and took my thumb and wiped it away. She instantly brought her hand up to mine.
“Sorry. You had some chocolate there.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
I removed my hand and told her that I’d be right back. I went into the house, grabbed a few napkins, a couple of glasses, and a bottle of wine. When I went back down to the beach, Amelia had gotten up and was leaving.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, Collin. I have to go. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Amelia, wait!” I exclaimed as I set down the glasses and wine.
She kept walking and I caught with her. I stood in front of her and lightly took hold of her arms.
“What did I do? What did I say? Please don’t go yet.”
“You didn’t say or do anything, Collin. I just can’t do this with you. I’m sorry,” she said as she pushed me aside and continued walking.
